Wednesday, November 13, 2019, Move to Tuscaloosa, AL

Today we returned to the road with a much more respectable drive of 221.1 miles (95,588.6 total) making our way to Cottonwood, AL (next to Tuscaloosa and the Crimson Tide).

We were a little sad to leave but the cold and the overnight freeze (in the 20s) provided the incentive we needed to get going.

The fall colors were in full swing,...

...but the winter temps were creeping in.

This says "time to hit the road and head west."

Our first stop in Alabama was the Speedco in Cottonwood where we had the oil and filters changed. I was a little worried when they seemed to have a difficult time removing one of the fuel filters. It was pretty mangled by the time it was finally out. I'm sure everything went well after that - the engine started right up and nothing seemed to be leaking.

We settled the bill and crossed the road to fuel up at the Pilot where we also parked for the night. I had to back in really deep to get the coach level enough to operate the refrigerator. It was all good since the car had already been disconnected for the oil change and that also allowed us the opportunity to drive down the road for dinner. I love it when a plan comes together. It was cold again overnight but we had plenty of propane for the furnace which kept us toasty warm in our coach.

Thursday, March 22, 2018, Southern Museum of Flight

We finally made it to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham. We tried to see it on our way to Florida a few months ago, but it was closed. It was not a large museum, but it had some very nice exhibits. Our Association of Science Technology Centers 

(ASTC) membership had expired a while back. Southern Museum of Flight was on the ASTC network and, most importantly, it had a two-year family membership for only $80. Now we will not have to think about finding another membership until the spring of 2020. 

There was quite a collection of experimental airplanes. I can see the appeal, but I'm not sure I want to trust my life to my own handiwork. Any "Oops" could result in a rapid landing often referred to as a crash. The Ross Seabird below could land on water which would be nice if you had a cabin on a secluded little island somewhere. Two seats side-by-side might even make you think you were in a little sports car.

The ultimate in experimental aircraft - the Wright flyer was represented with the full-size replica below. A 12 hp engine powered this 600-pound beauty up to 30 feet in the air at 30 mph.

I have no idea what connection this huge camera had with aviation. There was nothing to let us know why it was there. Let's hope it was an exhibit to be developed in the near future.

Say "Cheeeeese"

Joani liked the colors in the display showing a vortex in swirling liquid that demonstrated the air flow in a tornado - obviously something to avoid when flying!

One of the most intricate cut-away models of a radial engine I have ever seen. I spent ten minutes marveling at the ingenuity of the design. Looks like I was not the only one fascinated by the exhibit - there was a future engineer looking on next to me.

Monday, March 19, 2018, Move to Clanton, AL

We left the FMCA rally at Perry, GA this morning. The smell of diesel was in the air as several hundred RV'ers fired their engines up. We got an early start, 8:15, and hoped to miss the predicted torrential rainstorm headed our way. About half of our 213.0-mile drive (85,648.1 total) was on back roads and a half was on Interstate highways. It was foggy for a lot of the drive, but we never encountered any more than a light misting rain. Joani arranged for a week's stay at Yellowhammer RV Sales & Campground on I-65 north of Montgomery, AL and south of Birmingham, AL. The park was 2 miles from Clanton, but then that probably wouldn't mean much without a detailed map.

There was a nice little lake with a trail that Sam and I walked several times daily. Part of the trail loop took us beside some of the Yellowhammer's new RVs (which I looked through). I read someone's post on Facebook and could not agree with it more - "Happiness is looking at new RVs and realizing there is nothing you like better than your own."

There was a wood carver somewhere nearby. The remains of a very large tree was fashioned into a collage of many RVs of all types. The pictures below did not capture it as well as I would have liked, but you can make out a few of the travel trailers, a fifth wheel trailer, a motorhome and even a motorcycle. I think the project was not finished but, it looked like the artist was taking a long break based on the weathering of the wood.

There's our home viewed from the far side of the lake.

Big Foot welcomes visitors to the quiet little campground and I suspect we would stay here again if our travels brought us this way in the future.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, Katie and Mike Visit

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Gunter Hill Campground has to be a model for every great campground - wide, level, paved parking, widely spaced sites, beautiful views, clean, warm bathhouses. If it just wasn't so cold! I guess it is winter and we are in the middle of an unusual arctic blast so. . .

We had two reasons for stopping here: 1) we were here before and remembered how nice it was and 2) Katie and Mike's route back to Oregon was through here and they agreed to stop for a while.

They left Atlanta early and made it to the park just after noon. Our biggest concern was how would Sam react to having their cat inside with us. He has exhibited a fierce animosity towards cats in the past. We don't know why - must have been something in his first six months before we adopted him.

To play it safe we put Sam in the bedroom as they brought their cat, Gray Man, in for the first time. He quickly assessed his new realm with no concerns. He must have smelled evidence of a dog, but just settled into his bed happy to be out of the car and warm. When we brought Sam out he gave us a look that said: "hey, what goes on here?" 

