Sweet Home Alabama

For a couple of mid-westerners, it's amazing how much time we've spent in Alabama in the last couple of years.  Most of that time has been in the far NE corner in Red Bay, which is Chuck's birthplace and the go-to spot for maintenance and repair.  This time however, we're in the opposite corner in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area, just over the border from the Florida panhandle, and it's lovely.

Typical view around here

We're in a tiny, family-run campground with only about a dozen sites, right on the water. We arrived Saturday after a hiccup trying to get out of Florida.  It seems that Chuck is going to keep us on our toes this trip.  We were all ready to go, had only to retract the leveling jacks, when one of the four stubbornly refused to lift.  Obviously you can't drive with a jack dragging and we were stymied.  We did have a connection to the Internet and a quick search of the Tiffin RV Owners Forum delivered a reset sequence, that, after 4 frustrating attempts, worked, and the jack retracted.  Did I mention this all happened in the pouring rain?  What did we do before the internet?   Whew.  We were on our way.  Only 90 miles to Bay Breeze Campground in Gulf Shores, AL.

The route was familiar through Pensacola and to the border of Alabama.  We had driven this last year just exploring.  Of course, last year we were in the car in the sunshine, not in 36' motorhome towing 14' of car and towbar in the rain without windshield wipers.  Yes, once again Chuck's wipers failed us, working only when I leaned forward and pressed the washer button.  The rain was torrential, the sky was dark, the road was winding, it was a dark and stormy night...

You get the picture.  We arrived 3 hours later to find wonderful campground owners who came out in the downpour to get us backed in and leveled and hooked up.  We were damp but safe and settled in for the night with cheese, crackers, apples and a little wine.  Really, just a little, really.

The adventures weren't over however.  We were jolted out of sleep early in the morning by an alarming beep coming from the driver's control panel.  One of the cats had bumped the air brake handle causing the brake to release but the jacks were down so they alarmed but you can't retract them unless the engine is running and the seats are turned around so you can't sit down to put your foot on the foot brake and I was trying to dive over the seat to reach the pedal and find the key to turn it on to reset the brake and Robin was yelling from the back and the cats were scrambling and oh my, the excitement.  Good news....it wasn't raining!

Wasn't Me!

We managed to restore order and get resettled and then had a lovely day.  One of my college roommates lives here and we hooked up with her for brunch, bloody marys, and a tour of her home and some sites.  She coordinates a local songwriter's festival to we ended up at the Florabama Roadhouse for some live music, bushwackers and beer.  By 4pm we were exhausted and headed back to Chuck.  There we found a lovely feature of our new campground - a late afternoon "board meeting" where the residents gather for cocktails around a fire as the day gets dark.  I slept very well last night.

Florabama Roadhouse-no we didn't contribute

Today is a bit overcast and we have a short list of maintenance projects including replacing that wiper fuse before it rains again. We're here for a week and we're enjoying the water, sand, trees and peace and quiet.  Happy New Year everyone.

Happiness is an RV Full of Clean Laundry

Even in the glamorous world of RVing, with its broken water heaters, cold showers and black tank dumping, you have to take a day now and then to regroup and get organized.  Today is such a day.  We took our friend Sandy back to the Pensacola airport this morning so she could return to Chicago and work.  A sad day for her.  On the way back from the airport, I whined until Robin agreed to stop for breakfast.  Waffle House seems to be a uniquely southern chain and I’d been jonesing to try it since we hit Kentucky.  Today was the day!  We passed three before one “felt” right and was on the correct side of the street and in we went.  I have to say, I liked it.  Anytime you eat breakfast out, it’s a good occasion, and the Waffle House had everything you’d want without any of that “rooty tooty fresh and fruity” nonsense. 

Yum!

 Tender, crispy waffles, good sausage patties and cheese grits.  I’m becoming a grits fan.  If you like polenta, and I do, why wouldn’t you like grits?  The place was clean, the people were nice, the food was good and the price was right.  Next chain to explore is WhatAburger, though Robin says I have to wait until Texas for that.

After breakfast we did the weekly grocery shopping at one of the ubiquitous Publix stores in the area.  We stocked up on wine since our next campground is in Alabama and we’re not sure we’re allowed to drink there.  Now we’re back at the campground and I’m sitting at a picnic table outside the laundry room doing the wash and smelling the pine forest around us.   

Doing Laundry

The campground has filled up in last couple of days, lots of families enjoying the school holidays here in the park.  Tomorrow we head west about 90 miles to Gulf Shores, AL for 7 days.  I love these long stays.  We really settle in and get comfortable.  The week at this park has been really nice and Sandy’s cabin was nearby and a good value too.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up back here one of these days.

Lake at Topsail Preserve State Park, FL

We enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner with fresh, local snapper cooked on our grill.  Christmas Day we loaded the bikes onto the car and drove to Seaside, FL; a planned community most famous for being the setting of The Truman Show (the Jim Carrey movie).  I wrote about it in last year’s blog and it hasn’t changed since. It was a pleasant place for a ride.   

Seaside church

Christmas dinner was leftover fish warmed up in a coconut curry sauce.  Pretty good for leftovers.  And the appropriate wines of course, pulled from our travelling wine cellar.  Yesterday (Boxing Day for you Commonwealth-philes) we again put the bikes on the car and headed for Grayton Beach State Park, our previous campground that had great areas for riding.  

