QC03-04 Out of the south

September 1, 2010 (Wed) Englewood, FL to  Cordele, GA (393/2290 miles) - We broke camp and Joy went in and said good-bye to her mother - tough! Stops at Publix in Englewood for supplies, the Walmart in Venice for gas and a Subway for coffee took about an hour. We were finally on the road at 9:36. Why Walmart gas? By using a Walmart gift card that we buy (or recharge) with an American Express card, we can save the equivalent of about 8¢ a gallon on already very inexpensive gas.

Flying J truck stops have prided themselves and have a reputation for being RV friendly. They are beginning to lose that with us. They now charge $10 to dump RV holding tanks. It used to be free. It's half price for RV Club members (there is also a 1¢ discount on gas). On the way south we got our 50% but there was no fresh water available at that station. We had to stop at another for that. Did we steal it if we didn't pay another $5 fee? If so, so be it! Today we were told our club card was no longer active. What? We were told we should have gotten a new one in the mail. We didn't. So it cost us $10 to dump and then we had to wait in the gas pump line, even though we didn't need gas, to get our fresh water. From now on we patronize Flying J only in desperation.

Crossed into Georgia at 3:44 and made our way here to the Cordele Walmart. It's hot here too!

Q063763 Camp Walmart Cordele, GA

September 2, 2010 (Thu) Cordele, GA to Clear Creek Rec Area, William B. Bankhead Nation Forest (299/2589 miles) - Our friend Ed would appreciate the fact that the Cordele Walmart is about 500 feet from a railroad (CSX?) main line. Every 5 to 15 minutes a 50 plus car train rumbles past - in each direction! - blowing its whistle for the nearby crossing. Unnerving to say the least! We get relief only when we turn the generator and A/C on to reduce the 92° heat. Luckily they stopped running at about 10:00. Mark and Joy disagree about whether this was one of the noisiest or quietest Walmarts we've stayed at. Neither slept well but Mark evidently slept through the noise and Joy through the quiet.

Needless to say, we were up early (5:45), ate breakfast and were ready to hit the road just before 7:00 (72° clear sky but hazy) We stopped for coffee at a very busy McDonald's not at all set up for motor homes, even those as small as Q. Almost all of our driving today was on US280 to avoid the rush and angst of the interstates. Most of it was a real pleasure, very little traffic and the beautiful rural Georgia and Alabama landscapes to watch out the window. Peanut and cotton fields predominated the more rural areas with an occasional pecan grove filling in. The villages understandably slowed us down but most of them were only minor annoyances. Americus, GA was an exception. It is a small city and US280 went through the downtown section. Birmingham, AL was a nightmare!! 'nuf said. We are glad for the peace and quiet of a National Forest campsite where we will stay an extra day to recover.

September 3 2010 (Fri) Clear Creek Rec Area (2) - This campground is a lot like the Strom Thurman Dam campground we were at the end of our winter trip in 2008. The configuration of the lake shore and the look of the "beach" are almost identical. But it's all hill here. It's a steep hill all the way from the gate to the campground and lake (maybe a mile). We'd thought we might take our bicycles out to explore but had second thoughts. This kind of terrain is good for going down but impossible for going up with our out of condition legs. Instead we explored on foot. We probably did less than two miles in all but by the time we were back home our legs were rubber. It's been cooler today than it has been but still too hot for that kind of exercise. In general, it's been quiet here and a good place to unwind after a couple of weeks of stress. We were almost alone most of the day but the Labor Day weekend crowd filled the empty campsites by late afternoon.

Helping to contribute to our ability to "get away from it all" is our almost total lack of contact with the outside world - no TV, no phone reception, no internet and only a handful of radio stations, most with unexceptionable program content. This isolation has been both a blessing and a frustration.

Q064062 Clear Creek Rec Area, William B. Bankhead NF #70 w/e #12.05 A (x2)

September 4, 2010 (Sat) Clear Creek Rec Area to Springfield, MO (486/3075 miles) - We woke up this morning and discovered that we'd crossed into a different time zone sometime on Thursday. So our bodies were telling us we were getting off at 8:36 but it was really 7:36 (58° clear sky, crescent moon) - that after eating breakfast, breaking camp and tending to Q's sanitary needs. Our route out of the national forest and back onto US78 was through some very rural areas of Alabama. Although Hildene didn't direct us onto any dirt roads, there were plenty to be seen. The rest of the drive was pretty much straight forward up US78 and US63 from Alabama through Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and into Missouri. The highway and landscape were beautiful most of the way. US78 is about to become I-22 - it's hard to determine why it's not already unless it's the traffic lights now and then in or near the "cities" - and US63 was divided 4 lanes most of the way.

Off  in the distance we could see what was either a bird or an airplane (we were pretty sure it wasn't Superman) doing some kind of acrobatics. As we got closer, we could see that it was a bright yellow crop duster. We saw several of these. It made us wonder how much of that poison was making it to our bloodstreams.

Walmarts are usually very accommodating to us weary travelers.  Unless local officials enact ordinances forbidding it, they allow overnight RV parking. Here they even provide hookups. Actually we disagree on what they are for but there is a water spigot and 3 120v receptacles in the grass island beside where we are parked.

Q064548 Camp Walmart Springfield, MO