We kept him on a pretty tight leash and never forced them together. I think everyone was pretty relieved - it could have been so much worse. A couple of times Gray Man walked by Sam a bit too close and we heard a low growl as he strained at his leash a little, but they never had the chance to really get together which was just fine for their first encounter.

With our on-going water issues, it was best to have dinner out. Sam got a car ride, so he was happy. Gray Man was able to explore every nook and cranny of our coach while we were gone. We ate in front of the fireplace at Panera Bread Co. A good time was had by all.

So happy we were able to connect even if it was only for a few hours. They hit the road by 5:30 the next morning in the frigid dark. I certainly don't envy them their estimated 15-hour drive to get to Kerrville, TX, their next stop on the way back to Oregon.

Monday, January 1, 2018, Move to Montgomery, AL

We continued our trek south towards warmer climes - Decatur, AL, while warmer than Lebanon, TN was still ridiculously cold. I pushed the button to retract the jacks, but the lights said they stayed down. Sure enough, one of the rear jacks was frozen to the ground. I could see it rose a few inches, but it was pulling the ground up with it. I decided to put the coach in gear and move it just a little bit to break it free. That almost worked - the jack retracted but with a chunk of ground about 2 feet in diameter and 4 inches thick. I hammered on the frozen chunk with a log to no avail. Finally, we broke out the heat gun. After a few minutes I gave the log another try and it finally separated from the jack pad. The 25-degree temperature and 10 mph wind made the ordeal much more grueling than it probably sounds.

Traffic was pretty light as we headed to a Kroger fuel center where groceries and gift cards purchased in December meant we could get $1.00 off each gallon of diesel. Unfortunately, that only applied to 35 gallons of the 105 gallons it took to fill our coach (their regular price was still pretty good at $2.499/gal).

With all of the extra issues, we still got a pretty early start and were thinking we could settle in our next stop by around 2:00. We were wrong - a ten-mile long traffic jam added another 2 hours to our travel time. Just after the traffic cleared we stopped in a rest area to let Sam stretch his legs. We saw what caused all of the delay -  not a pretty sight.

We checked into Gunter Hill COE Campground just outside of Montgomery, AL around 4:00. It turned out to be a pretty long day to chalk up another 172.6 miles (84,531.0 total). We settled in as quickly as we could and fired up the furnace. We clearly were not far enough south yet.

Sadly, the low was predicted to be 18. We won't be storing the heavy coats for a while yet. I'm sure hoping this arctic blast will pass soon!

Friday, December 29, 2017, On the road again - move to Decatur, AL

Christmas was over, mom had mostly recovered from her second hip surgery and the weather forecast promised some brutal cold headed our way this weekend - everything said: "time to hit the road".

I had started and moved the coach every 30 days while it was in storage, but I had never tried to start the engine cold soaked in the '20s with no block heater. Luckily, it was no problem. There was the matter of stowing an awful lot of stuff that had made its way over to mom's condo over the past few months so we couldn't get a really early start.

We hit the road by noon and only had a 143.5 mile (84,352.8 total) trip planned to our first stop on our flight south. Point Mallard City Park in Decatur, AL (near Huntsville, AL) was just a short couple of hours away. We both almost immediately noticed an unfamiliar noise and spent most of the drive trying to figure out what it might be. Something was rattling in the wind or at just the right road speed, but we could not see anything when we pulled over to check. Something else to add to the "to-do" list.

Everywhere the highway cut through rock, weeping groundwater would form icicles reminding us just how cold it was outside.

You have to love the Alabama welcome center adorned with a Saturn I rocket. Quite the attention getter and much more noticeable than some old billboard or highway signage.

All-in-all our first day back on the road went well after a three-month break. What did not go well was the water situation. I learned the hard way you do not want to mount your water pump at the low point in your plumbing array. I was able to fill the freshwater tank, but we could not use city water pressure or the pump (too long of a story for the blog), so we had to use gallon jugs for water inside the coach. It was amazing just how much the lack of running water affects your quality of life in an RV. The brutal cold (teens and twenties) kept me from even considering any repairs.

Joani planned three nights in Decatur with the intent of day tripping to a museum in Birmingham to pick up a new ASTC pass. Unfortunately, the museum was closed due to holiday hours for several days spoiling that plan. Instead, we did a little shopping and just tried to stay warm! 

Thursday, December 3, 2015, Foley Model Railroad

We finally stopped at the Foley Train Museum when the Model Railroad was operating.  I highly recommend it to anyone in the area! It was an absolute gem.

The display was huge (20 feet by 60 feet) and there was more than 1/4 mile of track!  I forgot how many trains were operating, but let's just say there was always something moving.

The club members clearly enjoyed their hobby.  One invited Joani down in the working pit so she could get closer to the action.

The Union Station was modeled after the station in Nashville, TN. Having spent some time there, I can say it looked pretty good. Across from the station, in the town square, I noticed a small train engine with an engineer riding atop the locomotive while kids were seated behind in open cars.  I thought it would be over the top if it also moved.  One of the club members flipped a switch and away it went.  I think he said it was an N-gauge track and train.  I was blown away.  I pretty much forgot about the trains at that point as I searched the layout for more of their unique whimsy.

