Our RV Adventures

Since we had a 375 mile to up to Athens, AL today, we were up at 6:30am and I was pulling out by 8 with Jan following in the truck. We were going to get diesel at the Wal-Mart on Fort Morgan Rd. and, although we’d filled up there before, we scoped it yesterday to be sure we could still get in and out.

But all the planning was for naught. When we pulled into the parking lot, the diesel pump area was blocked off with cones because workers were redoing the canopy over the station.

Crap!

So I headed on up to Foley to Dodge’s to fill up there.  We gotten diesel here before, but they were 6 cents a gallon higher, so Wal-Mart was my first choice.

Once we were done we got hitched up and were back on the road a few minutes after 9am, right on schedule.

One thing that slows this trip down is that you’re pretty much just putt-putting along on mostly two lane, stop and go roads for the first 60 miles until you finally get on I-65. Then we just stay on 65 until we get off at the RV park exit 307 miles later.

 
We started running into some rain just south of Montgomery, most just light drizzle interspersed with only a few minutes of heavy rain.Then it was alternating rain and sunshine all the way to Athens.

We got in to the Northgate RV Travelpark about 3:45pm, said Hi to my cousin Wes, and then got parked and partially set up, just plugging in shore power for now. Since we’d only had a breakfast sandwich before we left, and then just peanut butter crackers along the way for lunch, we wanted to get an early dinner.

So about 4:15 we headed out to Catfish Cabin, our usual first night dinner spot here.

I guess it’s strange that we come 375 miles from the Gulf Coast and then have more seafood, but Catfish Cabin does it great, getting in fresh seafood daily. And they do a really great job with the basket of homemade hushpuppies they bring out when you sit down.

Jan usually gets the Cabin Platter with a whole catfish, shrimp, oysters, and a baked potato,

while get the Combination Platter with catfish fillets, oysters, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp and a stuffed crab.

Getting back to the rig, I finished hooking everything up and got the satellite set up and working.

Tomorrow we’ll start trying to get together with everyone. Looking forward to it.

It’s called DIET because all the other 4-letter words were taken.

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We didn’t have coffee this morning when I got up at 11 since we planned on having an early lunch at Lulu’s at Homeport on the Canal.

We left the rig for Lulu’s about 12:30 with a quick stop at the Wal-Mart on the way for gas. Gas there was $1.97 a gallon, while right around the corner on the main drag it was going for $2.15.

Big difference for half a block.

The reason for the early lunch was this graph from a Google search. The blue graph at the bottom shows how busy the place is at various times of the day.

We wanted to beat the crowds if possible, and it certainly worked, getting a water-side table on the deck.

For those who don’t already know, Lulu is Lucy Buffett, Jimmy Buffett’s younger sister. After working in the Hollywood movie industry for years, and loving to cook, she came back to the Gulf Coast area in the late 90’s and opened a combination bait shop/outdoor burger joint/bar on Fish River near Mobile.

Losing her lease in 2003, she loaded the whole kit, kaboodle, and bar onto a barge and hauled it all down to its present location on the Intercoastal Waterway at Gulf Shores. And every year it seems to get bigger. And now she’s open a new Lulu’s over in Destin, FL

I wonder if Key West is next?

We started out with order for the Fried Green Tomatoes with their delicious homemade Remoulade sauce.

Jan comes here for their Blackened Shrimp Tacos. She says theirs is the best around, even better than the ones at Outrigger’s in Seabrook, TX.

I usually get either the Half and Half Seafood Platter, or today’s choice, the Half and Half Shrimp and Oyster PoBoy.

You can’t see it in this photo but there’s a bunch of fixings off the bottom of the photo, tomatoes, pickles, onions, etc. By the time you put in all together and slather on the tartar sauce, you’ve got a real two-fisted meal. Really good.

While we were eating, I watched a large group board their cabin cruiser at Lulu’s dock and head down the Canal.

You could probably buy 2 or 3 RV’s for what that costs.

For  dessert we always split a piece of Lulu’s Krispy Kreme Donut Bread Pudding.

But this time we were just too full, so we got it to go.

Finishing up our meal, and after Jan perused the gift shop, we decided to drive down Fort Morgan Rd to check out a couple of RV parks down that way, as a possible replacement for Gulf State Park for next year’s visit.

And we found a really nice one, Island Retreat RV Park. The price is certainly right at $211 a week, but I’ll have to check it further on RVParkReviews.

We drove all the way down to Jan’s namesake fort, Fort Morgan. I say hers, because the fort is named after one of Jan’s direct ancestor’s, Daniel Morgan, a Revolutionary War hero.

Jan’s mother was a Morgan, going all the way  back to Col. Morgan Morgan, one of the first settlers into the Virginia area. In fact Morgantown, WV is named for her family.

Of course, she’s also related to the famous pirate/privateer/buccaneer Capt. Henry Morgan, of Captain Morgan Rum fame.

That certainly explains a lot.

Tomorrow we’ve  got a 375 mile trip up to Athens, AL to visit my relatives for a few days, so we’ll get an early start.

Really look forward to seeing everyone.

Woman like silent men. They think they’re listening.

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