Sweet Home Alabama

Tuesday, we wake to see snow falling and sticking to the tress! Quick, someone get me out of here – SNOW, yikes! Are we back in Ontario?

We are underway by 10:30 AM EST and by noon, we are clear of Atlanta and the snow & rain. Unbeknown to us, we will break 2 of our golden rules today! As we near Montgomery, AL, Barb fires up James (the GPS) to find us a Walmart to stay and we realize that with the time zone change, we could make it all the way to the Rainbow Plantation if we didn’t stop for lunch. This is one of those rules – we generally don’t drive more than 6 hours! Soooo on we go and arrive just at 5PM CST and the sun is just dipping below the trees but we manage to get the rig parked before too much darkness descends. This is another one of those rules – don’t park after dark! We can’t open the driver’s side slide as the shrubs need some trimming and we’re not sure just what we can do. So, set up best we can and in the morning go to the office to see what we can and cannot do to the plantings around us. We’ll finish set up in the morning! Since we could not bring any food over the border and we stayed with Jim & Lydia, the cupboards are bare so off to the grocery store! Before we got parked, George & Dottie spied us ‘sneaking’ in and came over to welcome us home! This was a wonderful welcome for us.

 

The morning brings sunshine and warm temps, we’re lov’n it! We check in at the park office and find no restrictions on our dos and no don’ts! Barb’s eyes light up – landscaping and site planning running through her head like the sugar plum verse! T’is the season! We pick up our activity/social calendar and go back to finish setting up the rig. We thought we might move it back but with some trimming, we are fine where we parked it last night, so out come the shears and chop chop! Many people came over to welcome us and to introduce themselves; other Canadians, Pat & Carolyn stop by to welcome us back too. Wow, this makes us feel great! As we are finishing up and leveling the rig, Pat & Carolyn came by to invite us to lunch with a bunch – hey, why not jump in with both feet, after all, we are LEOs (lets eat out) so let’s go! And so the social life here begins!

Thursday, we’re off to see what kind if a deal we can find for a garden shed. Our first stop was Lowes but they were too busy so we crossed the street to Home Depot. We were only looking for a smallish shed about 3’X7’, we don’t plan to store very much and we just need room for our Christmas decorations and a BBQ! The sales associate showed us where the sheds were and pointed out one that was clearance priced at ½ off! I’m sure you can imagine which one we bought! It is a little bigger – 7X7 and now the challenge is to not fill it!

 

It’s a little different down here when planning a small project like this. They do have a little wind from time to time so we don’t want to come back next fall and find our shed down a few sites! Hummmm, how to anchor it without making it impossible to move when we’re done with the site! Of course Home Depot has all the necessary hardware to do what we want; some PT 2X4’s, a couple sheets of plywood, 4 screw type anchors and 4 - 3” lag screws should set us up! All I needed to do was to use my usual confused look on my face and ask an apparently dumb question! Ahhh, sawing and hammering – actually used screws instead of nails but all the same, more construction!

Friday, we had lunch out at the Road Kill Café with a bigger group and then onto Home Depot to pick up our shed and deck supplies to put it on. They used a fork lift to load it and refused to follow us back to the campground to unload it! Oh well, Barb & I unloaded the smaller stuff and 1 box and thought that we would tackle the big one when we needed to – why can’t we store it in the truck? We decided where to put the shed and started laying out the 2X4’s and made a cutting plan for Saturday. That evening, we put up the Christmas decorations. It was made more difficult without the customary rum and eggnog!

Saturday, Barb and I had to go back to HD to exchange a pair of anchors and pick up a few other items to start the deck floor. Soon, we were motoring along and had the frame built and square! We ‘screwed’ the anchors in and used lag screws to attach the frame to the anchors. Next we put down the plywood and had lunch. George came by to help so we unloaded the big box (why don’t these things come with handles?) and started to open them to find the shed floor and of course the instructions – I know, it’s unusual for men to look for instructions but Barb insisted we get it right! The three of us got the finicky stuff and window assembly done. We still have 2 windows to put together but no more gaskets or screws! I wonder what else is missing. I’m sure we’ll find out as we move forward. Once we placed the shed floor, we quit for the day and it’s a good thing too as rigor was starting to set in and I couldn’t move much more! George & Dottie came over for dinner and best of all, Dottie cooked it and brought it with them – they must have heard about my cooking skills!

Sunday, Barb & I started with the walls etc. so we moved quickly through assembly. Before long the walls were up and the roof on. Now lets look at the doors – what, no screws or nuts and bolts to attach the hinges! Only some of the hardware was packed! I’ll have to contact the manufacturer Monday for replacements but now the shed construction is on hold until we receive more hardware!

Where are the doors?

I think this is a good place to end until next time. Keep well and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and the best though 2012.