KathyBob's 2013 Alabama Trip

KathyBob’s 2013 Alabama Trip.

Why fly to Alabama for Kathy’s Mom’s 88th birthday when we can tow our Teardrop? A great trip, lots of visits to points of interest, outstanding scenery, running from crummy weather, and, of course, good times with family.

Snow over Snoqualmie Pass forced us to go south on I-5 and east on I-84. We took the opportunity to take historic route 30, which parallels I-84, and view the Columbia River and Multnomah Falls.



We spent our first night spent at The Cove Palisades State Park north of Bend, OR. A wonderful campground, AND a fellow coming into the campground mentioned he had seen a teardrop like ours. We think it was Uncle Frank's. Cove Palisades is alongside Lake Billy Chinook. Understand it is very hot there in the summer but was delightful when we were there.


Day 2 provided some excitement: first Bob was stopped by a very nice Oregon State Patrol trooper for driving too fast. Because of his excellent driving record, he received a warning instead of a ticket. Not 10 minutes later, a deer ran into the car – Bob had slowed because we saw them around a bend. Found out when we arrived in Alabama that we needed a front end alignment, possibly due to hitting the deer. The deer jumped up and ran into the brush.


As we drove towards the southeast, we stopped at Hoover Dam, Saguaro National Park, San Antonio, and Mustang Island and Padre Island National Seashore outside of Corpus Christi.






After nine days in Tuscaloosa, AL, we began our northwest journey towards home. We spent some in Piggott, AR, founded by Dr. John Piggott (no relation that we know of.) It has many claims to fame – a WWII plane named after it, mentioned in an “Evening Shade” episode, a filming site for the 1957 film “A Face in the Crowd,” and the home of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum, where Ernest Hemingway wrote portions of “A Farewell to Arms.”



Other stops included the George Washington Carver National Monument outside Diamond, MO and the Homestead National Monument of America



On arrival in Laramie, WY we learned that I-80 was closed to light and high-profile trailers because of wind gusts exceeding 65mph. So we spent the night there worried that we might have days of Laramie’s cold and windy weather ahead of us. When we woke up we learned that I-80 east of Laramie was closed because of weather. Hundreds of semi’s lined the interstate waiting for the go-ahead to move on. We headed west as quickly as possible but did stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument.


This is what the trailer looked like when we pulled into Craters of the Moon NM


Distance traveled: 6274 mi; Nights in TD: 19

 

Nice trip! and pics.... Crater of the moon looks cold, when we were there it was the extreme opposite - 100 degrees.

I like that the deer 'ran into the car', not Bob hit the deer

 

Out in these parts deer and elk do run into your car, and you can't do much. We were in our way up the mountain heading to training. My dad was on ski patrol so we always had to be there really early. I was leaning against the door with my eyes closed and the next thing I knew I was on the floor on the other side of the car. A bull ran right into the side of our suburban. They are big creatures that can do a lot of damage and we were lucky we had a big car to protect us (that could have been ugly). Deer have done the same to us.

Looks like a great trip outside the deer and the weather. We might be stopping at Craters of the Moon this summer, but we'll see. Is it worth the stop? That cactus is enormous, that or Kathy was hit with a shrink ray! Sorry about our police. Boy, they normally like to give out the tickets, especially to out-of-staters. You must have a great driving record, or maybe he just wanted a closer look at the trailer? Hmmmmmmm.

Welcome home!

 

Bob really thinks that after the Mom deer ran across the road in front of him, the adolescent deer looked him in the eye, said "screw you" and ran after Mom. thank goodness we were only going about 10mph.

Bob really is a safe driver, but the trooper looked at his license and said, "Piggott, that sounds familiar." I said, "there is a town in Arkansas named Piggott and we're going to stop there." The trooper said, "That must be it; I was in Arkansas just a couple of weeks ago." Small world! And yes, the Saguaro are that tall, but it takes them about 150 years to get there. Fortunately, a president of one of the universities in the state recognized their uniqueness and worked to get the NP established. Otherwise, the land would have been developed and generations would not have been able to see them.

 

KathyBob great pictures and story.

 

Thanks! It was a good trip, despite the weather.