Top 10 Museums

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Higgins Armory Museum

Top 10 Tacky Tourist Traps

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Devil's Tower

 

Top 10 Unique Eateries

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Lambert's Cafe

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

 

 

 

Campground Review - Payne's RV Park

We found a fun little park with Passport America in Theodore, Alabama called Payne's RV Park.

Staff - 8 - Gentleman who checked us in was quite nice.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to Mobile and Biloxi.

Natural surroundings - 8 - In country setting with a spattering of trees and a nice duck pond.

Value - 8 - We paid $16.90 a night for a grass pull-through with full hook-ups using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - 8 - Nice bathrooms, but only one for each sex.

Roominess - 7 - Average size.

Facility fun - 7 - Pond with ducks, porch swing.

Cleanliness - 8 - Average in cleanliness.

Facility usefulness - 8 -  Small store, laundry, small exchange library, propane.

Overall - 8 - A decent park sort of out of the way but a decent price.

Cold season in Howard the RV

By Patsy

There are many pros and cons to living in an RV. When we first decided to start our adventure on the road, I thought I had researched them all, but sadly, I was mistaken. There were a few surprise issues that came along with living in an RV that I had not previously considered. One of those illusive issues was the one that deals with cold and flu season.

One of the cons of living in close proximity to each other is that if one child comes down with a cold, all the family will be sharing the cold. However, depending on how you chose to look at this, it could be a pro. After all, you will not be listening to everyone’s lungs for the next several days wondering if anyone else is going to come down with this, you just know it is going to happen and buy children’s cold medicine in bulk.

Of course buying children’s cold medicine in bulk is a con, because so many pharmacies are keeping the medicine behind the counter and you have to go up and ask for it with an ID, fingerprints and a signed promise not to use the chemicals in the medicine for anything other than its intended purpose. For our family of 7, I need quite a large amount of this stuff and it is getting a little tricky scoring enough to help all my sons. On the pro side we are so often on the move, that I rarely have to visit the same pharmacy twice. Just about the time I accumulate enough cold and cough medicine and the pharmacists have put my picture up next to their window with the caption “Don’t Sell to this Woman”, we are on our way and hitting the next pharmacy in another county.

Then there is the con of trying to get some sleep in an RV when you can hear all the coughing going on all night. You can’t just shut a door and so shut out the sounds. Since we are all within 32 feet of each other, you hear all the sounds of the congestion concerto played out throughout the wee hours of the morning. The pro on this is that one vaporizer takes care of the entire family in one fell swoop. At bed time, we give each child cold medicine, schmeer their chests with Vicks and then plug in the vaporizer. Then my husband and I look at each other trying to decide if we should give ourselves a good dose of cold medicine so we can sleep through all their noise. We chose to be good and not partake in the medication process….usually.

As I sit and write, I am listening to a symphony of coughs and sniffles that, were it put to music, would take at least 10 sheets of staff paper. It isn’t very pretty, but it is rather well orchestrated if I do say so myself. Each son wakes with the faint whisper of a dry cough. As he opens his eyes more fully, the cough turns into a throat clearing substantial noise. Finally, in an effort to clear his lungs well enough to breathe, he lets go with a cough that crescendos enough to wake his brother. As the first son quiets for a session of sniffling, the waking brother begins his morning cough. And thus the sounds of musical mucous echo through our home.

I keep telling myself that this is only going to last a few days. I tell myself that having everyone sick at the same time is better than having one sick for three days, then the next one sick for three days, and so on. This way, we will get no sleep for just a few days and then we will be done. I tell myself to remember that the boys are not feeling very good and to be as patient as I can since they are likely to be a little extra whiney. I keep telling myself that this raw feeling in the back of my throat has NOTHING to do with the illness running through our family. I keep telling myself that I am the mom and moms do not get sick days. I keep telling myself these things, but I am having a very….cough, cough…hard time….cough, hack….believing the things…sniffle, sneeze, cough….that I say. Cough, choke…I think I’m a liar.

Check out lots more posts like these at Patsy's blog French Fries Under the Seat!

Campground review - Cherokee Campground

During our two day stay in Birmingham, Alabama we chose to stay at the Cherokee Campground just west of town.

