KOA, W. Memphis, AR, to St. Louis:  A beautiful, sunny morning—but cold.  Put clean sheets on the bed and gathered up the stuff that needs to go home. The kitchen slide wouldn’t go in again—sheared off another bolt.  So Mike had to crawl under there in the cold and fix it.  Didn’t take long.   Left W. Memphis around 9:00.  I drove first.  Stopped at Sikeston, MO, for fuel and food and then Mike took over.  Arrived home around 3:00.  Home sweet home!

KOA, W. Memphis, AR:  Had a hard time sleeping last night.  The wind buffeted us all night long.  Up at 6:00 and took a quick shower.  Wanted to get that out of the way before the storms hit.  Not sure if we’ll leave today or not.  I guess if we’re still in one piece after the front goes through, it’ll depend on how bad the wind is.  Chomping at the bit to go.  Well, the worst of the front has gone through.  I headed over to the shower house for safety reasons and waited it out.  Back now and it’s still raining a lot. We decided to stay put here one more night.  Tomorrow is supposed to be clear and sunny, but cool.  Very cool.  Down into the 30s tonight!

This is what it looked like at home a while ago.
Picture by Ted Shumpert

Birmingham South RV Park, Birmingham, AL, to KOA W. Memphis, AR:  Left this morning at around 9:00.  I decided to drive first.  But going through Birmingham I was really nervous.  Guess because I’ve never driven through the city on I65—especially not with the fifth wheel in tow.  Made it through okay and just north of the city we took I78 west which goes all the way to Memphis.  A pretty drive through the rolling hills of rural Alabama and Mississippi.  After driving for 2 hours we stopped to fuel up and get something to eat.  There’s not a plethora of eating establishments on this route.  When we came out of the restaurant we noticed the wind had picked up considerably.  Precursor to this huge storm that’s heading our way I guess (sigh).  Anyway, we were buffeted all the way to W. Memphis. Mike drove the rest of the way.  It was sunny all the way with just sporadic high, thin clouds.  We were trying to decide whether or not to make a run for St. Louis instead of stopping at W. Memphis as planned.  But we ended up stopping.  The bad stuff isn’t supposed to hit here until early morning.  85 today and really, really windy.

On the bridge over the Mississippi in Memphis

KOA, Tallahassee, FL, to Birmingham South RV Park, Birmingham, AL:  Started out cloudy this morning.  I started driving heading west on I10 and then north on Rt. 231. By the time we crossed the line into Alabama the sky had cleared off and turned into a beautiful day.  A pretty drive through lush, rolling hills.  And spring has definitely sprung with a profusion of azaleas and dogwoods in bloom, as well as tulip trees and red buds.  We left at 8:30 this morning and arrived in Birmingham south by 3:00.  Just here for one night and not unhooking again.  We leave tomorrow for W. Memphis. Unfortunately, there’s yet another severe weather warning for the whole eastern US.  We shouldn’t have any problem driving as we should arrive before it hits the W. Memphis area.  However, we’ll be vulnerable all evening.  Thankfully we have a Noah weather radio which we’ll keep on alert mode.  76 today. 

Dogwoods in bloom

Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort, Clermont, FL, to KOA, Tallahassee, FL:  Woke up this morning to sunshine!  Finally!  Got disconnected and hooked up early.  Left at 9:00 this morning.  I decided to drive first.  Took Florida’s Turnpike north and then I75 north to I10 west.  Shortly after getting on I10 we stopped at a rest area and Mike took over driving.  We arrived at the KOA just west of Tallahassee by 3:00 after stopping for something to eat at some tiny little town.  Not unhooking the truck, just hooked up the water and electric.  Staying at a park south of Birmingham tomorrow.  Hope the good weather holds.  71 today.

On Interstate 10 in the Florida panhandle.  Doesn't look like Florida any more.  
Very pretty and hilly with lots of pine trees.

Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort, Clermont, FL:  Really stormy today.  One severe storm after another.  We were really smart in doing our laundry yesterday instead of today.  It started early in the morning and continued ALL DAY LONG. I’m glad Florida is getting the rain they need, but did it have to happen in one day? Went to Clermont to a movie again.  Saw “Lincoln Lawyer” with Matthew McConaughey.  This was a really good movie—the best I’ve seen McConaughey in since “A Time to Kill”.  Gassed up the truck on the way back—in the pouring rain.   We leave tomorrow to continue on our way home.  Planning on staying just east of Tallahassee.  Hoping the storms will have ended by tomorrow early.

Fairchild Gardens--Miami

Clerbrook Golf & RV Resort, Clermont, Fl:  Another day of severe weather expected today.  Since it was relatively nice in the morning we decided to do the laundry one more time before the bad weather hit.  Got that done and sat outside reading for a while.  The wind picked up and I went inside and suggested maybe we should put the awning up.  Mike agreed and we got that done just in time before it hit.  We headed over to the clubhouse and took shelter in the ladies shower room and waited for it to pass.  It was over pretty quickly and no damage in the park.  Had a pork loin roast, cucumber salad, and steamed broccoli for dinner.  80 today before the storm.