Meet Me in St. Charles…Again

When:  Friday, April 30, 2021 to Monday, May 3, 2021
Where:  Sundermeier RV Park (St. Charles, MO – a suburb of St. Louis)
Cost:  $55/night (minus 10% discount for Good Sam) for pull-through sites with full hook ups
Biking:  Katy Trail
Beer Rankings: (1)  Friendship Brewing (Wentzville MO); (2) Good News Brewing (O’Fallon MO); (3) Third Wheel Brewing (St. Peters MO); (4) Schlafly Bankside; (5) Missouri Beer Company (O’Fallon MO)

St. Charles Missouri - Very Cute!

In 2019, one of our first “big” RV trips was to St. Charles Missouri.  We still had Sally the Travel Trailer, and all did not go as planned as we explained back then.  But we had a good enough time that we thought we would try it again – this time with Birdie the Class C.

We stayed at the same RV Park, and even though it is on the pricey side, the convenient location is worth every penny. We also went back to a couple of the same breweries (Friendship Brewing and Third Wheel Brewing), and tried two new ones (Good News Brewing and Missouri Beer Company).  Good News was my favorite discovery of this trip, not just for the tasty beer flight and pizza but also for the location(s). The brewery has other locations near the Katy Trail in Defiance and Augusta. (Um….I guess I now have a reason to visit Defiance and Augusta).  

The only “brewery” that is actually in St. Charles is Schlafly Bankside, which is more of a taproom for the large brewery located in other parts of the St. Louis. The location is a recent acquisition, and it feels overly corporate and sparsely decorated. Yet, I must admit that they had a very good happy hour!

St. Charles was also celebrating Main in Bloom, and the small city was bustling with people.  The downtown area is filled with unique shops and restaurants, and we loved just walking around.   Yet, the main reason I wanted to come back to the area was to ride the Katy Trail.   During our ride, we made a few unplanned detours, but had a ton of fun just exploring the city and surrounding areas!   

Enjoying a flight Good News Brewing (O’Fallon) — Close to St. Charles

For me, the best part about this trip was learning more about Seaman, the dog who accompanied Lewis and Clark on their famous journey west.   The city is filled with statues of Seaman, which is what first got me interested in him back in 2019.  This time, I talked Kasie into spending sometime at the Lewis and Clark Boathouse and Museum.  The museum dioramas tell the story chronologically quite well, but my advice is to start with the short video.  There’s a small cost ($5/person) to help support the museum.

If you are in the St. Louis area, be sure and check out St. Charles.  You won’t be disappointed.  

Blog from 2019:
Meet Me in St. Louis in the RV for Biking and Beer

Girls Who RV Song (Official Music Video): the Class C Broads Theme Song

About the “Girls Who RV Song”

In the late 1990s, I bought a cheap guitar (the same one you see in this video), and started writing silly songs.  I’d characterize the genre as “SNL Adam Sandler”:   funny lyrics + basic strumming.   Yes, I was influenced by classics like Lunch Lady Land and The Thanksgiving Song. 

My songs are lyric-driven.  Usually, I’ll write about 80% of the lyrics in a single session, and then obsess about figuring out the melody.  I’m limited by the fact that I can only play a handful of cords (e.g., G, C, D, E, A) and have never been able to master any bar cords.  I’ve never changed the guitar strings in 20+ years so I probably play slightly out of tune, but I figure that just matches my vocal range.  Oh well. 

Covid-19 provided me with some time to pick up songwriting again.   I wrote “Girls Who RV” last fall, before the idea of having a YouTube channel had fully germinated.  I subscribe to a lot of groups on Facebook like Girl Camper and Women Who RV.   I’m always inspired by these women, and the support and knowledge being shared.    RVing can seem daunting at first, and so knowing that other women are doing it (sometimes on their own) is incredibly helpful.  In some ways, I think writing the song itself helped give me the courage to stop practicing law and start living my dream. It was an obvious choice to be the Class C Broads theme song….

While the song focuses on our experiences as two women who RV, I’m pretty sure the guys who RV will find it funny as well.  Please have a look/listen, and if you know of folks who RV, please share this with them. 

Lyrics to the “Girls Who RV Song”

VERSE 1
Hey there ladies
Come sit a spell
Around the fire
For the stories we'll tell.

What's your rig?
You full or part time?
You got sticks and bricks?
I'm think I might sell mine

And just back it in
Put the jacks on the ground
Slide it out
And slink it on down

CHORUS
‘Cause I’m a Class C broad
A Girl who RVs
A Dame who Dumps
Just living the dream
Now let's go hook up the toad
And hit the road.

VERSE 2
In cities and parks
We can roam
Some ladies, some dogs
In our motorhomes.

Lassies on a chassis
A gal with a guide
For bucket lists
And just enjoying the ride.

We can back it up
Or pull it through
Crank the awnings out
And enjoy the view

VERSE 3
We can COE
Or just boondock
We just need little solar
Or G(J)enny from the Block

Harvest host
Near wine and brews
Or get full hookups
If we chose

Just back it in
Explore the town
Make new friends
There's beauty all around.

VERSE 4
Let's talk batteries
And what best performs
You got your lead acid, AGMs,
And Battle Borns.

Twelve volt, 30 amp,
[Dinah] Shore power
Flip your switch
For a hot shower

Just unplug yourself
Check your ground
Recharge your soul
With nature all around

VERSE 5
If you are just getting started
Here's a little tip:
Pull the black, then gray
And watch it go on, git

Get good sway bars
For your hitch
And a trucker GPS
For the chickpit.

And just back it in
Put the Jills on the ground
Slide it out
And slink it on down

CHORUS (REPRISE)
Be a Class C Broad
Be a Girl who RVs
A Dame who Dumps
Just living the dream
Now let's go hook up the toad
And hit the road.

Sweet home in my camper.

Sweet home in my camper.

Copyright 2021 by Lana Knedlik
All rights Reserved

Louisiana: Fontainebleau State Park

When:  Saturday, February 27 to Wednesday, March 3, 2021 (four nights)
Where:  Fontainebleau State Park
Cost:  $22/night +$6 transaction fee + ~$9.00 in state/local taxes
Bucket Lists: Gator Hunting
Beer:  Gnarly Brewing Company (Hammond LA)
Biking:  Tammany Trace Trail

Having successfully extended our planned 9-day Pensacola trip into both Alabama and Mississippi for a couple of weeks, we continued our efforts to be “real RVers” by booking a few more days in yet another state.  We settled on Fontainebleau State Park located on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain near the town of Mandeville. 

About Fontainebleau State Park

• Oak Tree at Fontainebleau State Park

Spread across 2,800 acres, Fontainebleau State Park offers 126 “premium” and “improved” full hookup campsites.  There are also cabins and lodges for rent. 

The campground is not your average park.  The park was once an old plantation and sugar mill that belonged to Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville.  In addition to naming the neighboring town after himself, he also named the property Fontainebleau after a forest near Paris that was enjoyed by French Kings. Though the plantation house is no longer visible, remnants of the sugar mill are adjacent to the Visitor Center.  The Visitor Center was understandably closed during our visit because of Covid-19. 

The property is lined with old oaks covered in Spanish moss.   We saw several photographers and engaged couples have their pictures taken near a grove of trees.  At the same time, a recently installed sign tells a part of the sobering story of the property:

Beneath this alley of oaks were 20 double cabins that housed enslaved families from 1829 to 1862. They were the workforce for Marigny's Fontainebleau Plantation and included skilled steam engineers who managed the power source for the sugar presses and lumber mill. Brickmaking was the site's most profitable endeavor, but capable blacksmiths, schooner crews, masons, sawyers, and ox drivers were also part of the enslaved labor. A shoemaker, seamstress, and field hands were also noted in papers of the time.

Children, with their small hands, fed sugar cane into steam operated presses during harvest. Sugar refining was hazardous work, and a small hospital was kept onsite. Tending sheep, cattle, horses, mules, and oxen was a daily affair.

In 1840, 153 enslaved individuals were documented here including 57 children under the age of 10. The economic panic of 1837, crop failure, and fallen sugar prices led to the 1852 sale of Fontainebleau, further impacting enslaved families. The women, Violette and Bonnine were babies when Fontainebleau was built in 1829, and 23 years later were sold with their own children to the plantation's new owner, Pierre Poutz.

The history of the park is well documented in this Tammany Family blog post, and it is worth a read if you are a history buff.

While we were there, beachgoers and families made good use of the pavilion and shelters near the lengthy beach.  The pier also made for spectacular sunset photographs along the beach and water.

The park features several nature trails.  Our favorite was the “Alligator Marsh Boardwalk.”  After successfully spotting gators on our first excursion, we were literally on a gator hunt each morning and/or evening after that.   There are also some signs to help identify many of the plants and animals common to the area throughout the park. 

Biking Near Fontainebleau State Park

The park is also conveniently located adjacent to the Tammany Trace trail.  Originally a corridor for the Illinois Central Railroad, this rail-to-trail traverses Slidell to Covington (about 31 miles).  We rode the trail to up to Covington one day, and also just tootled around Mandeville on another day.   There are several breweries located along the trail.   And, not surprisingly, we visited every one! 

Breweries Near Fontainebleau State Park

The southernmost brewery along the Tammany Trail is Old Rail Brewing Company.   With designated booths for seating, the place feels more like a restaurant that happens to serve craft beer, rather than a brewery that happens to also serve food.  We were hungry after our bike ride when we went there so that was okay with us.     

Chafunkta Brewing Company is named after an early Indian settlement located in what is now the city of Mandeville, LA.  There is also a river named the Tchefuncte that is located in the Mandeville area.  Located just a few blocks from the Tammany Trail, Chafunkta is part of a weekly bike crawl to Abita Brewing Company.   The Chafunkta brewery is in a large industrial building, with plenty of indoor and outdoor space.   A local food truck/tent was slinging some yummy pitas when we were there.  We shared a flight; and I especially liked the Anonymous Complaint IPA.

The granddaddy and most northern brewery on the trail is Abita.  We’ve heard they do a pretty good brewery tour, but the taproom and tours were closed because of Covid-19 so we sat outside during our visit.   About 1.5 miles south of the brewery on the trail is the Abita Brew Pub, which was the home of Abita Brewing until 1994.   The pub features a good selection of food and exclusive Abita Beer selections. We shared a flight, and my favorite was the PB and Jams. 

