Want to see our Visited States Data, our State by State Bucket Lists or our Visited Parks and Campground lists?

Then click on the image above to go to our other website.

SLEEPING AT CRACKER BARREL

MONDAY

TRAVEL DAY
STOP #246

We made it out of the repair shop by 3:00PM and were traveling east on Interstate 10 before 3:05PM. Three and a half hours later we were 184 miles down the road and pulling into the Cracker Barrel parking lot where we intend to spend the night.

Around sunset we were approaching downtown Mobile Alabama and took this skyline photo just before we entered the 3000 foot long tunnel that passes 40 feet below Mobile Bay before emerging on the other side.

Once you emerge on the east side of the bay if you look over your right hand shoulder you'll catch a glimpse of the decommisioned battleship U.S.S. Alabama. It has been in Mobile Bay since January of 1965 and is now a museum which can be toured by the public.

Here's a photo of Tricia I snapped as she was warming her hands and her backside in front of the crackling wood fire inside of Cracker Barrel. It was right after she placed her breakfast order with the waitress.

It was 35 degrees outside last night and we were running two small portable electric heaters off of our solar batteries just to keep it above 50 degrees inside of THE POD.

Even with two heaters and our refrigerator running all night we still had a 58% charge on our batteries when we woke up. Not bad considering there was no charging going on after the sun went down the day before.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:

THE WAIT IS OVER!

TUESDAY - Just after 5:00PM today we got a phone call from Johnson Tire & Automotive to inform us our new axle had arrived at the shop. They were able to order and receive our brand new, custom built, Dexter Torsion Axle in just 13 days when everyone else told us it would take 6-8 weeks!

We're not sure how they did it, but are sure glad in this case they under-promised and over-delivered. Unfortunately the shop is too busy to install the axle tommorow because they are closed Thursday-Sunday for the Thansgiving Holiday and need to get everyone elses vehicles back to them. We understand, not a problem!

But at 8:00AM Monday morning we will be at the shop and before the end of the day will be "Back On The Road Again". We'll spend Monday night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot along Interstate 10 somewhere between Mississippi and Florida, then on Tuesday we'll get back to our previously reserved camping visits.

MONDAY - After packing everything away on Sunday and taking THE POD over to the campground's dump station to empty our waste tanks we went to bed early because we need to be off the campsite by 7:15AM if we want to make it to the repair shop on time.

We did all this on Sunday afternoon so that early Monday morning we could leave as quietly as possible and not disturb our neighbors.

We arrived early, of course, and by 8:30AM they had THE POD in position to start working on it.

This photo was taken at 10:15AM and as you can see the old bent axle has already been removed and they are in the process of mounting the shock absorbers to the new axle.

After they came back from lunch it wasn't long before everything was back together and readly to roll.

But before that could happen ROVER's airlift compressor for our shocks stopped working. Without it we wouldn't be able to level out the trailer for safely towing it down the highway.

Fortunately I carry a complete new system and they had time to install that also. I'll need to once again send out the non-functioning compressor to have it repaired. This same exact thing happened back in March when we were in Florida.

By 3:00PM we were "back on the road again" as they say. Our goal is to make it back into Florida and then spend the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot. If we arrive early enough, like we should, we'll eat dinner in the restaurant as a way of saying Thank You for allowing us to freely spend the night.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:

WAITING AROUND IN THE FOREST

TUESDAY

TRAVEL DAY
STOP #245

After a near 200 mile travel day we arrived at Big Biloxi Rec Area in the De Soto National Forest outside of Gulfport, MS.

We have been in this campground before, in fact we even got the exact same campsite (#14) that we had nearly two years ago while we were here getting our awning repaired.


Campsite #14 at Big Biloxi Recreation Area in the DeSoto National Forest near Saucier, MS.


Our spacious corner campsite in a nearly empty campground.

But before we arrived at the campground we first went to a big truck repair business in nearby Vancleave, MS. They work on big trucks like 18-wheelers, street sweeping trucks, school busses and motorhomes. They are well equipt to work on 5th-wheels and travel trailers.

