FL, AL, MS – May 2024

I’m outa here!  This is me pulling out of my Florida Home Base heading back on the road for the 2024 season, and the start of my 7th year as a full time RVer.  I wrapped up my pre-launch projects, took a quick trip up north to see my kids and grands, and now I’m off back to the nomadic lifestyle I so much enjoy. So much to see and experience, and this year will definitely not fall short of exceeding my expectations. So buckle up and let’s get this year’s adventure going.

Family Visits

So before I headed out on this year’s adventure, I wanted to take a quick trip back up to the MD/PA area.  I flew up on a Friday afternoon with plans to spend the entire day Saturday with my daughter Ashley and grandsons AJ and Henry.  We started the day with a trip to Turkey Hill Experience.  Turkey Hill is a Pennsylvania company that makes ice cream and various flavored drinks.  So, the “experience” is to learn about the processes that go into making these items, while also having fun at the same time.  It in fact was a lot of fun, and not only do you get unlimited flavored drinks and ice cream, you also get to make your very own ice cream flavor.  It starts with a pint of vanilla base to which you add your choice of flavors, then as much toppings from over 20 options as you like, followed up with a syrup topping.  The best part is you then get to eat it.  It was delicious!  After that, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch – a family favorite, and then back to my hotel where Ashley and the boys got to enjoy the indoor heated pool.  It was a wonderful day that we all enjoyed.

The next day on Sunday, we had a traditional Maryland crab outing, with crab, corn on the cob, and a variety of salads and fruits to enjoy.  It was a terrific outing.  I also got a chance to meet and chat with Aaron and Jeana – Justin’s parents, and also got to met his sister Rachel.  It was a great opportunity and pleasure to meet them and also enjoy some MD crabs.  Thank you for allowing us to use your house for the event!

While I certainly enjoyed seeing both my daughters and all four of my grands, the highlight was certainly getting to meet and see my newest granddaughter Emmarie.  I spent the next several days over at Justin and Sam’s place just hanging out and enjoying time with them – getting in as much Pop Pop time as I could.  I did some feedings, played Bluey with Savannah, and did lots of rocking and cuddling with both.  We did take one day to get out of the house and have some fun.  In fact, we decided to do the Turkey Hill Experience, lunch, and hotel pool event that I had just done with Ashely a few days prior.  Once again, it was a terrific day and all had lots of fun.

One of the days during the week Sam had an appointment, so I opted to drive down to MD and spend the afternoon with Ashley and Henry.  We met up at Chuck E Cheese for some lunch and games.  It was fun watching Henry run around taking in all the glitz and glitter of all the arcade games.  I of course ran around following him getting in pictures along the way.  At one point, Chuck E came out for a visit and much to my surprise, Henry was perfectly good with going up to him (her?) and posing for a picture.  Certainly no fears with this kid!

When I took one particular picture of Henry sitting on the Chuck E Car, it reminded me of a similar picture I had taken of AJ back when he was just a youngin’.  So, I dug through my picture library and sure enough, there it was.  So we decided to try and get Henry to pose in a similar fashion as AJ had done some 12 years prior so that we could create a collage photo of the two them.  They are both about the same age at the time of the picture, and are both absolutely adorable.  I think the collage turned out pretty good if I say so myself.

