Escapees Park, Summerdale, Alabama

We made the run from De Funiak Springs, Florida to Summerdale, Alabama this morning.  It was a pleasant ride, but not uneventful.  Most often Gene will fill up the truck when he doesn’t have the Montana attached to the back.  It is just so much easier and less stressful that way.  Today, however, the plan was to stop at a truck stop just 25 miles from the campground.  We had a half tank of fuel, so no problem.  The rationale for not fueling up yesterday was because it was a 20 mile round trip drive into town.


The problem, which we did not anticipate, was that the truck stop was closed—as in gone out of business.  Lucky for us, the road was 5 lanes across and had virtually no traffic.  It was easy to make a U-turn, even with the behemoth in tow.  I sat with the Next Exit Guide in my lap until we got to the closest RV friendly diesel pump.  The Next Exit Guide is a fantastic resource.  It lists all the interstate exits and includes what services are available at each exit, such as food, fuel, and lodging.  It indicates where hospitals are and Wal-Marts.  For fuel, it states whether or not they sell diesel and places which will accommodate RVs are listed in red. We use it a lot and it certainly did come in handy today.  The next fuel was only 50 miles down the road, but by the time we got there we had worked ourselves up into a nervous state with visions of it too being out of business.

An unusual rig we saw at the Welcome Center

Peanut and I waited in the truck at the Alabama Welcome Center as Gene went in to gather up brochures for places and/or attractions we might like to visit while near Mobile and Gulf Shores.  Like most RVers, we pay attention to other RVs we see along the road. I have included a picture of a class B and its unusual tow which pulled into the Welcome Center while we were there.

We finally made it to our destination about noon.  We will be staying here at the Escapee campground in Summerdale for at least a week and I suspect we will add another week.  There are several things we want to see in Mobile and Gulf Shores.  This is a large park comprised of two areas.  There are 75 sites which are used for folks like us who are here for 1 night or even for the winter.  Then there is what they call “the village” area where RVers have bought the lot and built a small dwelling.  Tomorrow I will try to get a few pictures of that area.  As you can see from the picture of our campsite, it is huge.  All sites are back-ins and they are all as wide as ours.  We have neighbors on both sides, but you can hardly see them in the photo.  All sites are grass and most have a tree.  This is a popular winter park for many snowbirds.  And no wonder; for Escapee members the price is only about $11/night.  The calendar they gave us was full of all kinds of activities from computer classes to line dancing.  They also prepare a couple meals each week.  We didn’t go tonight, but they were having pork tenderloin with vegetables for just $6 per person.  Like all Escapee parks, they have a daily 4 PM social hour.

After we got settled and had a bite of lunch, we made a grocery run.  The nearest supermarket is Wal-Mart which is about 10 miles from here.  I wish it were a little more convenient, but it was a very nice store and brand new.

We are still working on what we will do tomorrow, but whatever it is will probably be in the Gulf Shores area.