2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 123

Day 123, Wednesday, February 19, 2025, Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, AL, Day 7 - 0 Miles, 3,744.4 Miles for the Trip

A little warmer overnight hitting 50°F at 8:00AM. I watched the Escape 5.0TA pull out during my morning walk. While RVs are leaving, just as many are coming in. There are a couple of empty sites, but the park is near full.

I finished up making the reservations for the trip to Arizona in the fall that I could make. Texas has a 6 month window, and two of my sites are first come. I also made a tentative plan for the trip back home in February.

After lunch I headed to the laundry. 3 washing machines at $1.50 per load & 3 dryers at $1.00 per load. I met a couple from North Dakota in the laundry room that has camped at many of the New Mexico campgrounds I've stayed at. They also suggested some new places to try. and pointed out that the middle dryer runs hotter and longer than the 45 minutes posted. No folding tables so I used the lids of the dryers. 

After putting my clothes away I did my "day before" packing of the trailer. The site is level enough that I could hook up, and since it is suppose to be 32°F in the morning, disconnected the water & put the hose away and put the grill & 1 gallon propane tank in the truck. All I need to do in the morning is unhook the power and roll up the cord. At 32°F, rolling the cord will be a challenge. I believe the new Escapes use a cold weather electric cord; the older ones use a SO cable that is very still in cold weather.

Back at the trailer I sat inside and read. A bit too cool at 52°F outside for sitting.

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice & Beans Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 122

Day 122, Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, AL, Day 6 - 0 Miles, 3,744.4 Miles for the Trip

A little warmer ar 45°F at 7:00AM. While the sun came out a couple of times throughout the day, for the most part it was cloudy with enough wind to keep it cool even at the high temperature of 62°F. After catching up on forums & journals, I continued reading M. K. Wren's Phoenix Legacy series. I finished book 1 & started book 2, Shadow of the Swan.

I spent the rest of the day planning my trip to Arizona using RV Life's Trip Wizard. I don't use the routing function, but I like the web based version for planning a trip. The ability to enter actual preferred driving distances makes it easy to keep the daily driving distances within reason. I even started making reservations. I have accounts at some of the states (I use as many state parks, COE, and non commercial campgrounds as possible). Like 2 years ago, I plan to spend December & January at La Paz County Park near Parker, AZ. I already made a reservation for the two months for the same site (E Overflow) I had in 2023.

I managed to get as far as Texas, but they don't open a reservation window until 6 months before your date. 

Dinner was a P. F. Chang's Orange Chicken Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 121

Day 121, Monday, February 17, 2025, Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, AL, Day 5 - 0 Miles, 3,744.4 Miles for the Trip

Back to cold nights. 36°F at 7:00AM, 38°F when I went for my morning walk; knit hat, new jacket & gloves. I'll go back to the quilted jacket for cold weather. Even with a lined hood, the new one is a bit light for 38°F.

Had an interesting thing happen last night. While in bed I heard a "chirp" like a smoke alarm with a dead battery, but is was just milliseconds long - far to short for the normal battery warning. It was intermittent, so every time I got up to listen for where it was coming from, it stopped. Finally, after the 5 or 6 tries it kept going & I discovered it was the CO alarm on the wall near the foot of the bed. As I looked at it a bug crawled out of the vent & the chirp went away. I squashed the bug and the chirp never came back. I suspect when it was crawling around in the CO detector it was tripping some circuit just enough to create the chirp. 

Lots of RVs on the way out this morning. Fox News still has a couple of cars here, and there are a few sheriff vehicles, but not the crowd that was here yesterday. Lots of sun, but still cold at 46°F at noon. According to the local weather we are in for another week of below normal temperatures. Better than home where they are expecting another 2' of snow by Wednesday. They have had more snow this winter than the last 5 years combined, so while I complain about the cold, it would have been worse if I stayed home.

After lunch I headed to Publix for some supplies. It is a short 4 mile drive to get there, but 9.5 miles back to the campground. Evidently, there is no connection between US 90 & US 98 when heading back from Daphne, the location of the Publix so you need to get on I 10 west and take exit 30 3 miles from the campground. Still too cool to sit outside. Although the wind had died down it is only 52°F so I'm reading in the trailer.

I pretty much made the commitment to go to Arizona for next winter by reserving a space at the SARA Rodeo Grounds for the Western Winter Blast, a $275.00 non refundable week long stay for nightly fireworks demonstrations. 

Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Chicken Fettuccine Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 120

Day 120, Sunday, February 16, 2025, Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, AL, Day 4 - 0 Miles, 3,744.4 Miles for the Trip

All kinds of excitement last night. We were under a tornado watch until 4:00AM. I took down the Starlink Mini and moved it into the trailer for the night. Since many of the tornado watches turned into tornado warnings as the front moved through, I stayed up reading until the front moved through around 3:00AM. Lots of thunder & lightning, gusty winds and heavy rain. No tornado. 

During my morning walk I saw three different news trucks/cars and a host of every kind of water rescue team vehicles, both local & state. I checked the news and a boat capsized in the bay last night. Two people rescued & one missing. The campground has a boat ramp that was used to access the bay. The rescue vehicles are still moving & out of the campground throughout the day. 

The other Escape 21 along with many other RVs left this morning. The site (16) he was in is a lake, one of the few flooded sites in the park. While one left, an Escape 5.0TA moved in at the other end of the campground, so there are still two of us. This morning is sunny but windy & cool at 66°F. They finally finished painting the bathrooms, although they are currently closed for cleaning (11:00 - 2:00). 

Around 2:00 I headed for the showers. Three stalls, one is disabled. The non disabled showers are medium sized with a small drying area. No shelves or hooks in the shower, a bench, 2 hooks & a towel bar in the drying area. A shower curtain between the shower and drying area and a 3" lip on the floor, but the shower head aims at the curtain so some water gets on the drying area floor. Push button (30 seconds) non adjustable water hot enough to be comfortable. Medium flow 2" shower head. The room does not appear to have heat, or, it it does, it isn't working with an outside temperature of 63°F. Overall, a C+. Improvements would be a bit warmer room, a shelf or soap dish in the shower, and a more dry dressing area floor.

If the wind went away, sitting outside would be comfortable but the combination of off & on clouds & wind chased me inside the trailer. 

Dinner was a Chef Ramsey Chicken Marsala Pasta Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2024-25 Trip to the Southeast, Day 119

Day 119, Saturday, February 15, 2025, Meaher State Park, Spanish Fort, AL, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 3,744.4 Miles for the Trip

I went out after dinner last night with the Nikon Z8 and took a couple of sunset photos. Not the greatest I've seen, but the best so far while here at Meaher, maybe the best of the trip. For some reason, sunsets always look better over water.

A 10 Frame Panorama From the Fishing Pier (Large 6.4 MB Version)

Towards The End

Back to warm nights, at least for a day. 65°F was the low for last night, 71°F by 10:00AM, and complete cloud cover. I stopped by the main bathrooms on my morning walk. The woman's side is open but they are still painting the men's side. 

After breakfast I sat outside reading. I started The Phoenix Legacy by M. K. Wren. At an estimated 45 hour reading time I will probably be reading this one for awhile. By the way, I lied about being able to hear the traffic on I 10. I don't know if it was the wind direction, atmospheric conditions or the construction noise across the street, but while I didn't hear the traffic on Thursday, I can hear it today. I moved my chair so the trailer blocked most of the wind. While warm outside, the wind is constant and cools things down.

After lunch it was back outside & more reading. 

After a large lunch dinner was cheese & crackers.

Until Next Time -