Multi-State Trip Leg 6

04/19/2013 Friday Brandon finished washing and waxing the coach at 1 PM and we hooked up the toad and drove to Davy Crockett State Park  just outside Laweranceburg TN which is a few miles from the Natchez Trace Parkway. We began to set up in site 19 in campground 1 when I found that the water hydrant for the site had a hole in the water pipe. I contacted the host and they tried to do a temporary fix but was unable to, so the host gave me permission to put a “Y” on site 18 water hydrant until they can fix the bad hydrant. We went to the restaurant in the park. It was okay - I gave it a 2 on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best. I checked out the other sites in campground 1 and decided that sites 12, 17-20 are about the only ones that can handle our size MH. The park is really pretty and we are backed up to Shoal Creek which is about 1 foot deep with water gurgling over some rocks. Very peaceful.

04/20/2013 Saturday We had a cold night as the heater ran off and on all night. We had breakfast and drove to Walmart to get a few items and then drove down the Natchez Trace Parkway and visited several sites, including Meriwether Lewis Campground and the Meriwether Lewis memorial where he died and was buried. The campground is free and has 33 sites, none with hookups but all were nice, mostly level and most were large enough for our MH. There are water hydrants scattered around the CG but not to hookup to. If we are in the area again we will probably use this campground if we are traveling the Trace. All the restrooms were new. We drove on down the parkway and stopped at the Fall Hollow waterfall. Then it was on to a Tobacco Farm location. From here we drove down two miles of the old trace road and then got back on the highway and drove to Jackson Falls. It was down a long paved path and was beautiful. We drove back up the parkway and exited to drive across some of the local roads, stopping in Ethridge to eat a late lunch at The Red Rooster. There are about 300 old order Amish families living in this area and we saw a few of them riding their buggies down the road. We would have got some of their bread but most had already closed there roadside stands because it was mid afternoon.We returned to the campground and read for the remainder of the day.

04/21/2013 Sunday It was rather cold again tonight. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then we walked a trail along the Shoal Creek looking for Crockett Falls. A little over 1.5 miles of climbing up and down hills we finally found it and the covered bridge that was on our park map. We decided to return by the road and not the trail. Finally after 4.2 miles we got back to the camp site and had lunch and then watched the Nascar Race. Later we called and talked to Jackson (our oldest grandson) and wished him a Happy 7th Birthday and then we relaxed and read until supper.

04/22/2013 Monday After breakfast we drove into Lawenceburg to use the WiFi at McDonalds and then to Walmart to get a few groceries followed by a stop at a indoor flea market. The cell phone sign is not very strong  in the CG so my "hotspot" is not working very good. We returned to the CG and I cooked some chicken legs on the grill. Later we relaxed and read for awhile before I make a campfire later in the day. I put away some of our things to get a head start on leaving tomorrow. The new residential refrigerator and new microwave/convection that Brannon installed is working great. It is so nice to have water and ice in the door like at home and food that is not spoiled.

04/23/2013 Tuesday After breakfast we finished packing up, dumped the holding tanks and headed for Nashville about 8:45AM. If was a nice drive down the remainder of the Natchez Trace Parkway, very little traffic and we saw 24 wild turkeys out by the roadside

Multi-State Trip Leg 5

04/16/2013 Tuesday  We had a nice peaceful drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway. The parkway runs from Natchez MS 444 miles to Nashville TN. We exited about milepost 298 and drove through Red Bay AL to the Custom RV shop owned by Brannon Hutcheon. After getting setup at his shop we went to Belmont to eat supper since most of our food has spoiled in the refrigerator. We will be glad when it is replaced with the residential refrigerator.

04/17/2013 Wednesday After breakfast we drove to Red Bay, browsed through McKinny's RV supplies warehouse, then we went to the Tiffin Factory to take the tour. After lunch we visited the Tiffin campground store and the scratch and dent store where Lena found the door awning end cap we needed. We returned to Brannon's shop and he began working on the mods for our MH about 3 PM. By 6PM he had installed a motion sensor LED light over the entry door, cleaned the air conditioner coils, replaced the microwave/convection oven, replaced the one flourescent  light remaining in the ceiling, calibrated the leveling jacks, installed new and much stronger windshield wiper arms and blades

04/18/2013 Thursday We ate breakfast and got the MH ready for Brannon at 7AM to begin installing our new Whirlpool residential refrigerator and 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter. He finished at 1:30PM. Brannon and his helpers did a very good job. We put all the remaining food that was still good in the new refrigerator and then drove about 20 miles to visit the Coon Dog Cemetery. The only one in the world. Then we went to the Rattle Snake Saloon for one of the best hamburgers we have ever had. The saloon is built under a large rock/cave looking place. They drive you down the hill in the back of a pickup truck. Afterwards we returned to the MH to wait for the impending storm that was coming our way. The storm provided LOTS of rain and high winds but no tornadoes, We brought the slides in prior to going to bed to protect the slide covers and help stabilize the motor home. The wind did not rock the MH very much.The new refrigerator was down to 36 degrees and had a full bin of ice when we got up. What a nice improvement from the "not so cold" Norcold.

