Tupelo to Pelham, AL

Oct 23^rd

Warmer last night. Since it was Sunday, we watched out Sunday morning program and got ready to leave by 9:45 AM. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the passenger side slide to come in. Once again all we got was a clicking noise. Shutting off the engine I went and checked the hydraulic fluid. Hmmmmm. No problem here, it’s full. Trying one more time to bring in the slide,…. Nothing but clicking. 

So I went over to the office to get the name of a Mobile RV Repair guy. Instead I ran into one of the owners and it turned out he was an experienced RV mechanic. We came back to the coach and he tried to locate the solenoid. It turns out that the slides are not hydraulic, the run in and out by electric motor and they are controlled by a potentiometer.

With his checks of the system and repeatedly toggling the control switch he was actually able to bring in the slide. He recommended that we leave the slide in for the duration of the trip and have it adjusted when we stop. Good suggestion. With the slide in we were on the road by 10:30 AM.

Fall colors in Mississippi

It was a pleasant drive until Birmingham. Light traffic, rolling hills, lots of fall colors mixed in with the green. But when I-78 cut off to Birmingham we ended up on a divided road with traffic lights, lots of trucks and uncontrolled cross streets. Nasty! We actually had to let the rig roll through two red lights. 

On the pad at South Birmingham Campground

But eventually we were through the congested area and back on I-20 S to Pelham where we pulled off the freeway and after a half mile pulled into the South Birmingham Campground for the night. Since the office was closed we picked a spot, got set up and had lunch. Around 2:30 PM we went over to the office and registered for a one night stay. 

Later in the afternoon we heard a pressure washer being run so we went and checked out what was going on. The coach next to ours was being given a professional wash. When I asked about the price, the owner gave me a really reasonable price. Since the rig hadn’t been washed in a couple thousand miles and we are going to be dropping the rig off at a dealers in a few days, I said go ahead and wash our rig too. When he was done washing the rig and waxing the front for easier bug removal I wrote a check and thanked him and his wife for a job well done.

By that time we had dinner and after cleaning up called it a night.

Not many photos today. To see them, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski