The RV Sabbatical Journal

Sunday, March 29, 2009
Summerdale, AL

First, let me do an update on Dar. After flying back to Wisconsin she saw her doctor on Friday morning. He did the usual poke, prod, and listening things, then ordered some tests. By late afternoon the tests came back and it was determined that she had walking pneumonia. Treatment is easy… the right antibiotic usually knocks it out in a couple weeks. So she’s on the mend, feeling much better, and taking it easy at her Mom & Dad’s house for a few days. We booked a return flight back to Pensacola for her next Tuesday. Once again, thanks to all of you who expressed concern about her.

Meanwhile, it’s been pretty quiet around the bus-house. After finally getting Dar launched from Pensacola on Thursday it rained on and off again most of the day, as it had every day since Tuesday. By evening I was ready for a good nights sleep. But that wasn’t to be.

A few months back we purchased a NOAA weather alert radio. It’s one of those things that seemed to make a lot of sense especially because we live in a house that isn’t anchored to the ground with a substantial foundation. We all know how tornadoes will actually seek out mobile home and RV parks before causing any real damage.

When storms occur during the day we’re pretty darn good at watching the sky. Among her many other capabilities Dar is also a trained weather observer. But at night when dangerous weather is expected and when the sky isn’t real visible it seems sensible to have a device that can make you aware of natural dangers ahead of time.

If a severe thunderstorm or tornado or other dangerous situation is heading your way, a NOAA weather alert radio will make you aware of it by sounding a siren… a loud siren… that’s capable of waking deep sleepers and people in medically induced comas. It will tell you to go immediately to your basement. If you don’t have a basement it will suggest you should go outside, find a ditch or ravine, jump in and lay face down while covering your head with your arms. I’m not sure about this advice as most low spots are usually filled with water during heavy rains and they never say anything about taking a snorkel along. Hmmm.

For a long while after we got our NOAA weather alert radio it didn’t make so much as a peep. It just sat there for weeks. I became concerned it wasn’t working at all until one day I saw it had, in fact, received a test signal which confirmed it was, indeed, working just fine.

But this past week it’s been getting a real workout. And Thursday night, when we had storms lined up and aimed right at this little corner of L.A. (Lower Alabama), it kept me up almost all night. Having this little radio is probably still a good idea but I hope I’ll never have to look for a water-filled ditch or ravine to jump into.

For the record we received almost 7 inches of rain on Thursday night alone according to local amateur weathermen. For the three day period it was close to 12 inches.

Thom

Thursday, March 26, 2009
Summerdale, AL

I have a recurring dream. I think many people do. In mine, I’m usually on a business trip and I’m trying to catch an airline flight… but I just can’t seem to actually get to the airport. The most unusual situations, people, and events make up a string of obstacles that keep me from ever getting there, from ever making the flight. And it all happens in slow-motion. It doesn’t occur often anymore, like when I was still in the business world, but from time to time it surprises me and causes some consternation when it does.

This past day or so, the process of trying to get Dar on a flight at the Pensacola Airport and off to Wisconsin for a few days reminded me a lot of my dream. It seemed we were stymied at every turn — it seemed something would always happen to turn what should-have-been a simple process into an ordeal of waiting, watching, wondering, and waiting some more.

I won’t belabor this much more, but the lack of clear signage directing travelers to the airport, road construction, weather in Dallas, weather in Pensacola, weather between here and there, flight cancellations, an overloaded airplane — it was all more than this now-relaxed Wisconsin boy was used to.

The original flight yesterday afternoon was scheduled to leave at 2:15pm. But just after we got to the airport it was changed to 3:15; then 3:45; then 4:15; then 4:45; then 5:45; then 6:15. The problem was weather in Dallas, where she had to make a connecting flight to Madison scheduled to leave at 6:15. It wasn’t looking good, in my humble opinion, so we decided to abort the Wednesday attempt and re-book for Thursday. Eventually that original flight was canceled altogether.

This morning the alarm went off at 3:30am. Dar’s flight was scheduled for 6:30am and we’re an hour away. As we’re getting ready our NOAA weather radio’s siren went off alerting us to a line of severe thunderstorms heading our way — and right toward the Pensacola airport. Was this my recurring dream?

We pulled up to the airport at 5:30am. On checking in, she found the flight already delayed for almost an hour due to fog in Dallas. Looking at the flashing dark western sky it was also clear it wouldn’t be much longer before these local storms would cause another problem. Am I dreaming?

But those pilots, in the spirit of Jimmy Doolittle, hustled everybody on the plane a bit after 7am even as the rain was starting to fall. They fired up the little regional jet, and rolled down the runway surrounded by bright booming lightning bolts thrown by very angry weather gods. The little plane clawed the wet air for altitude and slowly, eventually, slipped from the closing grip of the storm. If that sounds like a dream I must assure you it’s very nearly the truth.

—————–

Dar is going back to Wisconsin to get to the bottom of some lingering flu-like symptoms that have been keeping her down for too long. She did see a Doctor here but felt any further tests should be done in Wisconsin with her own physician and also because her health insurance plan works better there.

We should know a lot more in the next few days. Plan “A” is to get her issues resolved and have her fly back down as quickly as possible so we can continue exploring.

Thanks for all of your concern and best wishes.

T

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Summerdale, AL

Dar’s health isn’t improving. So yesterday, Monday, I took her to see a Doctor in Foley, AL, which is just a few miles down the road. The results of this visit aren’t real satisfying. According to a quick flu test what she has is not the flu. But something’s causing fevers, chills, aches, etc., so the next step is to try antibiotics. As of this morning, however, they don’t seem to be doing much. She’s a hurtin’ puppy right now. So we talked options, our next step.

We decided that we’ll load her on a plane in Pensacola tomorrow and fly her back to Wisconsin. She’s much more comfortable with her own doctor and the support of nearby family. And her insurance plan works best if she’s in her home state seeing her home medical team.

We talked about making a beeline to Wisconsin with the Bus-House, but we’d be driving right into the maw of a big spring storm that’s affecting the Midwest for the next few days. And flying is probably going to be easier on her than two or three days pounding down interstate highways.

I’ll stay with the Bus-House right here in Summerdale for the next few days, which are supposed to be lousy from a weather standpoint. By Sunday or Monday, when the weather breaks, I’ll start heading for Wisconsin. If she miraculously improves and is back to the pink of health by that time we could always fly her back and continue on our journey. Otherwise we’ll just be in Wisconsin early this year.

This is a different kink of adventure.
T

Sunday, March 22, 2009
Summerdale, AL

We haven’t done much the past two days. On Friday, during the drive to Summerdale, neither of us was feeling great. Dar was fighting a bug of some kind and I was having an allergy attack… something to do with the fact that everything is in full bloom around here, I’m sure. I’ve always had a mild Spring allergy to grasses and tree pollen in the Midwest, but in recent years it’s seemed to lessen and I haven’t even bothered to get any prescription medications to fight it. But this is the first extended period of time I’ve spent in the old South. I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ve got it under control with over-the-counter medications. That past two days haven’t been too bad.

But Dar, on the other hand, is really suffering. We think it’s the flu — aches, pains, and a fever. She feels like, well… she doesn’t feel very good at all. If the situation doesn’t improve on Monday we’ll find some local Medical assistance to troubleshoot the problem.

For now, we’re not planning much until she’s improving.

T

Friday, March 20, 2009
Summerdale, AL

Neither of us was feeling great this morning. Dar’s been fighting an unknown bug the past few days and she didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. And I’m having some significant problems with my springtime allergies — certainly due to the amount of pollen in the air down here. I mean, everything’s in full bloom down here and I’m learning that the Old South may not be the place for me in the Spring. By the time we got ourselves and the Bus-House put together for travel, and our requisite visit to the dump station wrapped up, it was almost 10am. Actually, not a bad start for us.

I drove out from the park and found I-12E just a few miles north of the little town of Lacombe. After I-12 meets I-10 we continued east just a few miles to the Mississippi Visitors Center where MS607 intersects with I-10. It was there that we found one of the most impressive State Visitor Centers we’ve run across anywhere in our travels. It was decorated and appointed more like a stately old mansion than a normal visitor center. And, for RV’ers, there are well-separated pull-through parking spaces sprinkled around the property where you could stay overnight. It’s not an RV Park and it doesn’t have hookups, but if you’re traveling through it’s a great place to spend the night for free.

From there we took the scenic route instead of continuing on I-10. US90 follows the coastline through this part of Mississippi, including the towns of Gulfport and Biloxi. This area was devastated by Katrina in August 2005 — nearly wiped out by 16 straight hours of hurricane force winds and a storm surge that exceeded 20 feet. What did we see?

First, it was clear there was a lot of work that’s gone into rebuilding the area. The road itself, the seawall and walking/biking path, and the spectacular white sand beach were among the best we’ve ever seen. Literally, it was over 20 miles of continuous re-built shoreline. You could start on one end and almost run a marathon (26 miles) without leaving the beach. What a spectacular natural resource for the area.

But on the other side of the road the effects of Katrina were still evident. Tattered trees were all over — they’d lost limbs and leaves but had survived and are coming back; some of those that didn’t make it are now wooden sculptures in the parkway dividing the road. There were huge areas of nothing but brush and sets of stairs. These stairs had been the masonry, brick, concrete front stairways to homes along the beach — and these stairs turned out to be the most lasting portion of the homes they were attached to. The homes are gone but the stairs, even today, almost four years later, still remain. Wow!

There were many areas of pilings, stilts, that once had homes built atop them. The houses were gone but the pilings remained. There were a few new houses, a few new mansions (somebody still has some money!), and the casinos have rebuilt with real buildings instead of the fake buildings on floating barges that ended up three blocks inland after the storm. There are portions of the new Biloxi that looks like a mini-Las Vegas. It’s clear the area is springing back strongly.

Then it was back to I-10 to Mobile and across Mobile Bay. Being a larger town I dreaded driving through Mobile on a Friday afternoon. But it wasn’t all that bad.  There was even a tunnel — I-10 dives under the Mobile River channel near downtown Mobile — so I could practice by tunnel driving skills. It’s unnerving to have a wall just a foot or two next to the Bus-House at 60mph.

At exit 44 we left I-10 and found a Love’s Truckstop where we fueled the Bus-House. We took on 70 gallons of diesel at $1.89/gallon — the lowest we ever paid.

About 2pm, after about 170 miles, we arrived at our destination, the Escapee’s Rainbow Plantation RV Park near Summerdale, AL. We have a full hook-up site and plan to be here at least a week or so.

T