Sweet Home Alabama

This very early morning finds me in at Mill Creek RV Park out here in the woods of northern

Alabama not far from Elkmont, listening to a light rain on the roof of the camper. Living in an RV takes us to some of the most unlikely places. We left I65 on the last Tennessee exit and drove about 20 miles on country roads to get here because the nearest exit would take us on roads with low hanging trees. The driveway takes us about a quarter mile back in the woods to a clearing with several large pull through RV sites with full hook-ups. An older couple (about our age) own and run the place. They live in a little rustic house that sits in front of a huge garden with a chicken coop behind where we normally find them busy with something. They are currently putting a new roof on the chicken coop. Alabama has already had a hard freeze so most of the garden vegetables are finished except for late started broccoli and collards. The front porch is filled with pots of tomatoes, flowers and stuff. It is at a table there that you can get good wi-fi reception right beneath the router. We plan to head further south later today but not too far. We want the remnants of Hurricane Patricia to get past before we get close to the gulf coast.

Saturday we went to Huntsville which is about 40 miles from here where we visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. We took a bus tour where we saw the place where they tested early rockets and the Support Center for the International Space Station labs and learned about the history of early space exploration.

The last time I wrote, we were in Springfield at the Illinois State Fair Grounds. When we left Springfield, we drove to Bloomington, Indiana where Don’s friend Dave and his partner, Julie live. We parked in their driveway in a residential neighborhood. That required both of them watching for traffic while I helped Don back into the driveway.

Our rig filled up the driveway and blocked their garage but since our car was in front we all had a way out. We brought some Alaskan salmon which Dave cooked on his grill and we steamed some broccoli for a very nutritious and delicious meal. Dave took us for an excellent Sunday brunch and showed us around the area. We stopped at a Tibetan monestary where I found a gift for Kelly at the gift shop and saw many monks in brightly colored robes.  We toured Indiana University Campus which is near where Dave and Julie live.

Once we left their place, we headed to Shepardsville, Kentucky where we stayed at Grandma’s RV Park, just south of Louisville. We toured the Louisville Slugger factory and museum. The picture is of Don with Mickey Mantle’s bat.

We toured the Jim Beam Distillery and got to taste some good Kentucky bourbon. They had a nice tasting room and we were each allowed 4 tiny samples of a variety of their bourbons. Leave it to Don to pick Devil;s Cut for our first taste. At 180 proof it burned and kind of ruined the rest of the tasting. We then went to the place where Abraham Lincoln was born.

Our next stop was Mammoth Cave National Park where we were really lucky to get one of their 2 VIP camp sites. This was probably the best camp site we have ever had and with our senior discount it was only $25. We had a deck, fire place and a large cement pad. It was a beautiful wooded place with fall colors.
We took a tour of the caves and spent lots of time walking the trails and did some bike riding. The Park is like a small community complete with a store, post office and laundry. My washer is broke (a paddle came off the barrel and needs to be replaced) so I did my laundry there. I called Camping World in Nashville so they could get the part in and we could pick it up when we are there. The part is about $18 but they wanted me to pay $35 for shipping of this little 4 oz part. I decided to go on line to find the part. I found it on Ebay. Now I need to figure out where we will be so that I can order it and arrange to pick it up at a UPS store along the way. I have to plan for a week to 10 days out for that to happen. Meanwhile, I will use Laundromats.

We spent a few days in Nashville at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone RV Park. We did not do justice to Nashville. Had I known we would stay an extra night I would have found out the Thursday show at the Grand Ol Opry and seen Tanya Tucker.  Shoulda, coulda woulda…. As it was we toured the town and found Trader Joe’s (where they don’t sell $2 Chuck), Costco and Camping World. When we had our shopping done, we took a day to visit some Civil War battlefields around Franklin, TN where General Hood made a huge blunder and allowed the Union Army to take over the town. Then we went to Stones River National Battlefield and Cemetery near Murfreesboro where the Union won a decisive battle that allowed them to control transportation on a road, river and railroad.

