something new

Monday morning we took our time starting our day. Rudee wanted me to fix a handle on one of the kitchen cabinets where one of the screws had come out and is no where to be found. I removed the other screw so we could match it up. I also grabbed the empty LP tank figuring I had better get it filled before we went any further north, I'm afraid we are going to need it :-O.

Our campground is about halfway between Decatur and Newton, Mississippi, We knew that Newton had a Wal Mart and figured it was our best shot at finding a decent hardware store as well as propane. We made the 7 mile drive and even saw some wild Turkeys crossing the road in front of us.

We found the hardware store in the downtown strip of business' and located the correct screw. I only needed the one and it cost a whopping 10 cents!

The next stop was the local propane supply where we got the tank filled for $23. Back at the 5th wheel I fixed the cabinet and hooked the tank back up so it was ready to go. Here we are, site #8 at Turkey Creek Water Park.

I read several blogs by different RVers and several of them have inflatable Kayaks/Canoes and really love to go out on the water and explore. This has always intrigued me so we took the plunge, no pun intended :-), and ordered a Sea Eagle SE370 last month. http://inflatableboats4less.com/boats/sea-eagle-370-sport-kayak

We made arrangements with Kit and Jerry Bertelsen to have it shipped to their address and we picked it up there when we we were staying in Del Rio. The weather just has not cooperated enough for us to try it out plus we wanted some water that was calm and not crowded. I figured if we were going to make fools of ourselves the less witness' the better!

The lake here is not a huge lake and the wind was light so we decided to take our maiden voyage this afternoon. The park has a sand beach and this would make a good launch point so we drove over and inflated the boat in the parking lot and carried it down to the water. Neither one of us had ever been in a Kayak before and getting in was a new experience but we made it without taking a bath! We paddled around a little cove near the beach and practiced paddling getting used to how the kayak worked. We didn't venture out too far from the protected cove because the wind started picking up. Our boat trip lasted about an hour and we both proclaimed it a success and are looking forward to the next trip :-). I didn't get any photos, I was afraid of the camera ending up at the bottom of the lake :-), I'll do better next time.

On our way back to the 5th wheel we collected some abandoned fire wood that had been left from departing campers and I built a campfire. We sat outside enjoying the fire until the sun started drooping below the trees and the temperture started dropping. Yep, it was a good day :-).

They are predicting rain and thunderstorms for the next few days so we will adjust our plans accordingly. The bike is still on the back of the truck and will likely stay there until we meet Rob and Jany later in the week. Speaking of which, we have decided to head to Florence, Alabama. We will head there on Thursday with Rob and Jany arriving sometime Friday. We have reservations at McFarland Park and are really looking forward to the week. I'll keep you posted.

Travel Day

Yesterday was a travel day for us but since we were only going a little over 100 miles we took our time tearing down and got on the road about 10:30.
I had done a little research trying to find a spot on the way to Alabama where we were meeting friends from Indiana, Rob and Jany Runion. They were taking a week off and wanted to find some warmer weather to do some motorcycle riding. Their decision was narrowed down to Alabama but were waiting on the weather forecast to narrow the choice to a certain area of the state. They are hoping to stay in the Northern 1/3 to decrease travel time and we have been talking by phone and email bouncing ideas back and forth.
I found a Passport America park near Decatur Mississippi that sounded nice and got good reviews on http://www.rvparkreviews.com/ . The park is called Turkey Creek Water Park and is owned and operated by the state. There are only a few sites but all have water, 50/30 amp electric and sewer. There is also a large lake here and the rate with PPA discount is less than $10 per night. I figured we could spend a few days here before heading into Alabama to meet Rob and Jany.
I called the office and made sure we would fit and they had open sites before we headed that way. The roads into the park were not too bad, a little narrow and winding but do-able. When we arrived they gave us a list of open sites and I hopped into the Dakota with Rudee to check them out. The sites are paved with parking spurs at the rear of the sites and each has a large patio area as well as a fire pit and picnic table. We chose site #8 across from the shower house since it looked to be the easiest to get into and we could park our extra vehicle at the shower house parking lot.
The campground has full shade with tall pine trees. I wasn't holding out much hope for our Tail Gator dish to pick up a TV signal :-(.
We registered for 4 nights and got the rig parked, we even had room to leave the semi hooked up to the 5th wheel, barely!
Once we got parked and set up I found a problem, one leg of the 50 amp power pedestal was not working. When this happens you only have power to one side of the rig on our 5th wheel. I simply got out the 30amp cord and plugged it in. Problem solved.
I have a cheap compass I use to check out the satellite heading for Dish Network and thought, hoped, prayed that if I put the dish "right here" so it was pointed through that little hole in the trees I may get a signal. Rudee had her doubts but puts up with me anyway :-).
I got the dish out, chained it to a tree for security, and hooked the cable up. I went inside and fired up the receiver with my fingers crossed. The dish receiver goes through several checks and then tries to acquire the signal. This is all done automatically and takes about 15 minutes. Any hitch in the set up and no TV :-o. The checks all went smoothly and then it started looking for the signal. The TV screen shows a bar graph with 5 colored bars that turn green to show the progress. Once it gets to 3 green bars you are home free, if it stops at 2 bars, or less, it is a no go and it starts all over again. This part is agonizing, will it go past two bars, will I get to watch the Datona 500, the stress is killing me! Yippee ...... 3 bars! Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause!
The downside is we do not have much of an internet signal so photos will be few and far between but I will try to post one or two.

