Alabama and Florida

Just in case you forgot who we are we will start this long overdue Blog with a reminder picture of the two of us taken in Alabama by our good friends with whom we spent about two weeks while sitting at the Tiffin customer service area in Red Bay Alabama.




Service area is a very busy place. We arrived on a Saturday and were given a place to park with power and water until they could get us a full hookup site in a few days. We moved on Monday to a full site with about 100 other people trying to get service. Tuesday the scheduler came around and gave us two choices, sit here for 6 to 7 weeks to get into a bay for service or wait for a few days and get work done by 2 men for 3 hours each. We elected for the express service.

Not quite sure why but we got a call on Tuesday afternoon to pull into a bay. We moved into the bay and spent about 1 1/2 hours there fixing some small things we needed repaired. They send all rigs back to the campsite in the evenings with instructions to be back at 7:00 AM. We did this and part way through the repairs they said "sorry but your time is up". They changed the ice maker in the refrigerator and did a few other repairs. We paid for what they had done and moved the rig back to our site.

The next day Dick walked back to the repair area and told them the ice maker was not working. They had us move the rig back into a bay and decided to pull the refrigerator and not only fix the ice maker but change the fans on the back of it. Not an easy job to pull the refer and get it back into that little hole.

When completed we asked for the paperwork so we could pay and they told us not to worry about it. Don't have to tell us twice. Three guys for three hours should have cost us a few dollars.

The next day we took a tour of the factory and while there the tour guide convinced us to go talk to Bob Tiffin the owner about another problem we had. When they built the bus 6 years ago they put a thick plastic or vinyl coating on the front below the window. Through the years it has failed, making the front look like it was covered with bugs. We asked Bob what Tiffin could do about it. He reminded us that the 3M product had a 3 year warranty that expired 3 years ago. He did say he would take care of it and for us to go see the service manager in the morning.

Remember we are now looking at 6 to 7 weeks wait to get into a bay for service. First thing the next morning we visited with the service manager; he had received a call from Bob Tiffin to get us fixed up. When we asked about a schedule he picked up the phone and when he got off he told us to move our rig into a bay. It took about 3 1/2 days for them to remove the 3M material and repaint most of the front. We talked them into sanding and repainting the area above the window and split the cost. They charged us $150 for all the extra work and got us out in 4 days. We had received an estimate from another company of $1,500 plus the cost of removing the 3M coating.

We spent several evenings playing cards and games with old friends who are still waiting to get their new bus fixed. We also did day trips with them to see the countryside. One of the areas that the locals told us to visit was the Worlds only Coon Dog Cemetery. Off we went to this area out in the woods and yes there is a very large Cemetery there for Coon Dogs only. It was started in 1937 and has a few hundred dogs buried there.

Quite a large area complete with picnic tables and shelters.

This is just one of the many stone headstones.

When we finally got out of Red Bay we headed to a Corp of Engineers park in the little town of Forkland Alabama. This site must have been over 100' long and take a look at the next picture...

for a view out our front window. This was really a great park so put it on your list of places to stop.

A change of plans (or a wrong turn) find us now in Florida in the town of Milton in the panhandle area. Being this close to the gulf of Mexico we had to head for the beach. Here white sands with bright sun casts our shadow while walking together.

As we said the sands are really white with hardly a person to share our time together on the beach; little or no oil here.

Jackie with shoes in hand letting the waves splash her feet, maybe we should just stay here for the rest of the winter.

Just a picture of the pier jutting out into the Gulf of Mexico with the afternoon sun glistening on the water and a shore bird finding a small island of sand to rest on.

We met a couple from our old car club in Washington who have been living in this area and had a great time seeing them and sharing a bite to eat at the Hog's Breath restaurant. Thanks Tom and Karen for sharing part of your day with us. It was great seeing you guys again after all these years.

Out for a walk the other day we ran across this sign in the front yard of a local home. Not sure what kind of eggs that a yard can produce but the price looks good.

Wednesday we head out to New Orleans so if you have any suggestions of good places to see in the area please drop us a hint.

To be continued...