Although not located on the Tammany Trail, my favorite brewery in the area was Gnarly Brewing Company in Hammond, Louisiana.  Our bartender/server was attentive and engaging, and the Fat Jose taco truck did not disappoint.   Many of the beer ingredients were unusual both in selection and combination.   Kasie enjoyed a Mango Passionfruit Smoothie, which was t...h…i...c...k.   Even at 5% ABV, this beer is truly more fruit “smoothy” that anything else.   It is dangerously close to being a breakfast drink.   We took home some of the Jucifer IPA and the  Strawberry Catahoula Common, rationalizing that those beers are actually servings of fruit. 

Super C Dealers in the Area

Our reason for venturing to the Hammond area was look at some Super C motorhomes for the first time in person.   These are RVs built on a semi-truck chassis.   We’ve been eyeing several online as a possible upgrade to Birdie, our 2019 Greyhawk 31F.  We filmed lots of video of the Super C rigs but because the house batteries were dead in ALL of the rigs, the poor lighting made most of it not worth showing.  The rigs included a lot of obvious stuff that was wrong with them (doors that didn’t latch, dings in the woodwork, etc).  And, the interior design of the Renegades needed updating (at least in our opinion).  Thus, our candid first-impression of the dealerships and the RVs themselves were not exactly “classy.”  You can get a sample of those impressions in the outtakes at the very end of our video.

Great American RV – Jayco Senecas

Berryland Campers  -- Renegade Valencias and Dynamax Force/DX3s

For more info on Super Cs, check out our blog: What is the Difference Between a Regular Class C RV and a Super C RV?

Gators, Pigs, and Coons – Oh My!

Canjun Encounters Swamp Tour

For folks who only have a few days in the area and want something touristy to do, Canjun Encounters (Slidell LA) offers several options.  We opted for the “swamp tour” along the Pearl River not too far from the Mississippi-Louisiana border. Despite Covid-19, our tour boat was full, holding roughly 25 passengers.  We had a seat at the front of the boat, which was ideal.   The crying kid in the seat in back of us was not so ideal.  Nonetheless, the tour guide was funny, informative, and we had an overall good time. We saw about a half-dozen alligators, a wild pig, some racoons, and a snake.   The cost was $30.50/person (with reservation fees).

Day Trip to New Orleans

We decided to take a day-trip to New Orleans.  Although the rain made visibility of the Lake Pontchartrain difficult during our drive, the drive over the causeway was a civil engineer’s dream.   At nearly 24 miles, the causeway holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous bridge over water.   The causeway is comprised of two parallel bridges, and includes both places to pull over and also places to cross to the neighboring bridge. 

We started our day in the French Market with some over-priced beignets from Café Du Monde.  We nonetheless picked up some coffee and other goodies for our neighbors back home who had been kind enough to keep an eye on the house during our extended time away.   We then wandered around Jackson Square, getting pretty much soaked in the rain.  My eyeglass strap broke, so they were temporarily lost.  The morning was becoming a complete bust.   One thing would likely help our increasingly negative mood:  beer and food. 

Luckily, Port Orleans Brewing Company saved the day.   The brewery is located on Tchoupitoulas Street, and our spirits lifted just trying to stay the name (CHOP-i-TOO-less). Because of the rain, we were not able to enjoy the spacious and colorful outdoor space.  The beers were just as good inside.  The 3-Day Weekend Hibiscus Lime and Coffee Break stout were my favorites of the flight we shared.   There’s a food window run by Avo-Taco inside the brewery, and the street tacos hit the spot.

Urban South Brewery — with Travel Trailer!

Also on Tchoupitoulas Street is Urban South Brewery.  They have a pretty big canning operation, and we had already tried some of their beers while staying in Mississippi.   We fell in love with their award-wining Lime Cucumber Gose, and purchased a couple six-packs of it to go.  You know the stuff is good when we get TWO six-packs….

With our spirits lifted, we decided to explore another outdoor part of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong Park.  Because of the rain, we were basically the only folks in the park.  The public art there is pretty cool; the only thing that might make it a little better is if the park piped in some of Louis’s trumpeting in the background.   (Note to my fellow copyright lawyers:  I would have liked to have included some Louis Armstrong music in our video, but the recently enacted Music Modernization Act now gives copyright protection to pre-1972 sound recording so if I’m interpreting the new statute correctly, I think some early Armstrong recordings that otherwise would have been in the public domain won’t be until December 31, 2021).

Our last stop of the day was…you guessed it…another brewery.  Founded in 1907, Faubourg Brewery is the oldest operating brewery in New Orleans.  Most people know it as “Dixie”. It was renamed in 2020 when the owners of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and similar brands were doing the same.  The brewery’s new name is pronounced “FO-burg” and is a French word that generally means “neighborhood.”

Hurricane Katrina destroyed original Dixie brewery, forcing the company to relocate out of state and survive by contract-brewing.   The company and its new facility are now owned by Tom and Gayle Benson, owners of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans.  There’s a ton of history about the New Orleans brewery scene located in the new building.  The place is huge and features lots of event space, including some outdoors. As of this blog, the brewery is also a Harvest Host location so if we ever decide to stay in New Orleans itself, that is an option. Given how much we liked Fontainebleau State Park, I’m guessing we will probably just stay there again.

Mississippi Song (and Official Music Video)

In February 2021, we spent a week camping at Buccaneer State Park and enjoyed the nearby towns of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, and Biloxi. I decided to write a song about it called....drum roll..."Mississippi Song."

PS: I’m not a professional singer or musician. Be kind.

Mississippi Song Lyrics

VERSE 1:
We came from Missouri
To Near Bay St. Lou
Where they like to use Vs
Instead of Us.

We parked the RV
At Buccaneer
Then sat at the Porch
Drinking our beer.

At Lazy Magnolia
Nothing is greater
Than a mason jar flight
And pizza with gator

CHORUS:
I miss you, Mississippi
There ain’t nothing better
Than two humpbacks
And four crooked letters.

You got a spell on me
And you know why
I love that Miss-Iss-Ipp-I. 

VERSE 2:
We set up camp
Near the town of Waveland
And Biked near the oceans
And played in the sand

We hopped in the Jeep
Took a drive by the water
To the Silver Slipper
West -- We couldn’t go farther

So we headed east
To dilly dally
In Gulfport
At Fishbone Alley

VERSE 3:
There were costumes and blues
At Alice Mosley
The Blind Tiger
Had a view to see

Along Highway 90
Are carved remains
And a spirit that outlasted
The hurricanes

There is something
About that Angel Tree
Family surviving that
Changed me.

VERSE 4:

Lighthouse, white house
Dolphin and sharks
I loved me some gators,
Beaches and Parks

And lunch at Puff Belly’s
In a strip mall
Where they're Macon (their makin’) beers
For our first call. 

On the way home
We stopped at Chandeleur
For King Cakes
In our flight of beers

CHORUS (REFRAIN):
I miss you, Mississippi
There ain’t nothing better
Than two humpbacks
And four crooked letters.

Is it Ms. or Miss.?
I want to get it right
I’ll stick with Mis-Iss-Ipp-I.

Copyright 2021 Lana Knedlik
All Rights Reserved

Mississippi Coastal Towns Near Buccaneer State Park

When:  Thursday, February 18 to Saturday, February 27, 2021 (nine nights)
Where:  Buccaneer State Park (near Waveland MS)
Cost:  $28/night for full hook-ups + tax (site 021 for seven nights and 020 for two nights; Jean Laffitte loop)
Bucket Lists: Post-Katrina Tree Carvings along Highway 90
Beer:  Lazy Magnolia (Kiln MS)
Biking:  Bridge Across Bay St. Louis

While we were staying in the eastern Mobile Bay area during record winter temperatures, we decided to extend our southern adventures yet again.   A Missouri couple we befriended while in Florida had mentioned Buccaneer State Park in Waveland Mississippi adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico.   We booked a week, like “real” RV-ers. 

Buccaneer State Park

Buccaneer State Park features 206 “premium” campsites with full hookups (water, electric and sewer) about a half mile or so from the coast. There are also an additional 70 sites (with water and electric; no sewer) that are available on a limited (first-come, first-serve) basis right next to the Gulf of Mexico, and an additional 25 primitive (first-come, first-serve) sites located in the back of Royal Cay camp area.  I’m not sure why, but there were only a handful of RVs at the sites right next to the water. 

Our loop (sites 1-25) was named after Jean Lafitte, a French pirate who operated in the area in early 1800s.  Other loops have a pirate themes:  Barataria Bay (26-27), Long John Silver (48-68), Pirates Cove (69-93), and Blackbeard (94-104).

The campground includes lots of amenities:  a 4.5 acre water park, the Pirate’s Alley Nature Trail, a kids playground, an 18-hole disc golf course, an activity building, a camp store, and the Castaway Cove pool.    While the aquatic features were filled with water, they were not open when we were there.   Of all the amenities, we only used the trails and laundry facility. Oddly, I’ve found that I like to get up early and do laundry at campgrounds.  The laundry facility does not have any change machines so I had to travel into town for quarters.   I’ve now added “rolls of quarters” to our RV checklist for trips. 

Breweries

Lazy Magnolia (Kiln, MS) pre-dates the craft beer craze.  The brewery opened in 2003 and claims to be the Mississippi’s oldest packaging brewery.   At the time of our stay, the brewery had expanded and was distributing in 18 states.  Despite a multi-state operation and being located in an industrial building, the interior of the brewery itself still exudes southern charm.  “The Porch,” as the taproom/restaurant is named, features a wide variety of beers, all served in Mason jars.   The brick-oven fired pizza is a must, and we bravely added “gator sausage” to ours.  It tastes like chicken, if you are wondering.   Our server/bartender was a fabulous hostess, and patiently waited through our “flight” deliberations and tourist pictures.    

The twelve mile (20 minute) drive from the campground to the brewery is worth the time.  In fact, we did it twice during our week-long stay.   I took home a six-pack of the Sun Fox IPA, and wished I would have purchased more.   The good news is that Missouri is one of the distribution states!

While in the area, we also visited Chandeleur Brewing (Gulfport, MS) and Puff Belly's (D'Iberville, MS) on a day trip we made to Biloxi, Mississippi.  Chandeleur seems to be a pretty big operation and is well known.  We found their beers all over Mississippi, and my pick was definitely the H90 Surfside pineapple wheat.  You don’t find a lot of pineapple beers; the only other one I remember finding is from Kansas Territory.  