Rudee got into a cooking mood last evening and baked a raisin cake, threw it out because she forgot the soda and it was flat, then baked another one :-). She is also slow cooking a roast for Monday and made a Mexican Casserole for Sunday evening supper! Is she super or what??!!

Tomorrow we plan to explore the area a little bit and enjoy the natural surroundings. I'll keep you posted.

exploring Vicksburg

Friday we headed out shortly after breakfast. Our destination was the Vicksburg National Military Park. We paid the $8.00 per vehicle entrance fee and headed to the visitors center. They have the usual gift shop along with some displays/ We watched a short film explaining the siege of the city by the Northern Army led by Gen. U.S. Grant during the civil war.

We purchased a CD driving tour at the gift shop and headed into the park. The tour starts in the parking lot of the visitors center and the narrator on the CD explains the area you are driving through as well as some stories about the battle and those that fought there.

We made several stops along the way visiting points of interest. There are a lot of monuments along the route placed there by individual states to commemorate the fighting units and are placed in the area of the battlefield where they were positioned. Plaques, red for Confederate, blue for U.S. were also positioned explaining what you were looking at as well as a lot of canons.

The tour route includes the U.S.S. Cairo museum. The Cairo was an "ironclad" military gunship that was sunk nearby in the Yazoo River in 1862. The wreckage was located and raised in 1964 and, in my opinion, was the highlight of the tour. The museum itself is designed to resemble the shape of the ship and inside there are display cases holding a large amount of artifacts found in and around the ship including personal items from the crew. The ship was the first ship sunk with an electronic activated torpedo (mine) set off by Confederate soldiers on the banks of the river. The ship sank in 12 minutes and all the crew survived. The ship itself is on display in front of the museum under a large tent like structure.

Our tour of the National Park took a little over three hours including our picnic lunch. Back at the 5th wheel we caught the shuttle over to the casino for some gambling fun and dinner. The casino sits right on the Mississippi River and we were able to snag a table overlooking the water where we could watch the barges pass by while eating our meal :-). To top off the evening I even came out a little ahead at the slot machines.

Saturday morning I woke up and the trailer was shaking! Then I realized it was because I was shaking! Brrrrr, it's cold in here! I jumped up and turned the furnace on and ran back into bed under the covers. We did have our little ceramic heaters on but they were set pretty low and could not keep up. Oh well, the furnace heated things up pretty quick and I was able to poke my nose back out from under the blankets :-).

Today we decided to drive into downtown Vicksburg and visit the Old Courthouse Museum housed, where else but in the old county courthouse. The building itself is impressive and was one of several buildings in this area that was here during the siege. This is also the location where the Confederate Flag was lowered and the U.S. "stars and stripes" was raised after the city surrendered to General Grant. Just imagine if the walls of this courthouse could talk!

