Days 106 & 107 - Monday & Tuesday, March 18 & 19 - Stocking Up & Travelling

 Monday - Our last day at Rainbow Plantation. I went for coffee with the guys at 8AM. There were 13 guys this morning. Several of them mentioned they would be heading north during the next week.

We went to Publix, Aldi's & Walmart to pick up a few things before travelling. We also managed to get in another meal at the Chinese buffet.

We packed away some things getting ready for tomorrow's travels. I did manage to get in 5 miles of bike riding during the day, before loading it into the back of the Flex.

Tuesday - It got cold last night, cold for here. The overnight low was 36 degrees, the average overnight low is 56 degrees for this time of year. We pulled out of the park a little after 10AM. Once we were on I10 and headed west we had to decide whether to follow the route shown on our Garmin RV GPS or Google Maps. We have been this way before when travelling by car (minivan) from Centertown to Gulf Shores. We followed Google Maps which routed us down Alt-90, its good road with minimal traffic and you get to cross the cool cable stayed bridge over the Mobile River.

The Mobile River.

I have to give you some statistics on the bridge. The main span is 781' long and from the water to the bottom of the bridge is 140'.

I had found two campgrounds that looked like good prospects for the night. Benchmark RV Park in Marion, MS, 175 miles from Rainbow; and Country Dogs RV Park in Starkville, MS, 250 miles from Rainbow. The plan was to drive around 150 miles and see if we were ready to stop. If we weren't we would call Country  Dogs and make a reservation for a site for the night. About 20 miles from Marion I called Country Dogs and learned they were full up for the night, so we pulled into Benchmark RV Park around 1:30PM. An early stop but I had spent a fair amount of time searching for RV Parks and while I am sure there are many of them along US45 its very difficult to spot one while driving, get slowed down to turn in or make a U-turn to go back to it. From here it is only 205 miles on up to Lakewood Custom RV tomorrow.

Benchmark RV Park - Marion, MS - It must have rained hard here yesterday. Our site is one of the higher ones in the park but the area around the water/power connection post was depressed. The water was at least 1.5" deep around the post. The park manager and a helper were working on the porch at the office. I went over and asked if he has a piece of 4x4 I could use. He gave me an 18" long piece and it work just fine as a step.

Spaces are a little tight here but Kathy's an excellent driver. I think someone with a 45' rig, and with a tow vehicle, would find negotiating the turns really tough. The spaces are long enough, if you can get turned into them.

For the first time in over a week we have both a good cell signal and campground WiFi that is excellent. 

The manager said that it got down into the high 20's here last night but tonight's forecast low is 38. 

Again this year it seems like we have headed north at least a week early. During the next 10 days there are only 3 days in Harlingen with highs in the 80's. I ask myself why am I enduring nights with lows in the 30's, in an RV? 

An observation: It seems that the ratio of types of campers has changed over the past 10 years. If I remember correctly there used to be about equal numbers of motorhomes and 5th wheel units. Now it seems that 5th wheel units significantly outnumber motorhomes and that there are a lot more travel trailers. I counted them as I walked through this campground this afternoon; 10 5th wheel units, 9 travel trailers, 3 Class A motorhomes and 1 Class C motorhome.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.