Hi All,
We had an uneventful drive across Missouri, up I-55 to St Louis then west on I-70 almost to Kansas City. A gusty cross wind kept Carl on his toes but we are now within a days drive of Sioux Falls and our new drivers licenses.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
Hi All,
Tiffin finished working on the coach at 11:30 and by 12:30 we were on our way. We drove out of Alabama, across northern Mississippi into Tennessee then across the muddy Mississippi River into Missouri. That's a lot of states in under 200 miles.
We are spending the night in Hayti, MO. When we used our iPhone to search for a nearby supermarket, 4 of the top 8 listed were "Dollar General" and that was the only store name we recognized! Welcome to small town middle America.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Hi All,
Sandy's diligent online research paid off when she discovered a brochure for the North Alabama Birding Trail. Several of the birding sites listed were near the Wilson Dam along the Tennessee River not too far away.
The area just below the dam was rich in bird life including dozens of cormorants, a great blue heron rookery with 30-40 birds on nests and a huge flock of white pelicans.
We ate our picnic lunch overlooking the dam and river then hiked a total of 4 miles along lovely wooded trails.
It was a beautiful day.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
Hi All,
While chatting with the guy in the next coach, he observed that being at Tiffin Service in Red Bay has much in common with being in prison. People are always asking others. "What are you in for?" and "How much longer do you have?"
We spent a busy day replacing chairs in the coach and washing the motorhome including the roof.
Once finished, we headed out of town to the Rattlesnake Saloon. This funky place is a restaurant built into a cave. We rode the back of a pickup down a steep dirt rode.
The food was OK, the crowd was rowdy with many smokers and, though the music was good, we didn't stay too long.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
Hi All,
Red Bay is a small city of 3,300 in the northwest corner of Alabama. Tiffin Motorhomes is the largest employer. The next largest employer is Sunshine Dog Food. When their roaster is in operation the entire city smells like dry dog food.
The people are friendly and very polite. We were talking to an upholstery craftsman about a chair we were interested in. He said he had one we might like then proceeded to hand us the keys to his workshop in town and invited us to go take a look.
At lunch in Subway we met Bob Tiffin the founder of the multi-million dollar motorhome company.
We just learned that the coach repairs will take until Monday. A weekend in Red Bay can be very long. The nearest movies and malls are 50 miles away. We cancelled our tickets in Branson and we will go direct to Sioux Falls.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Hi All,
When Ginger's mockingbird flew away she got bored (easy to do in Red Bay, AL). To remedy the situation, we downloaded a few iPad games for her. The objective is to tap the moving red spot, fish or mouse. It keeps her interested but so far it is a spectator sport.
Almost done in Red Bay, we hope.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
Hi All,
We are still getting the coach serviced in Red Bay but at least Ginger is staying occupied. A mockingbird sat on a wire next to our coach for almost an hour this morning. Ginger watched the whole time, chattering occasionally.
Love
Sandy & Carl
Photographed and sent from Carl's iPhone