Several days have passed since I began writing this blog and we are now in Hoover, AL just outside of Birmingham. We are staying here for the week. This place is really a big asphalt parking lot with a lot of pull-through level RV sites with full hook-ups. It is conveniently located near the Hoover Met Stadium, grocery stores, Costco and World Market where Don can buy his licorice. The RV Park is owned by the city and is run without a camp-host on site. You just pick out a site, put money in an envelope and drop it in a locked box. I assume someone picks up the money and checks from time to time on the campers but have not seen any sign of that. It is quiet except when Hoover High School plays a football game. We took some time off from touristing to make granola, fix the toilet (it’s always something), do laundry, do some shopping and lay around reading, napping and watching baseball.

On our way to Tuscaloosa yesterday, we came across the Mercedes plant along the road. We made a quick decision to stop with hopes of getting in on a tour that was about to start. No luck with the tour but we got to see the museum which had the world’s first horseless carriage, automobile and motorcycle. We went on to Tuscaloosa to take a look at “Bama” home of the Crimson Tide and last night went to see Hoover HS play North Marion High School from Florida. I’m just saying that Football is important around here. Several of the parents from Florida were wearing shirts with the slogan “Faith Family Football” in bold lettering on the back. Tuscaloosa and the University were pretty much demolished by the Union forces during the civil war so there are no really old buildings. The university was rebuilt and is a lovely campus with beautiful architecture. Today we plan to see the antebellum home in Birmingham from which the generals planned their destruction of the university. I’m getting the feeling that the Union officers found themselves some pretty nice digs when they came south.

 Speaking of level, I have some things to say. When we were at Mill Creek, it took us at least 3 hours to finally get this thing level enough so all the tires were mostly supported by the ground. By the time we were done, I was ready to abandon ship and go back to living in a stick house. Leveling involves putting down the jacks and seeing the whole front end of this 20 ton camper 6 inches off the ground. So you take a better look at the ground and move forward a few feet and try again only to find it’s better only 4 inches off the ground but now the right back tires are also off the ground. We carry about 10 2”X8” pieces of lumber in one of our bays so we take it out and place it under the tires. This involves moving forward, putting the wood down and backing up and try the levels again. After about 4 more attempts we finally had it about right. Now to enter the camper, we had about an 18”step up to the bottom step and I have to always remember that when I step down so I don’t fall and break a leg. About 1 hour of our time was taken up by neighbors who came in after we arrived, set up their RV and came over to talk talk talk about their life and offer advice on leveling. The other day when I was looking through our  file box that doesn’t include the Chassis manual, for the toilet manual I discovered a folder labeled “leveling”.  Something to add to “Things we’ve learned today”.

Midwest tour 10/7/15

Patrix

The perpetual visitor

Thirsty wood

Aqua Hot FIXED

My friend Kay took me to her writer's class while I was there and she suggested the use of prompts. Hence I've used the above prompts.

Two weeks ago when John Boehner resigned from the House of Representatives after his audience with Pope Francis I said, “I bet his conscience got to him and he could no longer stomach what he was doing.” Everybody around me poohed the idea asserting that he was politically run off. Then this week I read Pastrix: the Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I was curious to learn more about this preacher so I read her sermon from September 15. She speculated the same thing about John Boener only she referenced the lectionary for that week which was where Jesus said you should cut off your hand if it offended you, and was much more articulate than me. So at least 2 of us in the country thought that might have happened.

My sister Jeanne gave… no she loaned me this book when I was in Brainerd last summer and it finally made it to the top of the pile of books in my cabinet. Jeanne, you can relax… I just moved it away from my tea cup. I will do my best to get it back to you without a frayed jacket or being soaked with tea or I will buy a new one. I tried to call Jean this morning to talk about the book but she was busy with her knitting group and will call me when she has time. She has a more purposeful retirement. She creates beautiful things from yarn.

