Cats in an RV

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Muggy Mississippi Morning

I am paused for a very early lunch at the second Mississippi rest area on I-10 westbound from Alabama.

It was a hot night in Atmore and I awoke to cloying mugginess. By 7:30, the sun was shining brightly. So much for the forecast!

I took it really slow this morning as I only had about 300KM to drive. I’d hooked up the night before, so I thought I would have an easy pull out. HA HA HA HA.

Signage and directions in the Wind Creek parking lots are poor and I wound up driving straight into a dead end unloading area with no place to turn around! Thankfully, I was able to pull into a quiet area in a straight enough line to unhook. A nice gentleman helped me back the motorhome out of there once the truck was out of the way. GAH. Anyway, unhooking without any pressure isn’t too bad.

If the next few days are anything like today, I will be glad to have shore power when I get to New Orleans! In fact, if I have the choice, I will get 30A rather than 15A.

Parked at Wind Creek Casino.

Parked at Wind Creek Casino.

What a decision!

What a decision!

Mississippi-bound!

Mississippi-bound!

Next major city: New Orleans!

Next major city: New Orleans!

Passing this exit, I got the urge to give up my life of RVing and become a shrimp boat captain.

Passing this exit, I got the urge to give up my life of RVing and become a shrimp boat captain.

Mississippi!

Mississippi!

Parked at the Mississippi welcome centre

Parked at the Mississippi welcome centre

This is what I imagined Mississippi would look like!

This is what I imagined Mississippi would look like!

Tabitha enjoying a bird concert.

Tabitha enjoying a bird concert.

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Georgia Nostalgia

I am parked at the Walmart in Newnan Georgia, the state where the trajectory my old life was taking suddenly look a wild detour! Tomorrow, I get to start adding new states to my map! 🙂

The morning was a bit rough. I couldn’t get online (note to self, reboot the phone next time this happens) and with the laptop being nearly dead, I decided to drive to a rest area about an hour and a half away for breakfast. So I took off without even having coffee.

The GPS routed me at a diagonal through secondary roads back to I-85 just ahead of the rest area. This route was a little bit of work first thing in the morning, but nothing too difficult.

I got back on the interstate and drove through Gaffney, which boasts a big peach for a water tower:

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I cheered when I saw the sign announcing the rest area just after and went WTF???!!! that it was closed with no information about how far the next one was. I checked the DOT website last night and there was no mention of a closure!

I drove. Short of stopping in a busy town and looking for a place to stop, this was the only option. I did want to get through Atlanta sooner than later, so I decided to just get some mileage under me.

At Piedmont, I saw a sign for a Pilot Travel Centre, so I took a chance that there would be room to park. Nope, and I barely got out without having to unhook again. I am NEVER going to a Pilot again!!!

I got out of there, stopped at a red light, and saw the most beautiful sight ahead of me: a crumbling shell of a building with an unblocked U-shaped driveway.

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I managed to get online while the coffee was brewing, dealt with my most pressing matters, made a couple of calls (including that I could park here in Newnan), and got under way again.

I passed a rest area at Anderson, shortly after Piedmont (figures), then the Georgia Welcome Center, but I wasn’t ready to stop. Little did I know, there would be no more obvious stops available to me.

I didn't know that Tiger Direct has an actual physical store.

I didn’t know that Tiger Direct has an actual physical store.

Before long, Atlanta was upon me:

First glimpse of Atlanta.

First glimpse of Atlanta.

I’d done my research and knew that driving straight through in the middle lanes was the best course of action. The semis have to use the by-pass, so that means there are no vehicles bigger than an RV driving through downtown.

Traffic was a little thick in spots, but Montreal traffic is never this easy. So I was really glad I didn’t get worked up over crossing Atlanta or lose any sleep over it!

Cruising through downtown Atlanta, the pace and traffic relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery.

Cruising through downtown Atlanta, the pace and traffic relaxed enough to enjoy the scenery.

It’s a bit early to be stopped for the day, but I am knackered! The lot is big and mostly empty, so I’m not taking up valuable parking space. I’ll take this time to clean up the rig a little (don’t ask me how, but my shredder flew across the office and the cats got into the shredded paper and there is now confetti EVERYWHERE), then I might go to Applebee’s for dinner (hey, I can’t remember the last time I went to Applebee’s, so I’m due!).

I also need to figure out where I’m stopping tomorrow. I was thinking of a Walmart in Mobile, but I wouldn’t mind finding a place where I could park for a couple of nights so that I could take a road trip into Florida. I have only most technically been to Florida, so I side trip to Pensacola might be in order.

Then, New Orleans, probably for a week! I’ll be staying at an inexpensive RV park so that I will have the option to take off with the truck to explore the environs and possibly even overnight. I really need a break from my cats. 🙂

The power situation is good so far today. It’s been too cloudy to get a full charge, but the sun has come out and there are a few hours left, so I will be fine tonight. The batteries are at 94% right now and we’re supposed to stay above freezing tonight! YAAAAAY.

My mood is much improved over yesterday. How could it not knowing that tomorrow I will finally see the Gulf of Mexico?

I continue to be amused by the comments I get that my blog is not about travel when, even with a year’s hiatus in Lethbridge, I have covered this much ground in just over four years:

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Wretched Housekeeping

It’s a beautiful Sunday here in Hampton Roads, but yesterday it was pouring rain! It was perfect weather for a movie, but I was reminded that going to a movie on a rainy Saturday is not the best idea. Boy was the theatre packed!

I saw Les misérables, the depressing nature of which was also perfect for the weather conditions.

Most of the reviews of the movie compare it to the musical, which I have not seen. But I have read the novel straight through at least three times and frequently find myself rereading favourite parts. It’s one of those iconic books of a reader’s life, one whose first reading is remembered forever.

So I went in with fairly low expectations but high hope. And except for a few quibbles (like using the Thénardiers as comic relief), I felt this was one of the better adaptations I’ve seen. It got the mood right, most of the cast was perfect (Fantine, Cosette (child and adult), and Marius especially looked exactly as I have always envisioned them). And not a single one of my favourite scenes from the book was missing.

So while I wasn’t crazy about the musical style and every scene with the Thénardiers, visually this movie was a feast for a fan of Victor Hugo’s classic work. I look forward to seeing it again on DVD.

Today’s project was to rearrange the front room. I am tired of cleaning up the cat litter area every night only to step on filthy clumps in the morning because Neelix decided to have a party overnight. So reversed the layout of the room.

 

This picture of Neelix waiting in line for water was too hilarious not to share.

This picture of Neelix waiting in line for water was too hilarious not to share.

Good about the new layout is that it hides the litter box and gives me space to put my shoes.

Good about the new layout is that it hides the litter box and gives me space to put my shoes.

Not so good about the new layout, the chair looks squeezed in and the window is behind it.

Not so good about the new layout, the chair looks squeezed in and the window is behind it.

The room feels more unbalanced now.

The room feels more unbalanced now.

I’m not crazy about having the chair crammed in like that, but I’ll try it for a bit. Another thing I’m considering is getting a top-entrance litter box. I will miss my Omega Paw so much, but the cleaning is really getting on my nerves. What’s nice about this layout is that you don’t see the box first thing when you come in the door and I have room for my shoes, but the room feels more crammed and unbalanced at first glance.

I really need to do something with that styrofoam and get some colour on the back wall. I think I will stain it.

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Few Jobs Are Too Big For the WonderWash

The night before last, I was awakened to the delightful sound of my boy hacking up a hairball all over my bed. I won’t go into any details, but you’ll get the picture when I tell you my Neelix is not a cat but a proverbial pig (proverbial because there is no way pigs really are that messy).

When I got up in the morning, I assessed the damage to see if I could spot clean the comforter. Had it been Tabitha’s mess, sure. Neelix? Nope. If it wasn’t the comforter I’d spent so much time looking for, I would have just thrown it out it was that bad.

I used paper towels to get rid of the solid mess and to soak up as much of the wet mess as possible. I then applied a generous amount of stain remover to the soiled spots and let the comforter sit in a bucket for a day.

I thought of taking it to a laundromat, but I really don’t have time to waste at one these days and I also am loathe to put my comforters in anyone’s machines as they are very furry because I then have to spend ages defurrying.

I checked the forecast to see if there was good weather ahead for line drying outside and seeing that this was the case, I decided to just hand wash the comforter, but not too sure how as it was probably too big for my Wonderwash.

This morning, being the apocalypse and all, the forecast changed from hot and sunny and perfect for laundry to damp and cold and miserable and windy and nasty and omg I need to run the dehumidifier full blast if I don’t want mushrooms to grow out of my ears. Never mind, I needed to get that comforter washed!

I crammed it in the the Wonderwash‘s drum, surprised that it fit with enough room to spare for me to believe my plan could work. I added detergent and water (lots of water, that comforter sure soaks up a lot!) and spun the load for about three minutes, about three times longer than I normally spin a load. I then drained some of the water, added more, and spun for another minute or so.

Then, I inverted the drum with the comforter in it to let as much water drain out as possible. That done, I wrestled the now very heavy and waterlogged comforter out of the Wonderwash, beat it to death to get more water out, then rinsed and wrung with two buckets of clear water.

It is now spotless, still very furry, and dripping away in my shower.

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Total time spent so far: 30 minutes. Drying could take a couple of days, of course. But this was a lot less work than packing off to go to a laundromat and sit around!

I love my cats, but boy do they keep me busy…

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The Curse Has Lifted!

I landed safe and sound and without any real incident in Suffolk at about 11:45 this morning. The drive from Stafford wasn’t bad, but some of the back roads to get here were a little rougher than I remembered them being when I drove them in the rental car.

A combination of fatigue, rum, and Applebee’s fajitas got me to bed at the unholy hour of 9PM last night, so I was up and at ’em very early. I decided to take advantage of the early hour to leave the Walmart while the lot was empty and very manoeuverable. It was too early to be hungry or even want coffee (!) so I chose to drive for a bit before stopping for breakfast. Once I got underway, I decided I wanted a Cracker Barrel breakkie.

As it turned out, I hit the Cracker Barrel in Mechanicsville at about 9AM. I knew I’d have no trouble finding parking in that area, especially so early on a Sunday morning when most stores would still be closed, so I had no qualms making the impromptu detour.

I didn’t take that many pictures on this trip, but here are a few:

My new rig sitting proudly in St Clair. Miranda looked so forlorn alone there last time!

My new rig sitting proudly in St Clair. Miranda looked so forlorn alone there last time!

Coming out of a lunch break, I found this handsome fellow admiring the view.

Coming out of a lunch break, I found this handsome fellow admiring the view.

They are called RV lanes, idiots!!! (Thanks for the RV lanes, Flying J!)

They are called RV lanes, idiots!!! (Thanks for the RV lanes, Flying J!)

This impressive setup was plated in New Brunswick. It's rare to see RVs plated in the Maritimes. I wish I had enough hitch rating to be able to do something like that and get a little scooter!

This impressive setup was plated in New Brunswick. It’s rare to see RVs plated in the Maritimes. I wish I had enough hitch rating to be able to do something like that and get a little scooter!