From southern Alabama to Wimberly, TX

Now it’s time to move on.  Our next extended stay is in the hill country of Texas.  The trip is 2 driving days, but we decided to take a 1 day rest in the middle.  We are camped near Lake Charles, LA.

It was 73 degrees when we pulled in and set up camp.  However, overnight it began to rain and rain and rain.  But then that’s camping. We are at  …

 This is a very pleasant little park. Not full of great amenities, but quiet, clean and “cost effective.”  

The pond has fish and ducks and there is a nice boat ramp and access to the local river.  A great stopover.  We stayed an extra day.

 Notice the raindrops on the pond.  BTW, my rig is the one on the left, not the cute little Casita.

Just a little taste of the Gulf Coast

While camped in southern Alabama we just had to get a little taste of the Gulf coast.  That meant taking the closest major highway south until we hit the shore, in our case, Gulf Shores, a major tourist destination. 

For everyone who expects to see gulls on the beach, this picture is for you. There are LOTS of gulls and they all expect you to feed them.  We didn’t, because we know where that can lead.

Most of the northern Gulf coast is known for white sand beaches. They are beautiful, but unfortunately it was a little too cold and windy for tanning or even walking along the beach.

 These guys, however, found the weather quite OK. (BTW, those are zip-line towers in the background. Too cold & windy for that.

They were sitting on the railing along the second longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico and Alabama’s only public pier on the Gulf. It is 1,540 feet long, 20 feet wide, and boasts 2,448 feet of fishing space. It was too cold and windy for any fishermen to be out there the day we visited.

After braving the cold and wind on the pier, we decided that a hot lunch was what we needed.  All you can eat flounder & sweet potato fries; gumbo & salad, yum!

Warm and satisfied, we decided a driving tour was in order, so we headed west out of Gulf Shores all the way to Fort Morgan.

 On the way, we saw many views of Mobile Bay;

 Beautiful southern trees;

And houses on stilts (not because the snow gets that deep).

 Oh, and there are LOTS of these oil rigs both in the bay and the gulf.

And then out at the end of the road is Fort Morgan.  We didn’t get to spend as much time as we would have liked, so there’s more motivation to come back here another year.

The Exodus from Indy

As we had planned, we arrived at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL on Wednesday afternoon.  We set up camp in sunny 67 degree weather.  That was great, but it’s getting ahead of the story. 

In order to get away from the predicted sub-0 temperatures moving into Indy, we finished packing up the trailer and got on the road at about 2:30 Sunday afternoon January 17.  I had led a worship service on Saturday evening and 2 more on Sunday morning, so I was tired but pumped up and excited to be on the road.  By the time we reached a Kentucky Welcome Center rest stop south of Louisville, I was ready to quit for the day. 

The temperature was barely double digit and the truck was showing an error code on the dash.  The furnace in the trailer worked for a while so it was warm while we had a nice hot supper and headed for bed.  However, due to some complex physics in the LP bottles, gas flow to the furnace ceased.  I got up at 2:30 a.m. with the temp in the trailer at 47 degrees.  I started our Big Buddy propane space heater and went back to the warmth of our bed.

The dogs got me up about 6:30 Monday morning for food and a walk.  It was single digit cold outside and we weren’t as far south as we were supposed to be in order to out-run the cold.  We got on the road as fast as we could, without coffee or breakfast. 

The truck insisted on showing the error code which had to do with a transmission temperature sensor.  Then the engine popped up an error code, too.  Darlene quickly Googled and found a Ford dealer just ahead in Elizabethtown, KY.  I called and was told they would at least try to discover the problem for us.  The nice folks at Bob Swope Ford even assured us they had a place for us to drop our trailer so the truck could be serviced.  With the trailer unhitched, the truck disappeared into the service bay and a courtesy van took us to a restaurant for breakfast.

When we got back, we set about making the trailer livable, but found that the furnace couldn’t keep up with the cold (Think physics of evaporation and cold temperatures. Never mind. It was cold in here).  After some on-line research, I learned about the physics I have mentioned before.  One remedy is to make sure the LP tanks are FULL.  I went to the office and told the nice lady about our plight.  She soon had a loaner car for us to use.  I loaded the LP tanks in the trunk, got them filled, and soon the trailer interior was pleasantly warn.  A great steak and margarita at a local restaurant put us in the mood for a sound night’s sleep. 

The truck transmission was diagnosed as needing some kind of internal wiring harness and a sensor. The engine required a fan clutch.  Since a part had to be delivered from somewhere, the repairs weren’t completed until about 4:00 on Tuesday. 

Since the weatherman was calling for freezing rain and snow in Elizabethtown, we got hooked up and on the road by 4:30.  We were determined to outrun the winter storm so we drove into the night and found a cozy Walmart parking lot on the north side of Birmingham, AL late Tuesday evening.

We started out with only one campground reservation, Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Al.  From Birmingham it was a pleasant & easy drive to arrive there in plenty of time to set up on a warm & sunny afternoon.  The plan is to sit here through the weekend, attend services at St. Paul Lutheran in Foley, AL on Sunday and then get back on the road Monday morning.