Well it's time to leave Gunter Hill COE just west of Montgomery, Alabama. We have an appointment to have the 5th wheel black water valve fixed at 9:00 am in Millbrook, Alabama. This means we had to pull out of the campground by 8:00 am and drive the 45 minutes north to Clark's RV.
We had everything packed up the night before which made the early departure a little easier. But, my biggest concern was getting Kitty up in time to avoid closing the bedroom slide with her still in bed! There's no way out of the bedroom if you are in there when the slide is in; and, I could be several miles down the road before I realized she wasn't following me! Then what would I do? Thank goodness she was up early and we pulled out on schedule. Whew!
We arrived at Clark's RV and they understood we had reservations in Decatur, Alabama, nearly 200 miles away. So, they got right to work on the RV. The guy working on our RV wasn't too happy. The first words out of his mouth were "it would have to be the BLACK WATER VALVE! My reply was, "everyone should start their day working on the BLACK WATER VALVE. It makes the rest of the day seem fantastic!"
In order to get to the valve, the mid section of the underpinning has to be dropped down. Once he could see the valve operate , it appeared to be a problem with the cable that opens and closes the valve, not the valve itself. Naturally, they did not have a cable long enough to replace the one on the 5th wheel. So, he just lubricated it and it worked fine. But, just to be sure we don't have any more black water leaking out, I had them install another slide valve directly behind the removable sewer cap. If there was any leakage, this valve would hold it back until I could get the sewer hose connected. Problem solved and we were on our way before noon.
We made reservations at Mallard Point Campground in Decatur, Alabama. We drove about 30 miles and stopped at a rest area on Interstate 65 for lunch. Had I trapped Kitty in the bedroom by moving the slide in, she wouldn't have been able to pack the lunch and I would have most certainly had to let her out for that! Ha!
The rain started less than an hour after we were back on the road from our lunch break. It rained quite hard at times and we had no idea what problems that was going to cause us later.
We arrived at Point Mallard Campground around 4:00 pm. When I checked in, I asked the clerk to be sure the site was big enough for our fifth wheel. "Oh, yes sir. No problem." The camp ground was nearly full with very few sites left. Most sites were very close together and not very long. They had recently installed sewers in our section, and the ground was still torn up and mud was everywhere from all the rain.
Our site had new gravel on it, but it had not been packed down nor leveled. When we back into the site, the trailer wheels became marred in mud and sand. I got out of the truck to check things out and waded in water and mud. I had shorts and sandals on and the temperature had dropped into the low 50's and was continuing to drop as the front was coming through this area.
It was difficult getting into the site with a pile of sand in the way. Why did they put that there? What were they thinking? We finally managed to get into the site leaving deep ruts in the soggy gravel. Thank goodness I have a big dually with enough power to navigate the muck. The 5th wheel wasn't level; but, at this point, we didn't care. I continued to wade in slop and mud and sand to get the utilities hooked up. We could not lower the rear stabilizers because there was a ditch full of water underneath the jacks. Had they made the site two feet longer, it would have been long enough for our 5th wheel. It makes me think the people in the campground office have no idea about the site length.
We unhooked the truck and went into town to fuel up for tomorrows drive to Kentucky. We stopped at a Papa John's and got a pizza and some wings and went back to the 5th wheel for supper.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
We gladly left Point Mallard at 9:00 am heading north on I-65 all the way to Nashville, Tn. Then west on I-24, and North on the Pennyrile Parkway to Madisonville, Kentucky. We are staying in Elk Creek Mobile Home Park. They have several empty sites and rent them out to RV'rs. Kobie and Jerraca met us here and helped get us set up.
Here's a couple of shots of our site.
Our reason for being here is to visit with friends and family the next few weeks. But, we plan to see some sites also. We'll keep you posted.
Craig- Here is a test if you ever need to lock Kitty in the bedroom while you are traveling. Just make sure Kallie is in there with her and then, when you finally stop and open the slide to let them both out... see who is the happiest to see you.
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