Back To Alabama

 27 Apr    Nashville, TN - Tuscumbia, AL   139 miles     4 hours

We had a lot of fun hanging out with our new friends at the campground. They are planning a trip out to the West next spring. Maybe we can meet up with them at some point. 

Before we left Nashville, we went on a nice walk with Alfred and Elaine. Right below J. Percy Priest Dam there was a Greenway along Stones River. We walked for about three miles along the river. Nice path for walking and biking. We're going to miss our friends.

Alfred & Elaine

Me & Elaine

We spent one night at Alabama Music Hall of Fame. This is a Harvest Host location so we can boondock in their parking lot. We did a tour and it was real good. The senior rate was $8 per person. So funny, now we qualify for senior discounts!

Alabama's Tour Bus

This was a great Harvest Host location. Plenty of room to park and pretty quiet. They will even let you stay more than one night if you need to. 

We're headed back to Red Bay Alabama for an appointment at Bay Diesel to service our generator. This place is so busy, we tried to get an appointment when we were in Red Bay but couldn't get in. 

28 Apr     Tuscumbia - Red Bay - Greenwood Springs, AL     119 miles

Bay Diesel

 We were only 46 miles from Red Bay so it was a short drive for our appointment. After we dropped the RV off we went to Spark's for breakfast. We like this little restaurant. We ate here a few times when we were in this area earlier. 

Our generator got serviced and there was a recall on the valve stems for the tires so we got it all fixed up. 

We drove over to another Harvest Host location in Greenwood Springs, MS. R & R Vineyards is a little winery and getting there was a little frustrating. Our stupid GPS keeps taking us on some funky little roads that we're not supposed to be on. We finally made it and once we got settled we went in for a little wine tasting. Was pretty good stuff, we ended up buying two bottles of wine. Not sure if we would stay here again because of the location and plenty of mosquitos. Joe reacts to mosquito bites and he got a lot.

29 Apr     Greenwood Springs - Gulf Shores, AL     307 miles     6 hours 15 mins

We'll be staying on the Gulf Shores for about a week. I told Joe I wanted to see how nice the beaches were on the Gulf so here we are. We are also going to try and book a few days close to Destin, Florida. I heard the beaches there are super nice. 

I booked the first two days at Luxury RV Resort. We booked a water view site. I didn't know our water view was going to be wetlands. So funny, this whole area got plenty water but a lot of it is wetlands not beach. We paid $180.90 for two nights, kind of expensive but that's the price around here. 

This RV park is kind of nice....not a luxury resort but it's okay. The beach is about two blocks away so close enough to take a walk and get some exercise. It's very crowded here and very touristy. It's like being in Waikiki. 

We took a long walk to the beach one day. We went pretty early so it was a nice walk. The water here is not as nice as back home, it was kind of green. On the way we saw an alligator in one of the waterways.

Yes, that's an alligator

Shrimp

There's a few good places to eat. Seafood is big around here. Joe enjoyed the shrimp po'boy. He could eat it everyday. I liked everything!

  

One of my favs

01 May   Luxury RV Resort - Gulf Shores State Park   6 miles

We moved 6 miles down the road today to Gulf Shores State Park. This is a real nice, huge state park with over 400 RV sites and over 28 miles of hiking/biking trails. There is also a very nice swimming pool, tennis courts, and bike/kayak rentals. Kind of expensive for a state park but the amenities are great. The daily rate is $57. 

02 May   We took a long walk today, over 3 1/2 miles. It was very hot and muggy but it was very nice. As we were walking along a canal we saw an alligator, very still, across the bank from us. There are signs all over to warn about alligators and snakes....so scary!

Turtles sunning themselves

Another Alligator

Beautiful water lilies

 03 May   Another long walk today in very muggy weather. We walked almost 5 miles.  The trails here are so nice so you just keep walking. We walked to the lake today, so beautiful. We had to cool off in the pool afterwards. 

These signs!

We took a drive out to the pier today. We walked out and watched people fishing off the pier. The water is so ugly. The weather is pretty junky today so I guess it affects the water. It's brownish, green and very rough. Every time someone would snag a fish and start reeling it in, a shark would bite it off the line. We saw so much sharks. Even if the water so junky there were people swimming....with sharks about 50 yards away!

Green water

           

  04 May   Again, another long walk, almost 5 miles. I told Joe we really should rent bikes because I want to see the whole park. So the last 3 days, same schedule. Long walks and cool off in the pool afterwards. 

This afternoon we took a drive out to the Alabama/Florida state line. This area is called Floribama. Another touristy area. I guess this is the closest I'll get to Florida on this trip. I've been trying to get reservations to stay around Destin but no luck. 

05 May   We got our 2nd Covid shot today. Feels so good to get vaccinated. The weather is real ugly today. Lots of rain, in fact, this whole area is under a tornado watch. We didn't feel too bad after our shot, just a little bit of body aches. 

