Mississippi

Red Bay, AL yet again

We made it to the Red Bay RV Park, a big gravel lot with wide sites and full hookups, on Saturday, 3 October after a short drive from Mississippi. I think this is about the quietest campground in the area, and their prices can’t be beat. We signed up for 7 nights which is actually cheaper than the 6 we thought we’d be here for, but it gave us margin in case something happened. We decided to go to Cole’s Smokehouse for dinner, and I am glad we went early since they closed at 5:00 due to staffing issues! We just got our food to go – brisket for Kevin and their fabulous smoked chicken with Alabama white sauce for me. I had two pieces for dinner and 2 pieces for lunch the next day!

Sunday we went to one of the few restaurants open on Sundays in this very conservative area – the Rattlesnake Saloon. They don’t serve beer on Sundays due to blue laws, but they do have good food and a fun, unique environment. Here is a video of how you get down to the cave where the saloon is located. Note I am still having trouble figuring out the way to add videos so you can just click on them, but you can always cut and paste into a browser.

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And here are some pictures to let you know why the place is so interesting!

I like the LED lighting showing off the grotto

There are trees that look like they are growing out of the rock

The rattlesnakes don’t hang out in the restaurant part anymore, but the server said they are see regularly well below it in another rock area. This is a mount on the inside part of the restaurant.

There definitely used to be rattlesnakes

And just in case anyone is wondering, northern Alabama is definitely not flat! It does flatten out near the gulf, but this part of the state has lots of hills and creeks.

And northern Alabama is definitely not flat

Monday we started our motorhome fixes. We first saw Precision RV for preventative maintenance – roof inspection, blowing out our air conditioners, clean and inspect our slides, and relieve my mind about the water that occasionally comes inside when we retract the slides after a rainstorm. Tuesday saw us at Chris Berry to fix our moving midship wall. The forward side he had fixed before, and it was stable. This time the back moved, so he added a full length cleat screwed thru the tile to the subfloor. It looks lovely, and the bathroom door now shuts. It had been so far out that we had trouble before. That afternoon we saw Ricky Johnson for a lovely wash and wax. The coach just gleams, and it was only $275 cash. He is as good as any other detailer in town, and much less expensive. Wednesday was Bay Diesel. They discovered the big “CRACK” we sometimes heard after letting the airbags out was actually a broken rear Koni shock! I guess we hit one too many bad potholes somewhere. The other shock was damaged but not broken, and they are trying to get Koni to replace it under warranty. We will see later if they are successful. Obviously the replaced both shocks, and the rig drives so much better now! They also said the ride height was high in the rear which can also cause problems. Other than that it was just routine one year service on the chassis, engine, and generator. We also had dinner with some FRVA folks at Hometown Pizza which is now Mia Marlis. Same pizza, same place, just new owners. Today we went to Custom RV to get the Vroom slide repaired Velocity Truck Centers screwed up. We have been living without that slide for 2 months, meaning a much smaller bathroom and no access to my washer and dryer. It was the washer and dryer that was bothering me, so I am thrilled. We are now finishing up the 8th load of laundry! Note the washer and dryer are apartment sized so 2 weeks of shirts for each of us is a total of 4 loads, then there were 2 loads of jeans, one of towels, and one of kitchen towels and white underwear that needs bleach. But we should have it all done.

The dinner with the FRVA folks was interesting. I sometimes forget just how broad a range of interests RVers have. We all seem to hang with people that have our own interests. For us, that is big western skies, deserts, mountains, outdoor activities, and music. These 3 couples were into Florida golf resorts, very upscale living, and an entire other lifestyle. I am sure they found us just as foreign as we found them! Nice people though. But it makes me glad that people with those types of interests generally stay east leaving more space for us out west.

Tomorrow go to Carlisle, AR then we are spending a couple of nights at Tenkiller Lake, OK before heading to Edmond, OK. More on that later.

We left Minnesota and headed south. I was tired of cold and wet! We had to make a decision about where to stay for about a week before our appointment in Alabama, and Kevin found a great Corps of Engineers spot in Mississippi – Enid Lake. It is about an hour south Memphis on I-55, so off we went. We spent Thursday, 24 September, in Pine City, MN at the Walmart. Friday night we actually spent at Big Woods Lake next to the house to do laundry with our good washer/dryer combo. We also had my oldest son’s family over for dinner – Papa John’s pizza! Saturday was spent at the Walmart in Bowling Green, MO, and Sunday we stayed at the Elks Lodge in Sikeston, MO. We arrived at our site in the Wallace Creek campground at Enid Lake on Monday, 28 September. Our site is 96, and it is on a tiny loop with only 3 other campsites. The campground is astonishingly quiet, and no one has been camped near us the entire time – nice! It is very shady, and Kevin had a challenge trying to find a spot for the Starlink. As it is we have decent service most of the time, but it randomly drops for a couple of minutes until a new satellite comes into view.

