Troy AL To Cullman AL and Rough Road And Traffic In Birmingham

Cullman, AL.

69 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Mostly cloudy with scattered storms. Highs around 82°F. Heat index around 87°F. South southeast wind 5 to 10 MPH. Chance of rain, 70%.

Linda woke up earlier than usual yesterday morning, so we left the Deer Run RV park about an hour sooner than we normally would have. In fact it was just 8:50 when we pulled back onto US 231 and continued heading NW.

Just before we came to Montgomery, Jim pulled Big RED into a Marathon station and bought him a nice drink of  #2 diesel fuel. Big RED wasn't too thirsty, but being that the rest of the trip would be on Interstate Highways and the skies were starting to look threatening, he though it was a good opportunity to stop.

Come to find out, that was a good decision because once we had taken Taylor Rd. to I-85, taken 85 West for a few miles, turned North on I-65 and had traveled just north of Montgomery, it started to sprinkle or rain off and on for the rest of the trip.

I-65 had a lot of traffic which moved along nicely, but it sure wasn't a road that a driver could relax on. Then, when we got up to Birmingham, the traffic got really heavy and the road surface deteriorated badly. :-(  There was very little construction this time, (We had construction the whole way through the city when we came down here last August), but the road was very rough!! I know that those of you that have large motor homes might not think so, but I just about fell off of the seat a few times!! :-O

I don't know if there's another route we could take to by-pass Birmingham, but you can bet that Jim will be looking into it before we head down through this area again. Our experiences with traffic and roads through there throughout the years has not been good!!

Once North of Birmingham, I-65 smoothed out again and except for the heavy traffic and some fairly heavy rain at times the rest of the trip up here to Cullman went well.

It was right at 12:20 when we pulled up to the office of the Cullman Campground, so today it took us right at 3 1/2 hours to travel 193 miles and stop for fuel.  Not too shabby!!!!

This Campground doesn't get very good reviews on RV Park Reviews but we've been coming here for a long time and have always had a good experience. (Jim didn't take any photos because it was raining.)  Yes, it's not a destination park and the road coming from the main Hwy to the park leaves something to be desired, but if you take it slow, even though it's narrow and hilly, it's very do'able. We were at this park with both Myrddin and Emrys, (40' and 45' Motorhomes, both pulling a toad), and had no problems at all. The owner is supper friendly and escorts you to your site and we've never had a problem leveling. In fact, the site we're in right now, (#34), is almost perfectly level and no blocks or anything were  needed.

I'm not sure if we'll be leaving here today or not. Right now, it's still raining up in Nashville, so we may stay another night. Jim's watching the radar though, and if it clears up, we'll probably head out.

Did you know that today is "National Hot Dog Day"?

Woof!!!

A New Filter For Bobbie T and A New Restaurant In Town

Rantoul, IL.

64 deg. overcast, SW wind @ 7 mph.

Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy with isolated storms. Highs around 86°F. Heat index around 90°F. South wind to 15 MPH, gusting to 24 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 45%.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows around 66°F. South wind to 14 MPH.

Not a real lot to report today. It's gotten real windy again so Jim hasn't spent too much time outside. He did go over to talk to Louise and Paul for awhile yesterday morning though. With the weather and the Holiday weekend, I think it had been almost a week since he had talked to them.

The other day, when Jim went to ACE Hardware, he picked up one of those in-line water filters to hook into the water hose that hooks Bobbie T up to city water. The water isn't bad here in Rantoul, (actually pretty good), but he's been wanting to get some kind of filter to get rid of that chemical taste/smell you get from many water supplies.

While he was at ACE, he also picked up some more hose connectors so that he could make up the short hose you see between the new filter and Bobbie T's water inlet.

While Jim and Linda were out and about the other day, they realized that there was a new restaurant here in Rantoul. It's over in the Shopping Plaza next to Rural King, on the East side of town, where a Chinese Buffet Restaurant used to be. It's called Family Table and last night, Jim and Linda decided to check it out.

When Jim and Linda walked in, they were surprised at how big it was inside. (seating for 200). They have both booths and tables and I'm happy to report that both Jim and Linda were quite impressed with the service and the food. : ) 

Jim had the Cod special, (Four huge pieces of cod, potatoes of your choice, soup or salad and either ice cream or pudding for dessert). Linda had the Spaghetti and Meatball special, (with garlic bread, choice of soup or salad and one of the above mentioned desserts). 

Jim's meal was $9.99 and Linda's was $5.99. Both were very good and large enough that they brought about 1/2 of each meal back here to have at another time.   

1st impressions were very good and only time and returning visits will tell how good this restaurant really is. But, the way it looks now, the Family Table is going to give the Red Wheel, (where Jim and Linda have had some not-so-good food from time to time), a run for the money. 

Today, they're forecasting lots of wind again. Jim and Linda need to do some shopping though, so they may head over to Wally World. 

Did you know that the longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds?

Woof!!! 

North Topsail Beach to Williamston, NC. and Reviews

Williamston, NC

54 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast = Today: Partly cloudy with isolated storms. Highs around 81°F. Southwest wind to 6 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 25%.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated storms. Lows around 61°F. Southeast wind 3 to 8 MPH. Chance of precipitation near 25%.

After an enjoyable stay at the Surf City Family CG, we left yesterday morning just 5 minutes after 10:00. NC 210 took us NE along the coast and then inland, where we again turned NE on US 17. 17 took us around Jacksonville, NC and continued up to New Bern, where we missed an off ramp and ended up going the wrong way.

It turned out not to be a big problem though as the road we were on was an Interstate type road and we just went to the next exit, went across the road and came back the way we went.

After going around New Bern, 17 took a more Northerly direction and brought us up here to Williamston and the Pierce Mobile Home and RV Park.

As we were entering the park, the owner drove out to the entrance road on his golf cart and waved for us to follow him. Then he led us right to a very nice site, #17 C, and showed Jim where all the utilities were. I think that this was the first time that we have ever been met as we were coming into a CG and led to our site without ever stopping.

It was 12:50 when we pulled into our site, so it took us just 2 hours and 45 minutes to travel 134 miles.

Now, a little about this park. While we were at the Surf City Park, Jim looked on the Internet to find where our next stop would be. He found this park, but on RV Park Reviews the last review of this park was not good at all. But, being that there aren't very many parks in the area, Jim decided that even if it wasn't the greatest, it would be OK for just one night.

Now, I don't know what the last reviewer was talking about, but we didn't encounter any of the problems that he had. The CG is not run down, the roads are not narrow, and even if we still had Emrys (at 45'), I'm sure we could have made it through the park without hitting anything!!!

The above photo is looking to the right from our site. The photo below is looking to the left.

This is from the road, looking back at our site. (Not a weed to be seen). ; )

So, this may be something you want to keep in mind as you're reading park reviews. The owner was very friendly and the cost was only $22 for a full hookup site with Jim's Good Sam discount.

Don't believe everything you read.

Today, we're looking forward to getting to Virginia Beach to see Joe, Nancy Sami and Amber. And, being that Bobbie T is small enough, we'll be able to park in their driveway again!  : )

Did you know that in the USA, deaf people have safer driving records than people who can hear?

Woof!!!