We are Officially On Our Way

My first real entry for this trip- and I did most of it sitting in The Beast experiencing what MS calls a line of weather bringing" afternoon thunderstorms, some severe" along with high winds and a tornado watch.  The dog was hysterical and The Beast moved about a bit with the winds - just the kind of evening I looked forward to in a motorhome.
  We could always have made a run for the bath house if things got too bad, but we survived intact with no external damage. The inside time gave me the opportunity to catch up the blog. So where are we now?

We left home on Monday, March 28th after a frenzy of activities. Yes, I know I said in the previous narrative that I would opine on what it took to get ready for this undertaking, but time ran out and I was too tired at night to get in an update so use your imagination - you won't be far off.

After an uneventful and easy drive on I-10W, we arrived at Karick Lake Campground, just north of Crestview, FL where we spent the first 5 nights. This is not a new campground or area for us, so I will not add much about those days, except that we spent some time with my Dad & Lee and our good friends Herman & Ann Parker before setting off for our mostly new experiences trip on Saturday, April 3rd.

We drove the back roads north from Karick Lake through Andalusia, AL to Collinsville, MS, just north of Meridian, on MS-19. Of course the manual GPS (me with a map/computer/AAA routing application) performed flawlessly, except of course for what turned out to be an unnecessary course correction causing Bruce to take an unexpected hard right on to a small winding road. Apparently the GPS did not realize that the road we wanted was actually circular and that both ends met MS-19, albeit 4 miles apart, so told Bruce to turn on the wrong end, but all's well that ends well. We arrived about 2:30 CDT to a full Corp of Engineers (COE) Twiltley Branch campground.

Twiltley Branch is a smaller campground in a very rural area on the Okatibbee Lake. The roads are good, but narrow and include at least one very interesting turn, but the majority of the sites are waterfront and the whole place is wooded. The sites are gravel with electricity and water. Bruce had to jockey The Beast around one 130-140 degree turn to get to the site I had reserved (although in honesty the camp host did tell him not to try to make that turn, instead to back down from the cut through road but he knew better), but as usual did an excellent job. We were quickly backed in our site, leveled and hooked up to utilities (you know the cats need their electricity & water). Once done with external coach set up, and I had put things to rights inside, we  brought out the chairs to enjoy the clearing skies and beautiful sunset. Windows were opened and everything cooled down that evening.

We woke Sunday with the cats standing on us wanting food (and then me wanting coffee) and a day that cleared to bright blue skies and very warm temperatures. The lake was full of boats -  fishing, skiing, pleasure craft and sail and with the ramp across the inlet, we could watch continuous activity.  Some of the people either had new boats/trailers or just couldn't back up so it was amusing watching them try to get a trailer down the ramp and a boat on or off that trailer.  That type show is almost as good as watching people in the campground back in their motorhomes/trailers and then set them up, especially when that rig is probably new to them. I can tell you from personal experience that we (read that Bruce) always do some test backing/set-up, etc. before leaving home when we have something new so we are not the object of that entertainment if at all possible.. 

We cooked our first real meal that Sunday night- using our "new grill".  Bruce found a deal at Lowe's on Weber portable gas grills before we left, bought 2 and then decided to leave the old faithful home and bring one of the new replacements. After cooking, he complained that we should have tested it before leaving because it didn't seem to him to get hot enough and the vegetables he was grilling didn't brown the way he thought they should.  I did have to admit (even though it pained me to) that the marinade we used contained very little oil so could have been part of the browning issue, that along with the fact that the wind had increased and he had not put up his wind shield.  So, we tested it after dinner, with the wind shield (and of course some minor modifications to the heat shield - nothing ever remains as bought in our repertoire of camping equipment) and I am quite  happy to  report it passed Bruce's heat tests with flying colors so we won't be looking for a new grill yet.

Monday ( when I wrote most of this in the sever weather remember) we woke to cloudy skies and a very empty park. With the kids back in school and most of the weekend campers back at work, we, and a few like us, were all that was left to enjoy the quiet and even better, the empty bath house. I thought about doing some wash last night, but that inclination passed - so will have to do some today to stay in front of that continual chore. But, since the skies are perfectly clear this morning and the day will remain sunny I will have a hard time doing inside things- even if wind is up and the high today will be mid-60s (what happened to a short winter?)  Tomorrow we leave again, so I will have to spend time getting ready, like it or not.  Then, once we get to Jefferson, TX we will do this all over again.

OK - time to get something to eat for breakfast and walk the dog around the park.  She needs to exercise not me, I am as svelte as ever, but I will sacrifice for her.  Yes we are late eating but I was trying to get this published and Bruce to take me out instead.  The publishing part worked but it appears the breakfast out isn't going to happen. So time to get busy- especially since Hazel needs her attention too.   Pictures will be added later today (or tonight - maybe).

Until then - Drive Safely & Retire Early!