Back in Red Bay - and beyond

We are now in Red Bay Alabama, home of Tiffin Motorhomes.

Since we would be passing by (within a hundred miles or so) we decided to

swing by Red Bay to get some minor repairs done as well as to meet with

the vendor who makes the curtains and valances for the coaches.

Kate has some fabric that she'd like to recover the existing valances with

so I thought I could at least meet with the vendor, purchase an hour of their time,

 and get some instructions on how to remove and replace the fabric.

My list of repair items is almost embarrassing.   

Its all the type of stuff that I could do but since we are here...

and their price is very reasonable...

I might as well make a small contribution to the local economy before we

continue on westward to Texas.

Plus...  I've always wanted to get Kate here to visit the factory and some of the

other local sights.

Today we saw two of the highlights:

The Rattlesnake Saloon, and the Coon Dog Cemetery.

The Rattlesnake Saloon

Located in Tuscumbria Al,  out in the middle of nowhere, the real draw here is

the interesting location.   

The Saloon and outside table area and stage are built underneath a stone overhang.   

Its' sort of a modern countrified version of a red neck Mesa Verde.

Arriving at the parking area, we are picked up in a big diesel pickup truck.

Signs plastered about the inside of the truck encourage tipping.

Another family is welcome to sit inside with us but instead they pile into the bed of the

truck for the short ride down the hill.  

Mind you - its about 40° damp and raining.

Arriving at the bottom of the hill.

There is outside seating as well as a few tables inside.

We deliberately came early before the music started so as to avoid the crowds.

We sat inside the saloon due to the cool weather.

The menu features a varied assortment of Vegetables such as:

Fried Mushrooms, Fried Green Beans, Fried Mozzarella, Fried Pickles,

Fried Onion Rings, French Fries loaded with Bacon and Cheese.

Do you see where this is going?

Did I mention the Fried Peach Pie, Fried Apple Fritters, or Deep Fried Cheesecake?

Lastly...   A burger on the menu:

"The Gigantor  two pounds of Ground Beef on a huge bun with all the fixins, a pound of fries

and a half pound of Onion Rings and a pitcher of your favorite beverage to wash it all down."

Needless to say - Kate and I passed on the Gigantor and opted for a normal burger which we still

could not finish.

Walking up the hill after lunch

Afraid that merely inhaling inside the Saloon was hazardous to our Cholesterol levels,

we decided to walk back up the hill to the truck and try to ward off any lingering

calories that might have jumped onto us thru contact.

The Rattlesnake Saloon.

If you are in the area you have to see it once.

For the unique setting I give it a 10

The food... ok but nothing special.

I'd imagine that if you were there at music time the joint is hopping as

its usually standing room only.

The Coon Dog Cemetery

No visit to RB would be complete without stopping by the CDC.

No not the Center for Disease Control...

Established in 1937 by Key Underwood for his Coon Dog Troop,

other Coon Dog owners began (with permission) to bury their dogs there, and eventually

the cemetery grew to where there are now close to 200 dogs here from all over the USA.

Once asked if other types of dogs would be allowed here,

Mr Underwood replied:

"You must not know much about coon hunters and their dogs, if you think we would contaminate this burial place with poodles and lap dogs,"

I guess that means I'll have to keep looking for a spot for the Doodles 😀

Many of the head stones were quite interesting and we spent some time walking about.

Off to Texas

Our stay in Red Bay was brief.

Tiffin Service Center Red Bay, Alabama

We arrived Saturday and were in and out of a service bay - and back on the road by noon Tuesday.

I had hoped to take Kate on the factory tour and to the paint shop but we were 

done and had places down the road that we needed to be.

Our destination now was Livingston, Texas where we would establish residency

with help from the Escapees - an RV Support Group to which we belong

and who provides our mail service.

We took a scenic route down the Natchez Trace Parkway.

A National Park Service Parkway - sort of a flat land Blue Ridge Parkway.

The NTP follows an ancient Indian Trail, for about 450 miles between

Nashville, Tn and Natchez, Ms.

Our route would cover about 200 miles of the Parkway.

Early Spring on the Natchez Trace Parkway

We stopped for the night at Goshen Springs Campground outside of
Brandon, Ms.
Goshen Springs is run by the local reservoir authority and was a very nice place
to spend a night or three.
Full hookups, 50amp with large sites and first come first serve.

Goshen Springs Campground

Our next day dawned clear and the rest of the drive south on the parkway
was bright and colorful with the start of spring blooming about.

We spent the next night in Longview, Tx at Fernwood Park,
and then Thursday drove 2 hrs south to Livingston, and the Escapees
Rainbow Park.

We arrived about 1:30p and headed out to motor vehicle with a stack of pre-completed
paperwork and by 3pm we had registered both the bus and the F150.

Escapees Headquarters - Livingston, Tx

Then Friday morning I completed transfering our insurances to Tx and
we headed back to DPS to get our licenses.

Another stack of paperwork, passports, soc security cards, Tx registrations,
insurance documents etc etc...   boy they love paperwork!

By 1:30 Kate had her license and I had transferred my CDL and we were out the door.
We were now done with this part of the process and free range again.

Before heading out we took the dogs for a walk around the park

The Escapees have quite a large facility here.   2 RV parks, with RV homes mixed among
the facility, I was actually surprised and pleased how nice it was.

Here was an ice cream shack that is open afternoons.

The park even has its own medical clinic.

Our site in the Rainbow Park.

Escapees Rainbow Park Livingston, Tx

We will now get back on the road tomorrow (Saturday) and head 1,100 miles

further west to Casa Grande, Az where we will acquire a storage room to unload

the pickup and things from the bus.

We will use this storeroom as a "cache" where we will keep things that we will want

from time to time but do not have the room, or need to have them all the time.

Once we load up the storeroom, we will finally be done with the rat race that began

about 6 week ago when we signed the contract to sell the house.

And true free range chickens we will finally be.

Then it will be time to crack open a special bottle of wine.

A 1995 Chateau Margaux.

Cheers!