The scenery was, by far, the most intricate I had ever seen in model railroading.  The circus was in town complete with three rings under the big top, elephants in a side tent and a working Ferris wheel.  To the right of the circus, you can see the drive-in movie theater was showing a triple feature (they had a DVD playing through a 10 inch diagonal LCD panel).

In the hobo camp off to the side of the tracks, you could see a policeman had just apprehended an escaped convict.  I suspect he had slipped away from the chain gang working on the road on the other side of town.

In the firehouse, an alarm sounds, the door rolls up, a fireman slides down the pole and the truck pulls out of the building.

The work shed was hand built by one of the members.  The motor on the right turned an overhead spindle that, in turn, drove all of the tools. Out of the picture to the left, a random blinking LED did a good job of looking like the sparks from some arc welding work.

A fire at the Fireworks factory of all places! The lights were flashing on every truck and the poor woman on the third floor, who was in the shower, had to be rescued naked.

These guys had a tough job painting the trestle iron. I'm sure they would rather have been at the fish camp on the lake far below them.

High in the hills moonshiners tended to the still while their pet bear treed a revenuer who had come to investigate.

To give us a better idea of just how many lights were in the little town they turned the room lights off - very impressive!

We arrived at the Foley Model Train exhibit thinking we would spend a few minutes looking it over. After more than an hour we reluctantly left, but only because we had other commitments. Be sure you make time to see this if you are ever in the area!

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Fairhope History museum was on our "to-do" list and today we finally made it when they were open.  It was our opportunity to learn more about this pleasant little town.

A nice looking fountain was home to a sculpture entitled "Mullet Run". It was surrounded with custom fired brickwork walkways.  I really liked the variety of colors.

To the left of the main entrance doors was a full-scale sculpture of Craig Turner Sheldon. Who was Craig Turner Sheldon you ask, (at least I did) - as it happens, he was one of the town's more famous and interesting folks. He was Fairhope's Master Wood Carver.

Some of the strangest, most imaginative sculptures we have ever seen were on display upstairs. The wall was filled with accolades to the life and works of Mr. Sheldon.  Two display cases were filled with some of his fantastic works of art. 

Fairhope was founded with the radical idea of minimizing taxes.  The Single Tax Corporation still owns some 4,400 acres that are leased to residents for 99 years.  One of the museum docents tried to explain how the taxes worked on her leased land.  I can't say I understood it, but she, at least, thought the taxes were pretty reasonable.

No longer single tax because Federal must now get their cut, but at the time it was a unique idea proposed by economist Henry George.

A natural phenomenon that seems a little sad.  A sudden lack of oxygen in the water drives the crabs and fish to clamor to the shore where they are easily scooped up.

The parade of flying mowers was a mystery until I learned one of the early factories in Fairhope manufactured the three-wheeled machines. They even had a self-propelled model which, I suspect, was ahead of its time.  They have long since gone out of business apparently due to safety issues with the design.

One of the museum docents, Larry, spent many years traveling in an RV and was happy to share some of his experiences.  He said he had retired in 1975 and it was much later that I did the math and realized he had been retired 41 years!  I suspect he "retired" very young and did not count work as he traveled to be a real job.  It was a real pleasure talking with Larry.

Larry was very nostalgic about the years he spent traveling the country in his motorhome as a consultant.

The town has a very impressive library across the street from the museum.  It looked like they had a lot of programs to engage with their patrons and they even had a couple racks of books by the door that were free for the taking.

Outside of the Eastern Shore Art Center was this sculpture that I found extremely intriguing. It looked different from every angle making it difficult to decide on my favorite perspective.

Larry had told us where to find, Sheldon Castle, the home Craig Turner Sheldon had built.  Next to it, he helped build a home for his daughter and son-in-law.  We were not sure if anyone was currently living in these homes, but I boldly snapped pictures while trying to maintain a respectable distance.  There was so much detail I would have liked to explore much closer but we will have to see if that might be possible next time.

 Craig Sheldon started building this house in 1946.  It grew over the years to accommodate a growing family.


It must be wonderful to grow up in a home that oozes whimsy.  So much so that Sheldon's daughter grew up and married a man (Dean Mosher) that...

...built her (Pagan Sheldon Mosher) an even larger castle (under his father-in-law's tutelage) on the same property.  The Mosher castle carries on the tradition of incorporating a wild imagination and whimsy.  What is life without whimsy!

Instead of trespassing, we deferred to the internet to see the back of the castle.

Now I will also be on the lookout for the artwork of Dean Mosher hanging in museums.

Wednesday nights a crew from the Escapee park head to the Foley Elks lodge for Trivia. Two weeks ago our team included Bob, Sondra, Paul, Lisa, Cecil, Maryann, Andy, Muffy, Connie and me. Tonight we had to pull four tables together for eighteen hopefuls (maybe more) thinking we might have a chance.

The serious looks lets you know that the last question was a toughie.

We made a respectable showing, but nobody ever beats the "Barflies" and tonight was no exception. I think we missed four of twenty questions while they missed only two. But it's not about winning or losing it's really just all about the fun.