From Memphis to Tallahasse....

Sunday was getaway day for us.  We really enjoyed Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park.  Electric and laundry were included, making it a great value for a month stay.  We'll miss our walks to the river and just there and watch barges go by.

Sunday, we left at our typical 10:30a and was a pretty uneventful ride to a suburb of Birmingham, AL (Bessemer) where we stayed at an Elks Lodge.  Road was surprisingly good, spare a few miles that looked like they were the last to be repaved.  When we entered B'ham, we noticed some storm damage from the April 2011 tornado that really raked some damage on this area.  Parking at the lodge was one of our first challenges with the new rig.

Monday morning, we took off with the girls to Tuscaloosa to see the home of the Crimson Tide.  Again, before reaching campus, we saw the devastation that they really haven't recovered from with that awful storm.  Very hurricane-ish the way there was just a swath of nothing where the storm touched down.

Bryant-Denny stadium was nice.  They've really done some nice work on the walk up with statues of all the coaches who have won national championships, plus brick work that includes the names of all the players on those teams.  Lots of reminders of Paul "Bear" Bryant

We took a quick run out to see the Sewell-Thomas baseball stadium and Coleman Coliseum.  Both were impressive, especially the basketball arena.  From the outside looks like a barn, but once inside they've done a great job with their facilities and looks like a wonderful place to watch a game.

After some work upon returning to Bessemer Elks Lodge, we went out to dinner with our old friend Dick Turner and his new wife Cathy at the Southern Legacy BBQ in Hoover, AL.  The food was fabulous, half price beers and appetizers through 7p.  We had some BBQ nachos that were splendid.

Catching up with our old friend was a treat.  It had probably been around 15 years since we've seen Dick.  We spent the night laughing, catching up on everyone we knew, our families, their new life in Birmingham and our business and RV'ing lifestyle.

Tuesday was an easy getaway day.  We came upon a wreck in Birmingham just after it happened, and was about a 45-50 delay getting out of town, so that up and going at 8a was wasted.  It's really one of the first long delays we've had which is pleasantly surprising.

We're in at the Tallahassee Elks, which has really secluded, wooded sites.  Not sure what tomorrow will bring, which is as it should be!

Laundry

Laundry - what a dirty word!  No matter how hard we try to keep up, it just never seems to go away.  Since it is such a recurring item, we have added it to our monthly budget.  This has become a little bit of a challenge with all the various rates that are charged.  We have found everything from $1.25/wash to our current rate of $2.00/wash.  Dryers have been ranging anywhere from .25 for 5 minutes to $1.75 for 45 minutes.

The washing cycle is what it is.  Not sure why there is such a difference in the price from area to area.  May be that there utility rates vary that much. Or, they just want us to pay for the convenience.  I certainly haven't seen that much of a difference in the facilities or the equipment.

My biggest issue is with the charges for the dryers.  The previous stop at the Oklahoma City KOA had the most expensive/least efficient dryers at $1.75.  They did run 45-50 minutes, but I almost always had to run them twice!  We are currently paying the same rate here at the Indianapolis KOA, but after 45 minutes, everything was completely dry.  (Sure they were also super washed with the $2.00 wash cycle!)

Would like to hear how others take care of dirty laundry.  What are some of your experiences?  Do you use the campground facilities?

Please share your comments.

See ya down the road....