On the road, more bumps than just construction....

Our Location: Exit 108, Burke Outlet Shopping Center, Bessemer, Alabama

A cooler night last night but still nice enough to leave all the windows open overnight. This morning dawned with only a slight chill in the air but warmed up significantly throughout the day. The high temps today 84F/28.8C. It was a warm one. ~laugh~

Up at the fire it was Mac and I for a bit, then Bobby showed up followed by Swilley, then we added Robert to the mix as well as Mike, Pete and Paige. A bit later on Pat and Billy also showed up but I had left at that point. 

US 49 North out of Gulfport, MS heading toward Wiggins, MS

Mr. Swilley came with the news that the river was rising and moving might be in order. Then there was the 'it's not rising very fast so we don't have to worry' followed by ' Butch says everyone has to go" and then 'well it seems to have crested'. We went to the Wolfe and looked for ourselves, it was 6 ft and surging a bit. We left there went to Walmart to get some fuel and dry cat food, came back to the Wolf River once again and it was over the 6 ft mark with no visible signs of any part of the 6, which meant it was still rising. We came home and packed up deciding that it was easier to just hit the road and not hem and haw about it for a matter of a couple of days. Mac left about 10:30 am, and we pulled out about a half hour later. Trish and Mike were also heading out today. 

We said our goodbyes, gave and received hugs from those wonderful folks there that we have come to know pretty well. It's always sad to leave but it's nice to be on the road again. Hopefully we'll see them all again at some point down the road but if we don't our lives have been enriched greatly by knowing them even for the short time we have. We have been fortunate to meet such wonderful people in our life time. Thanks to Mac, Billy, Charlene, Swilley, Mike, Trish, Paige, Pete, Pat, Robert and Amanda for seeing us off today.

Noticed this old timer along the way.

We pointed the nose of the Dogsled north to reach I-10 EAST, then chased our tail to get on to US49N in Gulfport, from there it was a straight shot to I-20/59 NORTH. We passed thru or near the Mississippi towns/cities of Saucier, Lyman, Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Meridian. We crossed over in to Alabama and continued our trek North East until we came to rest here in Bessemer, a bedroom community of Birmingham. We arrived here about 6:30 pm. 

I filled up the Dogsled's food bowl this morning at Murphy's USA on US 90 at Walmart, the price for a gallon of diesel food was $2.19, I was thrilled with that price. I filled up again at Knoxville, Alabama after 5 straight hours (55 mph for a total of 240 miles) of driving. I thought the gauge was faulty, we left before noon and were still driving at 5:30 pm on the top half of the tank. I pulled in to a fuel stop, filled the dog bowl once again and you know what? It was right on the money, used 17.6 gallons of fuel to travel that distance. I am very impressed. That's just under 14 miles to the gallon fully loaded/towing and driving in tow mode as well. I used cruise so I know I stayed consistent at 55 mph with few variations. The big dog did good. ~laugh~ 

His older brother, or maybe just more USED brother.

We pulled into the Walmart here in Bessemer, Alabama went to customer service asked about spending the night. Negative, nada, nope, no. The Walmart does not allow anyone to stay over night. It's not a city ordinance, it's a Walmart decision. The nice young man told us to try the Burkes Outlet just down the hill and so we did. The nice sales clerk told us it was fine and so we tucked in here at the bottom of the hill under the streetlight for the night.

We walked back to Walmart to get a rotisserie chicken even though they wouldn't allow us to park. I walked Riley back to the Igloo and then I walked over to Sonic to get some fries (it's been a long time either of us have had fries) to go with our chicken. We should have skipped the fries, they were awful. It was our first time to eat anything from Sonic, I think it may be the last one too. The chicken was good though. I added an orange to my dinner and we were finished. 

HRH looking around on her travel day in some time.

After that I called my dad to chat for a bit, brag a bit about the Dogsled's great performance today and to tell him where we can be found tonight. After that I started on the paperwork for the border crossing. This is when things started NOT going according to plan.

 I was not aware the brokers needed 5 days to do all the paperwork( I was under the impression they needed the paperwork just 72 hours prior) and I was not aware that the state of Alabama does not give the TITLE to the vehicle in the 'parting' package they gave me. They need to mail the title which will not work in my case and I'm kind of in a dither about that. I need that title in hand no later than Tuesday so I can cross the border and I don't know if a copy will do for me. They can email the title to the broker (a copy if okay for that) but the broker needs to have it for 5 days before I can cross. I also need a copy of the vendors NAFTA certificate to do my dance at the border which Mr. Manley said they would email tomorrow to the broker and a copy to me. 

Military presence here in the south, NO plates.

We will be in Cleveland for a few days and I'm hoping I can pick up the title at a Chevy Dealership there, maybe they can fed ex the thing there or something. I don't know if I could get it at a campground in Cleveland as I'm not sure where we will be staying yet. Hell I don't know if they can even have it in 5 days. See what I get for procrastinating? I need to stop doing that, this will be my lesson for certain!! So instead of sending any paperwork tonight I'll be on the phone in the morning trying to figure this stuff out!

So now you're caught up with us. Are we having fun yet? ~laugh~ I'll just bet you're saying, How come she didn't know she didn't have the title, how stupid can she be? Well I'll tell ya in Ontario you walk out with the title, you know that's the piece you take to renew your tag, they stick one piece on the back of the title and you put the other piece on the plate. They gave me everything I needed to get the tags so I assumed that meant it was the title. Oh how wrong I was and how foolish do I feel now? VERY VERY. 

We have been in and out of this state for a half times this trip.

However there is nothing I can do about it now, I'll deal with it tomorrow and we'll go from there. We can extend our insurance for a couple of days if we have to and I can extend the truck insurance for a month as well. Riley's first appointment isn't until the 14th so hopefully we get everything worked out for that. Stay tuned for the rest of.....yes, she's blonde!!! ~laugh~
 

It's after 11 pm and I'm tired so I'll sign off. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time..be safe, take care..