One of Grayton Beach's attractions

It was warmer (high 60’s) and sunny and a perfect last day for Sandy. 

We have a lot to pack up and put away before we pull the rig out of here but we have an easy drive tomorrow and then we settle in for another full week.  Yippee!  Next stop, Alabama.  Now if only I can prevent Robin from playing “Sweet Home Alabama” on the drive.

Campsite decorations

Catching Up

The holidays are a busy time, and it’s no different here in Chuck.  We’re sweeping the beach sand out to prepare for company, and we’re prepping the bikes for a ride to the beach and of course, dabbing sun screen on the cats’ noses to keep them from burning.  Well, that last one may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture.

Christmas Eve bike ride

Last Saturday we moved from Grayton Beach State Park to Topsail Preserve State Park.  In distance about 10 miles but in amenities it like Motel 6 to Trump Tower.  We gave up a squeezy, sandy site with an amazing view for a huge concrete pad, nearby swimming pool, camp store, bike rental and nearby cabins.  There's always a trade-off, but we're very happy here.  We cleaned the rig after we moved because a friend was coming to stay in a cabin and spend Christmas with us.  It doesn’t take long to clean but we agreed that we should consider towing a small trailer with a cleaning person in it because neither one of us are particularly good at it.  Maybe next trip.

Chuck's deluxe site

Sandy arrived on Sunday and unfortunately the weather has been gloomy and raining since then.  We’ve driven around to show her some sites, and have eaten some good meals and even, in the great American tradition, done some shopping.  I have a new camera which I start using today to generate more blog photos.  Hopefully it will be good.

Today, Christmas Eve, is finally sunny though cool, but we've got bikes and we went for a ride.

Robin and Sandy playing on the beach on Christmas Eve

We have 2 lbs of fresh Florida snapper in the frig waiting for grill for our Christmas Eve dinner tonight.  That and a green salad and some couscous should make a celebratory meal. 

 

Happy Holidays everyone from Nortie, Beanie, Sandy, Robin and Katie.

Look at all that white stuff.  Is it.....yes, it's SAND!

Water Update

Updating the blog is tough with no WiFi in the state park, so today, Thursday, we're at the laundromat getting clean and using their WiFi.

Robin spent most of yesterday afternoon on her knees in the closet gently teasing out the check valve outside the water heater that we believe was the root of our problem.  It was a tough working situation and she managed it admirably.  With the check valve out we went looking for a replacement without luck, however we were able to take the non-functioning guts out of the valve and put it back in line.  We won't need it to function until we winterize again. 

However, once we replaced it we realized we had a ruptured valve on the water line leading to our future (maybe) washer.  That problem was spurting water in places it shouldn't go.  Another run to Ace hardware and a new ball valve later and we think we've plugged all the leaks.  We're still too chicken to turn the water heater on.  That will be today's project after the laundry is done.

Keep your fingers crossed that all our problems are behind us and that we'll be able to get out of that site on Saturday.  More when we're connected.  Miss you all horribly.

We've Arrived

As we planned this trip people asked us where we were going.  My response was that we were heading south until we hit the ocean and deciding whether to turn left or right.  Well yesterday we hit it and made a left and arrived at Grayton Beach State Park in the Florida panhandle.  You can see the view out our windshield.  The view is lovely, the weather is perfect (high 60's during the day, cooling down to good sleeping temp at night) and we're here for 4, yes, count them, 4 whole nights!  Yippee.  I'm not sure who is happier, me or the cats.

Happy Norton

We only had 30 miles to drive to get here yesterday but we got a late start when Beanie (aka Scaredy Cat) managed to get past the obstacles blocking the opening and was under the bed in the big slide.  We can't reach him there and if we tried to bring the slide in with him there he could be crushed.  We spent many minutes tempting him out with his favorite treats much to our frustration.  We need a better plan to keep him from outsmarting us again.  We finally pulled out about 11:15 and took a slight detour to a nearby RV service place to pick their minds on our hot water heater.  We think we 've isolated the problem, and we're willing to tackle the repair ourselves, but if they had offered to do it right away for $100 we would have indulged them.  It was not to be.  We would have to leave the rig, stay in the nearby hotel and wait for a part.  So today we (hopefully) remove and repair the check-valve on the water heater.  Stay tuned!

So we got to the park about 1pm and found our site.  The sites are designed for backing into, but we have no window in the back so we like to pull in.  It is squeezy site with a tight, brushy opening, not completely level and a narrow road.  All that is our excuse for spending about an hour and a half  just getting in and lined up and set up.  I'm not sure we'll ever get out, but that's Saturday's problem.  It is lovely, just steps from the water.  

Chuck squeezed into Site 10

After all our hard work getting situated, we needed a good dinner out and found a wonderful Italian restaurant with a great wine list, fun people and excellent food.    Once again we over-ordered, over-drank and brought home leftovers.  Cornmeal-encrusted calamari, meatballs on creamy, cheesy polenta, mushroom ravioli and those were just the appetizers.  Entrees never made it onto the plate, we had them box up the 3-Meat Bolognese on Cheese Tortellini and Veal Picatta.  Those will be our reward when we get the hot water running.

Calamari

Scallops

Four wonderful days in one place!  We've gone shopping and stocked up on groceries, the cat toys came out, the toaster and induction burner came out, we cooked a hot breakfast in our rig and the only white stuff is sand!

Enjoying the view from our waterfront