On the road again!

Thursday, March 28, 2019 9:00 a.m.

Excited to the max, I say goodbye to the 2' of snow in the front yard. It was hard saying goodbye to Doug. All these great memories I am going to make and he won't be there. We talk a few times a day and that helps. Gotta love this electronic age.

Speaking of which, I am able to communicate because of a hotspot I just found - and it is amazing!!! And cheap! The only downside to it is that you can only tether one device. Once they expand it I will give details to anyone who wants to know.

Down the road with a first stop at the Shell station on Hwy. 8. Gas is outrageous - $2.74 but I need Nueske bacon and breakfast. Grabbed a biscuit and cappuccino and down the road. Got gas in Mosinee for $2.64 - still not great - only got a half a tank. Has to be cheaper further south.

Praise be! No construction! Traffic moved along great. But for some reason I am not making very good time - hmmm. Can't believe it was 7 hours just to I-80 ... I called Robin to let her know I was running late. Gas prices still suck - got another 1/2 tank.

I finally pulled into the Holiday Inn Express in Salem at 8:30 - yuck! After checking at two radar speed checks - I figured out my speedometer was about 6 MPH slow. Plus I was going slightly under the speed limit because I was towing a trailer. So it ended up I was going 10 MPH below the allowable speed. No wonder I was so late!

Robin checked me into my room. What a totally lovely place!!! It will be three years old in June and it still looks sparkling new. The beds are to die for and four luxurious pillows on each bed! The bath was something out of a five-star hotel. The design was very modern and elegant.

We then went to Applebees for dinner. Great meal as always. You can always find a healthy meal. After a bit of wine we headed back, looking at a late start for the next day

Day 2

Robin - the perfect hostess. Me - in travel attire.

We met for breakfast - a sumptuous spread for sure! You name it - they had it. It all tasted as fresh as if I had made it at home. After a quick tour of the gorgeous property, we said our goodbyes and I was off!

I made a quick stop at Walmart for a few supplies and tried to find a power adapter to replace the one I left at home. The one at home was totally frayed so this was a good thing. Well, that store didn't have one so I stopped in Mt. Vernon and found a Staples. Bingo! Plus gas was $2.54 - still not great but I was sick of stopping so I filled up.

Holy fricken traffic! I picked up the pace but these drivers were manic! They way they cut in and out was insane! At this point I was on 57 heading to US 24. It just didn't let up. The bright side was once I hit Kentucky, it really started to look like spring. I called Doug and he asked me to send him a picture of green grass. It was snowing at home. LOL!

Here is what I sent him! The rolling hills dotted with farms were so beautiful. Unfortunately, like in Illinois and Wisconsin, the roads were filled with potholes and broken blacktop. Really rough - reason enough to slow down!

The moment we hit Tennessee the roads were beautiful! Smooth, level - felt a bit relieved not to have to be so vigilant.

About 20 miles outside of Nashville - road construction. We hit stop and go for a bit then it picked up into Nashville. Then it happened, not only the traffic from hell - but the non-stop road construction. It was stop and go for 2 hours. I pulled into a little Alabama town called Priceville. I gave up on boondocking and decided to get a room.

Fat chance. After striking out at two motels, I stopped at a Comfort Inn. Again - no rooms at the Inn - Can I used your stable? lmao - Actually I asked if I could sleep in my car and the guy could not have been nicer. It was a very nice motel and I felt very safe there. In fact, some other campers pulled in behind me.

So I set up my spot and struggled with the reflectix window covers I made. Decided I had to buy velcro the next day. It was midnight before I got to bed. I got into Priceville about 9:00 p.m. - four hours later than I planned. That's two days in a row running late. Had some disgusting Chinese carry out - threw most of it away.

Nite! Nite!

Day 3

It was a warm morning and I should have remembered not to dress like I just left Wisconsin. I got an early start after a miserable night's sleep. Halfway through the night I realized I was sleeping down hill - turned around and slept like a baby. I was on the highway by 8:00 a.m., gassed up for $2.39 and was hoping to beat the traffic. It was heavy but moving well - until south of Birmingham.

Here we go again. After 3 1/2 hours we still were no where near Montgomery. I pulled off when a nice guy told me my electrical wires were dangling on the cargo trailer. There was a huge Walmart there so I decided to do all my "Pensacola" shopping now and get it out of the way.

I got back on US 65 (picked that up in Nashville) and thought it was moving. Wrong! Another three hours and we finally got south of Montgomery where I saw what the problem was. There was a military convoy inching along in one of the only 2 lanes of traffic.

At last! We were moving and the traffic eased up a bit. I got off at 113 to 31 to 29 and arrived at Bluff Springs about 5:45p.m. Hours late AGAIN! This whole trip I have done in less than 19 hours and I already had 26 hours logged.

I was a little skeptical when I drove down the access road. It was like the opening scene right out of Steve Martin's the Jerk. YIPES! I kept driving and a nice man pointed the way to the campgrounds. VERY rustic on the approach but once I got to the site, I fell in love with it.

That did it - I am home for the next two days!

There are no RVs here - and I could only pull in a little way. There are only four sites and they must be reserved. Just ask the warden who came to check on me at 9:30 p.m. AFTER I went to bed. He was VERY nice and verified my reservations on my cellphone through the window.

Snoreeeeee!

Day 4 - already!

Ten hours of blissful, deep sleep. Oh I do love this bed. I bought a twin mattress frame with build in springs and a LinenSpa 8" hybrid mattress. I decked it out in tropical bedding - my "glamping" touch, and brought my two luxurious pillows - plus a whole lot of throw pillows. I'll take pictures tomorrow when i get everything set up at Big Lagoon State Park.

First order of the day was to get everything reorganized. It wasn't too pretty in here this morning - late nights and hasty departures left things in an upheaval. After that, I went into town to buy coffee, ice and water. Told you this was a primitive site!

It was kind of interesting that in 1/2 mile down Hwy. 29 I saw 2 troopers with stopped cars. Then after about 2 more blocks, another one pulled out behind me. Oh yeah, I was going to get stopped. For what - I was at least three miles an hour under the speed limit. Oh - Wisconsin doesn't require a plate for my trailer. There went the lights! After he did some checking he found out I was right - on the way back I saw him chasing another car. Please stop me from stereotyping... lol.

Back at the campsite it only took a little shifting around to get out breakfast. Lox and french bread "bagels." I know I bought real bagels - I'll probably find them tomorrow! Fresh hot coffee in the open air and a delicious brunch - perfect!

Well, you have been reading what I have been doing all day. It stayed pretty chilly and windy all day - cloudy with sporadic rain, too.

Tonight I am going to have more chicken from last night's meal, a lil more French bread and grapes for dessert. And LOTS of wine! Then burn a bunch of data and watch a movie. Here's hoping for warmer weather tomorrow - I think it is supposed to rain - we'll see!

Here's my "rig" - she's not pretty but she is solid!