When we arrived they took one look at our trailer and knew it indeed would require a brand new axle. It seems the idea of realigning an axle only works when it requires fractions of an inch adjustments, like maybe 1/8 inch. Ours is out by a solid inch or more.

They crawled under THE POD and took a photo of the serial number plate which shows the needed stats required to order the correct replacement. The axle was ordered late in the day on November 10th and now all we can do is wait!

FRIDAY - Today I had a "front" hitch receiver installed on ROVER. You are probably wondering why I would do such a thing?

This is actually something I've wanted to do for quite some time. The idea is if we ever find ourselves once again towing THE POD two miles down a single lane dirt road with nowhere to turn around, then reach an obstruction like a downed tree or another mud bog, we will now have options.


Our new hitch receiver tucked neatly out of the way under the front license plate.


I also purchased an extra draw bar and hitch ball to install when needed, instead of removing our rear monster-sized sway control/weight distribution hitch to use on the front receiver.

I now have the option to unhitch THE POD, turn the truck around and rehitch up. Then by using a simple 12V-fuse to jump 2-pins of our 7-pin electic cord, my back up camera and two side view cameras (just recently upgraded and installed) will become available to see "behind us" while driving forward. I can now safely push the trailer, using the three camera angles, backward up the road to a point where we can turn the trailer around, unhitch and spin the truck around, rehitch and be on our merry way.

Having the pivot point between the truck and trailer closer to the steering axle will make this scenerio much easier to maneuver in tight situations when trying up back up several miles.

SUNDAY - Today our friends Katherine and John from Denver, CO are scheduled to arrive at a campground just 30 miles from here. They are in town to get service work done on their Airstream at the dealership where they bought it earlier this year.

You may remember we first met them on Padre Island National Seashore in Texas back in February of 2020, just before COVID-19 became a worldwide name. Then in April of this year they drove their brand new Airstream over to a Kansas State Park where we were camping to spend a weekend with us and show us their new trailer.

This time around we may not be camping together, but we plan on visiting them at their campground and possibly going out to dinner later in the week.

TUESDAY - Tonight we are going out to dinner with Katherine and John, plus their good friend Kenton from Southern California who flew in to travel with them for a few weeks.

I believe Katherine picked the restaurant, a BBQ joint called Murky Waters, located 10 miles from camp in downtown Gulfport, MS and just a stones throw away from the Gulf of Mexico's shoreline. The BBQ was tasty with large enough portions even I had food left over to take home.

P.S. - Sorry Dewey, no photos! Whenever someone puts food in front of me my first thought is never to take a photo of it, but I'm working on that.

FRIDAY - Being stuck in a campgorund for weeks isn't fun, but it could be worse. At least we are near a large enough town that there is a Walmart, a Home Depot and several laundromats to choose from. Most importantly though is that there is an Amazon Pickup Location just three miles away.

So we have been online this week ordering some much needed items like a battery-operated pump that fits our 3-gallon water bottles and items to better secure our GPS and new Backup Camera monitior to the dashboard in ROVER.

Over the next few weeks we each have a couple of small projects to tackle around the truck and trailer. Stay tuned for the exciting details.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:

A SPECIAL REPORT!

2021

WEDNESDAY

This Special Report is just to inform you all that we have arrived safe and sound at our destination.

The diagnosis of THE POD's issues are bleak. The axle is indeed bent and will need replacement. Additionally the tire has also sustained damage and will be replaced.

The Airstream Dealership gave us an estimate of a 6-8 week delivery window for a new axle. That just didn't work for us so we found a nearby Big Truck and Tire Service Center who assures us they can source a new axle in 3-4 weeks by "cutting out the middle man".

We have an appointment in Tallahassee, FL (6 hours from here) on December 13th (just 32 days from now) that we don't want to miss. So we're hoping it's closer to three weeks, instead of four, that our axle gets delivered. The tire shop has also assured me they can install it the day after it arrives, something the Airstream Dealership could not do.

So we sit and wait. There probably won't be any blog posts in the meantime so rest assured we are not missing, just stationary.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:

WE'VE GOT A BIG PROBLEM!