06 May   After a few days of very muggy weather, and yesterdays rain, today is real nice and sunny. Joe and I both feel like shit today. I guess it's from the Covid shot yesterday. So we just stayed in all day and rested. I'm so bummed, its our last day here and I wanted to rent bikes to see the rest of this park.

07 May   Gulf Shores - Alabaster, AL      286 miles      8 hrs 30 mins

This morning we left the Gulf Shores and headed to our harvest host location, Siluria Brewing Co in Alabaster, Alabama. We got stuck in traffic on I-65. There was a bad accident and we had a 2 hour delay. What made it worse is, our low fuel light came on before we got stuck. We had about ten more miles before we got to the gas station. Traffic was not moving, not even crawling. So Joe had to pull over and just wait for a while to conserve our gas. He's always so careful about not going too much below half tank before filling up. Our timing to push it was not good.

Siluria Brewing Co

 

Esperanza was the best

We finally pulled into Siluria Brewing about 6:30pm. After parking, we hit the brewery. We both needed a drink! This is a real good harvest host location. We had a few beers, some dinner, good music, and we met other harvest host campers. When we finally settled in for the night, the train passed and holy shit.... we didn't realize the train passed right behind the parking lot. There was a train crossing close by so every time it passed, the whistle and rumbling....It went on till well after midnight.

Boondocking in the parking lot

Nashville

 22 Apr     Red Bay, AL - Winchester, TN     157 miles     5 hours

We finally left Red Bay this morning. Feels good to be back on the road. We're camping at Tims Ford State Park at the Fairview Campground. $88.70 for two nights. Very nice campground right on the lake. This campground is located about 8 miles from the main park. This area is nice but getting here was a pain. Our GPS took us on some sketchy roads. 

Fairview Campground

23 Apr  Hike and a Tour

We started the day with a hike at Tims Ford State Park. Lost Creek Overlook Trail was awesome. Hiking along the water with two suspension bridges. A lot of roots sticking up on the trail so we had to watch our step. 

Great view at the end

After the hike we drove to Lynchburg and had lunch at the Barrelhouse BBQ. Very good food. Their specialty is the grilled cheese on crack. You pick American or pepper jack cheese, they fill the sandwich with pit smoked pulled pork, season with habanero sauce, butter, and grill it. We also tried their ribs and sausage. The habanero sauce was so ono. I bought 2 bottles .We overate but it was worth it.

Afterwards we walked down the street to the Jack Daniels Distillery. We did the Angel Share Tour. The cost was $35 per person and we got to taste top shelf whiskey at the end. Our guide, Kim was awesome. She was very knowledgeable about the process and gave us great history of the town of Lynchburg as well as the distillery itself. 

24 Apr       Winchester, TN - Nashville, TN          99 miles          2 hours 30 minutes

We're staying at Elm Hill RV Resort also known as Safe Haven. It's located right outside of Nashville. Very nice park, we'll be here for three nights. The only site available was a waterfront site, three nights cost us $350. Pretty pricey but its okay. Our camping at Tiffin was free so we can splurge a little. We made some friends at the Tiffin Campground and they will be meeting us at this park.

 25 Apr   Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park

I wanted to go to the Farmers Market but was pretty disappointed. It wasn't a regular farmers market that I'm used to going to. This one was in a building with lots of vendors but they were very commercialized. There wasn't a lot of produce, what was there wasn't very fresh and the plants looked like a set up at Home Depot or Lowes. 

But right next to the farmers market was the Bicentennial Capitol Mall. It's located in the shadow of the state capitol in downtown Nashville. We got a taste of Tennessee's history, natural wonders and this was a monument to Tennessee's Bicentennial Celebration, which was June 1, 1996. 

We took our time and enjoyed learning many facets of Tennessee's history. There was a 200 foot granite map of the state, a World Was II Memorial, a 95 bell Carillon, a pathway of history, and the Rivers of Tennessee Fountains. 

26 Apr  Red Neck Comedy Bus Tour

At the Tiffin Campground, we made friends with two couples. Tom and Vickie is from Pennsylvania and Alfred and Elaine is from Ohio. They are good friends that live part time in Florida and they own Tiffin Allegro Reds. Both couples travel together in their RVs and they are a lot of fun to hang out with. We met up with them here in Nashville and today we went on the Red Neck Comedy Bus Tour. 

Our new friends 

The tour was okay, it was a little different than what we're used to. It was in an old school bus and not really made for touring but we made the most of it.  

Alabama

 We checked into the Tiffin Service Campground on Easter Sunday, April 4th and gave them a list of things we wanted fixed under our warranty. On Monday, April 5th, someone came over and went over our list and said it'll be probably 2 weeks before we get into a bay. This campground has about 60 campsites and its pretty full. There's also campsites all over Red Bay with Tiffins waiting to be serviced so there's no telling how long our wait will be. 

We anticipated this, we just have to make the most it. We'll do some day trips in the Kia, and get some other things done while we wait. We're in Alabama but Mississippi is 2 minutes west of us and Tennessee is about an hours drive north. 

06 Apr   Tishomingo State Park, MS

We got our first email this morning, we're #32 on the list.

