Yeah, I know, it’s been a while since my last post. Unfortunately, we are starting a return trip to CA from here on, so I won’t have a lot of touristy pictures to share or a lot of adventuresome stories to tell. At least not until we hit Disneyland. So maybe I’ll try to create a sense of impending apprehension which will build & expand inside of you until it reaches a crescendo of overwhelming excitement…(or not, just another boring road trip). 

So we finally got all of our fix-it stuff done in Red Bay. We actually had a great time sitting in the Allegro Service Center, a place where some Tiffin owners dread because of unknown wait times. It helps immensely to be a full time RV-er when having to be there, time does not matter. And we met a lot of good people who were our neighbors. We traded “war stories” (re: life on the road), had some block-party style happy hours (on the QT of course, Red Bay is within a dry county after all!), and we found Jim and Stacy Camara at the Service Center getting work done on their rig as well (they were co-workers of mine back in Sonoma County when I actually worked for a living).

It was then off to Tennessee to take care of some of Charlie’s medical stuff at his primary physician in Murfreesboro. Finding a place to stay was a bit frustrating, the COE’s we wanted to stay at were full and there is basically nothing in the Murfreesboro area. We tried to stay at the Camper RV Park in Columbia, but that lasted all of  one night, that place resembled a good ol’ crankster heaven what with all the permanent “residents” in their broke down and otherwise thrashed trailers.

One of our neighbors in the Allegro Campground in Red Bay told us about the Grand Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville just outside of Nashville. We headed up there and found space for a week. This was a nice find, since most of the Nashville RV parks run in the $60+ per night range and this one was $30. Once the medical stuff was finished, we took some time to recon the area. Just NE of Goodlettsville we found the city of Gallatin. This is a very nice area and we found some very nice custom homes at the Fairview Plantation which ran anywhere from the $300’s into the multi-millions. Not a bad location either, between a golf course and the lake. Jeanne heard a radio spot as we drove around Nashville that advertised a free concert “Street Party” downtown put on by Sam Hunt. She seems to have taken a fancy to that performer, he sings her favorite song “House Party”. I had no clue who he was and I am the furthest from a new age country/western fan, but we went to see the concert. Jeanne was in hog heaven, I however still do not fancy the new age country-rap genre. And the young-ish fans who packed the concert area were rude and pushy, but at least I did not have to put up with “the big blue cloud of smoke” usually present with the young California concert-going crowds of Cannabinoids. 

Next stop was an overnighter at a Walmart in Sikeston, Mo., then on to Branson. We had a good 2-day visit with Jeanne’s sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and their respective families (Denise & Don; Savohna, Robert, Cooper, Brody, & Khloe; Cedric & Angie; and Magnum the wonder dog).

Westbound and down we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe & Hotel & Casino outside of Tulsa, OK. This was just an overnighter, but the camp fees were right ($0) and we learned to like another card game. Hard Rock did not have any Pai Gow tables, but we learned the magic of 3-card Poker. (Next stop-Gamblers Anonymous!)

From Tulsa we stayed on Hwy. 412 along the north edge of the state and away from the trucker-laden Hwy. 40. This route was a very pleasant alternative to I-40, winding its way through several small town areas and generally low traffic volume, definitely low semi-truck volume. Another Walmart in Guymon, OK, then reconnect with Hwy. 40 into Albuquerque, NM. As usual, the wind was a pretty big factor through this area, we got tossed around pretty good at a steady 60 mph. In Albuquerque we stayed at the Enchanted Trails RV Park for a couple of days while we caught our breath and picked up our mail. Even though we are not rushing ourselves TOO bad to get back to CA, 4 hour drive days can still get a bit old quickly. From Albuquerque it was on into Williams, AZ and a couple of days stay at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park and Hotel. A bit windy still, some minor snow on the ground, but clear weather as we passed through.

And that leads to the present. We are a couple of days out from CA, hopefully the weather and I-40 will hold out for us as we inch closer, and closer, and closer to meet up with…