Gulf State Park, AL

Given the discussions we hear basically every minute from the media, I thought Scott Adams pretty much "Nailed it".

We've made it to Gulf State Park and settled in.  Park's campground isn't full though people are coming and going each day.  The two new path bridges - one going south of Middle Lake and one going south of Lake Shelby - have opened up new paths to bike and walk.  I think I put about 10 miles on the bicycle just riding the two new loops that were created.  The pedestrian bridge to the pier is completed though there's a ton of construction being done at the new lodge & convention center.  The pedestrian bridge to the beach pavilion is still under construction.  They're also constructing new sidewalks in Gulf Shores along Hwy 182.  So it appears as though you're constantly driving around construction to go anywhere.

Construction along Hwy 182 in Orange Beach is completed, and we can now clearly see what they were trying to accomplish.  It appears as though they were trying to minimize the number of people turning left from the middle lane in the most congested business areas.  The sarcastic among us would note that it also appears that in order to ensure people weren't doing u-turns at major intersections, they designed it so everyone has to do a u-turn.  Actually, there's a case to be made that's probably a safer way to move left-turning traffic.  I guess you'd have to be here during the busy season to see if it improved anything.

Anyway, we're here and doing well.  We'll post again in a couple of weeks with new pictures.  Thanks for dropping in and checking on us!  David

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Donna and I!  We wish you the best Thanksgiving ever.  May your Thanksgiving be enjoyable and your travels, if any, safe.  Until next week, David

Cave City, KY

We're outside Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park for the weekend with plans to visit Bill & Debra before moving further south.  Since last week we've traveled to Lagrange, IN picking up the trailer and bicycles on Monday. 

We performed a quick PDI while at Cross RV.  Of note: Cross RV does a great job providing moral support during these things.  It's almost as if the trailer has to wake up.  The residential refrigerator gave us a fit.  Seems there's one sensor in the freezer that just doesn't want to work after a power outage.  As is typical with today's modern owners manual, the troubleshooting lacks a lot to be desired.  Paul does a quick search on you-tube to find out what to do.   A inquisitive, non-engineer had figured it out.  You have to keep performing a reset until the fridge wakes up.  Interestingly, there's no mention of a reset function in the owners manual.  We struggled with the satellite TV some, too, but we've had to work with it a lot in the past, so we knew what to do there.  In all, we got out of Cross RV by about 1 PM on Monday and began moving.

Since Monday we've made stops in Angola, IN (finish de-winterizing & restock); Edon, OH (new trailer tires); and Anderson, IN before arriving in Cave City, KY today.  We've never traveled in this part of the country in cold weather, so this is a new experience for us.  We're calling ahead to each planned stop to find out what utilities are available and plan accordingly.  Reservations aren't required as most people wouldn't think of taking their RV out in this kind of weather.  But since snowbirds are heading south, some RV parks do stay open.  Of those that are open, some are without water (bring your own).  Electric and sewer dumps are usually in service.

As for the trailer, it's repaired and seems to tow just fine.  Flex is gone.  We didn't gain any more clearance at the truck's tailgate.  Visually, it looks like it did at MOR/ryde back in the spring, so I guess we're level.  Ride's about the same, though I think the chucking is more muted.  Highways haven't improved, though! 

Anyway, that's it for this week.  Back on the road Sunday if all goes well.  Plans are to follow I-65 south until we turn off for Gulf Shores, AL (though we do plan to spend Thanksgiving week in Pelham, AL.)  Thanks for thinking of us and dropping in to check on us.  Until next week, David

Passapatanzy, VA

Scott Adams, October 4, 2013.

Actually, we're in Stafford County, Virginia imposing on Beth & Frank.  Mail address is Fredericksburg, VA.  "Smart" phone says Passapatanzy, VA.  Take your pick.  Your choice of which industry Scott Adams was ridiculing in the above Dilbert cartoon, too.  I can think of several.

We're here finishing up our last doc appointment and get one more visit in before we head back to Indiana to retrieve our trailer.   We're doing this exactly when we didn't want to:  freezing rain and snow flurries are predicted for northern Indiana until we get out of there.  We knew we'd be risking it, but extending our world-wind tour by a week pretty much ensured the freezing temps.  Consequently, we'll be de-winterizing the trailer in freezing temps.

There's also one last maintenance item as we plan to put new tires on the trailer as we head out.
This is a risky move as we have no assurance that Lippert Components, Inc (LCI) fixed the trailer's frame, correctly.  LCI has given us no indication of a warranty for its labor or materials.  Given LCI has never honored a warranted item for us in the past, that's probably just as well.  The people that oversaw the work are pretty good, so we're relying on them.  We know the trailer was towed about a 100 miles since the frame repair.  The driver didn't mention anything unusual, so we've got our fingers crossed.

Future planned stops are Cave City, KY and Pelham, AL before arriving in Gulf Shores, AL after Thanksgiving.  New this year, we've got two separate reservations for the same RV site in Gulf State Park.  Up until December 1st, we've got a daily reservation.  Starting December 1st, it's a monthly rate.  If we get lucky, maybe the Alabama state park bureaucracy won't make us move the trailer when we "check out" and "check-in" on December 1st.

So that's it for us.  Thanks, again, for dropping by and checking on us.  We appreciate it!  David

Stone Mountain, GA

After a nice visit with my Dad and everyone, we've moved on to Stone Mountain to visit Donna's brother and sister-in-law, Doug & Louise.  Everyone seems to be doing well here.  Unusual for us to be here without our trailer.  We're staying at the convention center for this visit.  Probably should have checked into renting one of the park's trailers, but too late now.  Consider that the next time this situation happens.

We're having nice weather for this visit.  Started out cool, but got warm and muggy a little bit today.  Plans are to move on to High Point, NC for the weekend before returning to Virginia for the rest of our doc appointments.  As always, that's the plan.

One update:  we won't be having our trailer painted this year.  Repairs to the frame just took too long and the painters couldn't fit the trailer in anytime soon.  We'll go retrieve it after our doc appointments and head south.  Again, that's just a plan. 

That's it for this week.  Thanks for dropping by and checking in on us.  Until next week.  David