Kit Kat - Day 2

Last night Kit Kat kept getting in and out of bed, I never noticed this type of activity at home. This morning she kept sitting by the doors and crying, I think she wanted to go home. She is an indoor cat, she would occasionally sit on the deck with me. I always had to leave the door open so she could go inside if something scared her while outdoors.

She likes looking out the windows and she thought that sleeping under the drivers seat was a good idea.

I think the problem is that she is missing her 22 hours of daily sleep. All of the movements while driving down the road are disturbing her sleep.
She is currently hidden under blankets asleep on the bed.

When I left home on Thursday, I took an unconventional route that will add several miles to the trip. I did this to avoid the stormy weather in southern Illinois and Missouri. I drove west across Illinois into Iowa and camped last night in West Liberty, Iowa. Tonite I am in Northwest Missouri, I should be crossing into Kansas tomorrow. 

I tried to avoid driving on the Interstate today.  I almost did it, except for 10 miles on I-35, because of a detour. I enjoyed the drive through the countryside. Barns and farmland, horses and cows. I also drove through several Amish communities, sharing the road with horse and buggy.

This buggy was parked behind a gas station???

I also drove along the route of "Barn Quilts" in Washington County, Iowa. There was not a place to pull over and take pictures of the barns. You can see pictures here.

9246-9481 / 235 miles   gas prices $4.06 and $3.79

Almost Ready........

Only a few more days until I'm "on the road again".  I'm taking my cat with me this time and I will be traveling for a month, so this should be an interesting trip. I had a route mapped out, been watching the weather reports, trying to avoid rain, may have to change my route. I need to make up my mind soon, because I wanted to make a reservation at a state park for the holiday weekend, I wanted to avoid driving in the holiday traffic.
I checked weather.com early this morning, most of the flooding is in Southern IL and MO - and further south - near my original route. More rain is predicted for this entire area all week.  I have decided to change my route and cross the Mississippi in Southern Iowa or Northern  Missouri.
Ladynomads blog showed flooding at campsites at Table Rock Lake.  Is there a central place I can find out about flooded areas, or do I need to contact each states Department of Transportation?
I will be traveling through Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and maybe a corner of Oklahoma before I get to Texas.      I checked out a few State Park websites and some were updated to include flood and road closings details on the home page of their website, this is very helpful information.

I still have to learn how all of the electrical stuff works. The water and sewer are a lot less complicated than making sure I have enough power for all of the gadgets and toys and for cooking and lights. On the way home from Florida, I had an electric hookup at each campsite, I did not hook up to water and sewer everyday.
    
I will have to read about the Inverter, vs shore power, vs generator. At a class I attended at LazyDays, they warned about plugging in chargers (for cameras, cell phones, etc) to inverter power, because its not a "pure SineWave". ??? They said a laptop is ok, the cord has that adaptor on it to regulate the power coming in. (I always wondered why laptop cords have that big "brick"). I would like to add solar to the coach - so that I'm not dependent on electrical hookups.
 
I went to the DMV for my license plates. They were not very helpful, luckily I know how to fill out tax forms. They handed me the application and Use Tax form and said they could not do them.  I had called the SOS office the day before, so I had the tax rates and all of the info I needed. I received a credit for the sales tax paid in Florida.  Their website had an Environmental Plate with a Cardinal on it, they did not have these at the office I went to. I have plain RV plates for now. They expire on December 31st, so I will try to get the Cardinal plates when I get a renewal form in the mail.  Not sure if I want a personalized plate, or to just get a random number when I renew. Do you have "vanity plates" on any of your vehicles?

This weekend I've been busy filling up the cabinets and closets with dishes, food, clothing, electronic gadgets and books. The outside storage bins will have a lawn chair, chair umbrella, cleaning solutions, tool box, extra blankets and an extra water hose, cat litter and jugs of water. When I was first looking at RV's, I didn't think I would be able to take books along, thought I wouldn't have space or they would be too heavy. I have one upper cabinet filled with books, they are mostly travel books.  I found a file folder full of maps and travel brochures in the garage. I will sort through this and find a place for it in the coach.

Also, from the garage is a computer monitor that is also a TV. I originally purchased it for my office, and then later we used it in the garage - hooked up to cable TV. I purchased a wall mount for it today, and have to figure out where in the coach to put it. I like that it can be used as a computer monitor and/or TV. I can use it to watch DVD's for now.
I'll have to get a cable outlet installed on the coach.

The dollar store had some nice fabric bins in a bunch of sizes. I am using them to hold books, clothes and kitchen stuff. I took the coach for a short ride the other day and a lot of things moved around in the cabinets. I'm hoping these bins will keep things corralled. I splurged on a set of Corelle dishes this weekend. I have been trying to find some on sale or at a resale store.  I finally went and bought the design and style that I liked.

"SOLOing consists of
three consecutive takeoffs
and landings"
-unknown author

Planning a Route Back to Illinois

I'm planning the route from the RV dealer to my home.

I am picking up the RV in Seffner, FL (near Tampa). If everything is ready for me on time when I get there, I should have 6 days to get home. I can take my time and not have to drive 8 hours a day.

I want to stop at some beaches. I will not take the default route through Georgia and Tennessee that the map programs suggest.

I ordered a copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips with the GPS locator from Amazon, I have to get it installed on my Netbook before Tuesday. I also have to stop at Sprint and get one of those Wi-Fi devices so I can have access to the internet all of the time.

I'll go through the panhandle of FL and through the southern end of AL and MS. Does anyone know what the Mobile (Alabama) Tunnel is?  I probably need to make sure I can drive an RV through there. 

Then head north through MS, and keep going north...
This route is 295 miles longer than the other way. Of course, all of this is subject to change......... depending on time and weather.

I thought I would stop in these cities and probably some others:
Port Richey, FL
Panama City Beach, FL
Ocean Springs, MS
Bay St. Louis, MS
Tupelo, MS
not to sure which way to head after this, have to study my maps.

I have the Escapees 2011 Travel Guide. It lists discounted RV Parks, I don't think I'll be boondocking on this trip.

Any suggestions for things to see or places to stop overnite along this route?