Staff - 8 - We met two different staff members who were both helpful and nice. They loaned us some cement bricks to level out Howard.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to all Birmingham area attractions.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Several mature trees around park and large lake is on the premises. Campground is located in a country setting.

Value - 10 - We paid $15 a night for a back-in cement and gravel site with full hook-ups using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - 7 - Decent bathrooms, a little in need of updating.

Roominess - 7 - Our site was just a smidge short, but plenty wide.

Facility fun - 7 - Lake is open to fishing and there is a small clubhouse with ping pong and foosball.

Cleanliness - 6 - It has the feel of being slightly run-down, mostly because of a large number of long-termers.

Facility usefulness - 8 -  Laundry, free wifi, exchange library, small camp store.

Overall - 7 - Cheap and decent place to stay a couple of nights when in the Birmingham area

The Vulcan

If you ever visit Birmingham, Alabama, be sure to visit the big Greek statue of the so-called god of the forge, Vulcan that overlooks the the largest city in Bama! We were expecting perhaps Spock, but instead we found a bearded fellow with a naked behind. As Blake commented, the Greeks were quite fond of naked bottoms.

You have to pay a fee to get to the top of the statue and to go into the Vulcan Museum, but we passed on the fee and we could see the city quite nicely at Vulcan's feet. On a clear day you can see quite far. After talking about it, as a fasily we like the Star of Roanoke far better than the Vulcan of Birmingham!

No Spock's rear!

Sloss Furnaces

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

Huge furnace!

50 McDonalds - Alabama

Our stop at the Bama Golden Arches was in the small town of Childersville en route to Birmingham. It was a lovely day so the boys got to play at the outdoor playland. We have been noticing a trend with Happy Meals too - more and more of them come with both a bag of apples and a extra small fries. This is a big bonus for our three little guys who like both apples and fries, and it gives Dad and Mom a feeling that they are getting something healthy and a moderate treat with their meal.

Brendan's Big Day

Living life on the road means that birthdays can be celebrated in the strangest of places. Brendan's sixth birthday this year was no exception to this rule! After spending the day at the science museum in Columbus, Georgia,  our clan headed west into Alabama.

We did not drive long until we pulled over into a Walmart parking lot near Auburn. Patsy had already made the special cake Brendan asked for - a Sonic the Hedgehog cake. We had also previously shopped for some presents for Brendan.

So in the lonely reaches of a Walmart parking lot we held a birthday party, candles and all! Brendan had a great time and after eating some cake he played his new Wii game - Epic Mickey. In the end he was surrounded by his family, had some yummy cake and played a fun game. We are learning every day that home is truly wherever your family is!

 

Arkansas - our 30th state

We have now visited three-fifths of the states on our Napkin Dreams trip. Arkansas had the distinction of being number thirty. How many will we get to? Forty, forty-nine, maybe even fifty? Time will tell how far we get!

Kevin Shutterbug & the Fall Leaves

Kevin Shutterbug speaks with my wife as they go through a digital scrapbook of some of the amazing fall sites we have seen on or trip this year! We hope you enjoy the views!

Campground Review - Space and Rocket Center RV Park

There is a pretty affordable campground right at the US Space and Rocket Center, which is also pretty convenient for visitors with an RV!

Staff - 8 - Talked to three or four older gentleman who work for the campground who were chatty and helpful.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Right in Huntsville, next door the US Space and Rocket Center.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Not far off main drag, but still and feeling of being in the midst of a country setting.

Value - 8 - We paid $20 a night for a pull-through gravel site with full-hook-ups. 

Bathrooms - 7 - Smaller and slightly older, but the showers were hot.

Roominess - 9 - Plenty long enough, with lots of room on the sides too.

Facility fun - 4 - Not much here besides the museum.

Cleanliness - 8 - Nothing to complain about here!

Facility usefulness - 7 -  Laundry, picnic tables, dump station, pay extra for wifi. 

Overall - 7 - Quiet and peaceful little park.

US Space and Rocket Center

This post has been removved because it is now part of our book on amazon! you can purchase it at this link -
http://www.amazon.com/Napkin-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00AZR24LG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358190007&sr=8-1&keywords=napkin+dreams