Coon Dog Cemetary

Everyone that stays in Red Bay goes to the cemetary, especially on Memorial Day. This is the only known coon dog burial place in the US. It's a serious place as you can tell by the grave markers and flowers. Here are photos of our little trip this afternoon.

Dismals Canyon

Sunday afternoon, our friends Bob & Jan here in the RV park invited us to go on  hike at Dismals Canyon. We did not know what we were in for but away we went. Dismals Canyon is a National Natural Landmark located near Phil Campbell, Alabama. The lodge is operated by a private company and there was an entrance fee. We walked/hiked the official canyon trail but it went on some distance beyond the end. There is a creek that follows the canyon. The trail had some climbing, lots of boulders to squeeze through and it followed both sides of the creek. The trail is a total of 1.5 miles but we walked more than that distance in about four hours.

Indians inhabited the area 10,000 years ago. The "Temple Cave" - a bluff shelter on the canyon floor -was home to a tribe of Paleoamericans about 10,000 years ago. Chickasaw and Cherokee also used the canyon. In 1838 U.S. Troops rounded up the Chickasaw and held them under guard in this Canyon for two weeks before herding them like cattle to Muscle Shoals where they embarked on the Trail of Tears.

They have guided night walks to see the Dismalites. Past twilight the canyon lights up with tiny bioluminescent creatures we call Dismalites. These "glowworms" require a select habitat to survive and are unique to only a few places on Earth.

You can learn more about the canyon at www.dismalscanyon.com

Jan & Bob are full time RVers like us.
We met them last month when they were also here watching the build of their new Allegro Bus.
They received their Bus last week and we are still waiting.

We had to go over & under a few obstacles

The lodge & store where you enter

Heading South Again

We are driving south on I-65 heading back to Red Bay. Heavy rain started at Elizabethtown KY. We have reservations for Memorial Day weekend and next week. We go to Sherman RV next Monday to pick up our mew motor home. Thursday night we are in a Flying J truck stop in Franklin KY, just north of Nashville. No need to get out of the motor home, we have generator power and everything we need inside. We drive on to Red Bay tomorrow morning.

Raining at the Flying J

Mary's Sister Barbie Turns 50

We are staying at the Versailles State Park for a few days. The house is sold so we had to find a place to stay over until we head back to Red Bay AL. We have been going to Versailles since we were young kids. We stated camping here in 1973 and have been here many times. It's a very nice park but the state has increased the price for a weekend to an unacceptable rate. The sites have electric service only. Water and sewer are available at the entrance. If you want to stay for more than a few days, you may run out of water and your holding tanks may fill up. We will use Versailles when necessary but not on a regular basis now that we are full time in our RV.

Mary's sister Barbie Webster turns 50 on May 27 so we had a small birthday party here today since we will be in Alabama next weekend. Her husband Donnie, sister Carrie and her husband Bill were also here. The weather was very nice for a change. 

Barbie Webster soon to be 50.

I can grill hamburgers in the smoke if necessary. No one got sick as far I know.
I had chicken burgers due to my diet restrictions.

We had a great camp site. All are paved with plenty of room between sites.

Lots of sites were very wet from the rain but our site was dry.

We were lucky that other friends were also at the park.
We met them here at Versailles two years ago.
They are here frequently so we also spent some time with them.
Front row: Marla and Doug from Guilford IN.
Back row: Dan & Carolyn from Fairfield OH.

We Are Houseless

 As of Friday we are houseless in Indiana. We have been parked in the driveway for the past week, cleaning out a few more items and cleaning up. Our house sale has been pending for the last six weeks. We signed it over and collected our check late this afternoon. We are now really full time RV'ers in our existing 34 foot Tiffin motor home. Our new 40 foot Tiffin is at the dealer in Sherman MS but they are so busy we can not have it until June 6th. We will be staying at Versailles SP for five days then moving south, back to Red Bay AL for the Memorial Day weekend and staying there until June 6. Sherman MS is about 50 miles from Red Bay AL.

Living room. We installed this hardwood flooring in the entire house.

Kitchen

This was the ham radio room in the basement

The garage was emptied out this morning.

This is it as we pulled out this morning.

Friday Day 17 - FINISHED!

We finally have a completed motor home! Some last minute details were completed this morning to our satisfaction and it's ready to go to Sherman RV, about 50 miles from Red Bay. We wish we could get possession now but have to wait another week.

The rain booth test was done again to check for a water leak at the door, all OK.

Ready to go but now we wait.........

It's really big when all four slide outs are extended.

Thursday Day 16

It's a good thing we are here to watch every step. Watching the entire process for 17 working days was a good idea. We have been in Red Bay for almost 4 weeks.

It was tagged as ready for delivery to the dealer BUT we discovered some things were not done that we had requested. These items were on our list but someone took the notes off the windshield and sent it to Belmont for delivery. 

Now we are back at Red Bay for a few more items. We expect those items will be completed on Friday. We plan to leave on Saturday, heading north to Lawrenceburg for our house closing next Friday. Then we head to Sherman RV in Mississippi and we will have our new motor home (our ONLY home) the last week of May.

Mary is writing a list of things that need to be done. Most items are small but we want it corrected before it goes to the dealer. Then the dealer will not need to handle these items that should be done before it leaves the factory.

The ceramic floor tile looks good today. Several scratched tiles were replaced yesterday and that put it one day behind schedule. The tiles are removed with a small jack hammer, making quite a mess. The grout had to dry 24 hours before walking on it. The tile repair guys did a great job. The cleaning crew will finish up a complete wipe down Friday morning to get all the dust off everything inside.

Wednesday Day 15

Nothing to show for the day, no photos. 

They had to replace six ceramic floor tiles that were scratched. Those were completed this morning but it had to sit undisturbed all day so the grout could set up. I was at the plant several times today but did not stay long. I hope it's finished tomorrow. May 12 was scheduled as the last day but today seemed to be a lost day.

Weather was very nice today but Thursday's forecast is more rain. Overall, the weather in Red Bay has been very good compared to our friend and family in Indiana. I can report that there has been no grass to cut for the last four weeks.

Tuesday Day 14

Not too much to show for the day. There was work on it all day. Finish work always goes slower than construction work. We still hope it's finished tomorrow but probably Thursday which is the day that was scheduled for completion.

This is known as the "yellow brick road" where RV's are in line waiting on their next stage of work. The windshields have notes attached to list what needs to be done.

More finish work inside. Sergio is working on a scratch on the wall. The green tape on the cabinet marks another spot that needs attention. There was green tape in several places and now there are only a few left. Late today they found some scratched ceramic tile so they were removing some tile to replace with new. It won't leave until every scratch is repaired.

Monday Day 13

Today was final paint touch up and interior cleaning. We arrived at Belmont MS about 7:00 am and watched while a few things were finished. At 10:30 am it was driven back to Red Bay AL for the interior cleanup. That lasted the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be the final check out and repair of a few more minor interior issues. A final test drive and documentation should be completed by Wednesday. 

Another view of the Belmont MS paint facility.
It's a large building that can hold many motor homes for painting.

Our Phaeton 40ah getting some paint touch up on the door.

In another Tiffin model, we found something we may add to ours.
This is a slide out drawer under the kitchen sink.

Here it is, ready for inside cleaning.

Friday Day 12

Friday was test day again. It went through the"bubble test" that pressurizes the interior and they use the old soapy water sprayed on the exterior to look for air leaking out. Following that it gets the "rain booth" test. High pressure water is spayed at every angle and under the chassis at 500 gallons per minute to look for leaks into the inside. W were invited inside the motor home for the test so no photos were taken. The only leak turned out to be the seal around the entry door. A new seal will be installed on Monday. It looks like a complete motor home now with all exterior items mounted and painted. It's in the final bay at Belmont MS for some paint touch up and minor work like a defective fog lamp. The paint job on such a large vehicle is about as perfect as it could possibly be. The two coats of "super" clear coat really makes it shine.

Every seam and edge is sealed to prevent water leaks.
Two ladies worked on this, one on each side.

Check out the great shine!

Mary is checking things with the "sealing lady".

This is the "bubble test". A high power fan forces air through a window to pressurize the interior then the soapy water is applied to watch for bubbles. They work very hard to prevent water intrusion. A water leak can quickly damage a motor home.

It really is almost 13 feet high. This is the final bay at Belmont MS where all the paint is applied and the famous Phaeton mudfllap, exterior lights, awning toppers and patio awning are installed.

These are in row #1 of the three rows where they are staged for delivery to the dealers. They output 12 motor homes every day (that number includes all models, gas and diesel). That adds up to about 3000 units per year. My wild guess at the total value of these per year is at least $500 million.

Our unit is the 600th Phaeton so far this model year. The Tiffin models are Allegro Open Road, Allegro RED, Phaeton, Allegro Bus and Zephyr. Each model has several floor plans to choose from. The price goes up as you move up the model line. The Zephyr tops out at about $600,000. The Phaeton has been the most popular motor home in the United States out of all manufacturers of motor homes.

I hope ours is in this lineup by next Wednesday May 11.