PDA

View Full Version : Heading East


padredw
09-08-2005, 04:31 PM
Padredw and Countrygirl will be heading out on Saturday to drive up through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia to North Carolina.

Then back from North Carolina through Tennessee and finally back across Arkansas and home.

We are really taking the back roads this time--about 250 miles a day; very little Interstate travel.

Will be home in about 10 days. Don't want spiderwebs to develop on the Montana!

Dave e Victoria
09-08-2005, 06:05 PM
We just got back to our stick house (actually it is block) last week after 4 months on the road but, I read your post and get itchy again. Have a good trip!!!

Montana_139
09-08-2005, 06:40 PM
Padredw and Countrygirl,

When you pass through Tennessee, if you come near Crossville, we would love to have you stop to say hello. We are at the Bean Pot Campground until the end of September. It is on Highway 101 1½ miles north of Interstate 40 Exit 322. It is 1¾ miles north of US Hwy. 70. Hope to see you.

Glenn

padredw
09-09-2005, 06:16 AM
Glenn, Thanks for your note which arrived just in time. Yes, I think we will do that. The date would be Friday, September 16, and we would be arriving early afternoon.

The next day (Saturday) we will have to travel on to Western Tennessee (Dancyville, near Brownsville) where we will attend a homecoming at the oldest Methodist Church in Western Tennessee.

Thank you for the courtesy of your suggestion, and we will look forward to seeing you. By the way, we will be coming from near Waynesville, NC (Winngray Family Campground).

I'm sending an email through the forum.

David

sreigle
09-11-2005, 09:25 AM
Padre and Shirley, have a safe and enjoyable trip.

padredw
09-11-2005, 11:35 AM
Sunday afternoon, Gadsden, Alabama

Just checking in. Last night we stayed at Lake Village, Arkansas, across the Mississippi from Greenville, MS. The RV park was named "Pecan Grove" and that is exactly what it was. No internet in the park, so we drove down to the village center and parked across from the courthouse. Found an unidentified WIFI connection, but the connection was marginal. At least we got our email and got out a couple of emails of our own. Had to sit the in the hot pickup with laptop on my lap, and visibility very poor.

Tonight we have excellent WIFI provided free by the park "River County Campground" in Gadsden, AL. Also have cable TV included in the price (over 60 channels).

We departed from my planned route and came down to Tuscaloosa, AL , picking up the freeway I20 and then up I59 to Gadsden. Not sure if was worth it. The traffic between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was terrible. One LARGE convoy of electric line repair vehicles evidently returning from the Gulf coast.

Then on I59 near Birmingham we encountered the WORST highway surface we have ever traveled on. I feared for our pickup, our RV and our eye teeth. I did something I have never done before. I peeled off at an exit and sought out a secondary road. I almost didn't care where it went. As it was, it worked out perfectly and we came back into I59 exactly where that concrete was replaced by asphalt. I kid you not--the worst shaking we have ever received from a highway.

Tomorrow, on to the mountains of North Carolina. Probably not able to connect like this again.

sreigle
09-12-2005, 08:01 AM
Padre, we overnighted at Pecan Grove the second night of our five-week trial run for fulltiming back in January, 2003. At the time we'd planned to stop near Russelville, AR, but were told if we stopped there we'd get snowed/iced in that night so we kept rolling to Lake Village.

Glad you're having a good trip despite the traffic and roads. Your experience is one of a few reasons why we avoid interstates when it makes sense to do so. We hope your trip will be full of enjoyment from here on out.

padredw
09-12-2005, 11:16 AM
Well here we are at the Holly Cove Campground at Whittier, NC (not far from Cherokee). That puts us here a full day ahead of schedule, so we will stay here 3 nights instead of 2. The rest of our schedule is pretty well set. We had a delightful drive up through Alabama, Georgia, and into North Carolina. This time we completely avoided the Interstates and took a few very secondary state highways, but they were all a pleasure to drive.

We will eat tomorrow at the Jarrot House, an old favorite of ours in Dillsboro, just a few miles from our camp. We have been stopping there for over 40 years. We will meet a friend who is president of the Southwestern Community College in this area.

