Wallace NC to Red Bay Alabama - June 11-16, 2016

Day 1 – Saturday June 11, 2016 We departed at 6:45AM for Red Bay Alabama. We had to get 6 new batteries, new OTA TV antenna, wind deflector on the door, new windshield and three windows replaced in the motorhome. The windshield has split from where a rock hit it last year in Calgary Canada on the way to Alaska. The windows in the motorhome are dual pane and two of them have fogged bad. Our batteries will be 6 years old in October and are due for replacement.

We stopped for fuel and breakfast outside of Wallace and was on our way about 8AM. We arrived about 3PM at Old Salem Campground near Greensboro Georgia after driving 363b miles. It sits on the banks of the Oconee Lake that is owned by Georgia Power. I had reserved a pull-through sit so we would not have to unhook the Jeep but when we got to the site there was no way to get in and out of the site without unhooking the Jeep. The campground is nice, paved streets, large gravel sites like a state park, with electric and water hookups, bathhouses (that we don't use) and a dump station. It was really hot today so we had to run the generator going down the road this afternoon so we could run one of the roof air conditioners. The dash AC just will not keep it cool enough inside when it is 90 degrees outside.

Day 2 – Sunday June 12, 2016 After having breakfast we departed about 8:30AM. We drove a few miles down I-20 and stopped to fuel up at a Pilot Truck Stop.

We got through Atlanta Ga with only a short construction delay but the East bound side was backed up for a few miles for road construction. We arrived about 1PM CST at Lakeside Landing Marina and RV Resort in Cropwell Alabama. We were not sure if we wanted to stay here more than one night so we only paid for one night and I told the lady at the check-n desk we might stay for 3 nights. She told us to ride around and pick any open site and call her with the site # we chose. We decide on site 11. It had a nice shade tree and was just a short distance from the lake.

The campground sits on the banks of a large lake which joins Coosa River and has 200 sites They have a “gold mine” here: a convenience store with fuel pumps, marina with boat launch, boat and RV storage plus the campground. It is a nice campground but we think the word “Resort” in the name is a little generous.

We noticed a few ants inside the motorhome this morning. There was a sign at the campground we stayed at yesterday that stated there were ants in the campground but what is unusual about ants. Well when I began to hook up the water and power I found LOTS of ants in the storage bins. There must have been thousands in the bin where I keep the boards for the jacks. I sprayed them with ant killer and cleaned out the bin as best I could. We will not be staying at Old Salem Campground again.

Later in the day we went to the local Cracker Barrel for a late lunch/early supper followed by a quick stop at Wal-Mart for more ant spray and some fruit and vegetables. When it cooled off some we walked down to the lake and watched several boats being taken out of the water by the staff. They use tractors to put the boat trailers in the water and then pull the trailer out when the boat is loaded and then drive the trailer and boat back to the storage facility.

Day 3 – Monday June 13, 2016 We found another campground we think we will like better so we departed at 7:30AM and headed to Clear Creek Recreation Area on Lewis Smith Lake in the William B. Bankhead National Forest. It was about a 99 mile drive. When we got close to the campground, our GPS took us on a narrow back road and then told us to turn on to another road that was not there other than a narrow dirt path so I kept driving and found the entrance to the campground in a few miles.

We were allowed to pick our site so we unhooked the car and drove around and decided on site 45 in the Hoot Owl Loop. It sits right on the bank of the lake with a short path down to the waters edge. It has lots of shade and plenty of space between sites unlike most privately operated campgrounds. This is the type campground we like.

We were set up by 10:30AM. Later I got the grill out and cooked some hamburgers for lunch with some good home grown tomatoes we bought in Chinquapin before we departed on this trip. After lunch we took a walk around loops Hoot Owl and Fox then returned to our site to relax and read for awhile. A shower of rain came through but it did not last long.

Later in the day the camper next to us returned with his black lab dog. The dog was soon down in the lake really enjoying itself. The man had a canoe, a kayak and a jet ski at the waters edge and got in the canoe and tried to get the dog to get in but he was having too much fun splashing and swimming in the water.

Day 4 – Tuesday June 14, 2016 After breakfast we took a 2 miles hike along a bike trail by the lake. I was told there was a waterfall by the second bridge on the trail but when we got there it was a dry fall – no water coming down.

There are some trees in the campground that have huge leaves. I am not sure what they are but I am guessing some type of Poplar. I measured one that was 12” wide and 24” long but there were others larger. Lena held one up to her and with the tip of the leaf on the ground the stem was at her waist.

After lunch we set outside and enjoyed the cooler temperature and read until a rain cloud came up about 5PM. We decided to pack up our outside stuff so it would not get wet since we are leaving here tomorrow.

Day 5 – Wednesday June 15, 2016 It is still a little cooler this morning than it was a couple of days ago and lower humidity so it is nice outside and overcast. This is a nice quiet, clean and peaceful campground. We would stay here longer but we have an appointment tomorrow at 7AM in Vina, Alabama (about 95 miles from here) to get some things done to the motorhome so we will be leaving here this morning.

We departed about 9:30AM and arrived in Vina about 11:30AM at Custom RV. We connected the motor home to power. The shop has 5 power and water hookups for customers that will be here overnight. Later we drove into Red Bay and had a late lunch/early supper. A storm blew through about bedtime with lightning, thunder and heavy rain. We lost power for few minutes.

Day 6 – Thursday June 16, 2016 We got up early and had the motor home ready to pull into the shop at 7AM. Lena went to McDonald's to get us some breakfast. Brannon and Jason quickly began working on the motor home. We should be ready to leave about lunch time. Then we will go to the Tiffin Service Center to get the windshield and three windows replaced. After 6 new batteries, new wind deflector at door and new over the air TV antenna we were ready to leave by noon. They also found/fixed the noise coming from the front air conditioner. A piece of tape had come loose and was flapping between the air conditioner and duct work.

After I jump started the Jeep (Lena left it switched on when she came back from McDonald's) we drove to Tiffin Service Center Campground and checked in and got our service number and set up in site 3. The heat and humidity has come back with a vengeance. The campground is an old airstrip and there is NO shade trees anywhere. They have about 50 service bays and 93 sites in the campground and about 3/4^th of them are occupied and are here for some type of service. I talked to the manager of the windshield shop and they might replace our windshield tomorrow but not sure about the three windows. I also will ask about our squealing slide tomorrow also to see if there is a fix for that.