Showing posts with label ALABAMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALABAMA. Show all posts

WE'RE IN THE HOME STRETCH NOW (AL-FL)



MONDAY - Here at Airstream Nuts and Bolts we woke up at 6:00AM to sub-freezing temperatures outside, but a nice and comfortable 68°F inside of THE POD.

Since the last time we were here two years ago Ronnie has installed electrical service on the outside of his shop so his customers can plug in for just the scenario we experienced last night. You know how us Airstreamers are, we don't like to rough it much!


The first trailer he worked on was just replacing the frosted glass in the door with clear tinted glass so you can see who's outside knocking on your door. That didn't take long and he had them on their way in no time.

The other trailer was one he had began work on three days ago on Friday. It was a 2019 Flying Cloud model that this customer had just purchased and was making all kinds of modifications so that it fit his needs. Most of what he was having installed we have already done.

Shortly after a lunch break they were ready to tackle our issues.


We had the clear glass installed in our door back in February while we were in Hawaii, but elected not to install the window shade that comes with the kit. After 9-months of having to hang a dish towel over the window to keep the sun from making my laptop screen unreadable while trying to work at the dinette we asked Ronnie to install it.

We purchased a new lock for THE POD that can be opened using an app on your phone. Now Tricia doesn't have to take her keys with her when she walks in the morning or when we both just head to the bath house for showers. Ronnie installed that for us too.

Our city water inlet has needed to be replaced three times since we bought THE POD. It's cheaply made out of plastic and when the gasket between the inlet and the water regulator starts to leak our water pump "burps" all night long trying to maintain the pressure in the system. There's a new inlet on the market that's made out of aluminum and does not have the regulator built-in so there's no gasket to leak. Ronnie installed that for us too.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere we managed to snap off the satellite antenae on the roof of THE POD. Sometimes the radio works fine, other times it displays a message to check the antennae. Well now we have a new one and that problem is solved.


By 3:00PM the work was all done and we settled up the bill. That left us with only a couple of hours before sunset and I dislike towing THE POD after dark, especially on these 2-lane back country hilly roads.

We made 131-miles down the road to this Walmart in Eufaula, AL which is right on the Georgia border. Tomorrow we'll pass right through Georgia and arrive back in Florida for the first time since January 12th earlier this year.





TUESDAY - Twice in the last 7-years that we've been on the road we've tried to schedule a visit to this 67-site campground.

Both times the campground was closed due to storm damage, first from Hurricane Ian in 2022 and then again by Hurricane Helene in 2024, both were Category 4 storms with winds in excess of 120-MPH.

Well this year there were no Florida hurricanes and the campground is open. This is a First-Come-First-Serve campground, so we didn't expect 1 of the 19 water/electric hookup sites to be vacant, and there wasn't. We did manage to snag one of the 28 water only sites, and ours even backs up to the lake.

The other 20 sites here have no utilities and are better suited to tent camping.


Here's our large waterfront Site #28.

The driveway was plenty long, so we didn't even have to unhook for our 2-day visit.

Here's the view from the edge of our campsite.

There's even a dirt boat ramp in the campground
where you can launch canoes, kayaks and small motor boats.


On New Year Day we move over to Jacksonville to a private park for the entire month. While we're there we'll be purchasing new tires for THE POD and ROVER, getting new shocks and struts installed, plus hopefully redoing the window decals on the truck's capper, they're looking pretty sad.

We both have physical checkups scheduled at new to us doctor's offices. We're both feeling fine, but it's time to make sure we are actually doing fine. This is something that's we've been putting off for too long and is now long overdue.


I'm not sure how much, if any, I'm going to blog about in January, but rest assured if there's any important news you'll hear about it right here on the blog.



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OUR SLOWER 7-day EASTBOUND SCRAMBLE (TX-LA-MS-AL)



MONDAY - DAY 1 of 7
(169-miles from Marble Falls, TX to Purdon, TX)

We said goodbye to Tricia's brother last night and today we pulled out of our campsite around 10:00AM.

We have a relatively easy travel day today of just 169-miles, which won't even get us out of Texas. I did manage to surprise Tricia with a special lunch stop at Buc-ee's in Temple, TX and it's the first one we've seen with a car wash in addition to over 100 gas pumps.

Tricia picked out a monster sized Chicken Burrito and I tried the 3-meat BBQ sandwich for the first time. I don't think I'll get it again, it was also huge and I was burping the smoked sausage flavor for the next three hours.

Tricia also picked out a Brisket topped Mac and Cheese bowl and I a small sized Banana Pudding, which was still huge.

The portion of Mac and Cheese that Tricia didn't eat ended up making the perfect sized dinner for me, along with the pudding I saved.


An hour later we were pulling into the Oak Park Campground here on Navarro Mills Lake. It's an Army Corp of Engineers camground so we're paying half price, just $15, for a water and electric site on the lakeshore.



