Critters from Alabama to Texas

We just thought we were done with Eastbank COE Campground in Bainbridge, GA. It seems as though we picked up a little gift while we were there.

We call them sugar ants ‘cause they’re so small, like a grain of sugar. There were hundreds of them. So we’ll spend the next few weeks trying to get rid of all them. Next time I’ll believe RVParkReviews.com. Several reviewers mentioned ant invasions, so we brought along Boric Acid, But it rained and washed it all away after we surrounded the tires with it.

Also this guy was parked right behind us. Each time we would step out of Big Guy, our eyeballs were clicking right and left trying to figure where it was this time.

Several more critters we saw around the motorhome.

Service COE Campground just outside of Coffeeville, AL is one of our favorites. This makes the 3rd or 4th time we’ve stayed here. But this time we spent 2 days. It’s right on the Tom Bigbee waterway and features lots of barge traffic.

This guy’s headed north….

And this guy’s headed south….

In the mornings it was nice to sit under the shade tree and contemplate nature and its wonders.

The sunsets were pleasant to observe as well.

We almost had another hitchhiker from this park. As we were getting Sunny, the Explorer, ready to go we found this guy had attached himself to one of the fenders.

Don’t know what it is, but I’m not gonna touch it.

Now we have a conundrum. We’ve really liked the low cost COE parks and being able to use our Geezer Pass. But we’re in a part of the country now, where they are not convenient to our route. It’s still way to hot for dry camping, electricity for the air conditioner is a must.

Getting ready to leave Mississippi and cross over to Louisiana.

So we’re gonna have to suck it up and stay at a commercial campground. But wait, EJ finds one that belongs to Passport America. But even with the discount, one night costs more than 2 nights at a Corp of Engineers campground. But it’s on the Mississippi River! So we splurge.

The view from the campground.

More critters. Along the River Walk, we see a sparrow a harassing a hawk.

These last few weeks eastern Texas has been inundated. Our next stop at Mill Creek COE Campground shows evidence of all the rain. A good portion of the waterfront sites are partially underwater and have closed off for use. Even our site, which is not considered waterfront, shows water not that far away from Big Guy. We’ll definetly keep an eye on that.

The campground is located next to the Rayburn Reservoir, the fishing center for this part of Texas. And there are boats, barking dogs and squally kids everywhere. I guess it’s a good thing it’s too hot and humid to spend any time out doors. When we’re here we stay inside where it’s cool, dry and quiet.

Looking for the next place to stay, we find 3 Passport America campgrounds in Gatesville, TX. We call and call and call, but cannot ever get anyone to answer the phone. So we leave messages that we are on the way and hope they have space for us.

One the way, our road turns into a construction zone and this sign confronts us. If we have to detour, it’ll be miles and miles out of the way.

We mull this over for a few minutes and decide they must be talking about the center lanes of the road. The shoulders are still open so we continue on driving an 8 foot wide RV on a 7.5 feet wide shoulder. It was tight. Fortunately, it only lasted 4 miles.

We arrive in Gatesville and still had recieved no return call confirming a space for us. So we picked Texas Station #2 only to find it had a gate you needed a security code for. EJ called 3 times, no answer, so we parked in front of the gate, figuring we’d either really piss some one off, or management would get the message.

Soon we recieved a phone call, arranged for payment for the night and they gave us the access code. I love it when a plan comes together!

Next stop, Dad’s place in San Angelo, TX.

A Cease for Colin

East Bank COE, Bainbridge, GA June 4 to 6 2016

Saturday was a long day for us, 289 miles. It wasn’t by design, but we were traveling through a part of Georgia that had no campgrounds along our path. Walmart was always an option, but all day long the temperature had been hovering around 95 degrees. We figured that it would cost about 16 bucks to run the generator all night so why not find a campground for about the same price.

Towards the end of the day, we could tell we were getting tired as the navigator and driver started trying to put square pegs in round holes. Try that whe you”re driving! It was time to slow this circus down and land, somewhere!

The place we wanted to go, DevenCrest RV Park, was a Passport America member. That means 50% off the published rate. But they wouldn’t answer their phone. We finally decided to go for it, pull in unannounced and hope for the best. When we arrived the office was locked up but there was a different phone number posted. Long story shorter, we got the last site and settled in for the night.

That’s where we found this beauty. I’m sure if you made an offer they would accept it! Steve O’Bosky says it would make a great Alaska rig.

Our plan all along was to make a run to the Eastbank Corp of Engineers Campground in Bainbridge, GA. Our Geezer Pass works at COE campgrounds(half off!) and our experience so far has been that they are very nice and well maintained. Eastbank was no exception.

When we checked in here, the camp hosts warned us about Tropical Storm Colin. We hadn’t had access to a TV signal for the last few days so it kinda caught us by surprise. We quickly decided to do our running around on Sunday, and just lay low on Monday, the day Colin was to show up here in southwest Georgia.

While driving around we spotted this neat old Ford pickup.

The sunset from our campsite.

Colin didn’t disappoint. He showed up about 6am Monday with a light rain. EJ had gathered up some abandoned firewood for a potential fire. It’s only 90 degrees, right? But, the fire ring resembles a swimming pool.

Even the heron looks soggy.

What’s a person to do when it’s raining and you’re cooped up inside?

Wash the car! All you gotta do is put the suds on and let nature do the rinse.

Tuesday, if the weather clears, we continue west. And we gain an hour. That means we can sleep late! Now we just have to convince the cat….

Cruising Through Columbia

Mr. Z’s RV Park, Gilbert, SC June 2 & 3 2016

Unlike many of our RVing friends, we prefer to not travel on Interstate Highways. The views are mostly boring, they’re crowded and people drive crazy. Back roads, lesser traveled highways, are more relaxing, more scenic and more friendly. Besides, what good is a 70 or 75 mile an hour speed limit when you’re barely go over 60? And, we’re rarely in a hurry, so why not take it easy?

But today, Thursday, we got a late start and wanted to get to our destination before rush hour traffic in Columbia, SC got too bad. So to make up some time, it was necessary to travel on I-26 for most of our trip. We plod along at about 62 –63 miles per hour and just let traffic whiz by us. Everybody is a hurry to get somewhere.

We had singled out 2 campgrounds on the southwest side of Columbia so that when it came time to leave we wouldn’t have to fight city traffic. According to RVParkReviews.com one had complaints of drug dealing taking place in the parking lot next to it and the other was a real small park, but no complaints other than that. Not really wanting to deal with druggies, we went for the smaller park, Mr. Z’s. And it was small! In fact we parked in Mr. Z’s side yard.

Just pulling yer leg. It wasn’t the only site, there were 16 in all, but it was the only one left with a 50 amp hookup.

We made plans to have lunch with EJ’s niece and sis’n’law on Friday. The niece received her nursing degree a couple of years ago and moved to Columbia beause she liked the vibes. We had a good time visiting with them, 13 cats, and 2 dogs. Finally I started to get antsy because I wanted to get across town before rush hour started.

Fate had another idea though, and within minutes after leaving it began to pour. When your dealt lemons, you make lemonade, right? Using the android app, Untapped, we located a microbrewery nearby where we could wait until the rain and traffic died down.

Our wait person was very helpful, determining our tastes and suggesting different brews that we might like. After a tour and several samples we found our favorites and even filled up a small growler.

We even talked up the possibilty of brewing on the go in a motorhome and found out that gallon sized batches might work. We’ll keep that in mind. As we left, the gate caught our eye.

On Saturday, we are on our way southwest to begin making our way to Texas.

North Carolina Vacancy

Foothills Family Campground, Forest City, NC May 31 through June 1, 2016

EJ was quick to point out that we had the opportunity to eliminate a vacant state on our travel map. About 5 miles separated us from our location in Gaffney, SC and the North Carolina border. Now in order to fill that annoying vacancy you have to follow the rule. You can only eliminate a blank state if  we and BG spend at least one night in that state.  We have been in and have passed through NC on many occasions, but Big Guy has never spent the night.

So we come up with a plan to make a short run up to Forest City, NC and spend a couple of nights at the Foothills Family Campground. That’s what’s great about not having a fixed schedule. It was a total of 23 miles which included a stop at the Cat scales at the local Pilot Station.

Freightliner thought Big Guy had put on a little weight, about 350 lbs worth. We wanted to verify that so our next door neighbor suggested we try the Cat Scales at the next exit off of I-85 here in Gaffney. It turns out, Big Guy is getting a little porky and has been the victim of an expanding waistline. I think EJ is hiding rocks on her side of the bedroom and EJ thinks it’s all the stuff I have down below. We really suspect that maybe last years weigh in may not have been correct. As an added bonus at Cat we were also able to get Sunny (our tow car) weighed.

We checked into the Foothills Family Campground where they let us block one of the roads into the park to unhook Sunny. Just as we started disconnecting cables and such it began pouring rain. The owner came hurrying out of the office and told us to just go sit in the motorhome until the rain quit. So we did. If he wasn’t worried about the blocked road, we weren’t going to worry either.

Then as we were setting up in the site they assigned us, he came running over again. He said “I see you have a satellite dish on your roof. We need to move you to a better site.” So he assigned us to a spot with a clear view of the south west sky. We were feeling pretty good about picking this campground. Plus, our Passport America membership reduced the nightly fee by 50%.

