Homeward bound – part the first
As I mentioned in my last post, we decided to cut our stay at the dealership short and stay in a campground close to Montgomery for a couple of nights so that our son Gregory could visit and see the new RV while we were close to Fort Benning Georgia where he is currently.
When I was planning this trip, I had thought of staying in the area a little longer, but that didn’t turn out to be something we could do. However, back when I was planning for the possibility, I had checked out RV park reviews on Campendium and RVParkReviews.com, and both of these sites had led me to think seriously about staying at the Gunter Hill campground. When it came about that we were going to leave early, both Joey and Ricky at the dealership recommended the park, so we wanted to get a spot.
I tried to go online and reserve a space, but as it turned out, we could not book anything with so little lead time. I called the campground and learned that there were two spots left, and if we got there before they were gone, we could pay for one, and that would reserve it for us.
Mireille and I had a couple of errands we had to run, but right after lunch, we drove out to the park in our rental car. Google navigation to the park is excellent and puts you right at the front gate. After you get out of Montgomery, the roads become two-lane, often with little to no shoulder. When we got to the park, we talked to Chuck Norris (the camp host, not the martial arts dude) and were able to get the very last spot available. Talk about lucky!
Once we had secured the spot (we were in space 2), we drove to see where it was so I could have in my mind any things I needed to look out for when we brought Charlie out. There was no need to worry. The park is awesome! It is a Corps of Engineers campground, and it looks like engineers have been involved…recently! Well maintained roads, level spots with fire pits, picnic tables, concrete pads and gravel sitting areas. Good hookups and tons of room between each space. “Crowded” is not a word you can use here.
When we left the dealership and soloed with Charlie for the first time, we retraced our path out to the park, and I got a thrill crossing a two-lane bridge at the same time a semi truck was also coming across from the other direction. For those of you who have been doing this a while, I am sure you think that is nothing, but it got my heart pumping, and I do not mind saying so!
Arriving at the park and getting to the spot was a non-issue. There are some spaces which are pull-throughs, but most are back in. Pull-through or back in, everything is so well kept and so well spaced that even a newbie like me was able to get in easily. We leveled and hooked up and were sitting outside in our folding chairs enjoying a christening beverage in very brief time.
A little later, Mireille and I took a walk around the park. It borders the Alabama river, and some spots overlook the water. Chuck Norris told me when I was checking in that there were alligators in the water, and we think we saw one not too far from a bridge we walked over.
One thing I noticed camping in Alabama, is that people who camp in Alabama like their college football team! I cannot tell you how many Alabama and “Roll Tide” flags and banners we saw as we walked around, waving to people and saying “hi!”
I know we are new and I acknowledge the excitement of everything being new may influence my thinking about this park. But after our first walk around I told Mireille that if one day out of ten could be like that in that park, this was going to be a fantastic adventure we were on.
Gregory came to visit early on Friday and we had a very enjoyable visit. Mireille, being French Canadian and also somewhat of a fire-bug, had gathered up sticks and branches from the surrounding area in anticipation of starting a fire. After dinner with Gregory’s help, we got one going.
We sat around it until late and talked, then went in to set up Gregory’s bed. The 34PA has a nice queen size bed under the sofa. The extra cool thing about it is that the bed is as long as the sofa, and the sofa is long. What this means is that instead of the back of the sofa being the headboard, one of the arms of the sofa is. This way the bed does not stick out into the “living room” as much and it is easy to move around it when it is out. We got the air mattress pumped up, and everyone had a good night’s sleep.
The next day we woke up and had a lovely breakfast of eggs, ham, and cheese on croissants with coffee. We visited with Gregory again until about 9:30 or so when we started to say our good bye’s and pack up. We had reservations for Saturday night in West Memphis, Arkansas, and I wanted to get there before dark.
Gunter Hill RV Park
Nightly Cost $26.00 no discount ATT Download ATT Upload Boosted/MIMO? 8.3 MB/Sec 7.86 MB/Sec MIMO Verizon Download Verizon Upload Boosted/MIMO? 4.37 MB/Sec 0.22 MB/Sec Neither TMobile Download TMobile Upload Boosted/MIMO? 5.35 MB/Sec 1.47 MB/Sec Neither
Internet speeds taken via Speedtest.net. Average of three measurements each. When I get my cell booster installed I will use that as well.