TUESDAY - DAY 2 of 7

Navarro Mills Lake has 4 Army Corps of Engineers reservable campgrounds around it's shoreline.

Located on the north shore of Navarro Mills Lake you'll find Pecan Point and Wolf Creek Parks, they both closed for the season back at the end of September and won't reopen until April 1st next year.

On the eastern shoreline is where we are camped at Oak Park, which is open year round. Also open year round is Liberty Hill Park on the south shore.

Today we're going for a drive over to Liberty Hill Park to check out their campground. It's just something we always try to do, just in case we're ever in this region again and need a place to spend the night.





WEDNESDAY - DAY 3 of 7
(217-miles from Purdon, TX to Haughton, LA)

We were about half way through our 217-mile travel day when we entered the city limits of Tyler, TX.

Tyler, TX is known for being the Rose Capital of the World, thanks to a 14-acre public garden that has over 38,000 rose bushes of at least 500 different varieties. That's nice, but what I'm going to remember about Tyler, TX is the price of gasoline at Walmart on Christmas Eve.

According to AAA (American Automoblie Association) the national average for gasoline today is $2.84 a gallon. The average gallon in Texas is $2.42, but for some unknown reason we paid $1.99 today, maybe it was a Holiday Special price?

My only regret was we only had room for 28-gallons in our 36-gallon tank.


Right around 1:00PM we finally made it out of Texas as we entered Louisiana on Interstate 20. The Tom Merrill Recreation Area on the Bayou Bodcau Reservoir is the only Army Corps of Engineers reservable campsite in Louisiana. There are two other COE campgrounds on the reservoir, but they are both FCFS (first-come-first-serve). You can bet we'll be checking them both out before we leave here and head over to Mississippi.


We arrived at the campground at 3:00PM and only 3 of the 20 campsites were occupied.
I know this campground is sold out for tonight so we should see neighbors before sunset.

So for now we'll enjoy our quiet little corner campsite.

It has all the usual amenities like a ground grill, upright grill, table and lantern post.
This one also comes with it's very own garbage can, not something you usually see.

The only complaint I have is that on Site #8 our utilities are on the wrong side of the driveway.
We had to break out our 30amp 25' electric extension cord and an extra 25' of water hose too.



We hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas today.

We are spending our Christmas in northwestern Louisiana
and looking forward to spending New Years in Florida.



FRIDAY - DAY 5 of 7

After takin' it easy yesterday, we decided today to go checkout those other camping opportunites in the area.

The first one is right across the street from here at the South Abutment Campground. There we found 5 sites that were walk-in tent sites and only 7 sites where you might be able to park a van, but nothing suitable for THE POD.

The same thing goes for the second campground we checked out. It was basically a boat ramp with a few places to throw a tent on the ground. Again, nothing suitable for THE POD. So I guess we picked the right spot to spend our Christmas Holiday.

On our way back to our campsite we stopped on top of the dam and snapped a couple of photos of THE POD.





SATURDAY - DAY 6 of 7
(273-miles from Haughton, LA to Forest, MS)

With a relatively long travel day today of 270+ miles we scheduled ourselves a couple of extra rest stops along the route.

Since we still had a half a tank of gas it wasn't important that we fill up before heading east on Interstate 20. Our exit here had gas for $2.69 a gallon, but with a quick check on our Gas Buddy app we learned that an hour up the road gas was going for just $2.14 instead.

Another hour after stopping for gas we pulled off the Interstate again to eat lunch at a Wendy's.

Just a short time later we were crossing over the Mississippi River into the state of, guess what? Mississippi, that's right!

The Interstate 20 bridge over the Mississippi River with the railroad bridge to the north.

Looking south there was a lot of sandy shoreline that I don't believe is supposed to be there.


As we approached the western side of Jackson, MS we exited the Interstate and headed to the north side of town where the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument is located.

Medgar Evers, while not as well known as Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in his home's carport on June 11, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. suffered the same fate of being assassinated on April 4, 1968.

Both men were high profile civil rights activists for people of color.


MEDGAR AND MYRLIE EVERS HOME
NATIONAL MONUMENT


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Here we are, all tucked in for the night!





SUNDAY - DAY 7 of 7
(264-miles from Forest, MS to Dadeville, AL)

We safely made it to Ronnie Dennis' Airstream Nuts and Bolts repair/modification shop by 4:00PM. True to form, Ronnie was there, working on the shop, on a Sunday afternoon between the Christmas and New Year Holidays.

I hope he wasn't there just to greet us as we arrived. We've been there before and knew where to park for the overnight and where to plug into the building for electric.

We'll see plenty of each other tomorrow while he's working on our, and two other trailers, in the shop.



Looking for our Visited States Map and Data?
How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List?

If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.



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