Our first stop on the way to Michigan was Hudson, FL to have a foggy window replaced. The great news is it was close to Maggie and Mike and we had a wonderful visit.
On to a quick overnight stop in Perry, FL that turned into multiple days. Upon arrival, we plugged everything in, started dinner, turned on the air, and lost power. After a day and much diagnosis, we needed a new transfer switch. Simultaneously our water pump failed. So we waited a few days for parts and an RV tech to replace them. At 5:40 on a Saturday night, the RV tech arrived. After replacing the transfer switch he replaced the water pump. Unfortunately, there was a leak from the factory, so he put the old one back in and we departed on Sunday. For two days the old one worked and then completely failed. Hopefully, we can make it to Michigan when we are stationary for the summer to have it fixed as we aren’t in one place long enough to have it shipped and replaced.
The most annoying part (other than the expense) is we were stationary for 3 months and would have been a lot easier to deal with it then and not on the road. The other major annoying thing was handwashing dishes for 5 days, as I couldn’t use the dishwasher.
One day we drove to the beach (that’s a loose term) to see the gulf as it was only 20 minutes away. No idea what the red tint was in the water.
On a positive note, my RV book hit #1 on Amazon again.
I had a whole week of planned activities while in Gulf Shores. Monday was a ferry ride to Dauphin Island, checking out Audobon Bird Society, and watching the eclipse at Pirates Bar and Grill. Got in the car and it wouldn’t start, had it jumped, and spent an hour and $441 at the Jeep Dealership getting a new battery. After we drove to Orange Beach and ate lunch on the beach and Fort Morgan to watch what we could of the eclipse on a cloudy day.
Finally played a “real” golf course with 18 holes. One of my best rounds in ages, My second shot was out of the sand and 150 yards, put it on the green and yes I birdied it. On two holes I overshot the green. On the first one, I got out and hit my shot on the green, and out of the corner of my eye, and a little too close for comfort was an alligator. On the second hole, I got out of the cart and almost stepped on a snake (yes it was alive).
Played a second round at Glenview Golf Course and paired up with a lovely couple from NC. The first 14 holes were great and the last 4 were horrible. After we went to Red or White wine bar and enjoyed a lovely bottle of wine and dinner.
We did have one beach day. The sand is powder white soft.
Left Gulf Shores and spent one night in Greenville, AL at a picturesque county park. Then headed to Desoto State park in NE AL. First full day we headed out for a quick 2.5-mile hike on the property to see some falls as the rain wasn’t scheduled until 1:00 pm. Of course, we were at the absolute furthest point when it started raining a few hours early. Nice hike albeit a wet one.
Did another short hike at DeSoto Falls. The falls were impressive. We then continued on a road trip to a place where you should be able to see multiple states from atop Lookout Mountain. What I didn’t realize until we drove almost an hour was that they charge $34 per person to go to this lookout. So pretty much we drove an extra hour for fun because I refused to pay for that.
Spent our last evening in downtown Fort Payne, Al. It is a cute little town and the band members of Alabama are from here, so there is a museum and statue in town. It also turns out that the third Saturday of every month is a classic car show and it was the first of the season. We stopped at a local dive bar and enjoyed decent wine and 23 oz Miller Lite for $9 and we chatted with the owners and manager for a while. After went to the local pizza place and had the best pizza ever.
Continued our drive north with a stop in Kodak, TN (Knoxville area). We have a nice spot on the French Broad River overlooking the Douglas Dam. We got a round of golf in and were paired up with a nice guy from Houston looking for property here to retire.
Took one day and drove to the Smokey Mountains and did a nice hike along the river banks and a stop at a dive bar. Drove through the tourist city of Pigeon Forge then went to a Buc-ees for the first and last time ever. Came back to the campsite and enjoyed a nice fire by the river.
Arrived in Frankfort, KY for 5 nights. Friday we had lunch with a former coworker of John’s at Wallace Station, Diner, Drive-in, and Dive location. The food was wonderful and the visit was even better. From there we headed to downtown Frankfort and visited the capital, Daniel Boone’s gravesite, and then on to a couple of local pubs. KY has keno but the odds are just as bad as Michigan.
Saturday we visited the Buffalo Trace Distillery and picked up a few bottles of bourbon. From there we headed on a short hike to get some exercise. We ended the evening with a fire and a new neighbor. He just bought his RV and his tire was low so our new compressor saved the day. He then headed out to Buffalo Trace and called to tell us the special bourbon for the day and it was Weller so back to the distillery we went.
Golfed the UofK blues course on Monday. Nice course and enjoyed the day and then a trip back to Buffalo Trace to get today’s special Rare Eagle Bourbon. Good thing we are leaving Tuesday or we would be broke.
I am still trying to decide if I am capable of replacing the water pump myself. I think I am. Time will tell.
Headed to Cincinnati for two nights with a day at Jungle Jim’s (which is like Horrocks in Lansing), and the local pub. From there we headed to the Columbus, OH area to visit one set of kids and grandkids.
We babysat a 2-year-old for a few hours and she certainly kept us on our toes, with walks, bike rides, painting, and playing. We went out to dinner later. The next day the girls came over to the RV and we went to the playground and also built forts in the RV. Maggie, the 2-year-old, kicked her sister, Emma, the 6-year-old, and took out a loose tooth. So the tooth fairy arrived that night.
Speaking of 2-year-olds it is amazing what they observe. When we were babysitting and doing a project John gave her two thumbs up and said “Good job”. The next day her mom told us she got up and when her mom made her breakfast and gave it to her, Maggie put two thumbs up and said “Good job mom!”
Went to the local pub in Galena to watch the Kentucky Derby and had a fried bologna sandwich with a chocolate martini.
We visited a former co-worker of John’s Dr. Mark Armfelt and his girlfriend Sara Lynn at a restaurant in Johnstown, OH.
Left the Columbus, OH area for Bowling Green, OH to visit more friends and family. We wanted to arrive before the huge storms came in and we did. We also decided to leave the slides in until after the second storm came through. After dinner, it looked like it was clear so we put the slides out. As soon as we turned off the engine the tornado sirens went off. So the slides came back in and we waited out the storm that never happened inside Cathy and Gordon’s house.
The next day was beautiful and we enjoyed an expensive trip to Costco. Isn’t it always and we didn’t even purchase alcohol? In the evening we had all of John’s siblings over and a couple of nieces and nephews. It was wonderful to see everyone, however, we forgot a picture.
Thursday we went to dinner with friends and there was lots of laughter and reminiscing. Friday we made a quick trip to the casino and Gordon and John left with more money than when they arrived. Friday night was out to dinner with the siblings again and a niece and her son (this time with a picture).
On our final full day, I finally did it. I changed the water pump (while being supervised by my plumber brother-in-law). We will see when hooked up to city water whether that was our problem. However, when I turned the 12v switch back on I couldn’t get the heat/air control panel to work again, so we spent the frigid night without heat. Sunday morning I worked on the control again and it appears to be working!!!
We ended our stay with our very good friends eating a steak dinner and playing poker. We will miss seeing them in the fall but look forward to next May.
