Home Again - Jiggity jig!

September 15 – Well, I’m very slow in writing the last day!  Actually today is the 19^th and I just got my laptop set back up.  Well, the drive home was great once we got off of I-75.  That road is a jungle and so loaded down with truckers and people in a big big hurry.  Our goal was to be back where we park the RV by 11.  We had packed the truck last night so as long as we could get in the gate before it closed for lunch we could just head on home. 

So me made the time frame and got Molly and got in the truck and headed home.  It always seems so foreign when I walk in.  Today though I had a job on my hands to clean the fridge.  We left it like we always do but this year it was infested with dead tiny bugs.  It took me about and hour to wash it out good with bleach water and all of the shelves I took to the garage sink and I used simple green and bleach.  It turned on fine and once it was cooling down we made another run to the RV and got just the mandatory fridge items and more of our “stuff”.

The process has taken several days as I didn’t want to bring it all home and piled everywhere.  I did lots of laundry since we did our blankets, etc and our clothes for the last few days.  So it’s been a gradual process that is still in effect.  My raised garden had become a jungle, I was shocked!  Bill helped me pull some of the growth out and he trimmed back the tree that is behind it so we have several piles of yard waste to bag and take to the curb. 

So, we are glad to be home and sad to leave all of the fun people we met on our caravan.  We saw so many awesome things and places on our journey and do not regret in the least the cost of the trip and the miles on our RV.  You only have so much time on this Earth and we should be seeing all that we can in the time we have.  It’s a great place out there!

Almost home...

September 14 - We crossed the border of Alabama into Florida at 9 this morning.  We arrived at Suwannee River Bend at 1.  It was only fitting to spend our last night on the road at the same place we spent our first night.  We have completed the circle.

Once we had lunch we started packing up “stuff” and loaded it into the truck.  That way we can unhook and go right home and unload.  I’m thinking it will take 2 more loads to empty all of our clothes and purchases, not to mention the fridge stuff.  Actually I have to go home and clean the fridge before we bring stuff home.  Kam plugged it in a couple of days ago and I gather it didn’t do well with the AC so low so I’ve got some “nasty” to deal with.  Ugh!

Once we filled the truck Bill cleaned the “love” bugs off the front of the coach and I guess he will have to do it again when we get home.

We’ve stayed at this campground at least 10 times and we finally went to the seafood restaurant that’s across the water from us.  It was very good and now we know for sure we will go back.  I had coconut shrimp and frog legs and Bill went with gator tail.  We met a nice couple next to us who we got to talking about RVing and our trip.  They have an RV and want to go to Alaska so we suggested what we did the first time we went, fly up, rent a car for 10-12 days and take the cruise ship back to Vancouver and fly home.  I think they are seriously going to consider that.  They’ve heard from others about the road conditions in many places.

So we have a short drive tomorrow but a busy afternoon of unpacking and putting away!  Ugh!

Almost out of Alabama - Florida Here We Come!

September 13 – Time to back out of my space!  They were concrete but had little fences at one end so that made me a little nervous backing out.  We pulled in up at the shop where it was level to hook up.  They were very nice people and answered some questions for Bill about the RV and before we left one of the guys clear caulked the slide trim and was caught by the wind the other day and we had duct taped it on.

Bill was a little concerned today as he had checked on fuel stations that take trucks and picked one and when were got off the interstate there was no sign or building.  There didn’t appear to be much there and I needed to go one way or the other.  Thank goodness no one was behind us and Bill said to just turn left instead of right and get back on the interstate.  Once we did we saw the sign but since there was no direction given at the exit we headed on down the road.  We did find a truck stop and we still had plenty of fuel anyway but now there were will fewer big towns with big fuel stations.

The driving is more boring every day but I have to stay alert every minute.  Those darn trucks drift over and there is always someone pulled off the right side of the road and we have seen a lot of flashing lights from the highway patrol or whatever police agency.

We stopped for the night in Dothan, AL at a campground we’ve stopped in before.  We got a nice pull thru and she said she gave us the same site we had last year.  We ran into our first love bugs in quite a long time and Bill was bummed.  Once we got parked he did a good wash job of the front of the RV so we can at least see when we get on the road tomorrow.

This campground has great WIFI and I can get caught up until we get home and I write our final blog for this year.  Tomorrow night is our last night on the road and then it’s home to total Chaos! 

Heading further South - sounds good to me!

September 12 – We left Hazen this morning on our way to Winfield.  Nothing exciting but lots of heavy traffic along the way.  So many big trucks!

We parked at a campground attached to a RV repair shop.  The owner used to work for Tiffin in Red Bay and built his place and got several of his co-workers to come work for him.  They are very nice people.

