It is about 23 degrees on our thermometer. BUT, no wind chill and it is sunny and the skies are a beautiful blue. Today will be a day of thrills, not always so welcome, but so fun to tell about!
First thrill was putting the slides in. We did not realize they were filled with water, NOW ICE! When the kitchen slide was about half way in, the ice on top came crashing down! Luckily we were not standing below when it came rolling off that slide topper! Al thought that a window had blown out on the slide. That ice was at least 1.5 inches thick!
Next thrill was when we were supposed to get off US 65 at Birmingham Alabama and get on 20/59 west to Mississippi. They were cleaning the exit ramp with a street cleaner, but had not posted any warning. Basically all they did was block the entire ramp with state work vehicles and all their blinking lights. We were almost into the ramp when we discovered we could not enter! With a lot of fast reactions, a few purple words of horror and angst, and some fast map reading we continued on I 65 yo 459 west (which connected us back with 20/59 west).
On 459, I ask Al, “What is that noise?”. I look in the rear view mirrors to see if the step on the trailer has fallen open, NOPE. That was good. Then I thought maybe the landing gear on the front of the trailer had dropped. Could not see that. I turned around to look out the rear window of the truck to discover the source of the sound. The cover for the truck has a piece that is designed to come off so that you can clean. One of the screws had come loose and that piece was flopping around. We pulled off to the side of the expressway and fixed it.
Enough thrills for one day. Whew. The rest of the drive was pleasant and uneventful. We had lunch in a truck stop, easy on, easy off, easy gas fill up, good food, great service.
We arrive in Jackson Mississippi about 5:30, having driven 353 miles, we are again exhausted. We prefer to drive about 275 miles per day, and every drive day this trip, so far, we have done well over that. We can tell the difference in that extra 50 or more miles we have been doing.
This campground is a new experience for us, it is entirely paved with black top. It is part of a mobile home park, very clean and well kept. We have cable TV, full hookups, and the most beautiful holly bushes we have ever seen. We are working in the dark setting up, but there are a number of lights and we have the old trusty flashlight. We have a quick dinner, a drink and turn up the heat, find the weather channel and RELAX! We also watch part of the State of the Union address by Bush.
We have decided the research day can be delayed a day, tomorrow we are going to lick the wounds, do laundry, lay around, do a little cleaning and collect our thoughts and plan the next couple of weeks. It is supposed to go below freezing, so we leave the cold water running in the bathroom sink, very slowly, just to keep the hoses from freezing.
Here is the ice!! YIKES!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment moderation is in effect here at Reflections. Please also note, that by leaving a comment you are consenting to your email being collected for communication purposes only.