Ever since we got to Montana (Don says Spokane) we have been “perpetual visitors”. I can’t even begin to guess the number of meals we have eaten with family and friends since the end of June. And here we are in Springfield with our meals scheduled out in front of us. Don left me home alone and went to visit some of his old work friends. Remember how happy I was to see familiar faces when we got to Montana. Now we are looking forward to seeing all strangers until we get back to Palmdale, I think. It has been wonderful to see you all and I’m glad that I got to spend time with every one of you. I have put on a few pounds from all that food and that is good if I don’t continue to add the pounds.

The last time I wrote, we were in Omaha and were planning to head for Excelsior Springs, MO to see friends Kay and Max. We arrived at their place, “Black Iris Farm” on September 21 and stayed until October 1. With careful preservation of water and judicious use of our waste water tanks we were able to remain in one place without full hookups for those 10 days. It helped that we took the car over to Ottawa, KS to see brother-in-law Deed for a couple of nights. During our stay with Max and Kay we lapsed back into the industriousness for which we used to be well known. We had asked them to think of some work we could do to help them with their property as they have not been able to do everything that needs doing and they want to sell the place next spring L. Turns out their 54’X14’

deck needed a little work. It had been constructed with nails which were loosening and sticking up in places. Every board needed to be pried up, nails removed and put back down with screws. Once we finished that, it needed pressure washing which was mostly done by their son. Then it needed 2 coats of stain which we put down with brushes and rollers. Thirsty wood soaked up the stain. I have to confess, I pooped out on the last coat of stain and left Don, Kay and Max to finish the job while I went for a mani-pedi. I’m not proud of that. I don’t have a picture of the finished product but I will try to get one from Kay. We took some time off while Erik was washing the Deck and worked on the Aqua Hot.

 On our way out of Minnesota we had stopped at UPS in Maple Grove to pick up the last box of parts that had been mis-shipped. We commenced to remove the old diesel burner and put in the new one. It took about 3 hours and amazingly when we fired it up it worked!!!!

Enough industriousness for now… back to perpetual visiting.

After we left Deed who gave us a container of the most excellent pulled pork that I’ve ever eaten and some basil, we returned to pick up the camper and admire our handy work on the deck. It was vastly improved and will not be a detriment when they go to sell their place.

So we headed across Missouri on highway 36 to Hannibal where we stayed at the same place we stayed a year ago, Mark Twain Cave Campground. We had very full waste water tanks and needed full hookups so we could dump and rinse them out. We had dinner twice with our old friends Dennis and Vivian. Dennis was the store manager for Tempo in Jacksonville, IL where Don worked when we first moved here in 1974. We’ve known them a very long time. They are like family to us and grandparents to our children. While they are both dealing with health problems that come with age they have not lost their sense of humor or their gracious generosity. Once more we enjoyed a meal, awesome cake and a lively game of cards at their table.

We continued east on 36 which turns in I-72 and came to Springfield where we are staying at the Illinois State Fair Grounds Campground. It’s a good place to stay as it is close to town. Needless to say, we are once more having dinner with friends. On Sunday when we arrived, I couldn’t wait to see my good friend, Mary with whom I worked for many years in child welfare. She is in walking distance from here so I walked over and we talked while she made a pot of soup and chicken salad for sandwiches. We brought that back to the camper to share with Don and so Mary could see how we live.

Then we had steaks with friend Dwight and his son Adam. Dwight is also a friend from Tempo Days. Last night was dinner at Xochimilko Restaurant with friends Kathy and Jon. I stopped by the office today to see my friends there. They offered me my old job back but I declined. I think they are better off with the young enthusiastic workers who have so ably taken over. Later this week I will have lunch with some of my old lunch friends from child welfare days and breakfast with Kathy before we leave here on Friday morning. More food…. More friends.