The odd thing is there were 2 rows of sites, 10 on each side and you pulled in instead of backed in as the utilities are at the front of the space on the left.  We were told that when they designed it they were planning on a lot of Class A rigs pulling in.  Well, there were only 2 Class A’s and the rest were travel trailers and 5^th wheels.  They were backed in but left the end vacant so they were closer to the hook ups.  They were running very long water hoses and extensions of the power and several sections of black water hoses.  They also had a guy who was putting in the utilities behind us for the next section and we were told they were going to be traditional sites! 

Wow, another shopping day!

September 11 – We had a lazy morning.  I did another load of laundry then we both showered and got ready to head into Stuttgart.  It’s a nice drive across farmland so very little traffic.  The town/city was much larger than we expected.

Bill dropped me off at Belks while he took the truck to the car wash.  They had a crazy sale going on and I got some good buys for Christmas and I also got 2 super nice colors of capri jeans.  I also got a short sleeve flag shirt so I can show my Patriotism.  Bill caught up with me and he found a shirt also at a big discount. 

We had lunch at a highly rated little fried food place.  We went because I could get fried gizzards and livers.  Bill used to go to a gas station in Ocoee and get them for me until it got sold and no more gizzards and livers.  Boy, was it a lot of stuff for $7.99.  It came with a tiny container of slaw and several small hush puppies.  Well, I did not eat it all but boy, was it ever good.  I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!  Bill had wings with sides and he managed to finish his!

Then we made our trip to Walmart to get what I hope is enough veggies and meat to get us home.  I got boneless pork chops to supplement the fish and ground beef we have in the freezer.  I hope I got enough fruit and veggies for the next few days.

We talked to Jared and Kam who were both at the house and Jared set off the alarm and I got a call from the alarm company.  All was well!  Kam plugged in and turned on my fridge and said it was working but is pretty nasty inside.  Not good!  She sprayed it with Lysol and is hoping for the best.  I thought it was totally empty but guess it might have gotten a little moldy from not being washed down once I turned it off.  Oh well, we will leave everything in the  RV until I get home with our first load of other stuff and can clean it. 

I can’t believe this adventure is almost over.  It really seems like it’s been many more months than it has.  We’ve had a great time and as much as I’m ready to get home, I’m missing our Alaska travel buddies.

Heading South!

September 10 – We left this morning about 9:00 and spent the day on the interstate.  There were sections of heavy traffic and sections of no one.  Once we got to the outskirts of Little Rock it got crazy.  We saw traffic backed up on the other side of the highway and then we saw a Semi off the road laying have tipped over into the trees.  The traffic was backed up for miles.  The police were already there and I’m guessing the ordered rescue from behind us as there was no way they could come down the highway as backed up as it was.

Then I noticed in the passenger sideview mirror something flapping on the side of the RV and I zipped off the road and put on my flashers.  We got out and the vertical trim on the passenger side slide was coming off so Bill got out the trusty duct tape and we taped it up as far as we could reach.  WE checked on it as we drove and it didn’t come off.  When we stopped for the night it was still secure.  Bill added it to the list of items for General RV to fix when we take it in to them in October.

We booked 2 nights in Hazen, AR right off the interstate.  It’s small campground on a rise behind the owner’s house.  There are 12 sites I think.  There are 2 pull throughs but we got a back in.  We do have full hook ups so I can do a load of laundry both days.

We asked our neighbor about restaurants and he suggested we go into Stuttgart which is about 20 miles.  They also have a Walmart so that’s our excitement for tomorrow!

Shopping Time!

September 9 – We are headed south and drove out of Missouri and into Arkansas.  Nothing much to see along the way and traffic was heavy near towns/cities but pretty sparse out in the boonies.  Bill had changed a couple of our stops so I really didn’t know where we were headed.  We landed in Alma, AR at a small campground not far off the Interstate.  As we drove in we saw a couple of buildings with discount stuff so after we got parked, had lunch and rested a bit we walked over and did some shopping.  The first place was a combination of grocery items going out of date (non refrigerated) and all kinds of other things.  We bought some snacks and I bought some stocking stuffer things and a couple of gift items.  Then we rolled our cart nextdoor and it was a nice discount clothing store.  I bought a beautiful pair of Grasshopper shoes.  I’ve always admired them but they were always more than I was willing to pay.  We picked up a couple of gift items as well.  Then we rolled the cart to the hardware store.  Oh wow, I love hardware stores.  I did get some great buys on inexpensive items but really didn’t need any hardware stuff at this time.  My total there was $1.62!  Big spender!

We dropped the cart back at the first store and carried our bags across the lot to the campground.  Bill didn’t waste any time opening a bag of potato chips!  I will say later they went really well with the glass of wine I was having!

Dinner was leftover chicken alfredo for Bill with a salad and mine was haddock and spinach.  We both enjoyed our entirely different meals. 

After dinner I redid the page of our travel itinerary deleting some places and adding new ones.  We managed to cut out 7 nights so we will get home a bit sooner than the original plan. 

So now to relax a while and read and get a good night’s sleep for the 200 mile drive tomorrow.