04/19/2013 Friday We ate breakfast and drove the MH to Ricky Johnson’s house just outside of Red Bay to get it washed and polished at 9AM. While Brandon was doing this we drove back to Red Bay to get a latte at McDonalds and to use the free WiFi and pick up a few groceries.

Multi-State Trip Leg 4

04/09/2013 Tuesday  The trip across Texas to La Vernia was very windy with winds hitting us from the side of the MH most of the way causing the driving to not be as pleasant as I would have liked but we didn't have any major traffic problems even going around Houston. We arrived about 2:30PM and parked the MH under my brother's pole barn and set it up.

04/10/2013 Wednesday It rained lightly and was rather cool so we did not do much today except I tried to determine why the portable ice maker would not work but I failed to determine the problem. After lunch we all went to the H.E.B. store to get a few groceries.

04/11/2013 Thursday After breakfast Lena and I went shopping for a Digital to Analog Audio Converter for the front TV so the sound would play through the sound system. Then we met my brother and his wife and grandson for a seafood lunch at the Dixie Grill in Seguin. After lunch we returned and installed the sound converter and relaxed/read for awhile before supper.

04/12/2013 Friday After breakfast we all went to San Antonio and visited the River Walk. After walking for awhile we stopped at Casa Rio Restaurant on the river and had a great lunch of Mexican food. Then we walked along the river some more, visited a gift shop and then stopped at another restaurant across the river and had Fried Ice Cream. We were all tired of walking so we headed back to the ranch and relaxed the remainder of the day.

04/13/2013 Saturday At 7 AM we all went to Brietzke Station, a local grill for some very good breakfast tacos and coffee where we met several men that come in early for breakfast. Brietzke Station has a long history in the community, starting out as a car dealer ship and garage in the early 1900's. Now it is the gathering place for the locals to eat and catch up on the community news. Then we took a walk around part of Conrad’s ranch followed by a light lunch. After lunch we drove over to Wilson county to a Shrimp and Crawfish Boil at Kicaster Country Store that is owned by my nephew. Cher La ‘Bas (a Cajun/Tex) band was playing/singing Cajun music. The food was great and the music was good also.  This was our first time eating crawfish.

04/14/2013 Sunday We departed Conrad’s house at 7AM and went to their church for early church at 8AM followed by a small breakfast in the fellowship hall. Then we departed at 9:30AM to head back to Niblett’s Bluff Park in Vinton, LA. About 7 miles down the road a lady pulled up beside us to tell us the front tires on the Toad we not turning, so I pulled off at an intersection. The passenger side tire was torn up almost to the point of blowing out. For some reason the tire had been dragging and not turning. The front tires were turned to the right slightly, not straight as they should have been. I first called our roadside service Coach Net but then decided to put the donut tire on and go to a tire store about 3 miles away and get a new tire, so I canceled the roadside assistance call. After replacing the tire we hooked the car back up and took off but stopped and checked the tires several times in the next 30 miles and all was okay. We arrived at Niblett’s Bluff Park app. 6 PM and set up for the night.

04/15/2013 Monday We ate breakfast and dumped the tanks and departed about 8AM and headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway that begins at Natchez, Mississippi. We got on the parkway at the Southern most point and rode it to Rocky Springs Campground at milepost 54.8 and stopped for the night about 2PM. The campgrounds on the parkway are free with no hookups.We relaxed and read the remainder of the day.

Multi-State Trip Leg 3

We arrived at Coastal RV Park in Brunswick GA app. 12 noon and had an easy setup in site 708. Sometime while at Fort McAllister we picked up a hitchhiker (a small mouse). When I opened the wet bay door I saw him scoot by behind the panel in the wet bay and he had chewed my paper towels - I guess to make a nest. So when we got to Brunswick we bought some mouse traps and set two in the wet bay.

We got up with Hugh & Pat Miller that we met at last year’s rally and also met their friends John & Joy Tucker. We all have a 2006 Phaeton. Later we joined the TRVN group for Fajitas at the Pavilion then we went to John & Joy’s coach and ate cake and talked for awhile.

04/03/2013 Wednesday - We did our morning walk and had breakfast, then I checked the mouse traps. The mouse got the peanut butter and one piece of the cheese but did not trip the trap. So I went back to the Dollar Store and got some sticky traps. We joined the others at the Rally for supper at the pavilion.