 Puff Belly’s Pizza and Brewery is located in a strip mall in a northern suburb of Biloxi, and the beer is marketed under the “Macon Brewing Company” brand, which is a little confusing.  In researching whether to go there or not, we had a hard time figuring out if it was a real brewery because it’s hard to find their taps online.  However, don’t let that fool you.  The place features a wide variety of microbrews, as well as guest taps.   They also serve some delicious pizza.  The place has a “diner” feel (like where orders are written down on a notepad), and we luckily just beat the lunch crowd.         

Bay St. Louis – Tree Carvings

While we did not find much to do in Waveland (other than explore the campground and go to Wal-Mart), Bay St. Louis is a small coastal tourist destination.   We had an outdoor lunch next to a warm campfire at The Blind Tiger (a/k/a TBT) where we had some $13 mahi tacos and $7 beers from Chandeleur Brewing (Gulfport, MS). 

 Just outside restaurant row is a carved oak tree that was made after Hurricane Katrina.  The dedication plaque reads:

The Angel Tree — Bay St. Louis

In the early 1990’s, Ovenia de Montluzin looked out her kitchen window and saw workers starting to take down this oak, a sapling at the time, to clear a way for the de Montluzin Avenue to be constructed. She asked them – successfully—to stop, because the young tree was an oak and would be beautiful one day.

 At that time, this tree stood 225 feet west, down Montluzin Avenue.

On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina bore down on the de Monluzin family home, a turn-of-the-century villa which had become the Bay Town Inn. Of the seven people in the Inn that morning, four made it through the water and were rescued in the afternoon.

Kevan Guillory, Doug Niolet, and Nikki Nicholson Moon, along with her Scottish Terrier Maddy, managed to get to this tree once the tidal surge washed away the historic home. They held on for several hours as the waves washed over them, the eye passed, and they were able to jump down and find shelter for the night.

 Years, later, the tree was carved and moved to this location.

I was incredibly moved by this angel tree. We soon learned that there were dozens of carved trees in the area.  While the vast majority are located along Highway 90, my favorite was located in a Bay St. Louis cemetery.  These tree sculptures were created by Dayton Scoggins of Mississippi, Marlin Miller of Florida, and Dayle Lewis of Indiana.  I was very moved by the artists inspired to create such works, and finding those trees became one of my main goals of the trip.   In the video, there’s a montage devoted to the tree sculptures. We also located a google map of the tree locations.

Another thing to be sure and check out is the Alice Moseley Folk Art & Antique Museum.  Miss Moseley began painting at age 65, and her paintings certainly capture the spirit of the South. The museum collection is eclectic, ranging from elaborate Mardi Gras costumes to a wall featuring famous black blues musicians – David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Chester Arthur Burnett (Howling Wolf), Riley “BB” King, Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, and others.  We also found a few more tree carvings there.  The best part is that the museum is free. 

South Beach Boulevard — near Bay St. Louis

Biking near Buccaneer State Park

Starting about a quarter mile from Buccaneer State Park, a multi-use paved path runs along South Beach Boulevard.  On one day, we rode the bikes about 10 miles from our campsite to Henderson Point, located on the other side of a 2.1-mile bridge over Bay St. Louis that also includes a dedicated biking/walking lane.  I was a little nervous at first to use the bridge, but felt very comfortable given the wide path and concrete barriers/railings between the bike path and traffic.  Along the bridge, we stopped several times to enjoy the views of the water and surrounding towns. The bridge contains bronze plaques of various aquatic/beach animals every 0.1 miles, and I photographed each one along the ride, which are included in the video.  Yep, that’s 21 photos….

Before this trip, I never thought of Mississippi as a winter get-away. Yet, this part of the country is an excellent destination for snowbirds. I have a feeling we will be traveling there again some winter.

Chill in Mobile - Mardi Gras and Yardi Gras 2021

When:  Monday, February 15 to Wednesday, February 17, 2021 (three nights)
Where:  Meaher State Park (near Mobile AL)
Cost:  $37/night for full hook-ups ($31.45/night with veteran discount); $4.75 online reservation fee
Bucket List:  Mardi Gras Porch Parade; Mo' Bay Beignet Company
Beer:  Iron Hand Brewing (Mobile AL)

Trying to avoid the deep freeze back home in mid-Missouri where the lows would get down to -6ºF, we extended our RV trip to spend some time around Mobile, Alabama.  During our stay, the lows would get down to 26 ºF, 22ºF, and 29ºF.   We took some proactive measures like: (1) disconnecting our hose to the fresh water supply, (2) insulating our pipes with some foam from Home Depot, (3) placing little “handwarmers” from the Dollar Tree on a couple of spots near the exposed pipes, and (4) keeping the RV toasty using both the propane furnace and a space heater.   We unsuccessfully searched for a good outdoor heat lamp at a couple of hardware stores.   I suspect that other Mobilians had the same idea prepping for the record cold.    

Our pipes to the RV kitchen faucet did freeze on the night it dropped to 22ºF.  We hunkered down the next morning while we tried to accelerate the unthawing using one of our portable space heaters.  Luckily, all of the plumbing worked fine after the thaw.

Iron Hand Brewing

The cold did not stop Mardi Gras.  Mobile boasts the oldest annual Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana.   Because of Covid-19, the city understandably cancelled the traditional parade and conducted a Porch Parade instead.   We were able to enjoy many colorful “house floats” from the comfort of our Jeep during “Yardi Gras.”   While there were several official maps of the parade route, we thought the one using Google Maps was the most useful because it integrated with our app.  In the video, you’ll see clips of dozens of over-the-top decorated homes. 

The other thing that the cold would not stop us from doing was enjoying some good craft breweries.   On Monday afternoon, we ventured to Iron Hand Brewing.  The brewery isn’t normally open at that time, but owner Ben Ross was there preparing for Fat Tuesday.  He told us about the location: a Baptist church built in 1927 that was later a homeless shelter. We chatted with the owner about pine woodwork and old church pews while I enjoyed Ben’s Oatmeal Stout and Kasie reverted to one of their guest taps:  the Goat Island Blood Orange Berliner Weisse.  When we mentioned our Civil War adventures at Fort Pickens and Blakely State Park, he invited us to a Civil War history group that was meeting there that night.  We politely declined, but appreciated both the southern charm and hospitality of the brewery.

On Fat Tuesday, we tried two other breweries early in the day.  Old Majestic Brewing was hopping with live music (Symone French) and beads.  I tried the Chocolate Moon Pie stout, but was somewhat heartbroken when I realized I would miss the Smoked Bacon porter that would be released the next week. A bacon beer!

Serda Brewing is designated as a Harvest Host venue (where RVers can stay for free but are asked to patronize the establishment). Located near several one-way streets and beautiful oak trees, we concurred with the on-line reviews that this place was better for small RVs.   Our bartender could have cared less about us, and the beer was okay. We were getting hangry so perhaps my take on the brewery was influenced by my hunger.

We strolled through the heart of Mobile on Mardi Gras before making an early exit. Between Covid-19 and the extreme cold, the streets were petty sparse. I later read that the attendance on that Fat Tuesday was 1,700 people. By contrast, Mobile’s Fat Tuesday celebration usually draws around 150,000 or more people to the downtown streets.

Mo’ Bay Beignet Company

While staying in Mobile, we also did some touristy things like film all of the statues in the downtown Mardi Gras Park.   The Colonial Forte Conde looked enticing, but when we realized it was largely a replica, we lost interest.  The History Museum of Mobile also looked promising, but we were pressed for time, and did not feel we would get our money’s worth ($10/person). To me, the prettier, more authentic park was the Spanish Plaza Park located next to Mobile Carnival Museum.  Ironically, the museum was closed on Mardi Gras. 

Perhaps the best find in Mobile was Mo' Bay Beignet Company. The place was too crowded to visit on Mardi Gras, but we went back there to pick up some beignets the next day. Fresh. Warm. Mounds of powered sugar. But warning: Do NOT eat them in your car. In fact, my advice is to wear a powdered sugar hazmat suit. That stuff goes everywhere….. as you will see in the video.

The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay is Worth a Stay

When:  Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, 2021
Where:  Historic Blakely State Park
Cost:  $30/night for full hook-ups
Bucket Lists:  United States Sports Academy Statues; Driving/Walking Tour at Historic Blakely State Park 
Beer:  Fairhope Brewery (Fairhope, Alabama)

About midway through our 9-night stay in the Pensacola area, we looked at the forecast back home in Columbia, Missouri.  The entire United States was starting to experience record cold temperatures (it would get down to -8ºF in Columbia).  Because I was newly retired and Kasie could work remotely, we opted to do what many RV owners do: just keep RVing.  Admittedly, given that Kasie and I are pretty much type-A personalities, this was a BIG DEAL for both of us.  Neither one of us are naturally go-with-the-flow types.  Thus, the idea of not really knowing when we might ultimately get home was a completely new experience for us.

But where would we stay?  The year before, we spent two nights in the Fairhope, Alabama area on the way back from Florida and loved it.  Thus, we decided to make our way slightly westward about an hour and head back to the area. 

Staying at a Harvest Host in Fairhope, Alabama

Finding a place to stay on such short notice proved to be difficult.  Our final itinerary included a one-night Harvest Host stay at Bill-E's in Fairhope (f/k/a the Old 27 Grill).  This venue touts itself as one that serves the “best…house cured bacon on the Eastern Shore.”   Given that I once wrote a song called “Girls Who Like Bacon” and coached a softball team by that name, this was a place we needed to visit.

Bill-E’s also scored extra runs by having a decent pimento spread and Goat Island Blood Orange Berliner Weisse on tap.   We had first tried this beer at the brewery on our way to Pensacola and were delighted to find it at Bill-E’s.

Exploring the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay

The eastern shore of the Mobile Bay is dotted with cute, walkable towns having huge Mardi Gras tradition. The highlights from our 2020 and 2021 trips include:

United States Sports Academy

• United States Sports Academy sculptures (Daphne, AL).  

  Located at a private university focused on sports, these outdoor sculptures made of various recycled metal materials are a must-see for both art lovers and sports fans.  You can meet “Borzov the Sprinter,” "Arnold the Weightlifter," "Nastia the Gymnast," and "Jordan the Basketball Player."   The "The Iron Bowl," commemorates the rivalry between the University of Alabama and Auburn University football teams.

• Fairhope History Museum. 

  Where else can someone find lawnmowers on the ceiling, cool wood sculptures, a firetruck, and an old jail?

• Fairhope Brewing. 

  This brewery is always packed with people, good beer, and the Judge Roy Bean stout is one of my favorites of all time.        

• Eastern Shore Trail.  

  This 22-mile biking/hiking trail starts at Spanish Fort and ends at Weeks Bay.   There are great views of the Mobile Bay, but it is easy to get distracted by some of the bungalows interspersed among the multi-million dollar homes. And, who doesn’t want to bike to something called Mullet Point?  

• Warehouse Bakery and Donuts.  

  Last year, we got the sticky bun.  This year, we got the sticky bun.  

Eastern Shore Trail

Fairhope Brewing

Historic Blakely State Park

Our final camping destination was Meaher State Park on the east side of Mobile, Alabama, for four nights.   After our night at Bill-E’s, we had to play reservation hopscotch and stay one night at Historic Blakely State Park. 

Blakely was supposed to be just a place to lay our heads for the night.   When we arrived in the afternoon, the camp hosts gave us maps of the campground, which featured various trails with intriguing names like the “Siege Line Trial” and “Skirmish Line Trail.”   Because our campsite was not ready (still occupied), we loaded up the dogs in the Jeep and headed out to explore the park.  

Historic Blakely State Park

The 2000+ acre park is a real history lesson.  There’s a cemetery, old courthouse area, and ghost structures representing the original town.   The park is home to the Battle of Fort Blakely on April 9, 1865, the last major battle of the Civil War.   The land includes a series of earthen mounds known as “redoubts” that marked the confederate/union battle lines and a large battlefield area.  The various historical landmarks are numbered, and we accessed the online cell app to learn more about the park and its history – spending the entire afternoon exploring it.    Blakely was an unexpected treasure, and I wish that we would have booked a longer stay there.

Pensacola Song (and Official Music Video)

We loved our time in Pensacola! Biking, bucket lists, and beer. That was our first big trip in our RV, and because of that Pensacola will always have a special place in my heart.

PS: I’m not a professional singer or musician. Be kind.

Lyrics to the Pensacola Song

VERSE 1:
It’s that
Time of year
To head down south
And drink some beer

Pack the RV
Grab the sandals
And take a trip
To the panhandle

To the beach
Let’s lay in the sun
Sip on a bushwacker
With coconuts and Rum

Let’s take a stroll around
Pensacola beach and town
Park the RV
At the Campground

We’ll bring the bikes
We’ll bring the hounds.
I promise to buy the
Second round

VERSE 2:
It’s time
I cannot wait
For the western gate
To the Sunshine State

The Five Flags fly
The Blue Angels too
Catch a pop fly
From the Blue Wahoos.

Bike the ocean
With the Pelicans.
Learn/ some history
About Fort Pickens

We’ll take a hike
To old battlegrounds
I promise to get the
Next round

VERSE 3:
It’s time
For the Big Lagoon or
Hiking Tarkiln Bayou
All afternoon

Graffiti Bridge
Is artful fun
And so is hunting
All pelicans.

Let’s rock and roll around
Pensacola beach and town
And meander though
Our favorite campground

We’ll ride the bikes
And walk the hounds.
I promise not to get
Turned around.

VERSE 4:
It’s time
For a toast
To Ye Old Brothers
And the Gulf Coast

A Little Madness
The Big Top
Perfect Plain and Beardless
Are worth a stop

So grab a pint
From Odd Colony
St. Michaels, Spar,
Or the Coastal County

Let’s try all the beer around
Pensacola beach and town
Take some back
To the campground.

We’ll light a fire
Crack stout or brown.
I promise this is the
Last round.

Our Blogs and Videos on Pensacola, Florida:

Five Flags RV Park in Pensacola — A wonderful RV park!

Pensacola: Parks and Pelicans — Graffiti Bridge, Downtown Pensacola, and more!

Fort Pickens: Biking, Beaches & Battlegrounds — A bike ride that is a true bucket list!

Pensacola Breweries (Classy Beer Awards - Pensacola Edition)

• A Little Madness

• Beardless Brewing (Milton)

• Big Top Brewing

• Coastal County Brewing

• Gulf Coast Brewery

• Odd Colony Brewing Company

• Pensacola Bay Brewery

• Perfect Plain Brewing Co.

• Spahr Brewing Company

• St. Michael’s Brewing Company (Navarre)

• Ye Olde Brothers Brewery (Navarre)

Music Credits for the Pensacola Song

(1) The music is a song called "Rocker Chicks" by Jason Shaw (audionautix.com) licensed under CC-BY 4.0.

(2) The lyrics/vocals/remix were created by Lana Knedlik. The lyrics/vocals/remix are what constitutes the "official music video" (not the underlying song).

Copyright 2021 by Lana Knedlik
All Rights Reserved.

Classy Beer Awards - Pensacola Edition

During out short stay in Pensacola in February 2021, we visited nearly a dozen craft breweries. That’s a lot of beer, folks. Aside from brewing some pretty darn good beer, each brewery had its own unique vibe.   Which one(s) would you go to if you were ever in the area? To help you decide, we put together the “Classy Beer Awards” based solely on our non-expert opinions and first impressions. Basically, the idea is to just talk about what stood out to us about each brewery and pick a “overall” winner.   We realize others may have different experiences and different opinions. And, keep in mind this is all in good fun. All of the breweries are winners in our opinion.   We also look forward to buying a few more rounds next time we are in the Pensacola area to see if our our first impressions change.

I had an equal amount of fun making the award itself.  Seriously, folks, you won’t want to miss the first couple of minutes of this video about the award.

Here’s a list of the venues we visited (in alphabetical order).  I’ve included “time codes” in the video so that viewers can jump to specific breweries if desired. But again, you probably don’t want to miss the intro.

Time Codes:

0:00​ – Introduction
1:45​ - CCB Theme Song
2:19​ - Judging Criteria / Disclaimers / Viewer Feedback Request
4:45​ - A Little Madness
6:23​ – Beardless Brewhaus
8:29​ – Big Top Brewing
10:40​ – Coastal County Brewing
12:08​ – Gulf Coast Brewery
14:04​ – Odd Colony Brewing Company
16:03​ – Pensacola Bay Brewery
17:19​ – Perfect Plain Brewing Co
19:25​ – Spahr Brewing Company
20:50​ – St. Michael’s Brewing Company
22:27​ – Ye Olde Brothers Brewery
26:13​ – Camera Work Apologies
26:52​ – B-Roll / Outtakes

Cheers!

I also wrote a song about Pensacola. Verse 4 is dedicated to the breweries.

For more videos/blogs on Pensacola, check out:
Five Flags RV Park in Pensacola — A wonderful RV park!
Pensacola: Parks and Pelicans — Graffiti Bridge, Downtown Pensacola, and more!
Fort Pickens: Biking, Beaches & Battlegrounds — A bike ride that is a true bucket list!

Fort Pickens-Biking, Beaches & Battlegrounds

When:  Monday, February 8 to Friday, February 12, 2021 (five nights)
Where:  Fort Pickens, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Sites 25 and 18 (loop A)
Cost:  $40/night ($20 with a National Parks Pass) for water and electric hook-ups
Bucket Lists:  Biking the Fort Pickens road along the beach 
Biking: Ditto. See above. (As the lawyers say: “see, supra, Bucket List.”)

While the first part of our Pensacola trip focused on the mainland, we spent the the latter part at Fort Pickens located on Santa Rosa Island in the Gulf Island National Seashore.  Because of Hurricane Sally, the main bridge was closed, making the route to our destination a little longer than we had planned (about 1.5 hours in “RV time”).  However, once we arrived at Fort Pickens, it did not disappoint.

Surrounded by sand and water on both sides, the road to the campground itself is amazing.  Storms had ushered in mounds of sand such that we saw a couple of bulldozers moving sand from the road.   When Kasie texted her mom a photo, she thought the sand looked like piles of snow!  Yes, it was that white.  And beautiful.

We stayed in Loop A of the Fort Pickens campground, which has its own separate laundry, shower house, and dump station. A walking/biking trail leads to the much larger Loop B-E campground less than a half-mile away.

The highlight of our stay was the 9-mile bike ride from our campground to Pensacola Beach. Although the weather was chilly, that ride was a true bucket list experience. Blogging about the ride doesn’t do it justice. And, even though we made a pretty darn good video of the ride (which you really should watch), the video also falls short. That bike ride was just that spectacular.

Fort Pickens itself was an unexpected delight.  The Fort is located within walking/biking distance of the campground (~1.5 miles from Loop A to the Fort).  Large signs are scattered throughout the Fort to provide historical information on the Fort. Visitors can also use their phones to enjoy a numbered walking tour to learn details about the Fort.  We learned about the construction of the massive structure, its role in the Civil War, and its repurposing afterwards.  Neither Kasie nor I are huge history buffs, but seeing the Fort in person certainly made me more interested in Florida’s role in the Civil War in particular. And, I was able to satisfy my weird obsession of getting my photo taken with cannons. 

Biking along the beach at Fort Pickens

The only pseudo-negative to our stay at Fort Pickens was perhaps the weather.   Most of the United States, including Pensacola, was suffering from unusually cold weather such that it got down to the 30s on some nights.  That was all relative to us because it reached 0°F back home in Missouri.  The weather likely kept many folks away from the campground, which meant we pretty much had the beaches and Fort to ourselves.   In the end, I think that the cold weather actually a plus for our overall experience. We did not have to fight any crowds and could truly enjoy Mother Nature.  

Another pseudo-negative to Fort Pickens is that cell phone and internet coverage sucked. Much like the weather, perhaps that turned out to be a plus. We were forced to completely disconnect when in the RV at Fort Pickens — although we did venture out to a few breweries, which you can learn about in our next blog :-).

Other blogs/videos you might like on Pensacola:

Pensacola Song (Official Music Video) — A Classy Broads original!
Five Flags RV Park in Pensacola — A wonderful RV park!
Pensacola: Parks and Pelicans — Graffiti Bridge, Downtown Pensacola, and more!
Pensacola Breweries (Classy Beer Awards - Pensacola Edition) — We review nearly a dozen breweries in the area!

Pensacola: Parks and Pelicans!

When:  Thursday, February 4 to Monday, February 8, 2021 (four nights)
Where:  Five Flags RV Park, Pensacola Florida, Site 11
Cost:  $40/night ($38/night with Good Sam) for full hook-ups
Bucket Lists:   Graffiti Bridge and Pensacola Pelican Statues
Beer:   Goat Island Brewing (Cullman, Alabama) (en route to Pensacola)

After retiring from the University of Missouri, I was excited to take our first big trip in the RV.  Naturally, we opted to head somewhere south to escape the harsh Missouri winter.   We chose Pensacola because it was relatively close and the temperatures were supposed to be in the 70s.  Mother nature had other plans. 

The RV gods also had other plans for us as well.   During the two-day trip down to Pensacola, it seemed like one thing after another went wrong. 

Goat Island Brewing — Cullman Alabama (our first Harvest Host!)

After driving 8+ hours, we were looking forward to staying at our first Harvest Host at Goat Island Brewing in Cullman, Alabama.  We arrived mid-afternoon and were eagerly awaiting some good beer.  Unfortunately, the beer would have to wait because the battery in our tow vehicle (a 2019 Jeep Cherokee) was dead.  After unsuccessfully trying to jump the Jeep with a portable DeWalt charger, we ultimately repositioned the RV to jump the Jeep using the RV battery.  The battery issue was not a big deal, just time consuming.     

Next, when we got ready to level the RV in the Goat Island boondocking area, the electronic panel for the automatic levelers was dead.    Kasie quickly realized that the ground wire to the leveling system was dangling from the bottom of the RV.   The ground wire has a very small gauge (it is very big) and so it took Kasie some time to re-connect it.  Meanwhile, I just hovered and stressed her out.

After fixing the Jeep and the RV (so we thought…), it was time for beer.  Goat Island Brewing did not disappoint.  We fell in love with the Blood Orange Berliner Weisse while we talked about our traveling woes.  We were grateful later to find the beer in several other places on our trip — both in cans in grocery stores and on draft as a guest tap. 

The next morning, our bad luck continued.   The Jeep was displaying a warning light that the 4WD was not working.  That meant that we could not place the Jeep in to neutral to tow it.   We tried various fixes, including resetting the fault codes with an OBDII reader.  (This is a handy diagnostic tool to have, and I highly recommend it). We also tried disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes to see if that would reset the electrical system.  When neither approach worked, we ultimately decided that I would just drive the Jeep and follow Kasie in the RV to Pensacola. We stayed in touch using some walkie-talkies. There is something about saying “Breaker 1-9” that made our separation more fun.  

Magically, the 4WD issue fixed itself en route around Montgomery.  When we stopped to get gas and fill up our propane tank, I noticed that the warning light was gone.   We aren’t sure what happened, but based on some subsequent research, my guess is that the Jeep is not being sufficiently lubricated when it is being towed for long periods of time, and that driving it restored the necessary lubrication for the 4WD/neutral to work properly.       

Five Flags RV Park

We stayed at two different campgrounds while in Pensacola, the first of which was the Five Flags RV Park. It turned out to be on of my favorite RV parks to date.  We’ve decided to do a separate RV park review video on Five Flags. Check it out if you are thinking of staying there.   

Graffiti Bridge

As a lover of public art, I don’t think it gets any better than Graffiti Bridge.   It’s free.  Its public.  It’s communal. The contributors range from teenagers with spray paint cans to professional artists.  The art work is also ever-changing, and usually reflects a wide range of political, social, or artistic viewpoints.  It would be interesting to take a photo of it each day and watch the evolution – the same spot is just as likely to show a George Floyd mural, a Trump tribute, or a funny cat.   There is true beauty in all of that free expression. 

Of course, as I lawyer, I wondered about the legality of Graffiti Bridge.   Luckily, the City of Pensacola specifically carved out the Graffiti Bridge from its graffiti ordinance so you won’t get slapped with a ticket if you decide to contribute.  

We saw Graffiti Bridge - just before the Brady v. Mahomes match-up in Superbowl LV. Hope the #12 jersey was painted over.

Perhaps the more interesting legal question is whether the artists have any enforceable rights under a federal statute, the Visual Artists Rights Act (“VARA”), 17 USC 106A. This statute gives “the author of a work of visual art” the right “to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature” and provides that “any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work is a violation of that right.”    It’s entirely possible that some of the artwork might have achieved “recognized stature” such that one or more artists could prevent its destruction.   If the city ever wants to replace or remove the bridge, it could have a VARA issue.  This would be a good topic for a law review article.

“Pelicans in Paradise” Statues

Pelicans are the unofficial mascot of Pensacola.   Over a decade ago, the Pensacola News Journal embarked on public art project:  a series of 70+ fiberglass pelican statues created by local artists. After stumbling upon our first one, we located nearly a dozen walking around downtown and spent a good chunk of our Pensacola stay trying to hunt down as many statues as we could.  We later found that someone had mapped most of the locations, which I’ve shown below.

I love public art projects like the Pelicans because they encourage visitors to see parts of the city they might not otherwise venture.  These statues also help reflect the diversity of the city. Each statue obviously reflects something about the artist and the creator’s take on what Pensacola means to her/him. Plus, they are just cute.

Florida State Parks Near Pensacola

Florida is blessed with a number of great state parks.   After securing our Florida parks pass, we checked out Big Lagoon state park.  Unfortunately, much of the park was closed because Pensacola was still recovering from hurricane Sally.  We had a little better luck with Tarkiln Bayou state park.  The weather was drizzly and cold, but the park was still beautiful.

Because we were staying in the northern part of Pensacola, we also opted to take the bikes for a day to the Blackwater Heritage Trail across the Escambia Bay in Milton.   The temperatures were still a little too cold for our comfort, but we saw enough of the trail to know it is one we would like to revisit at some point.  

If you want to see and learn more about our adventures in Pensacola, please check out the video below! Pretty please.

For more information on Pensacola, please check out:

Pensacola Song (Official Music Video) — A Classy Broads original!
Fort Pickens: Biking, Beaches & Battlegrounds — A bike ride that is a true bucket list!
Pensacola Breweries (Classy Beer Awards - Pensacola Edition) — We review nearly a dozen breweries in the area!

Retiring Early—Why and How

Today, I’m feeling very blessed.  After nearly 25 years of practicing law as an intellectual property attorney, I’m retiring.    As cliché as this sounds, I just want to spend more time with my family and travel the country.   There’s a lot more to this decision than that though.  

Today is the “someday” I’ve been thinking about for a long time.  Like many folks, I’ve worked and saved so that I can enjoy the fruits of my labor in retirement.   I’ve always taken the safe conventional route career-wise:   college and law school at state schools (Kansas State University and the University of Kansas), an associate and then a partner at a large law firm, and finally an in-house counsel position at the University of Missouri System. On the financial side, I’m one of those people who always maxed out the 401(k), and saved a lot more on top of that.   I’ve owned fixer-upper homes and didn’t purchase a new car until 2015 (which I still own).   So, between working and saving, I’ve been blessed with enough financial security that I could theoretically retire early.   Yet, I never had a clear vision of what early retirement would look like until two relatively recent things happened. 

In 2019, Kasie and I started RVing, and that changed everything. In that year, I became hooked on the idea of exploring the country with Kasie and the dogs.  We took a couple of big trips and constructed our bucket list of other places we wanted to see. We enjoyed finding a good bike trail and chilling in the camper.   We also found a refreshing sense of community.  We liked chit-chatting with our campsite neighbors about rigs, places, and what-not.

Even when we weren’t RVing, we were thinking about it a lot. After coming home from work each night, Kasie and I would watch at least a couple of YouTube videos about couples who were on the road full time.  These YouTubers provided so much invaluable information and insight.   RVing was not one big vacation, but instead was a way of life for many.   These various how-to videos were critical to the evolution of my thinking.  And, slowly but surely, I started to understand that RVing was the sort of life I wanted in retirement.   I now better understood what would come next if I retired; I just did not know when that would be.    

My colleagues provided some nice farewell gifts.

Then 2020 happened.   Again, this will sound cliché, but 2020 taught me that life is short.  While Kasie and I have done our best to adhere to good social distancing practices, the reality is that one of us could get sick at any time.  Every day…every moment…they just seem a little more precious now.   And, there was a sense of urgency to spend more time with my aging parents.   My mother was diagnosed with COVID-19, and while she was never hospitalized, it was scary. All of that culminated in me asking myself on an increasingly frequent basis:  “what am I waiting for?”

I provided my notice in November 2020, and have been winding down the last three months.   While liberating, my decision took some courage too.  I’m leaving a profession that I enjoy for the most part, and that is tough to do.  The practice of law has been both rewarding and challenging.  It has built confidence, but has also been incredibly humbling at times.   I’ve been particularly blessed to be at the University for the last 7.5+ years where I’ve learned so much and worked with top-notch professionals.  Leaving all of that is bittersweet.

Today, I feel very blessed about the the past 25 years, and am looking forward to what comes next.   My path probably won’t be the safe conventional one this time around.  But perhaps that is the point.     

Tulsa OK Song (& Official Music Video)

About the Tulsa OK Song

In October 2020, during the pandemic, Kasie and I decided to take the RV to Tulsa, Oklahoma.   It’s hard to articulate exactly why, but that trip was transformative for me.   We camped, explored, and met up with old friends (we had been quarantining prior to the trip).  I didn’t want to leave Tulsa; I certainly did not feel like going back to work. 

On the drive back to mid-Missouri, I wrote the lyrics to “Tulsa OK,” and a few days later, I got out the guitar and keyboard and created the music.  An avid writer, I also started compiling a four-part diary on our Tulsa trip.  For the first time, I started thinking about how I might blog and maybe document some of our adventures on YouTube if I ever retired.  That was the beginning of what would become “Class C Broads.”    

Within a week after the Tulsa trip, I gave notice that I was going to retire after practicing law for nearly 25 years.  I was excited.  I was scared.   But I knew I was going to be OK. 

 It’s been roughly a year now so I’m finally posting my “Tulsa OK” song.  The video is mostly photos of the trip because we weren’t filming back then (except for some shaking footage of our bike ride).   I wanted to share it with you all and give you the background on the song.   The four-part blog is also now up on the website.  Thanks for reading and listening.  

 Please note that I am not a professional singer or musician.  Be kind.

Lyrics to the Tulsa OK Song

VERSE 1
At the center of the universe
I heard an echo
I saw the Cave House
And lots of art deco

Woody Guthrie
Oil refineries
On land belonging
To the Muscogee

Hey Tulsa
You are more than OK.
I like your Golden Driller
And the hands that pray.

Tulsa, OK
A nice place to stay.
Wish I had a
Few more days.

