Almost hot today....busy park....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet connection for a couple of weeks so I'm posting the blog posts in order. It will take me a couple of days to catch up. Sorry for the long dry spell. 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Park, Montgomery, Al

(Jan 14, 2017 Post)

Low’s overnight were in the low 50F/10-12 C beautiful night for sleeping. Full moon was nice too. Although with the trees and the angle it’s not always easy to see, plus with more people in the park there is more light which also cuts down on the glow of the moon thru the trees. Today was bordering on being HOT, not quite but close. ~laugh~ Shorts, sleeveless tops and bare feet were the order of the afternoon. Riley had to move to the shade, the sun was too hot for her but I stayed out there just soaking it all up. I will admit I almost moved to the shade though.

This morning was a bit noisier here in the park with so many more people, kids, dogs, bicycles, motorcycles, skateboards, scooters and bells. Still nice though, sounds of laughter and joy, giggles and squeals, along with some attention getting screams and moans. ~laugh~ Drama is always a high point with small kids, isn’t it? 

They wouldn't look up at all. ~laugh~

After breakfast we decided we’d walk to the Dollar General (corner store/dollar store) for some hamburger buns as we had no buns and wanted to have burgers tonight. The walk wasn’t long, maybe a mile and a half with about half of that being in the park, the rest on Booth Road. The park wasn’t busy with vehicles but the narrow road was, although we managed just fine. Not a fast pace but a pretty good pace all the same. We’ve enjoyed getting out walking here, blacktop, few cars, lots to see and some wild life as well. Along the way we noticed a few interesting mailboxes, seen three horses that didn’t care a whit that we were watching them and managed to see a few interesting sites along the way. Amazing how some houses are neat, tidy, well maintained and other are just junk collectors, old relics in the front yard, side yard and probably the back yard too. ~laugh~

On our walk back to the Igloo we veered off the road way taking the walking path I followed the other day, Riley hadn’t been on it so she enjoyed the sights. We were gone a total of an hour, which included us stopping at the guard shack to speak to the lady there thanking her again for her help the other day. 

Interesting use of car parts, don't ya think?

Back home we enjoyed a very lazy day of just sitting in the sun, reading and watching the people in the park. Kids on various kinds of scooters, bicycles, driving golf carts, and just being kids. Dogs barking at all the passers by and not listening to their owners. Kind of like kids huh? ~laugh~ Lots of grandparents with grandkids here. You can tell it’s a regular occurrence with some and for others it’s still either totally new or just a couple of attempts so far.

As this is an Army Corps of Engineers park, like the state parks, there are no outside lights except at the bathhouses so the park is pretty dark after the sun goes down. However there are numerous ‘night lights’ around the place from rope lighting laying around the perimeter of the campsite to running along under the ‘house’, also in various colours and multiple strands. Also some redneck yard lights, which consist of a putting a trouble light or bulb into a plastic pail and plugging in the cord, which causes the pail to glow much like the globe on a light fixture. They too come in multiple colours from the pails to the bulbs, which cast odd lights to be seen. Also many leave yard lights on all night as well. Some like us, have solar lights around the campsite, while others have strings of patio lights hooked to the awnings. Always amazes me the need for people to have lights on even when they aren’t outside. 

Do you think he gets his water from here too or just holds up the mailbox?

Called my sister in law Janet, she’s currently in California for the winter months. Happy Birthday to her today. We chatted for a bit just kind of catching up. Hoping to spend a couple of weeks with her and her hubby Dennis this spring or fall. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them. 

Pond located just to the side of the entry way into the park.

Dinner tonight was turkey burgers, rosemary basil veggies, onion potatoes. All cooked of course on the bbq. Excellent dinner if I do say so myself. I cooked. ~laugh~ 

Maybe less onions in the potato next time..but still good.

So as you can see nothing exciting, just regular stuff. A relaxing, enjoyable, restful day. Tomorrow will be the same thing, but Monday will be filled with errands, and packing up getting ready to hit the road on Tuesday.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe…take care,,,,,

A lazy kind of day....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet for a couple of weeks so the blog posts are behind. I will post them in order, a few a day. Sorry for the long dry spell. 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Jan 13, 2017 Post)

More pics from the campground, and the zoo.

Another wonderful night for sleeping, warm, stayed in the high 50’s/13-15C over night and this morning was warm enough to open the door before 9 am. The day progressed from there getting warmer and warmer as time slipped past.

Before breakfast Riley was putting up the shades when she encountered a problem with the dining room shade, it went up crooked and we couldn’t seem to straighten it out. I’ve been saying to myself that I should fix that shade since we bought the Igloo, it’s never been quite right, the day shade part of it wasn’t straight in the holder. Always hard to put up and put down. So I went outside to my trusty little tool box and brought in my collection of screwdrivers, taking the top part of the shade off the frame by loosing two screws. We placed it on the dining room table and began by folding it up properly, after that I kind of fumbled around until I figured out how to take the end plate off the bar, pushed the day shade part of it back to center, voila, fixed. Put the plate covering back on the bar, put the screws back into the frame and bingo, we had the shade perfectly back to normal, better than when we got it. Now I wonder why I put off doing that little chore, it was so easy.  

One of the Parakeets from the zoo yesterday.

After breakfast we kind of just didn’t do a whole lot of much until about 10:30 am when we decided we should do some grocery shopping as were running low on a couple of things. Without a list we headed off to Wally’s World in Prattville and of course we forgot a number of things. ~laugh~ Should always take a list, I still forget things with a list but at least it’s not because I didn’t remember, just because I can’t read. ~laugh~

Actually we filled up with diesel at Emtech, $2.35 per gallon. The issue with the leak caused us to loose a fair bit of fuel with they having to cut the line to fix it but no leak now, so I’m happy.  We managed to find most of the things we wanted at the grocery store, those things we remembered of course, and a few things we hadn’t knew we wanted.

An American Bison. He was pretty far away but even at a distance looked huge.

We’ve been having trouble with the pots and pans drawer since we purchased the Igloo back in September. It just doesn’t seem to slide properly, it appears to be about a 1/4 inch too small and the drawer slides don’t actually work properly. I’ve been looking for some shims to place in there to take up that gap and today I found some small pieces I thought would work. Long story short, they work but not as I had hoped. They are too tight so I’ll have to look for some better fitting sizes but I”m not convinced that will solve the issue either. I think new slides may be necessary but we shall see as time goes on.

After we returned home, put away the groceries, I worked on the drawer and I also installed a file holder for our books instead of putting them on any space available. It was an easy install and we will simply slip it off the screws on moving day so it won’t interfere with the slide. I then made myself some lunch while Riley went for a walk. Sitting outside in the sunshine, eating lunch, reading my book, it was exactly what I travel to the south to do, NOT SHOVEL. ~laugh~ Short pants, sleeveless tops for all of the afternoon and I am a happy camper.

A large Anteater, his head is turned toward the fence but it was the best picture we had. He looks more like a dog than anything else. Until you see his nose, long, long and skinny.

I will admit I was lazy this afternoon and did nothing but enjoy the warmth, my book and the sun.  Shortly after 2 pm the trailers started rolling in, first one or two but then they started coming in a somewhat steady stream over the course of the afternoon and into this evening. I’m guessing probably between 12 -15 so far today. Americans are big on camping even just for the weekend. Tomorrow more will come in, we noticed reserved signs on various spots  yesterday when we walked around the campground loop. More noise this evening than usual, kids voices, fires, music, vehicles, set up noises, drills, etc. Nothing overly loud, just different than we are used to here.

Still having issues with lady bugs in the Igloo but I think we’re getting a better handle on them now, as we often spray the vents and around the windows in Riley’s room, which seems to help a great deal. Hopefully we’ll get them soon.

This is a Blue Macaw, later he was hanging on a bell they have suspended in the cage and he was ringing making it ring. 

By 5 pm here it’s starting to cool off and feels much later as it’s getting dark by then. We usually start prepping dinner around that time. We don’t start cooking until about 6:30 or 7 but we like to have it ready. Since I cook everything on the BBQ on LOW and SLOW it usually takes about an hour and 15 minutes to cook dinner. It works out great for us and we don’t mind eating later in the evening. Tonight was no exception. Started around 6:30 and brought everything in by 8 pm. Dinner tonight was Dill potatoes with onions, Basil Veggies, and chicken breasts with our good friend Roger’s super duper home made bbq sauce. We both enjoyed it a great deal but think maybe next time I’ll go a bit easier on the bbq sauce, a bit spicier than before. ~laugh~ Maybe I put it on too thick!!!

Clean up inside and outside, realized the campground is getting quieter again, and the moon is still full. Time to settle in for the night and write my blog.

Scarlet Ibis, they were a bright, bright red but seemed to turn almost orange in the picture for some reason.

A great day for us, warm, sunny, peaceful. The kind of day we enjoy. Our time is almost over here in Gunter Hill Campground in Montgomery, Al. We have enjoyed it a great deal and would return to this park, it’s spacious, quiet, picturesque and well situated to the area. We’ve found the people to be friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

Way too much food but it was good.

Thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe…take care…

Dogsled home and a day at the zoo.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet connection for a couple of weeks. I will post the missing blogs in order and will be caught up in a few days. Sorry for the long dry spell. 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Jan 12, 2017 post)

A fantastic night, warm and wonderful. The day was exceptional and warmed up as it went along, we managed to get into the high 70’s/25-30 C by afternoon. Blue skies, sunny, warm breeze, it just doesn’t get any better. Perfect weather!!

One of the aviaries we visited full of various kinds, colours of Parakeets.

After breakfast we decided we’d go for a walk as we couldn’t drive, the Dogsled was still not home. We hadn’t managed to get more than to dump our garbage when my phone rang, it was Will from Will’s Automotive, Dogsled was ready. He would bring it to us, we needed to give a Credit Card number to him so he could bring a receipt of the bill as well. We hurried home to give him a call back with the number and bingo, we were now facing a day with possibilities after all. Since it would be about a half hour until the Dogsled came home we decided to take a short walk around the loop to view a few other spots that we would pick to park if we ever come back to the area. 

Dwarf Calamen

Back home we started to remove things from the basement as it was due for a cleaning. We were about half finished removing things when Will pulls up in our Dogsled followed by a fella in his truck. A bit less than $300 USD was the final bill. The issue was a rusted thru fuel heater in the line under the tank. He didn’t have one but just removed this one and put a straight thru line in it’s place. Suited me fine. He also explained the underside was very rusty and I should consider getting a different Dogsled to haul with in the future. This of course I already knew and have been browsing for a newer one already. The fella with him made a comment that  the newer ones don’t have the same hauling capacity as this one and I should look for one in good shape down in this area the same as what I have. His buddies that have newer ones think the tow capacity isn’t as good on their newer trucks. Something else to think about I guess. 

Sloth Bear

We finished cleaning out the basement, vacuumed and replaced everything, looks and smells better. ~laugh~ I also topped up the batteries with water, climbed up on the roof to ensure the panels were still in place and nothing loose or dangling. (I didn’t do this earlier as I need to remove my ladder from the Igloo ladder and it’s been too cold, damp and ugly plus I’ve been busy until today) All of our chores and work list complete we decided we would head off for the zoo today. Only debate was what to wear, too hot for this, too cool for that…..decisions, decisions.

Siamang, swinging on his ropes, having a great time. Sometimes he just used one hand.

We headed off to the Montgomery Zoo around 10:30 am, it was a mere 11 miles away. About 20 minutes of driving and we arrived at our destination. The zoo is sandwiched between two schools. I’m not sure how wise that is, the aroma on a hot day must be wonderful. ~laugh~ Plus if an animal escapes, well on a weekday they would have a target rich environment. Anyway, I thought the planning could have been a bit better. 

Momma and Jr.

The cost for the zoo was $15 USD and the museum was $7 USD. We opted for the zoo only, we’ve toured enough museums for a few days. The zoo is divided into continents. We thought about a train ride or a sky ride on a lift but instead thought walking might be best. We followed our map as best we could and eventually figured out the system. Picture taking was difficult in some areas as the glass partitions were dirty, smudged and scratched, so they weren’t glass but probably plexiglass. This resulted in glare, reflections, blurry, fuzzy pics in some cases. Also some of the exhibits have wire cages with the holes in the wire making it almost impossible to see anything in the pictures as the holes are so close together it looks more like mesh than wire.  Looking with the eye was fine but the pictures weren’t always great. So keeping that in mind, excuse some of the pictures today. 

Green Tree snake

Among the creatures we witnessed today were Parakeets, Macaws, Gazelle’s, Elephants, Ostrich, Alligators, Monkeys, Bears, Sloth Bears, Bengal Tigers, Maned Wolf, Anteaters, Canadian Lynx, Giraffes, Bison, Bonteboks,Elk, Deer, Rhino, Lions, Pygmy Hippo, cheetah, black Jaguars, Flamingos, Peacocks, Kangaroo, numerous snakes, turtles, Lizards, Geese, Bald Eagle, Condors, and ducks. I know there are more but that gives you an idea of what we viewed today. 

One of three elephants.

A few things we found interesting: something called a Maned Wolf, looks like a big red fox. Although he was sleeping and hard to see, I truly thought it was a large red fox. The color was the same, the nose was pointy not blunt and the ears were fine, pointy, smallish, not thick, blunt and large like a wolf. Sloth Bears: look similar to a black bear except around the face. It has a long sad looking face, or perhaps a sleepy looking face would be a better description. It tends to sit on it’s backside much like a human instead of on it’s haunches. Numerous varieties of Monkeys included the Emperor Tamarin which had a huge handlebar type mustache of a different color than it’s body and tail. The tail and body were different colours from each other as well. It was like a three toned body. ~laugh~ Black handed spider monkeys were more social with each other, and seemed very clannish compared to the other monkeys we seen.

Cheetah and Black Jaguars (this black kitty was the cub)

 Many of the animals were grouped in one large area, while others had only one animal per area. We walked thru a couple of aviaries with parakeets and Ibis as well as other birds that were just wandering around and flitting back and forth over head. We enjoyed the vast variety of monkeys, one particular black Siamang was enjoying his ropes, swinging and changing ropes as easily as could be. Riley was concerned that the Peacocks were just flying/walking around, not in cages. I think she thought everything should be caged. ~laugh~

Bonetok

We noticed a number of turtles and Canadian Geese in many of the areas, as well as ducks. The Geese I’m sure just landed there and stayed for the winter but the others seemed to be totally at home among the animals as well. We did see a huge Alligator Snapping Turtle, not as big as Big Al from Riverquarim in Albany, but still pretty big. 

Great Indian Rhinoceros and a Canada Goose

Monty the Pygmy Hippo and the cub were cute and snuffled a lot. Their hides looked almost indestructible. Tough, leathery, thick. Similar but different than the Great Indian Rhino who’s hide appeared to be almost armor like with thick plates of outer hide covering various parts of the body. It too looked thick, leathery but tougher some how. More like an alligator but still different in some way. Similar to the back of a turtle shell but again, different in some way. 

Banteng (like the cow type thing seen in MASH)

We wrapped up our tour of the zoo by around 1:30 and headed home. Such a wonderfully warm afternoon we both sat outside reading for a couple of hours. Inside for a nap to catch up on some much needed sleep I guess. ~laugh~ I do wear out from all this activity. 

Monty and cub are Pygmy Hippos

It was nice enough for Riley to have the big door open while I BBQ’ed dinner, but I was in long pants, a heavy sweater and shoes. It was warm, 61 F/16C  according to the thermometer but I found it cool.

Yummy...

Dinner was Dill Potatoes with onions, Garlic Veggies, and Southern Peach BBQ sauced chicken breast. Mmmm it was delicious.

Clean up inside and out, some pics of the moon with my phone camera but didn’t turn out. The moon is full and peeking thru the trees it was nice to see. Critters in the wooded area between sites caused me to get my flash light out to ensure I had no company while cooking dinner. ~laugh~ Some shiny eyes made me think probably coons or opossums instead of squirrels which are many thru the daytime. I don’t think squirrel eyes shine but then again I don’t know. ~laugh~

Inside to edit some pictures from the zoo, we took 352 pics today. Now I go thru them, edit, sort, discard, and label them. That’s a lot of pictures. ~laugh~

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Until next time…be safe, take care……

Dogsled Down....needs repairs

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but have been without internet for a couple of weeks. I will post the missing blog posts in order. Sorry for the long dry spell. 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post Jan 11, 2017)

A nice warm night last night and today was even better. Tonight's temps are still in the 65F/18C at 8:30 pm our time (Central). We barbecued tonight so you know it was warm. ~laugh~

We decided yesterday that today would be a day of rest and we’d just stay home and relax, do some walking and perhaps just recuperate a bit. It kind of went that way.

Grey, cloudy, overcast this morning but warm, a bit of a breeze but still very nice. Not short pants kind of nice but still much nicer than it’s been since we’ve arrived here. After breakfast we tidied up a bit and enjoyed our books for a while. By 8:30 am it was raining. Not hard but enough to get everything wet. So our lazy day was looking like it would be stay inside day due to weather.

Winding wooded hardtop path in various parts of the park.

Yesterday morning I noticed a spot under the truck and upon checking it out I realized it was diesel fuel, since I had filled the tank I thought it was perhaps the result of me over filling it a bit and the sun heating it up causing it to over flow the vent. Yesterday in Montgomery I didn’t notice anything but we were parked on a bit of an angle as well. Yesterday late afternoon I noticed another spot under the truck and upon further investigation I realized I had a leak in the tank. Around 10 am I headed up to the guard shack in hopes of finding Barry, a Prattville local, to pick his brain about where to take it to get it looked at and/or fixed. Barry wasn’t on the desk but the nice folks there from Iowa had his number (they referred to him as Bruce) and called him asking him that question. As luck would have it, HIS baby brother is a mechanic and Barry/Bruce was at his brother’s shop as he spoke on the phone. Directions and address in hand Bella (US GPS) and I made the trip to 1381 Hwy 82 West the home to Will’s Automotive. Will confirmed that it was a leak and that he could indeed help me out. I explained I wasn’t from the area, had only this vehicle and had driven from Gunter Hill CG to his shop. No problem Brother Will brought me home to the Igloo and will pick me up when it’s fixed. I didn’t hear from Will this afternoon but he was certain we would have it back by the weekend. So I’m hoping for tomorrow. 

 

One of two bridges that we found on the path.

Back home by 11:45 am, I thought I’d have an early lunch and enjoy my book outside as the rain had stopped and the sun was peeking out from time to time. After I finished my lunch I decided a few chores needed completing. I removed the tank/propane heater from it’s hooked up spot by the dining room window. Attached this very same tank to the BBQ in prep for tonight's dinner. After that I managed to tidy things up in the basement a bit but I think tomorrow if it’s nice I’ll actually remove everything and vacuum the space. It gets dirty fast with moving chairs, bbq’s, hoses, mats, etc in and out of the space. I also topped up my batteries with water today. The solar panels are showing the ‘full charge’ mode and I’m happy to see it. I’ve actually shut the batteries off from the shore power as I know they are topped up already and we aren’t going to be needing them for some time, I think it’s easier to have them shut off and not charging all the time.

This needs to be repaired to connect the two loops in the park. 

 I sat outside for a while reading until I finished my book. Not the best book but it was okay. I started another but quickly decided after about 6 chapters that I didn’t like it and grabbed a new one. I don’t usually do that but if a book can’t hold my interest than I am getting better at just moving on to the next book. 

Not sure what this is but only found one of them in the closed loop.

NO walk for me today, I  just didn’t have the energy to do it. I’ll walk tomorrow though. We are debating about what to do if we get the Dogsled back early tomorrow. I’m leaning toward the zoo, and we need to get one of our big propane tanks filled as well. I think we’ll hold off on the laundry until we get to Blackwater River State Park this coming week as they have laundry facilities right in the park. I’ve not seen anywhere near by to do laundry and I think we can hold out that long.

Looking across one of the sites toward the first loop. 

The park is filling up with a few more trailers, more people out and about as well. The warm weather is  helping for certain. I’m curious as to the weekend and what it will bring in terms of local people. Americans are big on camping weekends as Will (mechanic) told me they had come down on the weekend of New Years to camp for the weekend (right here in this park, he was one site past where we are parked right now) but it was too cold and they didn’t enjoy it too much. I’ve found many state parks are like that, fill up for the weekend and clear thru the week. 

Dinner tonight was sausages, italian veggies, garlic onion potatoes. BBQing is something we enjoy and we’ve missed it the last few weeks.

Clean up inside and out, bbq cover on, lights off outside, lock up and head off in our own directions. Not an exciting day but it was our day. We enjoyed it and are hoping for the return of the Dogsled soon. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe…take care….

Busy day sight seeing in Montgomery again.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were out of touch for a couple of weeks. I will post the blog posts in order over the next few days. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~ 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Tuesday Jan 10, 2017 Post)


Much warmer this morning and the day was even better. We reached warm temps into the low 60F/15.5 C this afternoon and tonight it is still in the mid 50’s/12.5 C at 9:30 pm. A fantastic day for the most part, although we had a 60 second rain shower around 4:30 pm this afternoon.

Civil Right Memorial fountain and wall of water. 

After breakfast we cleaned up a bit, packed a snack to take with us, then puttered in a half hour until we left around 8:30 am. A short drive took us to downtown Montgomery again but this time to the Rosa Parks Museum. An elegant modern building with grey cement and numerous darkened windows, a bit of dull silver accents, it’s welcoming but reserved, with a dignity that bespeaks the woman it’s named after.

We opted for just the Rosa Parks Museum, as I didn’t think Riley would be interested in the Jim Crow laws era. No pictures are allowed in the museum, so we have nothing to show for our time there. A time line depicting the events leading up to, including, and after the famous refusal to give up her seat to a white rider. The opening room offered numerous first hand narratives regarding life in Montgomery at that time of segregation in all things, buses, restaurants, drinking fountains, theaters, stores, etc. We were introduced to the new minister at the Dexter Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. He became a more focal point in the events at this time, but until then he had been safely preaching in his new church.

Selfie at the Wright Bros Park

From the narratives we entered a ‘street’ in which we watched the bus, loading, unloading, passengers. Eventually we see a young Rosa Parks getting on the bus, taking a seat and refusing to give it up. Arrested and tossed in jail, she was later found guilty and fined $10. From this room we entered into a winding path of rooms that lead us on the story of the bus boycott, the Selma to Montgomery march, the Freedom Riders, and eventually the victory ride. All documented on placard after placard with a great deal of detail and personal accounts. It was to say the least an educational tour.

From there we walked to the Greyhound Bus Station a few streets away. It was to this location that a bus carrying Freedom Riders (mostly college students) arrived to violent clashes with local whites who beat the white riders more severely than the blacks. No law enforcement of any kind were present, although it had been assured to all levels of government that there would be a police presences to keep the peace. Many local Montgomery families came to the rescue of those being beaten, driving off the attackers, bringing those on the Freedom Ride into their homes to care for them and keep them safe until they could safely leave Montgomery. Eventually John F. Kennedy called out the National Guard,  sending in some military to help restore peace and enforce the desegregation laws that were being ignored in Montgomery and pretty much thru the south.

Copy of the Wright Bros basic plane design.

 From the Greyhound station we walked a few streets to find the Hank Williams Museum. Again no pictures allowed, so we have nothing to show from there either. ~laugh~ However inside was a treasure trove of Hank Williams pictures, artifacts and memorabilia. The 1951 (I think is the right year, it might be a 52 though) Cadillac in which he died of heart failure was on display in the building. A baby blue color, rag top model. Numerous pieces of furniture from his homes were also on display. Record albums were pretty much everywhere in the place. Suits, guitars, ties, shirts, custom hand made boots, pictures and some personal items as well. It’s hard to believe the man was only 29 years old when he died, he appeared much older. It’s thought that he had a disease called Marfan which may have lead to his early death. That I didn’t know. He also had Spina Bifida, which I didn’t know either. So if nothing else I learned those things. ~laugh~

A carpet of green covers the blacktop of the walking path in Gunter Hill Park. 

 We managed to see the Court Street Fountain on our walk, it’s an impressive fountain, sitting in the middle of Montgomery Avenue with the State Capital Building at the end of the street. It’s a very impressive sight but would have been more so without the construction equipment on the street.With the short avenue between the two imposing features, the State Capital building and the fountain reflect the image of the grandeur, grace, and expanse that I associate with the deep south. The fountain is several tiers high, was built in 1885 over top of an artisan well.

We moved the Dogsled a few streets over and strolled along to the Civil Right Memorial building. This memorial is a testament to those who have lost their lives for this cause, it names just 40 people but is dedicated to all those who have lost their lives and suffered due to racism, bigotry, and hate. This is not just a memorial to the blacks and whites but to all that have suffered for many long years and continue to struggle against such things, including gays, lesbians, Arabs, handicapped, etc. The inner building is protected by a security guard, with a metal detector entrance, today an outside security guard was also present. Interesting security for a building that I would think should be pretty safe from terrorism but hate perhaps could be the motivating reason for more security. A wall of water falls over the famous quote by Dr. King,”Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a might stream.” It is black granite with a steady wall of water running down it’s surface. In front of this black wall is another piece of black granite roundish in shape, inscribed with events and names of the events that rocked the city of Montgomery and the US in general. This too has water constantly washing over it, falling to the ground. To reach ones fingers into the water and trace those events, names and dates is a very personal experience. It is encouraged to do so, touching in a personal way the events of those terrible years. For me it was a moment of almost tasting the horror, hate, disbelief, disgust, anger, sorrow and hope these people must have felt during this era. A moving experience to say the least.

Pecans litter the ground in the second loop of Gunter Hill Park, free for the picking.

From there we headed home to the park after a short stop at the Wright Bros Park on the river. A quick walk to the edge of the park netted us a view of the muddy Alabama River. A long narrow park complete with the frame of an airplane balanced on a post. Not a lot to the park but some seating, grass and flowers.

Home by 1:30 pm, we enjoyed our busy morning. Riley was ready to drop to the couch and do her thing but I opted for a walk thru the park. Taking the pathway that winds thru the woods here in the park I enjoyed a bit of mother nature before coming to a dead end, which forced me back on the roadway to complete my walk. Repair work needs to be completed on the walkway before the path will once again connect to the other loop in the park. I was gone for about an hour and a half, and enjoyed the warmth, although it had clouded over. 

We do like chicken and veggies, don't we?

A game of Yahtzee before dinner. I won…~laugh~

Dinner tonight was Honey Pecan Chicken and steamed veggies. Excellent food and made with fresh local pecans. Can’t beat that.

Cleaned up after dinner and decided we will take tomorrow off from any sight seeing. A day of rest, which I think I need. I’m looking forward to it. So thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time..be safe, take care…

Busy Monday in Montgomery.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama, but for a couple of weeks we had no internet so I'm posting my posts in order. I will manage a few a day until I'm caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~ 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post for Monday, Jan 9, 2017)


Cold morning again but today is the day that it starts to warm up!!! So the weather folks say any way. We start off having a good breakfast of yogurt and granola to help tide us over until lunch.

Blue skies, bright sunshine but cold, below the freezing mark!!!! Brrrrr, even the Dogsled groaned at first. ~laugh~

Out the door by 8:45 am we were headed to Montgomery to see a few things. Our first stop was the Museum of Alabama. A huge stately building with varying shades of marble throughout the whole structure, floor, walls, steps, ceilings, everywhere you looked, it glistened and shone. The brass railings were shiny and elegant as they curved with the staircases. We started off chatting with a gentleman that gave us a heads up about what to see and where to see it. His military uniform from the Korean Conflict is in this building!! He is older than the building, it’s 75.

Museum of Alabama, stately columns, elegant marble and glittering brass.

We start off in a room that depicts the landscape of the time, moving on to the first inhabitants of the area, and moved up to the modern times. An interesting time line that offered a vast range of items and information on the lives, rites, survival, and changes in a period from the early 1200 to modern times. Small replicas of Indian villages, various artifacts from their villages, arrowheads, pots, spears, cloth, bowls, grinding stones, etc. The information was laid out in an interesting  fashion, allowing us to take in most of the information without suffering overload.



The pictures taken here were difficult to take as most had a reflection or a glare from the low level lighting, and glass cases.

Handwoven baskets of this style were used as early as the 1500's. 

The next room moved on to the time just before, during and after the the civil war and it’s many weapons, uniforms, various pieces and types of correspondence, chains, manacles, and of course cotton, coal, and industry. Spread among the exhibits were flat screens that told of various times in history, lasting only about 3 or 4 minutes but giving enough information to outline the times, disruptions, upheavals, confrontations, solutions, etc.

From there we moved forward into the modern age of computers, industry, government, and transportation of the city. Of course since Martin Luther King, Jr’s march ended here in this city, and Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in this city, it has a rich history of civil rights movement as well.

Indian stone disk carving depicting a snake, used for certain rites and a status symbol. 

From there we moved on to the First White House of the Confederacy, right next door to the Museum of Alabama. A small unassuming house it offers a glimpse into the life of Jefferson Davis the President of the Confederacy. It shows well in the rich and graceful furnishing, curtains, china and artifacts of the time. Ironically the volunteer working today was from up state New York, a Yankee!!!! ~laugh~

This pistol has four barrels, wonder how accurate it was? 

The house boasts 5 bedrooms, all with heavy furniture, ornate moldings, spacious rooms with amazingly large windows and doors. Jefferson Davis’ home office with numerous cabinets for his books, various tables and chairs grouped to provide a place to sit and write, read or discuss business. Rich dark wood, numerous chandeliers and thick carpets. This White House was eventually left behind when the Confederacy moved it’s ‘White House’ to Richmond.

2nd parlour in the First White House of the Confederacy.

From here we walked across the wide boulevard to the State Capital Building. A large, regal, imposing white columned  building with marble steps leading to the front door. At the top of these steps is a gold star depicting the spot  Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy. This was also known as the CSA, the Confederate States of America. This building has security measures in place with Military or Troopers standing by to check your bag and assist you thru the metal detector. Asking for any and all weapons before allowing you cross the great divide. ~laugh~ We toured this grand old building with it’s stately rooms, ceilings were easily 20ft in each of the rooms, again marble everywhere, sweeping curved staircases, massive chandeliers, tall graceful windows and doors that must have easily reached 15 feet in height. A number of ‘old’ rooms here are preserved as they once were, senate chambers, house of representatives, etc. The seating is heavy, imposing, ornamental but also stark. A place of business with a goal in mind. An upper gallery that allowed people to stand and listen to the day’s proceeding at a time when politicians  worried about getting it right for the people. The beautiful rotunda is ornate with paintings/murals depicting the passing years of the area, it soars for 3 levels making one dizzy just looking up.

Mrs. Davis died in a hotel room in New York City, these furnishings were in her room at the time and were given to the museum. 

From there we headed home. Enough for one day. Back at the Igloo by 1:00 pm we were happy as the temps were soaring into more comfortable ranges. Riley opted to stay and have some lunch while I opted to go for a walk instead. I walked from here to the other loop in the campground, which is closed at this time of the year. It was a fairly long walk, took me about 45 minutes to reach the other campground. A quick walk thru it and back home to do some work before heading inside. Finally warm enough to hook up the sewer and take out the mat, BBQ, lights, chairs, etc. We will be here fore 11 nights so will make it cozy. No night time lights in this park so I put out our solar lights, a string of small lights to help light up the area when I barbecue.

These doors are massive, note where the knobs are located and they are at proper height. 

Inside to have lunch, it’s now 3 pm. Had a quick snack and read my book. Enjoyed just sitting and relaxing. Dinner tonight was left over soup, delish!!!!!!!

Looks tasty huh?

We’re having a problem with lady bugs and ants, that we picked up at Albany. I think I’ve managed to get most of the lady bugs out of the Igloo but they keep popping up, one or five at a time. The ants come and go, tiny black sugar ants but they do bite, so we need to get rid of them soon. We’ve been spraying but I don’t want to spray too much as it might bother the cat. Oh well, eventually I’ll get rid of them.

After dinner we played Yahtzee….one game. No one rolled a Yahtzee. ~laugh~

A very happy birthday wish going out to my oldest niece Amber, celebrating today. I hope you have had an excellent day!!

We’re both tired and off to bed. Riley to do whatever it is she does and me to write my blog. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time..be safe, take care…..

A nicer day today........

(We are currently in Foley, Alabama but have been without internet for the past few weeks. I will continue posting my blog posts in order, posting a few a day until I get caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~)

Blogger will not let me arrange this how I would like, but at least its here.

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post Jan 8, 2017)

Even colder last night than the night before. We were down to 22F/-5C this morning. With the furnace turned down to 64F/17C and the electric heater running all night we stayed pretty toasty. However we will be very happy when it warms up.

Temps were warming up today, we reached a high of 38F/3.3C this afternoon. Felt down right balmy. ~laugh~ Tomorrow should be warmer still. We’re crossing our fingers. 

Sunday mornings are like any other morning for us, we have breakfast, decide about dinner, decide what we are doing for the day and then proceed to follow those decisions. This morning we started off having fried ham and eggs, sunny side up. It was pretty good. You’ll have to take my word for it.

The water in the ditch was frozen this morning.....

Since we are here to see some sights we discussed what we’d like to see and how many things to take in each day, etc. We determined since cleaning day is usually Monday but we have plans for the day that today would be cleaning day, so without further discussion we cleaned the house.

We headed out to the dumpster to deposit our garbage, and continued on for a walk around the park. Out to the guard shack, on to the entry road, and back around the park to the Igloo. Well Riley headed right back I took another tour around the loop checking things out. Bright blue skies, sunny, warming up, but a cold NW wind kept me shivering in some places.

 After that we knew we needed groceries and so off we went to Prattville to find a few things, diesel, groceries and a spot Barry told me about to get my propane tank filled. Since I am an orderly person I ticked off all the things in the order of importance. First we needed to find some diesel, we were below a 1/4 tank and I don’t let it get that far very often but with the rain and the nearness of our destination on Friday I knew we would be perfectly fine without filling up before reaching the park. 

 

 

Deer standing on the roadway, long distance for my phone camera.

We found diesel for $2.35 per gallon on our way to Prattville. Nice little station, gasoline on one of the side of the building and gasoline/diesel on the other side. Clean, quick in and out, no need to enter a zip code into the pump, therefore no need to enter the building. Fill up was $48.00 USD. Not bad at all.

From there we proceed to annoy Phoebe, our RV Garmin as she says ‘veer’ sometimes instead of ‘turn’ and since veer to me that the road splits and I need to take one of the splits I was confused by her telling me to veer when it should have a been turn or exit. I think because there was a ramp leading to the road in question she considered it a veer. Twice I didn’t ‘veer’ and realized only after that it’s a turn. Oh well…we still made it. ~laugh~

I will admit we didn’t tour the town of Prattville, we head to the local Wally’s World for groceries after a quick stop at the Big Lots store on the opposite side of the parking lot. The groceries were most important after the fuel as we were out of just about every vegetable we eat. We needed a few other things as well and believe it or not walked out with $144.00 in about a dozen bags. A few things not in bags as well though. More pipe wrap to keep the water line from freezing.

On the way home we figured we’d look for the ‘propane guy’ Barry mentioned. Of course me doing the driving I had two roads to choose from, guess what Rick Ferroni, I picked the wrong one. ~laugh~ Murphy!!!!!!! (inside joke with Mr. Ferroni)

Closer shot of the deer, bit fuzzy but not bad for phone camera.

We toured a bit of the country side, it was quite interesting and very back woods Alabama type thing. We were using Phoebe, our RV GPS, which of course thinks we’re hauling our home and therefore won’t take us down some roads. Bella, our US gal, couldn’t find the park because we didn’t know the address then and Phoebe wouldn’t give it up. ~laugh~ I know, I know…anyway… So at one point Phoebe was telling us to go right but I knew we had to go left, I turned left. Phoebe was not impressed. ~laugh~ I kept waiting for the word ‘stupid’ to sound, but it didn’t, she’s a classy lady our Phoebe.  Eventually we saw a sign for Gunter Hill Campground but had to do a quick turn around as we’d missed it. She wasn’t sending us that way but we were going. Guess what, we found the propane guy about 5 miles/8 km from the campground. ~laugh~ Only took us about 15 miles/25 km to find him. Aw well, we had a nice drive.

Home again I tended to the water line encasing it in pipe wraps, while Riley put away some of the groceries. After I finished I headed in to help. I bagged all the chicken breasts and sausages while Riley continued to put things away. Finally we had everything away, so we pulled things out to make some lunch. ~laugh~  We watched a movie while we enjoyed lunch, something called The Rainmaker, based on a John Grisham book. Matt Damon did an excellent job of portraying Rudy Baylor.

From there we moved forward to doing our own thing, mine was making certain all of the addresses for touring was loaded into Bella for easy travels this week. I also loaded our next two routes into Phoebe so we can head out with no issues when it’s time.

Talked to both my sister Jan, and my dad, Doug as they were both concerned about us, seems they heard about some wild weather down here in the south, snow, wind, accidents, pile ups, etc. I assured them I wouldn’t be driving in that kind of weather as we would just pull off and stay put. Having our home with us allows us to do that and no one will make you leave a parking lot in that kind of weather. I’m a fair weather driver and only drove in the rain because it wasn’t torrential, we could see fine and there was no wind. I felt perfectly safe driving on Friday or we wouldn’t have continued. 

 

 

 

Cold out here, we bundled up for our walk.

I’m still full from lunch and opted to miss dinner, but Riley is having Hamburger Soup again, adding a little pasta to it tonight.

So on that note, I’m going to sign off. Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed yourself. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe, take care…