Holly Cove is a campground on a very steep hill, but the sites are nice and level.

Note to Steve: Pecan Grove is great for an overnight, but we noticed that the 'long timers' had mildew because of the 'weeping' pecan trees. Most of the trailers were very badly stained. Still, it was a nice place for us to stay on our first night out.

Wordsmith
09-12-2005, 11:34 AM
David and Shirley, have a safe trip. If you are going near Waynesville, NC, I would suggest you look at some of the attractions in the Pisgah National Forest outside of Brevard. Looking Glass Falls and Sliding Rock are both beautiful and the Cradle of Forestry--the first forestry school--are all located there. Definitely worth checking out.

My parents and I used to spend our summers camping at Davidson River campground, Coon Tree before that opened, so this used to be like a second home to me.

padredw
09-13-2005, 04:37 AM
Thanks, J.D., we had thought we might come up through North Georgia (Banks County), but decided we did not have enough time on this trip. Also may not have much time in the Waynesville area as we will be visiting an old friend, Dr. Joe Hale, who retired a year or so ago from his post as Executive Secretary of the World Methodist Council. We were classmates at Perkins School of Theology (S.M.U.) in Dallas.

We are planning a drive through Smokey Mountain National Park over into Tennessee tomorrow. Then on to Waynesville on Thursday.

sreigle
09-14-2005, 07:05 AM
I agree with you, Dave. We'd overnight there but not stay very long. At the time it was a welcome site since we'd just done miles in one day that we'd planned to do in two. And it was cold farther north. And they took Passport America so we paid half price for the site. Saving me a few bucks always brings a smile to my face.

padredw
09-17-2005, 08:10 AM
Just a quick update (we are on a 'borrowed' WIFI connection in the parking lot of the Casey Jones Museum and the Old Country Store in Jackson, Tennessee.) We had a great lunch int the Old Country Store.

Yesterday and last night we had the great pleasure of visiting with Glen and Karin KK and GB at the Bean Pot Campground in Crossville, TN. We have almost reached our desitnation for today, where we will stay over for the homecoming at the Dancyville Methodist Church tomorrow.

Then on toward home.

padredw
09-19-2005, 09:48 AM
OK, this should be the final chapter. We arrived back our our old country home at 10:45 this morning. We spent Saturday night in the Memphis East Campground which was convenient to our destination of Dancyville, Tennessee.
(In case you are interested: http://dwilliamson.com/Dancy/DancyvillePage1.html)

We spent last night on Cloud Nine! That is, the Cloud Nine RV Park near Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is one of our favorite parks and I was really counting on WIFI which I have used there before. Would you believe! the WIFI was OUT. I did get a good dialup connection in the laundry room, but that is not like using the computer in the RV.

Our odometer read "2022.2" when we stopped at our house. We managed to get diesel from $2.62 to $2.89, and that was luck. We saw it much higher in places, but we made some good choices. I may post our MPG later (may not if its not good! -- Pride, you know!)

Had another great trip: 8 states in a bit over a week, stayed 3 nights at one campground in North Carolina (Holly Cove, Whittier near Cherokee). Enough for now. Tired, but glad to be home.

padredw
09-19-2005, 11:14 AM
In this conversation with myself, and in the interest of full disclosure, I submit the following exact statistics:

Total miles on odometer 1962 at Texarkana, last fillup

(actually clocks slightly less than traveled, but I will use this figure as conservative)

Total gallons of diesel used: 161.151
MPG for entire trip as logged: 12.17492
Total cost for fuel: $ 438.03
Total fuel cost per mile: $ 0.223257

Lowest per gallon cost $2.599 in Columbus, Mississippi
Highest per gallon cost $2.879 in Whittier, NC
Average cost per gallon used: $ 2.718131

Highest leg of all towing MPG 12.08714
Lowest leg of all towing MPG 9.901275

sreigle
09-20-2005, 02:59 PM
Sounds like you had a nice trip. Glad to hear you enjoyed it and made it back safely.