GUNTER HILL C.O.E.

Montgomery, AL
25 degrees & freezing rain

The drive from Jackson County Park to Gunter Hill Army Corps of Engineers Campground was uneventful.  As usual our Verizon navigator was right on spot.  

John worked on the electrical problem with the help of Stanley at the Tiffin Motorhome Service Helpline.  The diagnosis was a loose connection within the inverter.

It was up to John to locate the culprit.  Within fifteen to twenty minutes, all house, battery powered equipment was up and running!  Thanks Stanley and John.....and Bob Tiffin for having the service helpline!  

Despite the weather, we are enjoying our stay here at Gunter Hill C.O.E.

Gunter Hill is beautiful and the sites are huge! Three forty to forty-five foot coaches could fit into our pull through site.

This is our view of the water.  The campground is on Catoma Creek part of the Alabama River backwaters. 

The campground sits in a forest of Hickory, Pine and Sycamore.  Sites have electricity, water and sewer hook-ups.  

It is so nice to be able to do our laundry here in the motorhome as we wait for good weather to continue our journey across North America.  

I am longing for the desert in the Southwest. Earlier, I was contemplating whether it is the journey or the destination that is best. Finally came to the conclusion that it is both because this is our chosen lifestyle.  

Yes, it is cold outdoors. But we are warm as toast with our electric heaters inside the motorhome. 

We have chosen to use the electric heaters rather than the propane gas furnace due to the price hike and supposedly propane shortage.  



Electricity is included in our daily, America the Beautiful pass rate of $11 per night. Our closest neighbor is about 200 yards from us if you don't count deer as neighbors. 

If I were to rate Gunter Hill Campground, it would receive a five out of five.  It is dog friendly, wonderful concrete pads on which to park, water, sewer and electricity are on site. The distance between sites is good and in the summer there is privacy created by the surrounding forest.  A picnic table is situated on a crushed stone base and has a fire pit / grill located close.   

Now it is time to take the load out of the washer/dryer and start on bed clothing and a late lunch.  If we are lucky, we may be able to leave here tomorrow, if the roads are clear and safe.

Megan sent this photo of Harper, the big sister and Emerson, the baby sister.  I just had to share them with you, my friends.

Oh, oh, the freezing rain has stopped and it is officially snowing.  Oh happy day!

Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your comments.  

God bless each and every one of you.

UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE? AND CAMPGROUND REVIEW

Leaving the Tiffin Service Center, our destination was Scottsboro, AL, the home of Unclaimed Baggage Center. 

The store was large and filled with clothing, sporting equipment, cameras, e-readers, laptops and other electronics.  

For the first-time visitor, it was too much merchandise to consider.  Had I known what I know now, I would make the center a two day event.  One day to walk the store and make a mental list of what interests you and the second day to make your purchases. I picked up a set of hiking sticks for just over $10, looked at e-readers and cameras, felt overwhelmed and left.  At least I am ready for our hikes again.

My suggestion is to know your lowest retail cost for the items you might be interested in.  Then you can make a wise purchase.  One negative is that there is no guarantee on electronics.  The clothing made me feel as if I were in a Goodwill store.   

Would I return?  Maybe.  Only if I had a shopping list with prices.  

We stopped at the Information Booth to check on places to park our motorhome for the night.  They gave us the names of two RV parks, one we passed on the way into Scottsboro.  

The other and best suggestion was the Jackson County Park and Marina which was just about five minutes from the center.

Located at 2302 County Park Road is the Jackson County Park sitting  beautiful Lake Guntersville.  The campground is the ideal place for a peaceful, relaxing break from shopping at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. The park has something to offer the outdoor enthusiast as well as the avid shopper. 

Sitting only four miles from the Tennessee River channel, it is the perfect spot to park your RV, sit and enjoy the area.  Or you can fish, hunt ducks, boat, swim, and water ski.  



A covered, handicapped-accessible fishing pier welcomes those with disabilities to enjoy nature. There are also many spots along the shoreline for fishing. 

For the shopper, there are some well known chain stores as well as many local shops, and the world famous Unclaimed Baggage Center. The park is just a short drive from both Huntsville and Chattanooga. Well known and hometown restaurants are just minutes from the park. 

Sunset had passed leaving just a touch of pink in the distance as we parked our motorhome.  We had no neighbors around us, only ducks out for a cold swim.  

The sites were leveled crushed stone, spacious and costing $30 a day.  The large pull through sites were equipped with fifty and thirty amp service.  We would visit this place again. Of course we would not have stayed if it were not dog friendly....on leash of course. 

While at the Park, we experienced an electrical problem.  I believe I must have hit a switch or something near the inverter while vacuuming that bay.  We now are without the ability to recharge our house batteries.  

John and I have read all the information provided by Tiffin at the point of sale.  We still cannot figure out the solution so we will be calling our  Tiffin Service hot line and Stanley to walk us through the solution.  

This occurred previously and the solution was simple.  We just do not remember what we were told.  This time?  I will write down the instructions.  

Thanks for stopping by.  We enjoy your comments and suggestions.  

God Bless y'all!

TIFFIN SURGERY CENTER - THIRD AND FINAL EPISODE !

Monday, were called to the Tiffin Center For Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.  Upon admission, we were encouraged to spend our day in the well supplied "family waiting room."

It was a long day of waiting, but three-fifteen rolled around and we had a pre-op consult with our Bus' surgeon.  He said with the work involved, be prepared for a full week of work.  It was good to have a completion date to anticipate even if an entire week seemed so long.  

I timed my visits to the operating room to be at a time that would not interfere with the surgery.                                                                                                 The first portion of the surgery was an exfoliation procedure where all blemishes were removed leaving a smooth, supple skin.                                                                                               The next order of surgery was the plastic (fiberglass) and reconstructive procedures.  

Three places were involved: First was in the center of the bumper, the second and third were each end of the bumper

                                              

Our surgeon cautioned us that the right (passenger) side was a doozy and it took a tremendous amount of surgery to restore the bumper to pre-damage appearance.                                                      Even at this stage, the corner looked much better than it had earlier.  We were having hopeful feelings.                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Next came the primer paint.  Although this was just the primer, I was concerned about the color.  

And here is the final photo.  I cannot tell there was any damage.  I'm just telling you, John had better be more careful when he backs AND he needs to listed to the traffic controller...ME!

What a terrific job!  The reconstructive and plastic surgery was declared an astounding success.  Way to go operating room 24B!  Way to go.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                A piece of damaged molding was replaced and the surgeons prepared for the final phase of the plastic surgery.  

   

                                                                                                                                                                          The patient (Allegro Bus) was prepped and draped for the final touches of the plastic surgery.  

 The color matching was extremely difficult.  They tried and tried to achieve the correct color.                                                             It turns out that the color on the coach was not an original Tiffin color!  It has been repainted previously. What a pain in the spray gun.  This problem was giving everyone a headache. But I was assured that they were not satisfied until we were.                                                   When we left Red Bay, AL, I was not sure of the match.  It was a cloudy day, so I thought that just maybe the match would be better on a bright day.  Nope, it is worse.  

The service department knows of this and has promised to fix it upon our return.  

Are we satisfied with Tiffin's service?  You bet we are!  

Sitting in the waiting room / customer lounge, we heard many horror stories about RV dealers making the sale only to be incapable of making proper repairs on the coaches they sell.   Each and every person said that they were pleased that they came to the home of Tiffin Motorhomes to have the repairs done until they, the Tiffin owner, was totally satisfied.   

                                                                                                       Speaking of customer lounge, there was no lack of dogs and cats on leads.  Each time a new fur kid came into the lounge they all had to get to know one another.  I think Oliver and Olivia thought they were the official welcoming committee. 

Oliver and Oliver with their new best friend, Harley.  

The Whippets came for a while.  And then there is Buddy, the friendliest pooch!  Everyone got along swimmingly, or doggily.

We have left Red Bay and are a bit further south in Montgomery, Alabama at the Gunter Hill COE campgrounds.  

In my next post I will be telling you about this campground, the Unclaimed Baggage Center and the Jackson County Park Campground there in Scottsboro, AL. 

hanks for visiting and for shopping at AMAZON.com through the blog.  The link for Amazon is at the top right today's post.  

God Bless and keep you within his hedge of protection.