A birth, a death, a Trace and fall

Here we are back in the State of Tennessee with our front window looking over a lake with the fall colors all around us. More on that later. We took a drive the other day to see this area of the country and made a stop at the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln at what is now the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park across the boarder in Kentucky.

He was born here but only lived here for about the first two years of his life.

From the visitors center there was a boardwalk trail that led to the monument next to Sinking Springs where the family got all it's water. A short but pretty trip through the woods.

This monument was erected between 1909 and 1911 as a tribute to him and his family.

A closer look shows some of the beautiful marble that the structure was made from.

Inside is what at one time was thought to be his boyhood home but turned out to be a neighbors but it does depict the size and style that his parents were able to build for the family.

When he was about two the family was forced off the property and moved a few miles away on 30 rented acres in Knob Creek. After the family lost their battle with the courts to prove ownership of the property where Abraham was born, they packed up and got out of Dodge. He was born in Kentucky but spent most of his young life in Illinois.

He did help the family work the field in the back of this picture and lived in a cabin similar to the one here.

As we traveled around this part of the country we saw lots of very large barns and were finally able to find one that we could get close to. We have all seen the pictures of the tobacco drying in the barns. This was our chance to see it first hand. This is just the first layer of the plants and in the next picture...

you can see how big this operation is. This is about as close to tobacco that we want to get these days. This is the only barn we saw that had open sides; most were wooden sides with vents in the roof. Very interesting but not for us.

We found a Thousand Trails Wilderness Preserve or park near Hohenwald, Tennessee and settled in with this view out our front window. Just a little morning mist on Chief Creek Lake.

This area is close to the North end of the 450 miles Natchez Trace (trail) and we were able to travel about 1/4 of it. A winding 2 lane road through the countryside with limited access roads to or from it. It was built with most of the cross roads going under or over this roadway so there is little or no traffic on it. The original trail was used by merchants, travelers, indians, and thieves going from the New Orleans area to Nashville area, some as early as the 1700's.

Not sure how we did it but just realized that some of the pictures are out of order so will try and fill in the details as best we can.

One of the pull-outs along the Natchez Trace showing some of the Kentucky farmland or I think they called them ranches around here.

What was amazing to both of us was the mowed grass around here. Along the Trace there is grass between the road and the tree line as much as 100 yards wide, and it's all mowed. The larger homes around have huge, like 50 acre front yards and it's all mowed. Must be very sick people around here.

Another stop along the Trace we found the death and burial place of Meriwether Lewis. This is the monument that was erected over the burial place of Meriwether.

The death of Meriwether still has not been solved to this day but most people think it was a suicide that happened on this property.

Back to the RV park watching the fall colors over the lake behind our campsite.

Might as well share one more picture before the end of this Blog. Happy fall to all our friends.

We headed out this morning and are now in Red Bay Alabama where our MH was born. We have a few items that need to be fixed so what better place than Tiffin factory. Looks like we maybe here for some time as this is the busiest time for repairs at the factory, with so many folks heading south for the winter. But we have friends here which should make the wait more bearable, once they get well. (They both have bad colds, so our playing cards or games in the evening will have to wait.)

To be continued...

Indiana and a Mammoth cave in Kentucky

While at the Montana Owners Rally in Goshen, IN, we had a little time to do some site-seeing. We passed quite a few of these Amish buggies. It was really interesting on the narrow roads, especially at night. And even Wal-Mart has space set aside for parking them!


A traffic jam! Hey Molly you could take all the kids to school in one of these.

Back in Batesville, IN we took one day off from moving into and setting up the RV to drive to a little tourist town called Metamora. Here is Jackie outside one of the interesting buildings.

But look what is inside! It was so crowded with "stuff" you could hardly move through! But the lady in charge seemed to know where everything was! The weekend before we were there was their big festival (Canal Days) and thousands of folks had been in town. She complained that people had moved her stock and she had spent all day putting it back into place!

There was room after room of more "stuff"!

Down the road was the Cookie Jar Store. Dick asked if this was an earthquake zone and was told no, but all of the shelves are covered with a special blue cloth, "just in case". They had every cookie jar imaginable! (Several Star Wars for Deb and Wiz for Deanna--sorry we can't bring them to you!) They also sell very delicious ice cream. I think she said thay had over 2,500 of them.