MONDAY

TRAVEL DAY
STOP #244

After a short 30 mile travel day we were all set up in our new campsite at Marathon Lake in the Bienville National Forest in Mississippi. You may recall that our last visit to a forest service campsite didn't go to well for us. Turns our this time didn't either.

Tricia mentioned that she heard an odd sound coming from the tires when we were backing into our last campsite at Roosevelt State Park. She heard it again today while I was backing into our spot, so I decided I'd better take another look.


It's hard to see in this photo, but trust me, It Ain't Right!

What we found was that one of the trailer's passenger side tires is a full inch out of alignment with the other tire on the same side. I suspect we bent one of our axles when plowing through the mud holes in the last forest we visited.

I made a quick phone call to the nearest Airstream Dealership, which we happen to have been at twice before for service, and was able to secure an appointment for tommorow morning for them to at least take a look at it. If any parts will be needed for the repair we have to get them ordered ASAP because big items like a new axle could take 6-8 weeks to arrive.

We have already towed THE POD 160+ miles without feeling anything wrong while going down the highway. Let's hope we have another 150+ miles of no issues, because that's how far we have to travel to get to the Airstream Dealership in Biloxi, MS tomorrow.


Campsite #15 here at Marathon Lake Campground


It had large lakefront views.


It was very difficult to decide to leave after just one night.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:

10 YEARS AND COUNTING!

TUESDAY

TRAVEL DAY
STOP #243

Today was a much more reasonable 130+ mile travel day. First order of business was to secure a campsite for the next two nights. We called ahead to our next stop and were pleased to find out our campsite for the weekend was also available tonight and tomorrow. So we just extended our regular planned stop for two extra nights. That's one problem solved!


Waiting in line for our turn in the Blue Beacon Truck Wash.

Next was where to get all this mud off ROVER and THE POD. We were happy to find that one of our favorite truck washes was on our route today. The Blue Beacon Truck Wash outside of Jackson, MS did a first class job making the truck and trailer look almost new again and all for less than $50. Most campgrounds prohibit you from washing your own equipment in the campground, they don't want you making a mess of the driveway and also save on their water bill, we understand their point.

Once we were set up in our new campsite at Roosevelt State Park, voted the most beautiful state park in all of Mississippi, we drove around to check out the rest of the park.

There are two separate campgrounds in the park, plus a primitive camping area with all-set-up-and-ready-to-go tent sites. You can also find a dozen or more cabins and a group camping area. Almost all of the campsites in this park come with a view of the lake.


These tent sites are just waiting for someone to arrive and enjoy their stay.


A view from the front of Campsite #27 at Roosevelt State Park in Morton, Mississippi


A view of our picnic table, fire pit and grill.


Our view looking out our rear dinette window.

Directly behind our campsite a huge pine tree has fallen from the shoreline into the lake. It has now been repurposed into a sundeck by several dozen turtles. The larger turtles seem to prefer the trunk of the downed tree, while the smaller ones end up in the thinner branches.

Every once in a while a large heron will land on one of the upper branches and send the smaller turtles diving for the safety of the water, only to have to make the arduous climb back up onto the branches once the coast is finally clear.


The "Turtle Day Spa" located behind our site.


The view of ROVER and THE POD from the lakeshore.

FRIDAY - Today Tricia and I are celebrating our 10th Wedding Aniversary.

The traditional gift for this occasion is something made of aluminum. Well we've pretty much covered that already, seeing as how our home (THE POD) and our transportation (ROVER) are both primarily built using aluminum.

How did we spend our anniversary? Probably like most fulltime RVers. We woke up and ate a simple breakfast of oatmeal and cereal before walking the half mile campground loop road and stopping to say "Hello and more" to at least three other camping couples.

Then we took showers in the campground restrooms before heading into town to eat lunch at the town's only diner, Sam's Diner, located directly across the street from the town's only grocery store, Fairway Foods. Then we drove around the corner and did three weeks worth of laundry at the town's only laundromat, Keyway Super Sudz Coin Laundry.

NOT surprisingly, none of those three businesses have a website,
or a Facebook Page, but they do all appear on Google Maps.

Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?

We encourage everyone
to leave their comments
in our Facebook Group!

We would really like to hear from you!

Until next time

TWO PEAS

Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)