Time to Launch

Lots of little projects to get wrapped up before I head out for the season.  One of those projects was to button up the installation of the fridge.  This included securing it to the RV so that it didn’t bounce around as I was traveling, along with getting some sort of trim installed around it so that it looked a little bit more finished.  So I used some angled metal brackets (at left, top right) and secured the fridge to the floor with screws.  I then installed a piece of wood tight against the top of the fridge and screwed into the surrounding walls.  Lastly, I used a black rubber baseboard, often used in  commercial applications, to finish and trim out the sides.  I think it came out pretty good (at left, bottom left).  I still need to fill in the top piece screw holes then paint that piece black to match the rest.  But at least the fridge won’t go anywhere while I’m on the road (at least I sure hope so!).  Next, I fixed an item that I had been putting off for far too long.  I’ve had a leak from the main water control system for quite a while, but despite the leak getting worse over time, I also knew the fix was going to be a difficult one.  First, that entire panel would have to be replaced, and all the various water lines – eight in total, would have to be labeled, cut, then reinstalled on the new panel.  To make this all worse, it would mostly have to be done from the confines of a tiny space deep within the storage compartment.  So tiny uncomfortable space, lots of water lines, and praying that its done right with no new leaks was a task I’d been regretting.  But I finally mustered up the ambition,  I ordered the new panel (with all brass parts now and no more plastic that leaks), and purchased the pieces parts and tools necessary to make all the connections.  It was an all day project and a huge pain in the a$$ to be sure, but alas no more water leaks.  Wahoo!

Next it was time to prepare the home base for my departure.  This included tiding up the yard by storing all the loose items in the shed, preparing the golf cart for storage over the summer, and lastly taking my car to my brothers house who was so gracious to once again let me use his garage for storage while I’m gone.  So, off I want to work on these tasks.  All the outside furniture and various yard art pieces were relocated to the safety of the shed, and the fire pit and wood pile were covered and secured with strapping.  Next, I got the cart ready for the summer.  This included fully charging the batteries, topping off the water level in the batteries, turning off all the electrical systems, then covering it with a new golf cart cover I had purchased from Amazon.  So, I’m hopeful that the cart will sit quietly over the summer, and be ready for me once again when I return in the fall.  Last up was getting my car over to my brother Don’s house so I could store it in his garage over the summer.  I very much appreciate him allowing me to do this as I have a battery tender plugged in keeping the battery in shape, and having the car in a garage out of the elements is the absolute best.  Needing a way to get back once the car was dropped off was a challenge easily solved by my friend and fellow tech committee geek Gordon and his wife Joan.  They followed me out to drop off the car, then drove me back to the home base.  I of course treated them to a wonderful lunch and a tank full of gas for their selfless act of kindness.  I do very much appreciate them making this trip with me, and for providing me with a ride back home.  Thanks Gordon and Joan!

Lake City/Cottondale, FL

My first coupe of stops would keep me in the state of Florida.  First up was a stop in Lake City.  I’ve not been to this town before and discovered it is known as the Gateway to Florida due to its proximity to the intersection of Interstates 10 and 75.  However, there was nothing on the Roadside America agenda to see here.  In fact, places to see that were 20-30 miles north and east of here were places I had already been.  So, I decided to simply enjoy the very nice campsite that I was given here in Casey Jones Campground and chill out for my two night stay.

My next stop would take me to Cottondale, FL.  I was last here in the fall of 2022 as my second to last stop as I was wrapping up that season’s trip and on my way back to the home base.  I stayed at the same campground as I did back in 2022 – a really nice pro conservative patriotic place that treats military vets to a really nice full hook up site for a heavily discounted $35 per night.  It would appear that I must have been all touristed out on my last visit because there were a couple of places to visit here that I’d not been to before.  So, off I went.

My first stop would take me to Falling Waters State Park – home to Florida’s tallest waterfall.  A short walk through the woods on a nicely paved sidewalk brings you to a really close observation deck to gaze at the beautiful waterfall.  It is formed by a creek that cascades down the side of a hill 73 feet into the mouth of a 100 foot deep, 20 foot wide sinkhole.  It truly was a spectular site to see.  The 170 acre park has many sinkholes, underwater caves, and fresh water springs throughout.  But it is the waterfall that tops the visitor list.