More cookie jars. I think there were seven rooms full!

A hint of fall showing around this house next to the train and next to the canal in Metamora:

One of the views in our campground as we walked in the mornings:
Fall is here and it's time to work our way South.

Off to Kentucky and Mammoth Cave National Park. Our first day here and we chose the 4-1/2 hour, 4 mile tour! It was very interesting with lots of steps and much up and down. Here are some folks entering the cave.

Most of this part of the cave was rock, but here are some drapery formations at the end of the tour.

Stalagtites and stalagmites, etc.

To be continued...

We did it...

We last told you we had gone to Tennessee to see an Allegro Bus for sale and then wanted to go to Ohio to see another one. Well, when we got to Ohio and walked into the 40' Allegro Bus, we both looked at each other and knew this was the one. We did a detail inspection and took it for a drive, negotiated a price with the seller, shook hands and told her we would be back in a week to pick it up.

We packed up and went north to Goshen Indiana for a Montana Owners Rally near the Keystone factory. We had an OK time with about 100 other Montanas. Took a factory tour, passed up a $1000 off on our next Montana and then headed back to Batesville Indiana on Wednesday.

We went to Ohio on Thursday, picked up the 2004 Allegro 40' Bus and came back to the RV park here in Batesville to begin the process.

The fun started, it took us 4 long hard days to sort through everything and move into the the Motor Home (MH). Then we had to take several loads to Goodwill, and still took another 3 or 4 days to reorganize the MH, hang our pictures and make it home. Now Dick has to start installing the Wilson antenna, router, and XM radio and other things.

We pulled up door-to-door and decided we needed the exercise up and down the stairs rather than put a board between the rigs.

Today we finally got to a point where there is nothing sitting out looking for a place to be put, so we took the time to get some pictures. The antenna booster and router will be sitting on the dash until Dick gets it all installed. (We need you, John.)

Starting from inside the front door looking back on the right side toward the kitchen. No gas oven so I guess we will be doing less cooking.(We do have a microwave/convection oven, so guess we'll have to work on learning how to use it.) The bright area above the counter is a decorative mirror. There is a great spot for CC just behind the chair. Yes Robbie that is a bottle of our favorite liquid behind the chair so CC can lick any drops around the top.

Storage, storage, storage, but not as much as we had inside the Big Sky, so some stuff which was inside before is now in the basement. Inside the area just behind the kitchen table is the washer/dryer. The couch folds into a double bed and if needed (for small kids) the table will drop down for another bed.

The cabinets are a very rich looking cherry wood and really make the place look great.

Just another view looking back toward the front. The MH has only two slides, the one on the left and one in the bedroom, but there is still lots of room. A little small for dancing, but that's never stopped us!

A sink in the toilet area and also outside next to the shower. The toilet is electric and could pose a problem if we are dry camping for an extended length of time. I think we will be filling the black tank in about a week. Oh well we will just have to wait and see.

Looks like we need to trade in the "trailer life" magazines for "MH life".

Just another picture looking back toward the bedroom.

And the bedroom looking toward the rear with the wash basin counter on the right.

And then turning around and looking at the shower and basin counter with some of the bedroom storage.

Looking at the chest under the bedroom window.

And peeking around the other side of the MH is our new toad, well it's new to us. We purchased a 2006 Jeep Liberty Renegade and we feel like we are in a sardine can after years in the truck!

We traded in the truck and came out with a healthy check to help pay off the MH.

The only problem is that we have to put most of the "stuff" that was in the truck in the basement of the MH. We are still trying to figure out how we can keep the boat with us so if we run across a pond while being tourist we can just blow it up and go paddling.

CC can now stand on the seat and look out the window in the back seat, which she did for the first time today as we took her to the vet for her yearly check-up. Poor dog, first ride in the Jeep and she had to go to the vet! Then to add insult to injury, after we got home she got a bath!

Our schedule is to pull out of here next Wednesday and start heading south but to take our time and see what is interesting in this part of the Country, if only to have pictures to post for you all, or is that y'all.

To be continued...