04/04/2013 Thursday - We had breakfast and I went to a discussion on Mods followed by a safety talk from a sales rep for a tow bar company. After lunch I attended a demo of the software program Picasa . The group gathered at 5PM for a Pot Luck Dinner where lots of good food was available.

04/05/2013 Friday - After breakfast I attended a discussion on electrical tips for motor homes and then Lena and I both attended a Healthy Eating seminar. Then we toured a few motor homes to look at the mods the owners had done. Again the group gathered at the pavilion for a BBQ and grilled chicken dinner.

04/06/2013 Saturday- We did our morning walk and then joined the group for pancakes and sausage for breakfast at the pavilion. At 10 o’clock we participated in a flea market at the pavilion. Then we went to Hugh and Pat’s site for hamburgers for lunch. Brannon Hutcheson of Custom RV came about 3PM and installed SeeLevel II monitors on the MH. By that time it was time to go back to the pavilion for supper with the group. After that we returned to the MH and I did all the prep I could for departing next day.

04/07/2013 Sunday - We ate breakfast and got ready to leave. We drove all the way to the Alabama state line (424 miles) and stopped at the Welcome Center and asked could we overnight even though the sign said No Overnight Parking. She said it would be okay as long as we didn’t bother anyone.

04/08/2013 Monday  - We departed at 5:30AM and stopped a few miles down the interstate at the Cracker Barrel and had a great breakfast, then it was back on the road again about 7AM. We drove through, Alabama, Mississippi and on to Vinton, LA. About 4 miles from the Texas border. We camped at Niblett’s Bluff Park/Campground. It is a nice CG right on the banks of a river. We got site 38 a pull through. The sites were grass with a hard packed gravel parking area for the MH. The campground is owned and operated by the local parrish. It has about 60 RV sites with 50 & 30 AMP service, water, fire ring, picnic table and dump station on the way out for $12 plus tax. Very quiet and peaceful. Probably on a holiday weekend it would be busier but there was only about 6-8 RVs there. It is about 6 miles off I-10 at exit 4 just  before the Texas border.

04/09/2013 Tuesday We did a morning walk, ate breakfast, dumped our holding tanks and departed the CG by 8:15 and headed to La Vernia, TX to visit my brother for a few days. We arrived about 2:30PM and parked the MH under his pole barn and set it up.

Multi-State Trip Leg 2

03/29/2013 Friday - We departed the Freightliner Service Center camp sites app. 9AM and headed for Fort McAllister State Park near Savannah GA. We had a nice easy trip except for one fool driver that whipped out in front of us when the traffic slowed down, I had to almost stand on the brakes to keep from hitting him. I let him listen to my Hadley air horns. Then about 50 miles or so from Savannah the traffic was stop and go, I guess due to all the Easter weekend traffic. We arrived at the park an hour behind schedule unhooked and drove the toad around the campground to select our site after we checked in. We set up camp on site 20 on Raccoon Way street and then I cooked a steak for supper.

03/30/2013 Saturday - After a morning walk and breakfast we drove to Pooler, GA. to the Camping World to pick up a few items and then to Wal-Mart to return an item. Then we went to Uncle Bubba’s for lunch. He is the brother of Paula Deen and we ate at her restaurant when we stayed in the area last year. The restaurant sets on the bank of a marsh and has views out to a waterway. The food was plentiful and excellent. We had to ask for two “doggie boxes” as we could not eat it all. The server was very good and gave us extra corn muffins and butter to take with us. It seem the traffic in the area of Savannah has been terrible since we got in the area. It makes me appreciate living in the county were we don’t have much traffic. Then we returned to the Fort McAllister and read for a couple of hours and enjoyed the nice weather.

03/31/2013 Sunday - After spending a little time riding around the campground looking at all the sites I think the sites on Possum Trot street would be my preferred sites as they are father apart and all are easy drive through sites. The campground has a nice concrete boat ramp and a pier for fishing and places to tie up a boat. We spent the afternoon reading and riding the bicycles around the campground. Then I cooked some corn bread in the Dutch Oven.

04/01/2013 Monday - We woke up to rain coming down. It rained until about 10AM so we did not get our morning walk in. After the rain stopped I wiped all of our outside items down so they would dry quicker then we did some reading. I cooked some ribs in the Dutch Oven for supper while we read. The gnats got really bad again while eating supper.

04/02/2013 Tuesday - We did our morning walk and had breakfast then we prepared to leave for Brunswick GA for the Spring 2013 TRVN Motor Home Rally.

Fort McAllister campground is nice but we did not like the gnats.