Next was a short drive to Wausau, FL – a tiny town of just over 370 residents, whose claim to fame is its self proclaimed “Possum Capital of the Word”.  Having a seemingly unlimited supply of these marsupials in nearby Reedy Creek, it would be the possum that was the only meat on the table back when times were hard.  In 1982 the town built this monument to celebrate and recognize all that possums bring to the town.  On the first Saturday in August, the town hosts a Possum Festival which reportedly brings thousands of visitors from the surrounding area.  I’m not exactly sure what happens at this festival, or if it features such pleasantries as fried possum, possum on a stick, or even candy coated possum, but I don’t think I’d ever be a participant!  Possum – the other white meat! 🤮

Clanton, AL

Nestled between Montgomery and Birmingham is the town of Clanton. I’d not been to this part of Alabama before, so there was lots to see and explore.  Apparently, Georgia is not the only state that has the Peach as one of its main industries.   Clanton, AL is situated in Chilton County, whose number one industry is peaches.  Downtown Clanton features this peach embellished water tower, while a place called Peach Park, a touristy produce market right off the interstate highway having all sorts of peach-based products, also has a giant peach in its parking lot.  Both of these are featured as Roadside attractions.  Also featured in Roadside, located behind Peach Park at the entrance to the RV park is this 30 foot tall land locked lighthouse, sitting atop a pile of rocks in the middle of a large fountain pool of water.  Behind it, an old train caboose serves as the office to the campground.  Very cool indeed!

Next I drove to Montevallo where I would visit Orr Park.  There I would find this really amazing collection of tree carvings.  Known as the Tinglewood Trail, there are over 30 of these faces and animals carved into dead cedar trees all throughout the park.  Apparently, a storm back in 1993 killed a bunch of the old trees, which in turn inspired artist Tim Tingle.  Tim is a coal miner by trade, but took it upon himself to transform these storm damaged trees into mystical and whimsical works of art.  As seen by the 2024 datings of some of the most recent unweathered works (at right, bottom right), it would seem he is still at it these some 30 years later.  Nicely done!

Next up  was a visit to the site where a housewife was whacked by a falling meteor.  This historical marker in Oak Grove, AL is near the spot where 34-year old Ann Hodges became the only known person to have been hit by a meteorite.  It was early afternoon Nov 30, 1954 when Ann was taking a nap that an 8 pound meteorite crashed through the house, striking her after apparently bouncing off of a clock radio.  She was not severely injured in the event, but the subsequent fame she then realized caused her much stress, eventually leading to a nervous breakdown and divorce.   Today, the meteorite is featured at the Alabama Natural History Museum on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.  The house burned to the ground in a fire in Oct 1998.  So, the sign is pretty much all there is left in town.  I found a couple of historical photos of the house and a picture of Ann standing under the hole that was formed when the rock came crashing through.  A very interesting story!

Now, if you think the last story was interesting, wait until you read about this one!  I have to admit, I’m a bit skeptical about this one as it has a slight ring of urban legend to it.  But, you be the judge.  The time was 1877, and William J Casper, while sitting out on his front porch, was struck by lightning.  He survived the electrical blast, only to be struck again soon thereafter which this time would result in his demise.  He was buried in Childersburg Cemetery, and had a nice tombstone at the head of his gravesite.  Not long after, lightning struck and destroyed his tombstone.  His family replaced the tombstone, which was once again destroyed by lightning.  At this point, the family gave up and left the pile of rubble to mark Bill’s grave (pictured at right, bottom right).  What a crazy Story!  Believe it or not!

Followers of my blog may recall I’ve been to a few “Center of …” places to include the center of the continental US, the center of the US including Alaska, the center of North America, etc.  Not to be outdone, located in Montevallo is a large white marble slab engraved to designate the location as the center of Alabama.  It was erected in 1955, despite the official location having been moved a couple miles south two years prior.  Montevallo was not having it, and went ahead and put up the monument anyway.  The new location was the result of the Congress approved Submerged Lands Act, which extended into the Gulf of Mexico all boundary lines of all five states that border it by a few miles south, resulting in a shift of the center of the state into Chilton County.  Oh well, it’s not like the other “centers of  …” didn’t have their disputes too.

Last up in this area was this Prayer House (at right, top right).  Alone on a not so busy county road sits this House of Prayer made of rocks in the shape of an igloo.  It was built in the late 1970s by Robert Kendrick, a retired Alabama state trooper.  He feared traditional Christian chapels were vulnerable to break-ins and theft, so he built this one out of stone with no door and nothing to steal.  The center table is made from a heavy old millstone.  Odds are, this place won’t be vandalized.

I wrapped up my exploration of the area a bit to the south to the town of Rockford – a 3.3 square mile town having upwards of 350 residents.  Not exactly a bustling tourist town, but it did have an interesting story about a dog named Fred.  In 1993, Fred, an Airedale mix, wandered into town sick and disheveled and was nursed back to health by the town folk.  Appreciative of their efforts, Fred decided to stick around for the next decade and be their companion.  He quickly became the community mascot, and would wander throughout the town, catching a nap at the local gas station, or just hanging out at the local package store.  He was regularly featured in a newspaper column titled “A Dog’s Life” which detailed his activities and encounters.  His real fame came about after his story was profiled on the cable TV show Animal Planet.  Old Fred passed away in 2002, and today rests next to the town’s Veterans Park with a nicely done grave marker.  While gone, he will not be forgotten as he is featured in a beautiful mural on the side of a local restaurant, and in 2004, was inducted into the Alabama Animal Hall of Fame.  What a good dog!  There is a nicely done documentary about Fred on YouTube HERE.

Tupelo, MS

Yet another place I’ve not been to before, but alas filled with all sorts of interesting things to discover.  Soon after my arrival, I quickly learned that Tupelo is most well known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley. Who knew!  So of course I had to do the Elvis tour.  I’m not necessarily a huge Elvis fan, which is likely why I didn’t know of his birthplace. But now that I’m here, I may as well check it out.

Many of the Elvis sites are located in downtown Tupelo, right on Main Street.  I parked sort of around the center of a few attractions, and walked around a bit.  Lining Main Street were several of these metal guitar art pieces – each decorated differently.  They were all kinda cool!  Also clearly visible from Main St were a couple of Elvis murals painted on the sides of several different buildings.  This 1950’s Elvis (at right, bottom left) was painted by graffiti mural artist Ryan “ARCY” Christenson for the 2018 Tupelo Elvis Festival.  Across the street, Local artist Kit Stafford painted Jailhouse Elvis for a 2017 art festival.  Certainly no shortage of Elvis love in downtown Tupelo.

On Elvis’ 11th birthday, his mother took him to Tupelo Hardware where she intended to buy him a bicycle as a birthday gift.  As they wandered through the store, Elvis reportedly spotted a rifle, and instead asked his mom to get him that as a gift.  It turns out neither were totally happy with the others gift ideas, so they eventually settled and a compromise was reached.  His mom would buy him his first guitar!  The historic hardware store, still sporting its floor to ceiling wall lined storage bins filled with various hardware stuff, along with its creaky wooden floors, no longer sells bicycles or guns.  But, to this day, in honor of Elvis, they still sell guitars.

Next was a visit to a statue of Elvis in Tupelo Fairpark.  After Elvis had left Tupelo and became rich and famous in Memphis and Nashville, he returned to Tupelo in 1956 to perform at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show.  He was photographed at that show reaching out his hand to his adoring fans.  This bronze statue was unveiled in 2012 (35th anniversary of his death) by artist Bill Beckwith and is identical as that shown in the photograph.  It was designed to encourage visitors to reach up and touch his hand as fans did at the show.

Further down Main St is Johnie’s Drive In – a place Elvis frequented as a boy chowing down on cheeseburgers and washing them down with RC Cola.  I had actually planned on having lunch there, but alas it was packed, so I I took a couple of outside pictures, and moved on with my tour.