Once we got settled in Miss Mocha assumed the position meaning she expected food, and soon!

After her supper, it was time for a nap. I hope I’m not crowding her.

Wednesday morning we went on a mission to downtown Forest City. EJ had found an ad for a drugstore that had an old fashion soda fountain inside serving a $3.99 breakfast including coffee. We ended up not ordering the special, but shared a big ol’ omelet, sliced tomatoes, toast and 2 cups of coffee for $6.18. Now that’s a deal!!

Small towns are so interesting. They intrigue us, make us wonder about the history and how they came to be located where they are. In studying this mural, we learned Forest City was previously named Burnt Chimney.

Back at the RV and after having taken care of some chores, it was time to have a ceremony for the reason we came up here. We added our 45th state. Only DE, RI, NJ, MD and HI are left. Don’t think BG will make it to HI, but we might be able to get the rest in the future.

Woohoo! It’s time for a bottle of wine!

Tomorrow, June 2nd, we begin the western portion of our trip after a stop in Columbia, SC to visit family.  Write ya down the road.

Gaffney Getaway

Freightliner Chassis Service Center, Gaffney, SC May 25 – 30, 2016

It is our habit to schedule a thorough maintenance checkup for Big Guy at the beginning of every trip. This helps make sure the RV is in good shape and ready to travel so we can spend more time exploring and less time in a repair shop somewhere. Normally, I call 6 weeks ahead of the time I want to show up at the Freightliner Chassis Service Center (FCSC) to schedule an appointment.

But apparently I’ve been flapping my big mouth too much, telling everyone how great the service is and they ought to go there. I called on March 28 to set up a mid-May appointment only to be told there were no openings. And they could only squeeze us in for one day on May 27, even though we had almost two days of work we wanted done.

So, our plan was to show up on their doorstep a week early, look pitiful, and hope they could squeeze us in here and there between other appointments (Sometimes it works). That way, if we could get some of the minor stuff out of the way, they could finish us up on the 27th.

Things rarely ever go as planned as they had a cancelation on the 26th allowing us to have 2 consecutive days for service. This meant we no longer needed to show up early. It’s a good thing to keep your schedule flexible and just go with the flow. As it turns out, FCSC was able to wrap everything up on the first day.

We altered our schedule to arrive mid-afternoon on Wednesday, May 25th, so I could check-in and let them know we were here and ready for our appoinment. This way I could beat the Thursday morning crowd of old men lining up waiting for the doors to open to sign up for service. It worked out pretty good. But maybe I shouldn’t say anything since this place is already getting too popular.

As promised, the service tech was knocking at our door at 8AM. We had unpacked the car and under the bed stuff the night before. All we had left in the morning was to load Ms Mocha and her paraphernalia into the car for the day. It was pretty warm out so we kept the car’s air conditioner running most of the day to keep her comfortable. She’s not spoiled at all.

Glad to have the service out of the way, but the early release didn’t help much as it is was Memorial Day weekend, meaning our chances of getting into a campground somewhere were slim to none. So we asked and got permission to stay right here in the parking lot. Turns out, there were 4 other RVs in the same situation, so we just made a social event out of it.

There was even a camp kitty which everyone kept well fed. It was a feral cat, you could tell by the clipped ear. Our next door neighbors Michael and Heather took very god care of it and tried to find a it a home by making up flyers.

One day EJ and I wandered over to Spartanburg to check out the RJ Rockers brewery.

While it was was fun…

The brews we tried, Boy Scout Stout and Son of a Peach, were just so so. The Tap Room is a warehouse with bar stool type seating and you can see the bottom of the tanks in the above picture. There is no air conditioning so it will get quite warm in the summer.

After our mid-afternoon beer we consulted an Android app named “Around Me” to find a place where we could take a walk. About 2 miles from RJ Rockers was the Hatcher Garden Woodland Preserve. A perfect place to spend an hour strolling through the woods and burning up a few beer calories.

Much to EJ’s chagrin, a much advertised Gaffney Farmer’s Market failed to materialize. We saw several advertisements for it, but whenever we went it was never there, even though we arrived during the posted hours. The only thing that was there was a fried fish restaurant on wheels. It didn’t look like he was doing much business either. He was probably wondering where everyone else was.

On our last full day at FCSC we invited all the older motorhome owners (2004 to 2006) over for a cookout. Dale and Barbara, Jaye and Suzi, joined us and we cooked filet mignon, hamburgers and hot dogs. It was good sharing stories and comraderie. We also showed our colors for Memorial Day in honor of those who have served and are serving to protect our people and our country.

Next stop, North Carolina.