On Sunday, we began our trek home. The first leg from Montgomery to Memphis was a long one. Just north of Montgomery, a white SUV passed us and the woman in the passenger seat was making frantic gestures at us. We couldn't interpret them but knew something must be amiss so pulled off at the next exit, as did they. The tailgate was down on the truck and she had been trying to simulate that. They were Alabama folks but he wanted to know 'where in Iowa are y'all from?' because he does business in Mt. Pleasant.
When we hit Birmingham, we had to backtrack because the exit we planned to take doesn't exist yet. It's under major construction and of course the alternate route has a plethora of stoplights. By the time we got to northern Mississippi, rain had started. The early mist and sprinkles had turned very deliberate by the time we reached T. O. Fuller State Park on the southwest edge of Memphis. The good news was nice pull-through sites and an automatic 50% discount for seniors in Tennessee state parks. The park had just finished clearing the pads the day before, after three days of snow. Ken and Harriet whipped up an amazing supper of pork steak, squash and asparagus.
We got a pretty good start the next day since we left our truck hitched up, did a double check on the tailgate, and continued north. As we crossed into Arkansas and up into Missouri, fog and drizzle made the scenery look like, in Harriet's words, a black and white movie. We reached a county campground north of St. Louis in late afternoon and were able to meet some old friends for supper. Oddly, the further north we got, the warmer the weather got. And Tuesday morning, rain again that continued about halfway home. Butch got to spend his birthday driving about five hours and unloading when we reached home.
We traveled over 4000 miles and stayed in 12 campgrounds in nine states. There wasn't one of the places we visited that we thought "That was a waste of time." We spent time with family in Dallas and Atlanta and had a lot of bonding time in between. We met people who are full-timing--one couple in a customized pickup camper--and people who were seeing as much as possible on their trip, like the two women who had been tent camping across the country and Canada for the past 11 months. In order to take suggestions from park people and other campers, we stayed fairly flexible and changed our route at times with excellent results. As soon as I finish cleaning the camper, get rid of the ants, catch up the laundry, and restock, I'm ready to go again.
When we hit Birmingham, we had to backtrack because the exit we planned to take doesn't exist yet. It's under major construction and of course the alternate route has a plethora of stoplights. By the time we got to northern Mississippi, rain had started. The early mist and sprinkles had turned very deliberate by the time we reached T. O. Fuller State Park on the southwest edge of Memphis. The good news was nice pull-through sites and an automatic 50% discount for seniors in Tennessee state parks. The park had just finished clearing the pads the day before, after three days of snow. Ken and Harriet whipped up an amazing supper of pork steak, squash and asparagus.
We got a pretty good start the next day since we left our truck hitched up, did a double check on the tailgate, and continued north. As we crossed into Arkansas and up into Missouri, fog and drizzle made the scenery look like, in Harriet's words, a black and white movie. We reached a county campground north of St. Louis in late afternoon and were able to meet some old friends for supper. Oddly, the further north we got, the warmer the weather got. And Tuesday morning, rain again that continued about halfway home. Butch got to spend his birthday driving about five hours and unloading when we reached home.
We traveled over 4000 miles and stayed in 12 campgrounds in nine states. There wasn't one of the places we visited that we thought "That was a waste of time." We spent time with family in Dallas and Atlanta and had a lot of bonding time in between. We met people who are full-timing--one couple in a customized pickup camper--and people who were seeing as much as possible on their trip, like the two women who had been tent camping across the country and Canada for the past 11 months. In order to take suggestions from park people and other campers, we stayed fairly flexible and changed our route at times with excellent results. As soon as I finish cleaning the camper, get rid of the ants, catch up the laundry, and restock, I'm ready to go again.
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