Got to Alabama this past Saturday (2/29). Was a pretty good run! Even the one "negative" on the trip has had a "positive" outcome!
I headed out on 2/22 from the DFW Metro. Had a going way breakfast time with my buddies, won't get to have breakfast with them for a few months. Was a good visit to start out the trip on!
Drove a bit further than I usually do for a day's drive. Spent the first night at the Louisiana Welcome Center. It's a really goo
d stop because it is quite new. Lots of "Truck/RV" parking. Very nice facilities and very clean! And, ""I must admit", it was nice to fall to sleep listening to diesel engines idling! LOL! Too many years on the road trucking! It really is amazing how we humans can find "comfort" in what to many are strange situations!
Sunday morning (2/23) went in and got the current Louisiana road map. When I got to looking at the map I realized that it has NO mileages between points! And I mean NONE! I've never had a map that didn't have mileages on it. Strange!!
Stopped at Kroger in Shreveport and topped of gas. It was misty and overcast, almost stayed there. But after a break it quite misting & started to see some blue in the sky, so headed east on I-20.
Stopped in Gibsland, LA and visited the "Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum"! Quite a little museum. A lot of trivia about that day. A lot of information about Bonnie & Clyde's lives, their families, etc. There were more artifacts, authenticated even, than I expected. Pictures all over the walls.
Actual newspapers, reprints, posters, displays of
Drove a bit further than normal, again! LOL! Topped off gas in Rustin, LA and ended up spending the night (2/23) at WallyWorld RV (heheheh) in Ruston, LA.
Topped off at Murphy, Ruston, LA next morning and headed east. Destination for the day was Vicksburg, MS and the Vicksburg National Military Park. Stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center to get the current map. And I actually drove in rain for half the drive (a rare thing for me to do). Got there early enough to go through the Visitor center, take a few pics, get my sticker & magnets before closing time.
The parking lot at the Park has no gate, locals come in to walk & jog the park. Soooo...I thought I'd park there for the night. And I made it until about 2015! LOL! The Ranger stopped by and let me know there was no overnight parking there. LOL! We both got to chuckling when I said "yeah, I was wondering how long I'd make it before she had to tell me to move along!"
So packed up and drove back to the WallyWorld about 4 miles away. It was actually very quiet at Wally. Woke up to heavy fog on Monday (2/24), so sat for a couple of hours before the sun burned it off. Stopped off at Murphy, topped off gas and headed back to the Battlefield.
Drove the Battlefield (2/25), took pictures, walked up/down too many stairs/steps. but was a beautiful day for it! Then stopped at the USS Cairo museum/exhibit. It's an "ironside" battle ship from the Civil War era. It was found, what was left brought out of the river, and a reconstruction of the basic ship built, using the items & plating brought up. I was actually surprised at how much of the ship had actually survived the 100+ years under water.There are some very nice views of the Mississippi River from the battlefield. When there you are seized by the view and you end up staring at it for longer than you planned.
Drove to WallyWorld in Forest, MS for the night(2/25 AND 2/26). Was idling Europa to charge batts for a little while and found out I had a rather large leak in the fuel line! It rained for most of the day, so a second night in Forest. Morning 2/27 (Thursday) got under the house to see what needed. Called O'Reilly's and Johnny (store mgr) sent me 2 end pieces of hose for free & I paid for a box of small clamps. Ended up having to get a longer piece of hose. But got it on, leak stopped and on the road by 1430.
Stopped for the night (2/27) at the rest area just south of Eutaw, AL. Nice, quiet night. Got a good night's sleep. Topped off gas next morning at Pilot, Tuscaloosa, AL on the way to Pell City, AL to visit the kids there & spend the night. It was a good visit...and the g'kids are growing too fast! Or I'm just getting older too fast!!
Got into Gadsden Saturday afternoon (2/28)...8 days on the road, 780 miles...so overall ran my daily average of miles. The only downside to the trip was the fuel line. BUT...it had a bright side..real bright! Since fixing the line, my average mpg's has gone from +/- 7.5mpg avg to 10.45mpg avg!! A few more tweaks and dualie wheels on Europa...I might actually get her to 11+mpg!!
So this brings me up to date! In Alabama for a couple of months, but I'll be making several 2-3 day trips to see some things that I never took time for when living here fulltime!
So stay tuned as we make repairs, updates and short trips over the coming weeks!!
C'ya soon out here!!
Frog, Abbie & Snickers
Frog, Abbie & Snickers
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