Back in Carrollton

We are back in Little Talapoosa Park in Carrollton.  We arrived late yesterday and parked in the same site that we had last winter.  Mom, Phil, Vic, and Taylor came out for a visit this morning.

Thursday Night in Gadsden

We enjoyed our trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center today.  We stayed so long there that we decided to stop and spend the night at Gadsden in the Noccalula Falls campground.  Vic and Phil stopped by and brought supper with them so we had a good visit with them.  They are headed to Atlanta tomorrow, so we hope to see more of them this weekend.  Tomorrow we hope to make it to Carrollton.

Wednesday Night in Athens, AL

We left Cape Girardeau this morning without any motorhome trouble.  We crossed the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers on the way to Paducah, KY.  Tonight we are staying at a nice rv park at Athens, AL.  It's a really nice little park with a very friendly owner.  Temps will still be below freezing tonight so the hose will be unhooked before bedtime.  Tomorrow we are planning to go over to the big unclaimed baggage store at Scottsboro.  http://unclaimedbaggage.com  Who knows where we will wonder from there.

Tuesday Night in Cape Girardeau, MO

We had a little delay this morning.  We started out with a jacks down alarm beeping which was odd because we had not used the jacks last night.  We headed out of town hoping that it would clear itself since the jacks were up.  As we drove along listening to the constant beeping, I read in the manual that it was probably caused by low hydraulic oil level.   So we pulled into another Walmart in the next town to get some oil for it.  Of course, the tank on the motorhome was not the one in the picture in the manual so there was no indication of how full it should be.  After waiting a long time on hold with the factory, the answer was pour some in and see if it quits beeping.  If not, pour some more in.  So we did.  On our way again with no beeping.  We stopped for the night at a campground about 5:00 in Cape Girardeau, MO.  Low of 18 degrees expected tonight here.  Water hose unhooked for the night and the engine heater is plugged in.

Monday Night in Pella

OK, we didn't get quite as far as we expected today.  After telling Sarah's family goodbye, we went to the Cummins service center and got the check engine light codes checked out.  We left the motorhome there and drove to Andrea's family goodbye.  We had gotten up to an empty propane tank this morning, so we drove the motorhome to a propane company and filled up and then to a truck stop to fill up the fuel tank and grab a bite to eat.  By then it was snowing.  After we hooked up the jeep and headed out of town we were having electrical problems.  With no tail lights or clearance lights, and the snow starting to get worse, we decided to pull off the road in Pella and try to fix it.  We found a blown fuse but had to go the Walmart to get a replacement.  Of course the replacement blew right away too.  If we unhooked the light cord to the jeep, it would work ok.  After disassembling the lights and socket on the jeep, the short finally went away.  By this time it was snowing harder and it was 4:30.   Not wanting it to happen again in the dark, we opted to spend tonight in the Walmart parking lot.  The snow has stopped, but they are expecting a low of 13 degrees tonight.  We really need to leave earlier in the year next year.

Sunday in DesMoines

We arrived in DesMoines Thursday night and are parked in Sarah's driveway.  Scott came over yesterday and helped me change out the fuel filters on the motorhome.  We have been enjoying our visit here with both of the families.  After Mass today we all went out for the traditional Sunday Chinese buffet.

Later this evening, Garrett was enjoying his chocolate cupcake.

Ashlynn made a delicious batch of red velvet cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

 Zaccary put out his Thanksgiving decoration in the front yard for us to enjoy.

Tomorrow, we are planning to take the motorhome to the Cummins service center to get a check engine light checked out that showed up a couple of times on the way down here and then head south.  Cold and snow are coming.

Getting Ready to Go

We have been planning to leave tomorrow and head south.  So far the weather has not been bad here, but look what we woke up to this morning.  Time to go!

 We had some visitors on Halloween.  Does anyone recognize this bunch?

We managed to get the slide that we brought home from Desmoines attached to the tree fort in time for some fall sliding.

 We stopped over at Rebecca's house tonight for some last minute visiting.  We sure are going to miss this bunch.

Most of the last minute loading is done and we are planning to leave tomorrow and stay in Desmoines for a few days before heading to warmer weather.