My next stop would take me to the tiny 2-room shack of a home in which Elvis was born in 1935.  For many years, all there was to visit was the tiny home that was built by Elvis’ father, grandfather, and uncle.  Now, it’s a 15-acre complex with a museum, and the relocated First Pentecostal Church where Elvis’ family would attend and where he first became interested in music.   There was also an antique Plymouth out front – presumably once owned by Elvis.  Wandering around the grounds and the outside of the building is free, while actually going  inside the home, church, and museum will cost you $25.  It wasn’t the money per se, but I’m just not that big an Elvis fan to want to see the inside of his boyhood home.  So, I just stuck with taking a stroll around viewing everything from the outside.  There were also several statues – one of which features Elvis when he was just 13 years old – roughly his age when he and his family left Tupelo and moved to Memphis.

I have to admit, though I certainly would not be considered a huge Elvis fanatic, it seems I would have read or heard or somehow otherwise found out that he was actually a twin.  Fact is, I had no idea that was the case.  Sadly, his twin brother and womb mate Jesse, arriving some 35 minutes before Elvis, was stillborn. But can you imagine had he survived?  Would we have had two musical sensations?  Anyway, Jesse was buried in 1935 in the local Tupelo Cemetery.  He has a simple grave, with no actual reference to being Elvis’ twin brother.  I guess back then, they would have not had any idea the level of fame Elvis would achieve in his lifetime.  Certainly an interesting facet about Elvis’ life that I had absolutely no knowledge of.  But I guess that once again proves the educational value of living the nomadic lifestyle as I do – you get to learn obscure trivia.

Last up, there were a couple of other Roadside America items to chase down.  First up, in downtown Tupelo on the corner of Gloster and West Main St (locals call it Crosstown), you’ll find this neon sign with the designation of “First TVA City”.  It was February of 1934 when the town of Tupelo became the first city to purchase electric power (certainly needed to power the neon sign) from the new Tennessee Valley Authority.  This was the governments initiative to bring low cost hydro power to rural areas in seven southern states.  It’s apparently not documented when the sign was actually put up, but some documents suggest it was used as a logo in 1954, so presumably sometime before that year.  Lastly, I took a drive out to the town of Pontotoc, MS – about 20 or so miles west of Tupelo, to catch a glimpse of this giant creature made of various size tires.   This thing is huge!  To get a perspective, zoom in on the photo to see the tire iron being held in its right hand.  Now that big!  His eyes are reportedly made from flywheels, and his teeth are from break parts.  This guy sits in front of, what else, a tire shop.  The Tupelo sign at the top is not a Roadside item, but rather the welcome sign as you enter the town.  I just thought it was kinda cool.

Final Thoughts

Well, I’m wrapping up my time here in Tupelo, and tomorrow will be heading further north and west with my first stop in Arkansas.  And oh, I guess I owe everyone an explaination for all the extra email notices that got sent out recently.  I tend to write and develop each blog as I go along.  That is, after a few days or week goes by and therein lies something interesting to write about, I’ll usually go ahead and write about it immediately.  That way, the information is fresh in my mind and easier to write about, and it keeps me from having to cram in an entire blog in a single sitting.  So, as I go, I write a bit, then hit the “Save Draft” button, and continue that process day after day, week after week, until the blog is completely finish and ready to go.  Then, and only then, would I be ready to hit the “Publish” button.  Doing so has two impacts – first it makes that blog publicly viewable on the website, and secondly also triggers the automation that send out the notices to those who have subscribed to be notified when a new blog is published.  Well, I royally screwed up and mid way through writing the blog, I accidentally hit the Publish button when I meant to his the Save Draft button.  So off went the automation, and before I could stop it, about 30 emails were sent representing about half of my subscribers.  And, I really didn’t know which 30 it went to.  So, my best option was to quickly write up the follow up Mea Culpa email and send it to everyone in my subscription list.  So, it was my bad and again, I apologize for spamming many of you with these extra emails.  I’ll be more cautious going forward in hopes to not repeat the screw up.  Till next time, be well and safe travels!

I only show a sampling of my adventure pictures here in the blog, and do so mostly in collage format for brevity and ease of reading. If you want to view an album containing individual full fidelity and hi-res images of all my travel pictures related to this specific blog, click the image below. Enjoy!