At last we were on our final day in Red Bay Alabama at the Tiffin Service Center. We paid our bills, thanked our service technicians and all we had left to do was visit Bay Diesel to have our front end aligned. We love Bay Diesel and their friendly,very knowledgeable technicians.I learn something every time we visit since they don't mind educating me as they work.. Bay Diesel always does a fabulous job and this day was no exception.
Our shimmy we were noticing at around 40-45 mph was apparently due to us being out of alignment. Alignment adjustments made were to the camber and to the toe. We were told we way out of alignment on our toe setting. Hopefully this will alleviate the shake rattle and roll we experience in that 40 mph range. Between the repairs and the fact our wallet is lighter we should be seeing better gas mileage as well :) . We were advised to replace our front end tires soon and to look at replacing shocks next year. We have always had Goodyear Tires but after talking to Bay Diesel we are considering a change to Michelin.
The next morning we planned our great escape! We only have three days to make it to our next reservation in Blairsville Georgia. Our first stop would be at Monte Sano State Park just outside of Huntsville Alabama. Next we will stop in Chattanooga for a couple of nights before heading to Georgia.
The 120 miles from Red Bay to Huntsville were uneventful but the last 6 or so miles from the highway to Monte Sano State Park on 431 were a bit disconcerting. I read the reviews for the state park and the advice was to avoid one way in and take 431 in. Well this is not only a narrow road but there were tons of low hanging limbs that at times were difficult to avoid. To top it off after checking in at the park, the site they assigned us wouldn’t have worked had we been 28 feet long much less than our lengthy 37 feet.
After allowing us to choose another site and setting it up for the night we headed over to the disc golf course located within the state park. The disc golf course was nearly all in the dense woods along this mountaintop park making it both challenging and very enjoyable. Accuracy was important as the skinny tunnels cut through the trees made approaching the baskets quite the challenge. We really enjoyed this course layout and the excellent signage directing us to the next tee box. After completing the course we drove into town to try out a couple of their breweries.
The next morning we headed to Chattanooga TN in the hope of staying at the first-come first-served campground at Camping World. We felt it would be a perfect location for our exploration of the the Chattanooga area. However, when we arrived we discovered the campground was closed. Clearly there were open sites so we were not quite sure why there was a closure but we just went to plan B which was boondocking a night at Cabela's just down the road.
We sure are happy to be out of Red Bay and back to “doing our thang” back on our Road of Retirement…
NOTE: We are now in Blairsville Georgia where we will stay for a week…
Glad you are all tuned up. The highways around Chattanooga are brutal. I hope they didn't mess up that alignment.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful opening and closing pictures! I'd really like to get Winnona aligned but there isn't anywhere around here to do it. We have had great luck with Michelin tires and as you may have read in my post today, recommend using the FMCA discount for them if you are a member. I find it is just getting so much harder to be on the road and stop wherever I like for however long I want. Lots and lots of RVs on the road these days and so many more full timers. You almost have to have reservations everywhere. Georgia mountains are the place to be. Nice and cool. Glad you were able to get in early. That gives me hope.
ReplyDeleteThe roads out there will mess up anybody's alignment. Hopefully now you can get on down the road more smoothly. I haven't been very good about making reservations and I know I'm going to run into some issues somewhere. If it wasn't so blasted hot it wouldn't be so bad. Even Montana is having record heat and that's where we're headed. Oh joy.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance, you might take the car down to Vogel State Park. There are a lot of streams and hiking trails in that particular park; if I remember correctly, the trails are on Blood Mountain.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip!
DeleteI can tell you why the campground was closed having spent way too much time there waiting for Camping World to do warranty work. That small stream turns into a raging river and floods the whole park. We arrived right after it happen. After sitting there for 3 weeks waiting on parts ( could not move RV) we left for a few days so they could finally repair it. It rained while we were gone and when we we came back you could not even turn into their driveway. The flooding was unbelievable. They had to move 30 RV in a matter of 3 hours. It was 2 days later before the water receded enough to get our RV out of there.
ReplyDeleteProbably a good thing they were closed! Thanks for the info!!!
DeleteGlad to see all went well in Red Bay and you are back on the road. If you are going to buy Michelin tires you may want to think about an FMCA membership, they have a discount program. Membership also includes an emergency medical program. Travel safe.
ReplyDeleteYea, before we moved to Alabama last December, they had drought weather. We moved there..... rain rain rain. We are currently on the road for two months and now near Cape May, NJ rain rain rain. At a later time, I am sure you plan on returning to Chattanooga. Check out Ruby Falls.
ReplyDeleteI?t is on the list...
Delete