While in Nashville, a couple in a Phaeton pulled in
beside us for a night on their way to Ohio. They full-time about six
months out of the year and we struck up a conversation. I had been
working to sanitize our water system and they told me to keep a spray bottle of
bleach in my wet bay to use on the RV park spigot. I asked why and they
told me about seeing other RV'er take their sewer hose over to the spigot and
hold it under there to rinse it out before they pack it up. Wow, the
stuff you learn.
My conference was over, so we hooked up and headed
to Huntsville, AL where we had reservations at Redstone Arsenal Campground (reserved
for military/DOD folks). If you are authorized to use it, this is a nice
clean, quiet and secure park. We got in on the pre-season rate and had
full hook-up for $17 per night. The WiFi worked, the laundry was clean
and they had a nice dog run area. It is also within walking distance of
the PX and Commissary. Again, I had business meetings during the day and
moved in to a company office building in Huntsville. After a week of
living in the coach, we were settling in on where items should be stored and
learning where they should not be stored. I sleep with a CPAP machine and
decided it could be tucked inside the closet with just the hose running out a
small opening. Well it didn't take but a couple minutes of breathing closet air
to decide that was not a good idea. In addition to the shoes stored
there, we had the laundry hamper in there with the dirty cloths. Lesson
learned, don't keep the dirty with the clean in a closed area. We also
were trying out all the systems we have not used and found the icemaker does
not work, the dryer makes a grinding noise when in use and the dishwasher is
possessed with a demon. We went through the steps to run the dishwasher
and it kept giving error codes then began randomly turning itself on and
beeping its alarm. So, we have a couple things to get looked at, but
nothing major.
For Easter weekend, we decided to pick-up my mother
and drive her to Auburn, AL so we could attend church with my sons who attend
college there. Mom prepared food and we stored it in the bus then she
climbed aboard and off we went. We stayed at Eagle's Landing campground
near my son's mobile home. I am not sure if it was because we were only
staying one night or because it was a holiday wee end, but the price was $47
for a full hook-up. Seems a bit high considering the park was half full,
but they do have nice level concrete pads and all the amenities. I broke
out the grill and cooked big hamburgers for the boys Saturday night. We
made Mom a bed on the jack-knife sofa since we removed the sofa with the pull
out bed and replaced it with two Lazy-Boy recliners. She said it was very
comfortable. We celebrated Easter by attending the church my sons go to
and enjoyed seeing all the young people and meeting older mentors in the church
that have built a relationship with my sons. Afterward, we gathered at my
son's mobile home with the food Mom prepared and had an Easter feast leaving
the boys plenty of leftovers.
On Sunday afternoon, we headed to the Cummins
Service center Birmingham, AL where they have free 50 amp and water hook-ups
for those needing service. Pattie took the Jeep and ran Mom back to her
home and we slept well prepared for our early Monday appointment. The
people at this service enter were very nice. They let us bring Sparky in
the waiting room while the technician changed the oil, filters, and lubricated
the chassis. By late morning, we were back on the road to Huntsville
where we plugged in and I worked mobile. We planned to stay the week in
Huntsville, but we received a text Wednesday that Mom had a heart attack and
was headed to the hospital. I texted Pattie and by the time I got to The
Bus, she had it ready to unhook and roll out. We pulled in to Tannehill
State Park about 20 minutes from the Tuscaloosa, AL hospital, hooked up, crated
Sparky (sorry girl) and headed to the hospital in the Jeep. Mom was doing
fine and the docs were running tests. She was released the next day and
must return for more tests, but she seems ok. This is one of the reasons
we want to full-time RV. With the boys in college and our Moms both in
their 80-90s, we want to be able to respond and help when needed.
Friday morning, we headed back toward Maryland and made it to North
Carolina (Yeah, a new sticker!) before stopping for the night. The Cross
Winds Family campground we chose had somewhat confusing instructions on how to
enter and we ended up down the wrong road facing a dead end. I was really
tired having planned a 6-hour day that had turned into 9-hours due to traffic
accidents and was not pleased. I unhooked the Jeep and Pattie took it
scouting for the campground after we got The Bus turned around. The campground
was very nice and convenient to the highway, just poor signage getting to it.
In their instructions, they say they are down the first driveway on the
right. Which is totally correct. Unfortunately, there is a small road on the
right BEFORE you get to the first driveway and the blue campground sign leads
you to believe you turn there. They
should modify their instructions to say take the second right and put a big
arrow pointing ahead on the campground sign.
After I cooled off, I laughed and told Pattie I can guarantee that will
not be the last time we get into a situation where we must unhook the TOAD to
get out of a mess.
We arrived home safe on Saturday and are working to sell off items and
pack for storage. The moving truck comes
20 May.
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