While we are here we went to the Memphis Camping World on Friday, 2 October, to do the exciting task of buying a new toilet! (Life as an RVer is always fun, right?) We had an Thetford AquaMagic II toilet, and it was just a pain to do routine maintenance on. What maintenance is required on a toilet? The rubber seals dry out and need to be replaced every year or two, plus there is a ball that acts as a stopper when the toilet is not in use that needs replacing occasionally. To do those tasks on the Thetford requires completely removing the toilet, and Kevin just got tired of it. So he bought a Dometic 410 which is designed for easy maintenance. I like it because of the water it fills the bowl making it better at cleaning. The whole removal and replacement was done in less than an hour the same day we bought it. I like it! It is much quieter than the old one, an unanticipated bonus. Oh, and we did get some good Memphis BBQ, but I can’t remember where.

Wednesday we went to Vicksburg National Battlefield. As with most Civil War sites, it was sobering. The Visitor Center was smaller than most of the others we have seen, but the historic battle lines were marked extremely well. Vicksburg was won only with a prolonged siege, so the troops on both sides really dug in their artillery. Since the park was established in the 1890s, there were still people around who had fought and remembered the details. Here are some photos from the trip. Note these are from my iPhone since I forgot my Canon!

Lots of the monuments to various military groups were this type of tall pillar.

And of course the number of Civil War graves was incredibly sobering. The taller stones identify soldiers by name. The shorter ones for those unidentified. There are lots, and lots, and lots of shorter stones.

The real jewel of the park are the recovered remains of the gun ship “Cairo.” The Cairo was sunk in the Yazoo River near Vicksburg in December 1862 when the Federal forces were probing the area and removing mines. It was one of the early “Ironclad” boats, and when it hit mines it sank quickly into the silty water. All the crew was rescued, but the boat was left with virtually al the personal effects inside. The boat was left in the silt until 1959 when the location was discovered. It was gradually brought up in pieces in the early 1960s and amen to a shipyard along the coast. It was taken apart, cleaned, and stored. But the climate was not salubrious, and the NPS accepted title to the Cairo and moved it to the Vicksburg park. It was partially reconstructed and preserved until a huge canvas tent. Amazing!

I love how NPS used the laminated wood support to show the original outline of the boat while supporting the original remnants.

The hull showing where the mine blew a hole in it

We ate lunch at Walnut Hill, a relatively famous restaurant that has been serving Southern food since 1980 in an historic 1880 house. They had a plated lunch special. I had fried chicken, smothered squash, and green beans. Kevin had baked brisket, mashed potatoes, and green beans. The vegetables were fabulous! My chicken was very good, but Kevin said the brisket was just so-so. Of course it was LOL! I would recommend it anyway.

We did drive the historic tour route, and the old buildings were impressive. The town was so thoroughly destroyed in the siege that all the buildings are post Civil War.

Yesterday we drove to Memphis again to get Kevin a new pellet grill. He’d had his eye on one, and Camping World had it on sale plus he gets another 10% discount so the price was right. He made burgers on it today, and I think it will work out well. He is really having to play Tetris in the storage bays to get it in though!

Tomorrow we head to Red Bay, AL for work on the MH. Saturday is always a good day to find a campsite during this “snowbird migration” season that is beginning. We have appointments Monday through Thursday, and I am SOOOOOO looking forward to getting the bathroom/bedroom slide fixed after the idiots at Velocity screwed up the cables.

Finally in Red Bay, AL again

No pictures in this post.

After the Elks Lodge we chose to stay at a KOA west of El Reno, OK for a night. We got some laundry done, cleaned the tanks, and generally reveled in the idea of unlimited water LOL! The next night was at the Grand Casino parking lot outside Shawnee, OK. We took a short day because we really, really needed to get the motorhome washed! There was a Blue Beacon on I-40 in western Oklahoma City, so we took the time to get it washed. It is always an hour or more, because they are always busy. But the Casino was an awful place to spend the night. We had been in such quiet places for months that all the noise and lights kept me from sleeping well at all. Ugh. I begged Kevin for no more parking lots, so we stayed the next two nights at Corps of Engineers campgrounds, one in Russellville, AR (Old Post Park) and last night outside Hernando, MS (Hernando Point). Both were lovely and quiet.

Hernando Point was where we found out the truck’s battery was 100% dead! Kevin tried to charge it with the MH and the battery cables we had, but they were cheap ones and didn’t do a good job. So off we went to the next bigger town, the metropolis of Senatobia, MS population 8,500. Of course it was 20 miles from the campground! We made it to an auto parts store, but they didn’t have the booster and cables Kevin wanted, so he ended up at a Walmart nearby. Hard to park a MH at the auto parts store, so I parked on the street and he walked to the stores. Got back to the campground well after 6:00pm, and we started the generator and the new charger to get things working. We didn’t want to leave the truck, parked in a closed boat ramp area, so the CG host said we could just boondock in the lot instead of the site we had reserved. By 9:00 pm the truck was 40% charged, and we turned off the generator. The next morning Kevin charged the truck a bit more, then he drove the truck to Red Bay while I followed in the motorhome. Once we got here, he was able to isolate the charging line error in the umbilical that connects the powered items in the truck to the motorhome. He will fix that first, then he’ll see about getting a new battery for the truck. It has been my experience that once a battery is completely exhausted, it is not reliable in cold weather or under loads. If we were in civilization all the time, I wouldn’t worry because you can always find someone to give you a jump, but that is NOT where we generally stay!

So tomorrow Kevin gets to rewire umbilical cords (dead one and the spare which was from the Jeep). Should keep him busy. I intend on getting a bunch of oven mitt blanks quilted, ready for cutting on the Accuquilt. He will probably finish first!

This next week is for getting hte motorhome worked on. We have some body work (oops!), getting some slipcovers for the pilot and co-pilot chairs, covers for our dining chairs, and replacing the headboard fabric. We will also get our yearly engine, chassis service, and generator service plus a real detail job on the MH. There are a few minor things we are getting repaired too, but just little nits and lice stuff. However we have to be at the body shop ten miles away at 6:00am! Shiver!

Scenic south and Tiffin warranty service

We finally made it to the Tiffin Service Center campground on Monday afternoon. We got the call while we were on our way to Tupelo to visit Elvis Presley’s birthplace museum. Oops! Back to Red Bay to make the move.

We did get to drive just over 40 miles on the Natchez Trace on our way to Tupelo though. It is the oddest National Park I know. More than 400 miles long, but only as wide as the road in many places. Here is a view of the gorgeous heavy deciduous forest along most of the route. Obviously it is still late summer in this part of the country.

We did take time to walk part of the original Trace which was just a foot trail.

This section led to a small and lonely Confederate cemetery. There is a tiny Confederate flag someone left.

We also stopped to see the Pharr Indian Mounds, dating from 0-200 CE. Pretty impressive after 1800 years!

Once we got settled in the Tiffin campground, we just relaxed and watched TV. Kevin’s newly installed satellite is working great! This is not a campground for relaxing outside. Not only is it miserably hot here, but it is another parking lot, suitable for waiting for service but not camping.

Yesterday we decided to drive to Meridian, Mississippi to buy me a fold up sewing table. I have one at home, but forgot to bring it! We both figured it would be good to just keep this one in the coach. Kevin feels like death warmed over with his bronchitis though I am beginning to recover. It was 7 hours in the car because we took a “scenic” path. Not terribly scenic though since it was mostly just a road through lots and lots and lots of trees.

We did get with the service writer, and he said we had a couple of days wait to get into an Express Bay. That gives you two techs for two three hours to get most of our warranty items done. The final item will be in the cabinet shop, and that requires an additional wait. Sigh. Luckily the two days wait turned into a day and a half, and we moved into the Express Bay a little after noon today. All of our items were taken care of, but a ladder from the next bay fell against our coach and put a nice big scratch in the paint. Another sigh. They are hoping to get us into the paint shop tomorrow morning, but we will see. We still need the cabinet shop, but I am hoping they put us in the wait line immediately rather than waiting for the pain shop to finish. Oh well, the parking lot is free since we are under warranty, and it is full hookup.

i am also including a picture of cotton fields since they are everywhere around here!

We own a motorhome!

We headed to Sherman’s RV in Sherman, Mississippi on Sunday. We made it to Holly Springs, MS before we gave up. Eleven hours of travel, and I hit my limit! Monday morning we made the last 45 miles, and we bought our new Tiffin RED 37PA. I love it, but it has been tedious getting it ready. The dealer was late getting started, and a few things still needed to be done. We also had our Jeep Grand Cherokee modified to be towed behind the motorhome, and that also took longer than planned. Sigh. We still don’t have everything done, so we are staying a second night in the dealer’s full hookup site. It is just a gravel parking spot, but it looks out on a lovely pond.

Here are some pictures: