A full travel day, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky....

Our Location: Walmart front yard, Carrolton, Kentucky

Woke this morning ( I'd just dozed off from being awake since 2 am) in the early wee hours just before dawn to the sound of rumbling thunder, police sirens, and flashing lights, along with the sound of hard rain pouring down. It was torrential, you couldn't see anything outside. It sounded as if it were going to pound it's way inside. ~laugh~ The cop was sitting beside a big rig a few rows over from us but I don't know what the issue was, he never came by our door but the big rig left within about 5 minutes of the cops noise makers going off. 

Rainy start to our day

The temps were warmish, in the mid 60 F range, that's about 18.3 C for the Canuckies in the crowd. The rain was wet, I know hard to believe but it's true. It stopped long enough for us to get ourselves into the Dogsled and headed out. It started raining again when we got on the Interstate. Not much, just enough to have to use the wipers on about mid delay. Pretty soon it was just sloppy from the road and not falling from the sky any longer. Not long after we just ran right out of it, the roads dried up, the sun came out, the skies turned blue, the temps were soaring and leveled off at 82F/27.7C. Not too shabby at all even though we were driving. I can tell you that we wrestled each other for the control of the AC, Riley was cold and I was hot, she would turn the blower down and the heat gauge to half blue, I would sneak it back to ALL blue and inch the blower up a notch or two once in a while. Finally she just put her sweater on. ~laugh~

Starting to brighten up

We left Alabama behind for Tennessee and then later in the day traded that in for Kentucky. The vistas were beautiful, the early morning fog truly was like smoke wafting thru the trees, over the road and along the hill tops. Spring has reverted to it's pre green stage the further north we come. Here in Kentucky some trees are out in bloom and just a few hints of green can be seen around. We chatted off and on about the things Riley has experienced during our travels, the different people, the different cultures and mannerisms of those she met and those she just observed. She made some very astute observations, connecting the ideas of why she enjoyed some parks more than others and why she truly enjoyed some areas more than others. Her favourite parks were easy to guess and she enjoyed them because of the people and the experiences. It was an interesting conversation.

Look where we are now.

We managed to contact Miss Laura at Southern Chevrolet in Foley, Alabama this morning to work on our issues with the truck papers. She is a fantastic lady and I truly appreciate her assistance in this task. I'm hopeful we can have it all straightened out in time for us to cross by Wed or Thursday next week. A case of one hand not telling the other what needs to be done.

Could that the smoke of the famed Smoky Mountains we see ahead?

The Customs Brokers have been in touch giving me information about what I need to supply and will then give me more detailed instructions about how and what to do when I cross. I'll be honest, it's not a day I'm looking forward to except that when I leave the border area it'll be all behind me. Yeah!!!!! ~laugh~ 

Look at all that green on the hillside.

The Dogsled was running in fine form again today. The route was very different than yesterday with many more rolling grades, hills and even bigger hills at times. We also had the rain to contend with which makes it difficult to use the cruise. We had more cities to get thru today as well, plus many interchanges to connect with, all of those things combined to make the gas mileage a little bit less than yesterday but still very good. I used the engine brake today and it works amazingly well. I think the Big Dog was feeling pretty proud today when he was rolling along and not making any effort at all in the hills and the downgrades, he was just running along nice and easy. A steady sure pace all day long and not once did he seem to struggle or pant, hell he didn't break a sweat. ~laugh~

This big T-Rex fella was starting at us as we hurried past

We travelled 420 miles today, a total of 9 hours but that included about 6 or 7 stops along the way some for as long as a half hour at a time. The time was 8:30 am CDT to 5:30 pm CDT but when we stopped for the night we were in EDT so it was actually 6:30 pm. That would be 10 hours but due to the time zone change it was actually only 9.  Did ya get all that? ~laugh~  We are now back in our own time zone. Last fall we travelled 'back in time' for a total of 2 hours getting to do ONE hour over again when we left Eastern Time for Central Time plus another hour when we moved the clocks back when daylight savings time ended ( we were in South Carolina at the time). Now heading home according to Riley we've 'gone back to the future' losing those 2 hours....we've already lost an hour when we changed to daylight savings time and today when we crossed the time line we lost another one. No wonder we're tired and have no idea what time it is. ~laugh~

Home state of the famed Kentucky Derby, not just Honest Abe.

Diesel food for the Big Dog ran the scale from $2.29 to $2.59 per gallon according to the signs I noticed. I managed to squeeze a fifty dollar bill into the tank around 12:30 after running approximately 5 hours this morning. That's about $10 more than yesterday but the gauge was lower today too. So the Big Dog is eating at a consistent rate if I keep him checked in at about 55 mph. I think he's found his groove. ~laugh~ 

A Mercedes motor home towing a Saturn.

We settled in for the night on the front yard of Walmart in Carrolton, Kentucky on I-71 North between Louisville and Cincinnati. Lots of others around tonight but we're parked with the big rigs due to the tip in the landscape where the other RV'ers are parked. It all slopes down to the drain and I was worried Riley would roll to the back of her bed and not be able to get out so we opted for the company of the Really Big Dogs. ~laugh~ It rained when we were just arriving, then stopped and has once again sprinkled while I write this post, but can you believe it's stopped again? 

Pretty shades of green on the hillside.

We strolled over to Subway for dinner in a bag. Riley ate her whole foot long, I managed to eat half of mine which I'm sure will be all I get of it because I could see Riley eyeing it up thinking about lunch tomorrow. ~laugh~ We also headed into Wally's to pick up a few munchies for the road tomorrow. They help to keep the sugar levels from getting too far out of whack. Of course we always have lots of water available too but that causes other issues such as having to potty break often and toss a coin to see who gets the first seat. ~laugh~ We even give the kitty a potty break when we have one, of course we have to leave the Igloo for her to do her business after coming out of the Dogsled. She's not happy about having to leave her home and be seen in the company of a DOG!!! ~laugh~ I think it's truly embarrassing for her. Oh the shame of it all. 

I love the contrasting colours.

So after dinner I did some emails, some work for the broker, checked in on facebook, called my dad, and managed to write this post. It's now pushing on toward 9 pm and I'm getting pretty tuckered. I think I may just fall asleep early tonight. Hopefully I stay asleep which seems to be my problem of late. I'm tired and fall asleep only to wake up in 2 hours and not be able to go back to sleep. It's so frustrating when that happens. Makes for a long day the next day.

I believe this might be Louisville, Ky (it may not be though ~laugh~)

We're hoping to check into a state park near Cleveland, Ohio tomorrow and stay there a couple or three nights, depending on the border situation or we may find a campground closer to Buffalo for a night or two just because it will make the day we cross shorter without having to drive from Cleveland first. Anyway, we'll see how it goes tomorrow and the next few days. Hopefully everything works out according to plan, if not we have a back up plan. Always good to have a back up plan, don't ya think? I even have a back up to the back up. Damn I'm good, huh? ~laugh~

On that note, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed your visit to my little neighourhood. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time.....be safe, take care...