Inside they have displays of artifacts in several rooms on the ground floor, most dedicated to war artifacts from the civil war but also from WWI and WWII. Upstairs there are displays of clothing and house hold articles and furniture. The main courtroom was impressive and is the location where former Confederate President Jefferson Davis attended a trial where he was suing the government to reclaim his land and property after they were seized in the war.

We have enjoyed our short visit to Vicksburg and our stay here at Ameristar Casino RV park.

Tomorrow will be a short travel day for us of only about 120 miles. We are looking to land at Turkey Creek Water Park near Decatur, Mississippi for a few days to relax and enjoy some nature. I'll keep you posted.

Mississippi .... my favorite state to spell

Thursday morning we took our time getting started packing up and hooking on. The skies were thick with clouds and it sure looked like we would be driving in some rain today :-(.

I worked on the outside loading the bike onto the semi and getting the truck and 5er ready to travel. Rudee took care of the inside chores and by 10am we were pulling out of our spot.

We enjoyed this area but the campground was not the greatest, it wasn't really bad but on the other hand was nothing special either. The traffic noise was probably the worst we have encountered and that includes all of our travels before we started fulltiming. There were a lot of older permanent trailers there and they were not in the best of condition but we were never bothered by anyone nor did we feel unsafe. The manager was super nice and even delivered our mail to our door the day it came.

Earlier this week I woke up in the middle of the night to a strange sound and once fully awake I knew exactly what it was. We had a critter inside the front cap of the 5th wheel! Crap! I figured it was a mouse but with all the oak trees here it could have been a chipmunk or even a small squirrel. I could hear the thing when it was moving around and was chewing on something. I figured it was making itself at home and building a nest with the insulation.

The next morning I went off to Home Depot and picked up a package of these:

I had no idea if they would work or not but there was no way to put a trap into the front cap and I was afraid if I used poison the thing would just curl up and die (pee yew!). I removed the trim around the vent in the bedroom roof where I knew I could access the small attic space. I then hooked the gizmo to a small extension cord and pushed it as far in (towards the front cap) as I could. I replaced the vent trim with the cord hanging out and plugged it in hoping for the best.

That night I thought I heard the critter again but nothing since. Maybe he was packing his bags! That was 3 days ago and still no sign or sounds from the critter so I think it must have bailed! I have no idea why the sounds the little gizmo makes is so offensive to rodents but it sure seemed to work for us. I am no way associated to this company (usual disclaimers apply) so use it at your own risk but I will be having these plugged in from now on except in the attic, Rudee doesn't like the look of a cord hanging out of the ceiling :-)

Our trip today took us back through Lafayette on US 90 to I-10 which we took east to Baton Rouge. Once we crossed the bridge entering the city we headed north on I-110 which ends just north of town and turns into US 61. This road is a really nice 4 lane that we took all the way to Vicksburg, Mississippi. We passed through a few smaller towns on the way and the larger city of Natchez slowed us down a little but otherwise we made good time plus the skies had cleared to a pretty blue with temperatures in the low 80's!. Our new home for a few days is the Ameristar Casino RV Park, a Good Sam park that is owned and operated by the casino. http://www.ameristar.com/Vicksburg_Hotel_RV_Park.aspx

I called Wednesday evening and made a reservation and it's a good thing I did because when we arrived the clerk was talking on the phone turning an RVer away because they were full tonight. We checked in shortly after 3pm and got parked into a pull through 30amp site. The site is not long enough to stay hooked up but that's OK because we plan on staying until Sunday so we can see all the battlefield sites. There is a large paved parking lot adjacent to our site so we were able to park the semi where it is out of the way but we can still see it. Our site is full hook ups with free WIFI and cable (50+ channels). Looks like a nice park for a few days.

Once we were settled the first order of business was food! We hopped in the Dakota and followed the GPS to a really nice Mexican Restaurant. We shared a chimichanga dinner and it was very good.

We made it back to the 5er and even had time for a walk around the campground before the sun set. We plan on touring some of the civil war sites tomorrow and Saturday and of course I'll keep you posted!