Tuesday, October 3, 2023

A/C Success; Time to Turn West

Location: Meaher State Park; Spanish Fort, Alabama (near Mobile) 

It was a 250 mile tow to get here but it was a nice drive, mostly on interstates. As I've mentioned before, I prefer towing on interstates because of the room they provide in case of an emergency with the wide shoulders. I pulled in around 4:00 instead of 5:00 as I had planned the night before. My last campground was on the border of Eastern and Central Time Zones. My cell phone was picking up conflicting signals and one minute it would say Central then change to Eastern. In all of the confusion, I left on time in Eastern Time but an hour early on Central Time. It all worked out OK, it wasn't too hot when I got here and the Taco Bell I went to after setting up camp gave time for the sun to go down and provide some good cooling.

My campsite here at Meaher State Park

The A/C tech installed my new A/C this morning. It took him a little less than 1 hour and I forgot to take a single picture of the process. However, I did pester him very much with tons of questions and constantly looking over his shoulder. The new A/C works great with a little more than 20 degree difference between intake air and output air. You can bet I'll be sleeping in 64 degree temperature tonight. When the RV tech got here he was swarmed by three other campers in the campground. Each needed a little work done on their rig. He helped 2 of them since their issues were minor, but the third would have taken too long and he had someone else scheduled for work elsewhere. 

This is the same campground I stayed at when the tech diagnosed my A/C problem. It is a nice one with the campsites separated by a generous distance. It is a little more than twice the price of Corps of Engineers campgrounds but seems to be comparable to most State Parks. 

I didn't do much exploring since I arrived late in the evening yesterday and spent the morning with the RV tech. I was able to have a nice lunch at a Chinese Buffet. I also walked around the campground and explored one of the trails to the marshes and I went to the campground fishing pier for the sunset which was below average.

The Cane-cutters Trail leading from the campground to the marshes

A nice boardwalk leading into the marshes with the sign reading "Do Not feed or harass the gators."

A nice thinking bench facing west towards the setting sun

The campground fishing pier. One guy was fishing.

Another thinking bench facing west.

Sun setting over Mobile Bay. 
'Night ya'll.

I checked the Fort Pickens Campground site again, but still not enough days in a row to get me to go. I'm still disappointed in missing the campground again. It appears that about 4 to 6 weeks is the advance time period you need to make reservations if it includes the weekend. It just didn't work out for me this time. Maybe I'll ease over this way after the holidays. Those decisions can wait cause I'm just about decision-making burnt out. I have reservations all the way home but still need to decide which campground I'll be staying at once I get home. The one I have been using as a home base for the last few years has gone out of business since I've been gone. I'll have to chose another one. I've stayed at just about all of them around that area, so I just need to pick one.

Tomorrow is moving day and I've decided to make another long haul. Coincidentally, it is about the same amount of miles as it was to get here. I like making long hauls on the last few legs of my trips. They become my "thinking drives". Time for me to mull over the previous few months of traveling. To go over, in my mind, things I've seen and done while on this trip. I need those thinking drives and a few days of down time before getting home to get myself centered again.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

 

1 comment: