We managed to get a good run through Tennessee and Georgia: The Trip.
Since this was our "First-ever" road trip, we (of course) had Mr. Murphy (of Murphy's Law Fame) as a full time passenger. Anything that could go wrong, DID go wrong. But the fun of it was that Unplanned instances on a Road trip can lead to unexpected rewards!
The RV Park we had located on a map was full to overflowing when we arrived. But one of the kind residents who happened to be standing in the road after dark gave us directions to nearby Stone Mt. State park and we arrived just in time for the Saturday night Laser/Music Show. Fireworks and all. We also found a super great spot to park for the night in the Stone Mtn. RV Camp. If anyone ever goes there, I give that State RV Park 5 stars and Two Thumbs Up!
The next day, Luck again played a part as the Sky Lift up to the top of Stone Mtn., which had been closed for the past few weeks for refurbishing, had opened back the very next day so we got to make the pilgrimage up the mountain top on it. Great Fun and so were the other attractions there.
Everyone we met was friendly and that went long way toward making us feel at home while traveling in a a very tiny portable house.
I would definitely recommend that most people consider a full size camper rather than a Van conversion as we got. If you are over 5 ft tall you will get more than a few bumps on the noggin.
We only had 7 days for this trip so we tried to make each one count. Nest stop: Nashville, TN. where we spent a whole day visiting all the famous landmarks from the Country Music Hall of Fame to the Grand Ol' Opry house. We even learned that in 2010, that it along with the rest of Nashville was washed out in a freak flood by up to 24 ft of water! We saw the pictures or I would never have believed it!
From there we headed down to Memphis to try some of that Famous Memphis Bar-B-Que and I can testify that it was worth the trip. So was getting to see Elvis's Graceland Park and then spending the night in the local "party sector" in Downtown on a weekend. A lot like the French Quarter in New Orleans though not quite as wild and a lot cleaner.. The police block off the streets in a 10 block square radius and music pours out the doors at every establishment. Open Containers are allowed inside the party area. Ten back to out nice quiet camper in the park which was located directly outside the gates of Graceland.
Sadly, we both had to be back at work on Monday so we had to cut this first trip short. From Memphis we drove down through Birmingham with a quick stop at the old "Iron Man" statue called 'VULCAN' that sits atop the hillside outside the city. Then it was back home to the Beaches of the Emerald Coast of Florida.
All in all, it was definitely a great time and we are both looking forward to our next outing. Now that we have had time to figure out al the small details that should have been done before we left, I m sure the next adventure will be a lot better organized and (I hope) more comfortable.
The Rear Window A/C that we had planned to drive to Quebec to pick up, ended up being shipped by FedEx. I hope to install it this weekend. Having to deal with one of those "portable A/C units" for this journey was one of the biggest issues. After testing at least 5 different models where the first ones were not even worth the power it took to run them we finally ran across one that worked! It almost froze us in our small conversion van.
The one that actually did the job was a surprise as it was an off brand that came from WALMART!
But it outperformed ALL the name brands like LG, Frigidaire, Whynter and others and at 12,000 BTU only cost $299. I have to give that A/C unit '5 stars' but it is way to powerful for use in a Conversion Van.