Our campground is about 1 mile from the Mississippi state line. We drove to Tishomingo State Park today, about 20 minutes from our campground. Like many parks, this one was built by CCC workers during the depression and features many structures from the 1930's. Tishomingo SP is probably best known for its swinging bridge This also serves as the trailhead for Outcropping Trail. This hike is a little over two miles in length starting and ending at the swinging bridge 

Lots of little waterfalls

07 April    Covid Vaccine

We're #27 on the list this morning.

Alabama just opened the Covid vaccinations to 16 years old and older. Joe went online and made an appointment right away for us. We had to drive to Walmart in Russellville, about 20 minutes away. We made an appointment for our second shot on May 5th. Who knows, we still might be here 1 month from now, if not, I'm sure we can reschedule with another Walmart. 

The weather report is severe thunderstorm overnight. In the late afternoon, we were outside cleaning the car and some people passing by asked us if we're ready for the storm. Then they told us, if the sirens go off get to the shelter because that's a tornado siren. What!!!!!

Joe set up our weather radio and made sure it was working. We were pretty nervous because it rained pretty hard around midnight with thunder and lightning. Then at around 4:30 am, the stupid radio went off. We both jumped up and checked the radio...luckily it was just an update on the severe storm that was passing through. 

08 Apr    Rubber Mats

#23 today

While staying at this campground, you end up talking to a lot of different people and share lots of info. One guy showed us his rubber mats and said that's the best thing he did for his coach. Its just a mat that covers the front area. We took a look and really liked it. So we went across the street to Nichols Customs and ordered mats. Trevor came over to take some measurements around 12pm and he was back installing it by 4pm. Talk about great service. Cost $250 and we're very happy with the mats.

12 Apr   A quick drive to Georgia

Moving up, we're #9 today. 

Like I mentioned before, we talk to a lot of people on what they're doing to upgrade their rigs. One of the guys here mentioned that he upgraded his suspension. He went to Safe-T Plus in Georgia to do the work.....so off we went....

It was an all day event. Four hours  to drive there, 3 hours to install and test drive, then another four hours back. Joe's pretty happy with the new suspension.

13 April    Shiloh National Military Park

#6 today, getting close!

Today we drove 60 miles north to Shiloh, Tennessee to visit Shiloh National Military Park. Shiloh is one of the best preserved Civil War battlefields anywhere. 

The Battle of Shiloh was a horrific struggle fought in the tangled woods and small farm fields of southwestern Tennessee on April 6-7, 1862. It pitted Confederate Generals Albert S. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard against Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Two days of battle resulted in over 23,000 casualties. 

We started with a video of the battle in the visitors center that was very well done. A map of the grounds was provided. Then you go on an auto tour that was easy to follow. The drive through the grounds was very eerie and hauntingly beautiful. 

15 April     Finally in the bay!

We got a call yesterday to be in bay 47 at 645 a.m. today. We finally got to start the process. We drop the RV off, talk to the tech, and at 3 p.m. we go back and pick it up. At the end of each day the tech will give us an update. Then we drive back to our camping site to spend the night. We do this until everything is fixed. 

Our tech made good progress today. We were told to come back tomorrow morning. 

16 April    Visiting Tuscumbia, Alabama

We dropped off the RV at 7 a.m. and took a drive to Tuscumbia, about 40 miles away. 

Ivy Green was built in 1820, it was the birthplace and childhood home of Helen Keller (1880-1968), the famous deaf-blind author and speaker. 

Ivy Green is open for daily tours, cost $7.00. The guide was very good and gave us the whole history of the house and Helen Keller. Now I want to see her movie, The Miracle Worker. We also toured the grounds which was very beautiful. 

We made a stop at Spring Park to walk around the grounds and see the waterfall. Very nice park to take a stroll. 

Lunch was at Rattlesnake Saloon. It is off the beaten path but well worth it for a different kind of eating experience. You park your car then hop into the back of a pickup truck to ride down to the saloon. It's a short drive down a very steep hill. 

We can now say that we ate at a restaurant in a cave. The food wasn't that great but it was an interesting experience. 

Last stop was Coon Dog Cemetery. This cemetery was started when local hunter Key Underwood decided to bury his favorite coon dog, Troop, here on September 4, 1937. His friends followed suit when their dogs passed on. 

There are now over 300 dogs buried on the site. Each dog has to meet a list of criteria to be able to be buried here. What a place. It is very well maintained and the love between people and their beloved pets are on display here. 

We made sure we got back to Red Bay by 3 p.m. to pick up the RV. Again, our tech got a lot done today. He's finished with his repairs, now he sends us over to another bay to fix the hydraulics.

20 April   Almost Done

Today we got called to bring the RV in to fix the jacks and slides. They worked on it all day and fixed everything. We're so happy. 

21 April     Last thing on the list

One last thing to fix. Our front TV doesn't hook up to our satellite so a tech came over today to fix it. It was a real fast fix. So now we're completely finished with the warranty work here at Tiffin. We will stay one last night and head out tomorrow...finally....it took 17 days.