Tuesday, 17 December 2019
Tornadoes
Turns out there was a tornado in Alabama, but it hit in the far northwestern part, near Florence and Muscle Shoals where I visited earlier this month. It killed 2 people and did extensive damage to Joe Wheeler State Park, which I passed several times. So maybe I didn't need to run south, but I think caution is rarely wasted when it comes to tornadoes.
I've noticed that most campgrounds I've stayed in for the last 3 or 4 (or more) states have provided storm shelters, and made it clear to campers where they are. What I've never known, and haven't bothered to ask, is whether pets would be allowed in those shelters. The idea of stuffing Lily in her traveling bag and taking her and 2 large, bouncy, excited dogs into a small space with other people and their pets has been so mind-boggling that my thought processes stop there. All I can do is hope I never need to use the service. But it's seemed ominous to me that those shelters are provided at all.
Plans
Most KOAs, including the one last night, give guests a glossy brochure with a campground map, often a map of the town, and ads from local merchants. I've used those ads before with good results so was happy to see one here for a local tire company. I figured they could tell me if there was something or nothing wrong with my tires, and figure out a fix for any problems.
But my first question was where to go after that. I still have 2 areas of the state I want to visit - the Gulf Coast and Montgomery - and my question was which I'd do this week before Christmas, and which would come after Christmas at the end of the month. To postpone that decision until I'd figured out the tire problem, I picked a state park that's about an hour from here - and a lot cheaper.
But tires first.
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| today's route |
Roy's Tires was fairly close to the campground and Roy himself came out to take a look at my tires. He felt them and instantly said one of them had blown and the one next to it was close to blowing, and they opened up a space for me right away in their shop.
Once he'd taken a look at all the tires, he pointed out to me that the tread on all the rear tires was pretty shallow, especially compared with the front tires. I remember going to a tire guy earlier this year; I can't remember the state, though I remember the business well. I'm guessing the tire that blew yesterday was the one that the first tire guy had said was thin on the side (probably from me scraping it on that stupid Cape Cod bridge). He'd rotated my tires and put the thin one on the inside so if it blew I'd be safe. Which was what happened.
But even though all the tires have about 45,000 miles on them, I wouldn't have expected the tread on the rear tires to be so worn down, especially compared with the front tires - and Roy said he wouldn't have thought so either. I guess it has to be because the rear tires are carrying the weight from all my household goods and fixtures, but the tread difference was stark.
I decided tires are absolutely critical to my continued health and safety, let alone to my continued traveling, and told him to sell me 4 new ones. Turned out that blown tire was nearly in pieces - the tread was separated from the sides about a quarter of the way around the tire.
I watched the shopworker mount and balance the new ones and put them on the RV and thought he did a good job. The bill came to $600. That's $600 I wasn't expecting to spend, so it hurt - but not nearly as much as it would have hurt to be ignoring it when the 2nd tire blew on the same side. Or to suddenly find myself with no traction on these narrow roads during the rain and winter.
I'm very glad I stopped, and very glad I found a good tire place to go to.
On the road
As we drove down the road, Dexter had moved from the passenger seat to the dog beds between the seats where Gracie usually lies. Gracie was sitting in the passenger seat for a bit and then decided to lie on the dog beds too. She lay down right on top of Dexter. All over him.
I noticed because her head was suddenly right by my elbow, when it's usually much lower. But with both of them black I had to feel them to realize what she was doing. They stayed like that for nearly half an hour, I think. I wished I could take a photo.
We went through Enterprise - City of Progress, they say.
I saw oranges on trees, both in an orchard and in people's front yards.
I heard on the radio that, unlike the northern US, Alabama has 2 hurricane seasons: one in November-December and the main one March-May (when the rest of the US expects them). But the weather guy being interviewed said these tornadoes this week were stronger and later than usual. It is the 3rd week of December, after all, and they usually hit in November and early December. He said all this with a strong Alabama accent which I thought was endearing being broadcast nationwide on NPR, not just on the local affiliate.
We passed sheep in several fields.
We had strong crosswinds most of the drive, which I found a little scary and very tiring to battle against. And I was sure glad I'd bought those new tires to give me traction.
We passed a company named Birdsong Peanuts, and I was curious. Dothan, about 30 miles south of Ozark where we stayed last night, bills itself as the Peanut Capital of the World, but we're a ways north of there. I looked them up and concluded this location is just a gathering point for the peanuts harvested by local farmers. The processing plants are located in west Texas, Virginia, and 3 in Georgia. Birdsong is a 100-year-old company and here's a link if you want to see which states produce peanuts. https://www.birdsongpeanuts.com
Opp
We got to the town of Opp which, after going through nearby Enterprise, I assumed was short for Opportunity, but it's not. It's named for Henry Opp who was a lawyer for a railroad. That's all Wikipedia says about it, though I assume the railroad came through Opp and was responsible for it being here at all. Which still doesn't explain why the town would name itself after a lawyer. I guess those were the days when the law was respected.
Coming into Opp I found once again that Google's instructions were very nearly useless. Absolutely none of the streets I saw were labeled like Google said they would be. Not one. And so I got completely lost and had to use my trusty AAA map to get found again. When I finally got into the center of town I found roads that were labeled as Google had said, but the signs were so old and rusty as to be nearly illegible. I decided the folks of Opp knew where they were going and didn't need signs so didn't worry about outsiders needing them.
I stopped at the local IGA and then went on to the campground, which was only 2 miles out of town. I got lucky and was able to pick up a wifi signal because we were so close to civilization.
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