VERSE 2
Feel the history
Along Route 66
From box cars to Ollies
To the monoliths

Take a drive along
The Mother Road
For whales, pumps
And totem poles

Hey Tulsa
You became more than OK
When Cyrus Avery
Paved the way

Tulsa, OK.
A nice place to stay.
Wish I had a
Few more days.

VERSE 3
Bike or walk
Along the riverside
The biking trails
Are paved and wide 

See the Meadow Gold sign
The cowboy from space
The Philbrook gardens
And Gathering Place.

Hey Tulsa
You are more than OK
From Turkey Mountain
To the BOK.

VERSE 4
The prayer tower
And Tulsa U
Murals, art,
Lots of craft brews

Dead armadillo,
Marshall, Neff
Welltown, Renaissance
Nothing's Left

Cabin Boys,
High Gravity
American Solera
Elgin Park, and Prairie

Tulsa OK
But I only had a few days
Looks like I’ll be on my way.

Camping and Biking in Tulsa —with Maps! (Tulsa—Part 4/4)

 When:  Monday October 19, 2020 to Saturday October 24, 2020 (five nights)
Where:  Cherry Hill Mobile Home Park
Cost:  $35/ night for full hookups 
Biking:   River Parks Trail; West Bank Trail
Bucket List:   Prayer Tower; Center of the Universe; Gathering Place

Camping Near Bike Trail Access:

During our stay in Tulsa, we decided to try the Cherry Hill Mobile Home park (4808 S. Elwood Avenue) because of its close proximity to the River Parks bike trail system.  The RV park connects to the trails on the industrial east side of the Arkansas River, while the downtown/urban areas are on the west side.   Thus, while the RV Park had virtually direct trail access, that meant biking 3+ miles south to 71st street to cross to the other west side.   The path north along the west side was closed, unfortunately.

Cherry Hill had many full-time residents and was very well-maintained.    The sites are a reasonable distance apart, and we had no issues maneuvering through the campground.   The manager was a stickler for rules as we received a polite phone call just a half hour after constructing our temporary dog fence that this was in violation of park rules.  Next time, we will read the fine print.   “Next time” means that we would also stay there again.

Biking in Tulsa

Because of weather, we had only two days of biking during our time in Tulsa.  At least according to Google maps, we logged about 27 and 36 miles on those two days.

The map below shows our routes for both days.  We were able to see several landmarks during our rides, but also spend several hours on the trails just enjoying nature.  

Day 1 of Biking

On the first day of biking, we went south along the River Parks West Trail, where we saw only a handful of other trail users until we arrived at Turkey Mountain.  From there, we crossed the Arkansas River at 71st Street and then headed south on the River Parks East Trail to Oral Roberts University.  We spent over an hour walking around that beautiful campus, but there are two ORU landmarks that everyone should see:  the Praying Hands statue and the Prayer Tower. 

Constructed in 1980, the Praying Hands are reportedly 60 feet tall and contain over 30 tons of pure bronze.   They are cast from Oral Roberts and his son Richards own hands.  The hands were originally located at the nearby “City of Faith” medical center once owned by ORU that later went bankrupt.   The praying hands then moved to the ORU entrance.   (The medical center is now an office building, and is worth a drive-by to see its gold/navy three-triangle architecture).   

Prayer Tower — Oral Roberts University

The Prayer Tower reportedly cost $2 million to build in 1967. Oral Roberts remarked that wanted to place the tower in the middle of campus so that no one could escape the power of prayer.  Indeed, this gold/navy futuristic 200-foot-tall wonder is truly awe-inspiring and a work of art.  It was no surprise to see several groups of students studying outdoors at the base of the tower.   Later, I learned from the ORU website that an aerial view of the Prayer Tower reveals the Star of David, while the ground view of the observation deck represents the Crown of Thorns. 

After touring the outdoor areas of ORU, we hopped back on the River Parks East Trail and headed south until it ended around 101st.  There was nothing much to see or do on that part of the trail.  We then turned around and rode north about 70 blocks until we reached Gathering Place. Along the way, there were a variety of statues and river views.    

Gathering Place is a 66-acre $465M park that includes includes playgrounds, gardens, a skate park, and concert area.   We visited on Wednesday during the late morning, and saw mostly families with kids.  There are three restaurants:  (1) the Patio, (2) Redbud Café, and (3) Vista at the Boathouse.   The latter serves a few $7 local craft beers but was closed indefinitely because of covid. 

The unexpected highlight of Gather Place was Cabinet of Wonder.   Upon entering, we were greeted with a notice that there is a live video feed of the space.   The room is inviting and contains curious collections of random things – e.g., wooden mallets, creepy dolls, abacuses, and vials of weird specimens like Cheerios.  We were lucky to have the place to ourselves for several minutes to just ponder what in the world the point of all of this was.   Maybe that is the point….to simply wonder.

Day 2 of Biking

On our second day of biking, we explored a little of the west side of the Arkansas River, but were unable to use the River Parks West Trail because of a closure.  We therefore started on the Cherry Creek Trail and then used a detour path where we could again see the Route 66 Monoliths (see prior post). We crossed the river west to east at 23rd Street then went north on the River Parks East Trail and then took Pedestrian/Bike Bridge east to west to the Retro Neon Signs (see prior post) and then back again.   From downtown, we hopped on the Newblock Park Trail and Katy Trail westward about six miles.    Most people likely marvel at the Cave House ( 1623 Charles Page Blvd) on the Newblock Park Trail , but as a Dr. Who fan, my true excitement occurred when we discovered a life-size TARDIS in someone’s back yard off the Katy Trail. 

The Tulsa TARDIS!

After reaching the Sand Springs Lake, we turned around and back-tracked to downtown for more exploring.   In my view, the “bucket list” of downtown Tulsa is the Center of the Universe.   Sounds emanating from the center have an echo to those who produce the sound.  Yet, someone standing a foot away will not hear an echo at all.  The acoustic phenomenon started in the 1980s after a bridge was converted to a pedestrian walkway.  Some people believe it has to do with the concrete barriers surrounding the circle.   Maybe Dr. Who knows…

Center of the Universe — a Tulsa acoustic wonder

 We did not readily find any signage pointing out the location of the “center” so I will describe it in more detail.   The “center” is actually an area of broken concrete measuring approximately 30-inches in diameter and residing inside a larger bricked circle measuring about 8 feet in diameter total.  

Downtown Tulsa includes lots of art deco, cool murals, and the Tulsa Drillers stadium, the BOK center, and lots of hip restaurants, and other things to see.   Overall, it is pretty typical of a downtown.  However, that is not really our scene so we had lunch and decided to move on.

After lunch, we got on the Midland Valley Trail at 3rd Street and took a leisurely ride south to Woodward Park.  We spent some time on foot strolling through the park and looking at the fall foliage.   This park is not-too-far from the famed Philbrook Museum, which we were planning to visit on another day when we were not on our bikes and would have more time to spend (since the cost is $13/person).   Both Woodward Park and the Philbrook Museum are very close to the River Park East Trail. Thus, we headed south, crossing the river at 71st street and headed back “home” to the Cherry Hill Mobile Home park north along the River Park West Trail.

We were tired after two days of biking.  But that just meant we had a better excuse to drink more craft beer.

About the Map

The map below shows our bike route, along with photos of some of the landmarks we saw. Google maps is a clunky because it only permits 10 stops and also won’t let me change colors to illustrate the routes on day 1 vs. day 2. I’m doing research on map extensions for Squarespace 7.1. If anyone has suggestions for a good (reasonably priced) map builder, please shoot me an email at classcbroads@gmail.com

Also in the Tulsa Blog Series:

Route 66 Near Tulsa (Miami to Sapulpa) -- Top Things to See

Route 66 In Tulsa -- Top Things to See

Craft Beer in Tulsa -- Rankings!

Craft Beer in Tulsa - Rankings (Tulsa - Part 3/4)

When:  Monday October 19, 2020 to Saturday October 24, 2020 (five nights)
Where:  Tulsa Oklahoma 
Beer Rankings:   (1) Dead Armadillo, (2) Cabin Boys, (3) Marshall, (4) Nothing's Left, (5) Renaissance, (6) Welltown, (7) Prairie Artisan, (7) American Solera, (9) NEFF (food), (10) Elgin Park (food)

Dead Armadillo Brewery

Tulsa is not just about oil.  The city refines some very good craft beer scene. Above, I’ve ranked the craft breweries that we visited on our trip.  Because not everyone can visit 10 breweries in five days, I’ll highlight my top three that you should try to make time for when visiting the area. 

Our favorite brewery of the trip (hands [upside]-down) was Dead Armadillo.   Our love for the place started with our fascination with the animal by the same name.  A few years ago, during a trip to and from Oklahoma, Kasie counted 102 dead armadillos on the journey.  (Yes, counting roadkill is one way to pass the time when driving!)  Not only did we love this brewery for its name and logos, but we also liked the outdoor patio and beer options.   The “Tulsa Flag” blonde is easy drinking, and I tried the IPA.   We brought a pack of their “Pickle Recovery” beer home, as well as stickers, coasters, and a t-shirt.

Cabin Boys Brewery had a great vibe and is located next to two other breweries (including Marshall Brewing below).   The large indoor area has a big screen for sports and there are shuffle-board, foosball, ping pong, and bag toss games.  The taproom is separate from the main drinking area, and there is also designated outdoor drinking area.  We brought home a mixed six-pack which included the Octoberfest, Huntman IPA, and Cornerstone Saison.

Cabin Boys Brewery

Marshall Brewing is the largest of the Tulsa craft beer scene, but that is only because it has been around for over a decade.  The owners helped give breweries the ability to do free public tours & samples in 2014.  It was not until 2016 that breweries like Marshall were able to serve full strength beer direct to the public from their own tap rooms.   Thus, I think Marshall Brewing deserves a “cheers!” for doing craft brewing early on and helping others to enter the market.   I liked the Atlas IPA, and we brought home This Land Lager in a mixed six-pack. 

Nothing’s Left deserve an honorable mention.  It had some very interesting beers, but everything was expensive.  We took home four-packs of Deez Nuts brown ale and Strawberry blonde.   The cost of our flight (four samples) and these two four-packs was over $40. 

A sampling of the craft beers we brought home from Tulsa.

In sum, “Tulsa is More than OK” when it comes to many things, including craft beer.  And, Verse 3 of my song by the same name might be worth a listen if you liked this blog. 

Other Blogs in the Tulsa Series

Route 66 Near Tulsa (Miami to Sapulpa) -- Top Things to See

Route 66 In Tulsa -- Top Things to See

Camping and Biking in Tulsa -- With Maps

Craft Breweries in Tulsa

Route 66 in Tulsa — Top Things (Tulsa - Part 2 of 4)

When:  Monday October 19, 2020 to Saturday October 24, 2020 (five nights)
Where:  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Bucket List:   Route 66 Monoliths; Neon Signs; Golden Driller Statue

Having fell in love with Route 66 en route to Tulsa, we decided to spend an entire day driving along that road in Tulsa city proper.  We started by having (a big!) breakfast at Ollie’s Station (4070 Southwest Blvd) – a restaurant and railroad museum.  This is a classic mom-n-pop diner, and the comfort food is just as good as one would expect.  The restaurant is located in the famed Red Fork Corner in Tulsa, where the oil and railroad industries merged with Route 66.  It is easy to spend an hour or more just looking at all of the railroad memorabilia on the walls.    

Just north up the road is the Route 66 Village (3770 Southwest Boulevard), a still-under-construction tourist destination with an oil derrick, several railroad cars, and a Phillips 66-style gas station visitors center (closed for covid-19).   We had the place to ourselves, and took a few cheesy pictures.  

As we traveled further north, we saw what we think is the largest Goodwill store ever (covering literally 3 blocks!).  Shortly thereafter, in Howard Park, we located the Route 66 Monoliths.  Constructed in 2016, these three nine-foot stone limestone sculptures created by Patrick Sullivan have the following themes: Transportation, Industry/Native American, and Art Deco/Cultural.  They don’t look like much driving up.  However, once I got close, I spent quite a bit of time reveling in their simple informative beauty.  As I wrote this blog, I discovered that the monoliths were one of my favorite works of art on this trip.

Howard Park in Tulsa - Monoliths

Just before the 11th Street Bridge over the Arkansas River on Route 66 (west side), there are three Retro Neon Signs on a brick plaza just constructed in late 2020. The three signs represent (1) east Tulsa – the Will Rogers Motor Court, (2) west Tulsa  – the Oil Capital Motel, and (3) the Admiral Place sections of Tulsa – the Tulsa Auto Court.   They all make for good selfies. A chain link fence separates the park from part of the original Route 66 road. There is not much to see there as pavement is not that inspiring.

Tulsa Retro Neon Sign (installed in the fall of 2020)

A Pedestrian/Bike Bridge can be used to cross the Arkansas River.  The path contains the names of some of the major stops along Route 66 in faded white paint, and was perhaps one of the most interesting finds of the trip.   The decay of the paint perhaps symbolized that of the Mother Road itself.   I went back to the bridge later and took photos of each of the city names. Those photos are in the map below. I later incorporated that near the end of my “Tulsa is Okay” song and video.

After crossing the Arkansas River on Route 66 is the Cyrus Avery Plaza, named for the “Father of Route 66”.   The parking is across the street (access by car from Riverside Drive), but there is a pedestrian walkway that crosses the busy road that makes the walk worth doing. 

Downtown Tula features a lot of art deco, and the path along Route 66 is no exception.  However, I think the coolest part starts near the Medal Gold District, which includes the iconic sign of the same name, the Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios statue and signs.   A few blocks later, you can see Tulsa University to the north, which is worth parking to explore the beautiful private institution. 

Tulsa Golden Driller - with a Mask! I’m as big as this guy’s shoe!

A trip to Tulsa would not be complete without the infamous Golden Driller Statue to the south of Route 66, located in the Expo Square.   This 75-foot-tall (23 m) 43,500-pound (19,700 kg) monstrosity is a must do.  The engineering to cover this golden boy in a mask was inspiring as well.

If you like to explore, this route will fill up close to an entire day. 

The map below contains additional photos that we took on Route 66 in Tulsa. Please enjoy!

Other Blogs in the Tulsa Series:

Route 66 Near Tulsa (Miami to Sapulpa) -- Top Things to See

Craft Beer in Tulsa -- Rankings!

Camping and Biking in Tulsa -- With Maps

Route 66 Attractions through Tulsa

Route 66 near Tulsa— Top Things (Tulsa - Part 1/4)

When:  Monday October 19, 2020   
Where:  Route 66 (Miami to Sapulpa)
Bucket List:   Catoosa Whale (Catoosa, Oklahoma); Totem Pole Park (near Foyil, Oklahoma)

In the mid 1990s, Kasie had lived in Tulsa for a brief period of time.  Because we had already traveled to two of my former homes (Manhattan KS and Lawrence KS) this summer, I thought it would be fun to visit some place she had once lived.  Plus, we could spend a couple of days with her folks in Miami, Oklahoma (pronounced “My-AM-ah” by the locals) on the way down.

We took our time traveling from Miami to Tulsa, taking Route 66 instead of the interstate.  This was our first time taking the historical highway, and it was worth every minute.  Inspired by that dawdling, we also spent another morning a few days later traveling further south from Tulsa to Sapulpa on Route 66 to check out some other tourist attractions.

Going from northeast to the southwest, we made stops at:

Route 66 Original Highway Marker

o   Located between Miami and Afton, Oklahoma.  

o   This "Ribbon Road" (competed in 1922) is the only remaining 9-foot wide segment of what would later become part of Route 66  The Mother Road began construction a few years later in 1926.  For more information, check out this link. There isn’t much to see, but the landmark made me want to further read about and explore the highway.

Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park

o   Located near Foyil, Oklahoma. 

o   Built in the late 1940s, this unique park features 90-foot tall totem pole having a 30-foot wide turtle base.  For more information, check out Wikipedia link or NPS article.

Standing Brave Statue

o   Located at the Travel Plaza in Big Cabin, Oklahoma. 

o   Estimated to be about 50 feet tall, this statue was built by Wade Leslie from 2000-2001. There are reportedly 105 feathers in Standing Brave’s headdress, of which the largest is 5 feet long.  The Oklahoma state flag is integrated into Standing Brave’s shield.  For more information, check out this article.

Original Route 66 Highway Marker — Between Miami and Afton Oklahoma

Ed Galloway’s Totem Pole Park - Foyil Oklahoma

Route 66 Tunnel

Route 66 Tunnel in Chelsea Oklahoma

o   Located in Chelsea, Oklahoma

o   This pedestrian tunnel goes under Rule 66.  In 2016, a local artist Ken Hollingshead painted the mural, while the other side has been filled with space for Route 66 travelers to sign their names.

Catoosa Whale

o   Located in Catoosa, Oklahoma.

o   In the early 1970s, Hugh Davis built an 80-foot-long whale out of pipe and concrete in a little pond on their property.   The whale is still floating strong, but a nearby abandoned replica of Noah’s Ark built a few years later did not fair so well.   The property also featured about a dozen artistic domed metal mushrooms that once encircled a pond.  

o   As of this post, the Blue Whale Facebook page captures a lot of visitors and events happening at this attraction. There is a little visitors/shop area as well. 

Bronze Buffalo

o   Located at 1245 New Sapulpa Road in Sapulpa, Oklahoma (just between Route 66 and I-44)

o   This “Guardian of the Plains” was Sapulpa’s contribution to the 2007 Oklahoma Centennial.  It reportedly measures 8 feet long, five feet wide and 12 feet tall.   The concept was created by local Russell Crosby and the sculptor was Jim Gilmore of Alamosa, Colorado. 

Gulf Oil Station

o   Corner of Water and Hobson in Sapulpa (just a block from Route-66)

o   Worth a snapshot.

World's Tallest Gas Pump 

o   Located just south of Sapulpa

o   Built in 2018, this was commissioned by the adjacent Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum

This trip really inspired me to learn more about Route 66 and explore it in greater detail.  It would be cool start at the beginning in Chicago and travel all of the way to California.  I now have a “bucket list” goal of driving the entire Route 66 road in 66 days.   There is just so much to see and do!

If you want the route, check out the map below. Feel free to have a look!

Bronze Buffalo outside of Sapulpa, Oklahoma

Gulf Oil Station in Sapulpa, Oklahoma

World’s Larges Gas Pump in Sapulpa Oklahoma

Other Blogs in the Tulsa Series:

Route 66 In Tulsa -- Top Things to See

Craft Beer in Tulsa -- Rankings!

Camping and Biking in Tulsa -- With Maps

We Married Up to a Class C Motorhome

Some women do not know how to be alone.   They hop from one relationship into another.   That was true for us as well.   We went from breaking up with Sally to finding a new love…all within about two weeks.

Now that we knew that a travel trailer, Sally, was not for us, we needed to find another RV.   This time, we didn’t want a casual relationship with the RV.   Even though we had only been RV-ing for a couple of months, we could already picture ourselves going on extended trips.   We were going to be spending fairly significant money this time around so we were looking for a girl ready for a serious long-term relationship.  

I cannot tell you how many hours we spent on RV Tinder (a/k/a RV Trader) searching for the perfect RV.   Of course, the “perfect” RV does not exist.  It was fun to look.  And addictive.

Why Did We Choose a Class C Motorhome?

We quickly dismissed fifth wheels as these are towables as well.   We were leaning towards a traditional Class C motorhome for a couple of reasons:

• Based on our research, we believe that Class C motorhomes are generally safer than Class A motorhomes.  Class C vehicles use a conventional truck chassis with front end having a “crumple zone” with airbags in both the driver’s and passenger seat area.   Class A motorhomes, in contrast, have a vertical front end, and some do not have airbags at all. 

• Class C motorhomes are usually considered easier to drive because the drive like trucks.  Both Kasie and I have owned pick-up trucks most of our lives.

• Class B motorhomes were too small for what we wanted.

• “Super Cs” looked cool and safe, but we were intimidated by their size and expense. 

What type of Class C Motorhome Should We Chose?

Our criteria for the RV had also evolved significantly since we first started looking just a few months earlier in February 2019.   In some ways, we learned what we wanted in the “new girl” by comparing her to what we liked, didn’t like, or didn’t use in terms of our soon-to-be-ex.  Here is what we had learned about Sally, our 2019 Coachman Spirit Ultra Lite 2245BH:

•  Bunkhouse floor plan.

Sally was good to bunk with, but she needed to be more accessible. With Sally, we had removed her lower bunk and stored our bikes (with the wheels off) in the rear bunk area.  Ideally, we wanted indoor storage that would enable us to store our bikes inside without having to remove the front bike wheels.   After doing some measurements, we knew that we could modify most Class C bunkhouse floor plans to accommodate the bikes by removing the top bunk.     

• A Real Bed

  Sally’s bed needed an upgrade.  Rather than a murphy bed, we wanted a regular queen (preferably king) size bed.  We were already tired of folding and unfolding a murphy bed. A regular sized bed would also be good for sleeping with so many dogs.

• Outdoor Entertainment Was no Longer a Priority

  Sally’s outdoor entertainment area (TV) got little use.  An exterior cable jack, which we would connect to a small portable TV, was all we really needed.

• Outdoor Kitchen Was No Longer a Priority

  Sally’s outdoor kitchen area received little use as well.  As long as we could connect our portable gas grill to the propane, that would be sufficient.

• Storage Space

  Sally needed more trunk for our junk.   In short, we wanted more space.  That meant an RV with one or more slides, and a lot longer RV.

In short, after just a few months on the road, we just didn’t need a lot of things that we thought we needed in an RV. Likewise, there were things that we quickly learned were “must haves.” I don’t regret dating Sally because she taught us a lot about what sort of relationship we needed with an RV.

What Class C RVs with Bunkhouse Floorplans Are Available?

We narrowed down our search pretty quickly to the following:   

•  Coachman Freelander 31BH

• Coachman Leprechaun 310BH (2018)

• Forest River Sunseeker 3270S

• Jayco Redhawk 31F

• Jayco Greyhawk 31F

• Minnie Winnie 31G

• Gulfstream Conquest 63111

• Thor Chateau 31E

• Thor Freedom Elite 30FE

• Thor Four Winds 31E

We read and watched tons videos about our options.  (It’s amazing how much one can learn from YouTube in particular so keep posting, people!)  We ultimately honed in on the Jayco Greyhawk because it seemed to have finishes that appealed more to our style (e.g., stainless steel vs. plastic sinks, darker cabinets) and also came with two air conditioners, automatic leveling jacks, and an electrical management system.  In short, the new girl we were interested in was both pretty and smart.   It was time to “swipe right” and actually go meet her. 

Buying our First Class C RV from Camping World

Fortunately, our Camping World (now Gander RV) had two Jayco Greyhawks 31Fs in stock.  Unfortunately, this was Camping World.   I had read so much bad stuff about Camping World online that I was really concerned about dealing with them.  Yet, I understood that if we were going to go out on a date with a Jayco Greyhawk, I might have to deal with the equivalent of her drunken slacker of a dad. 

Say hello to “Birdie” — Our 2019 Jayco Greyhawk 31 F

The first thing that went wrong with Camping World is that they didn’t even know they had two identical twins on the lot.   When we asked to meet the girls, we pointed out that they had mislabeled a 31F as a 31FS online (and apparently in their records as well).  It took a while for the “back office” understand their own inventory.  We waited patiently while they walked the lot to discover the 31F sisters.   

Our Camping World sales guy turned out to be alright though.  He’s the brother in this dating analogy.   He understood that his corporate dad had a bad rap, but he was hoping to marry off his sister to someone nice.   We took a nice long test drive that went remarkably smoothly.   It wasn’t dinner and a movie, but we felt good about meeting the girl, her brother, and where the relationship might be headed. 

Then, the second thing that went wrong with Camping World happened.  After playing a little hard-to-get, we started negotiations by asking Camping World to tell us their bottom line price (knowing that would not really be their “bottom”).   Our sales guy handed us a piece of paper from the back office with a price that was about $2K higher than what they were advertising online.  Higher?   I vaguely recall standing up and walking out, mumbling something about a bate-and-switch.  I’m pretty sure I dropped both the four-letter and five-letter f-bomb (the latter referring to “fraud”).   I was not a happy camper.

Our sales guy ran after us, blamed the back office, and ultimately, smoothed things over.   After some back and forth, we settled on a reasonable price for both our purchase of Greyhawk and our trade-in for Sally. 

Technically, we got a divorce and a new girl – all in one day.    The paperwork took some time, but here we were….getting hitched again.

 A week later, the girl was in our driveway.   Now that we had the girl, we needed a name for her.   

 Welcome to our flock, Birdie.   

Travel Trailer Song: Sally, the Girl Who Swayed (Official Music Video)

About the Travel Trailer Song (and Sally)

Finding the right RV is like finding the right woman.  It is HARD.   Before we were the "Class C" broads, we owned a travel trailer named Sally.   Things did not go smoothly. And like any bad romance, it deserves to be documented in a little country song.

This song is dedicated to Sally the Travel Trailer. 

Ride, Sally, Ride.

To learn more about Sally the Travel Trailer and our (very bad) experience with her, visit:
Let's Get Hitched. I Towed You It Wouldn't Last

PS: I’m not a professional singer or musician. Be kind.

Lyrics to “The Travel Trailer Song: Sally, the Girl Who Swayed” 

Verse 1:
I went looking for a girl
At Lake of the Ozarks
Small but pretty
Who liked beaches and parks.

She would need to be level
Headed, take directions
If she wanted to have
My devotion and affection.

I found her in a parking lot
Love at first sight.
I thought maybe I could
Take her home that night

At the dinette I asked
To sleep in her bed.
She said yes
So off we sped.

She was my first
Sally was her name.
And I’ll always remember
That ball and chain.

Verse 2:
She loved the dogs.
Knew her way round the kitchen.
She seemed so perfect.
What was I missing?

She really liked
A Sunday drive.
But if she got too loaded
She would juke and jive.

She would shake her head
From left to right,
And make scary noises
That gave me a fright.

I drove her crazy.
Or did she drive me?
Maybe it was just not
Meant to be.

She was my first
Sally was her name.
And I’ll always remember
That ball and chain.

Verse 3:

I said: “Let’s get hitched!”
She said: “Not so fast.”
I knew right then
That it wouldn’t last.

I wanted to go faster.
She said “no, no, no.”
I thought to myself:
“I towed you so.”

It was time to stop,
Time to break away.
I just could handle
A girl who swayed.

Now, she’s bunking with a couple
Someplace far away.
I didn’t even know
She swung that way.

I wish her the best
Life on the road.
Ride, Sally, Ride.
You’re a helluva tow.

Music Credits to The Travel Trailer Song 

(1) The music is a song called "Bama Country" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetetech.com) licensed under CC-BY 3.0. 

(2) The lyrics/vocals/remix were created by Lana Knedlik. The lyrics/vocals/music are what constitutes the "official music video" (not the underlying music). 

Copyright 2021 by Lana Knedlik
All rights reserved

You Got Hitched? I Towed You It Wouldn’t Last

By now, you know that we are the “Class C Broads” so towing a travel trailer was ultimately not for us.   Trust me, I loved Sally, our travel trailer, and I wanted to make our relationship with her work.   It was my “first” trailer after all, and people always say you remember your first.   But relationships (even with RVs) are tough, and sometimes rather than staying in a bad one, it is best to just break up.  In this post, I’ll share the main reason for my travel trailer heartbreak. 

Sway.

Andersen Hitches No-Sway Weight Distribution Hitch 4in Drop/Rise, 2-5/16in Ball, Universal Frame Brackets

In mid-March 2019, we purchased an Andersen 3350 'No-Sway' Weight Distribution hitch.   We made two mistakes with that hitch.   First, shortly after getting the travel trailer home, we managed to bend the triangle plate when we were lowering/raising the jack.  (That’s a strong jack!). The triangle replacement costs about $60.  Rookie mistake.  Easy fix.   

The second mistake was not realizing that if the trailer is backed into a site at an angle, the triangle plate would turn.   Then, to re-hitch to leave a site, the truck had to be at pretty much that same angle or the hitch system could not be reconnected.   Andersen has proposed two “easy” solutions to this problem in their Straightening Triangle -- Quick Fix Video, but both seemed really cumbersome and not so “easy.”  By way of example, our back-in site at Arrow Rock state park was lodged between some trees, which made for a very long re-hitching process.  

Yet, the main issue we had with the Andersen hitch is that is simply did not seem to stop the sway at any speed over 55 mph.   That first forty mile trip to Arrow Rock state park (see prior blog post) was long and exhausting.  We double (and triple) checked to make sure that the tow system was hooked up correctly and did not see any issues.   We were planning on traveling on the interstates quite a bit so towing using this system seemed to be very limiting for us. 

I was not about to give up on the travel trailer yet though.  Sure, she had a mind of her own, and liked to veer off course every now and then.  But that was like any good woman, I was told.  Sometimes the good ones like to stray…or in this case sway.   Maybe we just needed something else to redirect her, focus her, and put her on the right course. Maybe if I got her a nice expensive gift, she would straighten out. Like….a new puppy? 

Husky 32217 Center Line TS with Spring Bars - 600 lb. to 800 lb. Tongue Weight Capacity (2-5/16" Ball)

The new puppy was a Husky. By the end of May 2019, we decided to try the Husky 32217 Center Line Hitch system.  Kasie had already performed significant research online on tow systems before purchasing the Andersen system so the reality was that the Husky purchase was a very well-researched decision.

Kasie had the Husky system installed within a day.  The unit comes with a special lift tool to position the spring bars into the holding brackets; the tool takes a little more muscle than we anticipated so that was a negative to the system but it was still workable overall.   We drove the trailer and truck to a nice level parking lot to perform all of the installation measurements to make sure the head height and head angle are correct and that the frame brackets are at the right height to provide bar tension. Check out this Husky installation video. 

We were cautiously optimistic that this would solve our sway problems.  Unfortunately, during our trip to St. Louis (see prior blog post), we still felt uneasy with the sway, especially at higher speeds.   I felt at times like the trailer was driving us, instead of the other way around.  My incessant worrying about each little pop noise or movement made the drive exceptionally unpleasant for Kasie as well.  From the looks of things, we were going to either get divorced from the travel trailer or each other 😊.  

To this day, I don’t really know why that relationship with Sally really failed.   Maybe it was just exceptionally windy the days that we tried to tow.  Maybe there were unusually large numbers of semi-trucks on the road those days.  Maybe we were doing something wrong.  Maybe we just didn’t have enough patience.  There are thousands of people who successfully tow travel trailers. And both the Anderson and Husky systems are filled with glowing on-line reviews. But for whatever reason, we just couldn’t figure out how to make the towing experience work for us, especially if we were on the interstate.

Of course, I miss Sally.   She was my first, after all. But the reality was that she was just a nice three-month spring fling.   Yes, she was good while she lasted, but she swayed in the end.  She just wasn’t going to be the RV that I was going to take home one day to meet my parents. 

I hope Sally found her forever home and is happy with a new family. I wish her the best. Ride. Sally. Ride.