We left Port St. Joe on Wednesday morning, April 7th, headed for our first night, just west of Mobile. We found the park but as occasionally happens, it was a real dump, so we decided to press on to Florence, Mississippi. The total mileage was almost 400 which is very unusual for us since a normal day is 200-250 miles in a day. The upside for the day was the nice rain that lulled us to sleep that night.
We had originally planned to spend a day visiting the capitol in Jackson but with COVID restrictions still in place it became a day of touring antique shops in Florence. Very pleasant and relaxing. We had a minor (at the time) issue with the truck. We had a diesel smell coming out of the vent but a mechanic checked it and found no problem, so the next day we headed out.
We went on to Memphis and stayed along the Mississippi watching the barges going up and down the river. We had stayed here before and it really is a pleasant spot. The following day we went into downtown Memphis. After parking we took the trolley to Beale street, walked around a bit, and visited the Rock & Soul Museum, which was pretty interesting. Overall however, we realized the city has seen better days. What we saw was dirty, run-down and over-priced. We didn’t bother with Graceland due to many friends who have gone there and were underwhelmed. We have other friends who love Memphis; for us, not so much.
Continuing on our trip, we stopped for the night in Altus, Arkansas, at a little RV park in wine country. We stayed here last fall on our way south and it’s a good quiet place to spend the night. We didn’t visit the wineries this time, just stayed in and relaxed.
The next day we traveled to Nevada, Missouri, and once again had truck issues.. We were losing power on the steep hills and the check engine light was on. When we got to the campground, we had gone through more than a half tank of fuel in only 80 miles. There was diesel fuel all over the back of the truck and the RV. We took it to a RAM dealer who had a mechanic that found the leak – a high-pressure fuel sensor that had been installed improperly and was leaking badly. They got the replacement and installed it the next day. That seems to have fixed the engine light issue. We still have the problem of the trailer brake disconnecting once in awhile but we will deal with that later.
The next night we spent at another favorite RV park in Nebraska City. Surprisingly, with all we hear about campground crowding, there were very few RVs there. Nice park, we went to town for Chinese, then back to the RV. First night of really cold weather for us, a portent of things to come.
The next leg was another long one of about 360 miles, stopping at another favorite park in Summit, South Dakota. We have stayed there a couple times before and it’s always nice to see Larry & Gilda. Also, Cal’s Auto Repair is there and we wanted Cal to check our trailer brake issue. He came out and checked our brakes, finding nothing wrong with them. A real mystery. So, after a trip to Watertown for the day, we headed for Fargo and our 10-day stay to update medical, dental, and see friends.