Showers of Blessings

In addition to being in Alabama for our annual Red Bay trip, we are also here for my niece's wedding on October 1 in Birmingham.  This weekend was set aside for showers and parties.  So, on Friday, I left Mark and the motor home in Red Bay and I headed out to make the 150 mile trip to Birmingham.

I arrived about mid-afternoon and Conlee, my sister-in-law, and I got in a great visit before Danielle, by youngest niece, got home from school, and my brother, Dan, arrived home from work.

Danielle had a birthday party to attend that evening, so Dan, Conlee, and I decided to go see the Club where Sarah and Jason's wedding and reception will take place.  Sitting out on the patio where the ceremony will take place, we enjoyed drinks and dinner.  What a beautiful Alabama Fall evening.

Once we were back at the house, it wasn't long before Sarah arrived after her drive in from her Kentucky home.

We had fun catching up on news about her and Jason and talking about the up coming wedding week.  We all had a great time watching as she opened all the gifts that have arrived here at the house.

Saturday morning, after making a stop at the alteration's shop for a last minute fit for Sarah's dress, we were off for party number one.

We arrived

at the home of Deb Hrdy where she and several other ladies had

worked hard to prepare

lots of food for the group.

Sarah and

mom, posed for pictures in the garden.

Sarah was delighted to see

old high school friends.

After enjoying all that yummy food and visiting, it was time for

Sarah to start opening the gifts.  Among the many gifts of the day, she received several baking pans and even

 

a few items to bake.

What a fun morning.

Later in the afternoon, while Conlee and Sarah met with the hair stylist, Dan, Danielle, and I went to pick up the

potted flowers that will become the decorations for the club's patio on Saturday.

Last night, Evan, my oldest niece, came and joined us for the evening.  It was great catching up with her.

This morning, we were up and ready for another busy day.  As always, I enjoyed attending church with Dan and family.  Afterwards, Sarah had lunch plans with the minister, while Dan, Conlee, and Danielle headed home.  Evan and I were off with our own agenda.  First, was a stop by DSW Shoes for a little wedding shoe shopping.  Next, was a stop by Bed Bath and Beyond, for a little last minute shower shopping.  Last, but not least was lunch at a great little Greek cafe.

By this time, we needed to head off to the afternoon tea being held in

Sarah's honor.

We were invited into the home of Annie Franklin.  She along with several other church ladies worked hard to prepare a beautiful

food table.

It was great to get to meet

Kim, Jason's mom, and Jason's grandmothers Sue (Nana) and Virginia (Grandmother).  They drove in from Tennessee today for the party.

It was a great afternoon of

visiting.

And, once again, Sarah and Jason received

lots of great gifts.

  The afternoon ended and it was time to

load Sarah's car and

say good-bye to her for a few days.  She is returning to Kentucky to work a couple of days.  She and Jason will return to Birmingham on Wednesday.

Wow, what a great weekend with family, and the showers and tea were perfect for our

bride to be!

Too Bright, Too Low, Too Fun...

Life in Red Bay continues.  We are still waiting our turn to have the

floor of the wet bay replaced.  Hopefully, next week.

If you remember last week, we had Trevor install these

LED light strips.  He used the clear bulbs which put out way too much light for us.  So, after talking with Trevor, we decided to have him change them out for the ones

with the frosted cover...much better and not too bright.  Originally, we only did the living area, but after using them this week, we decided to have him replace the two in the bedroom and the two

under the kitchen cabinets.  Beautiful!

The

window shade also came in and is great.

Tuesday, I spent the day in Tupelo, shopping until I dropped.

Today, we had to make a trip back to Bay Diesel where we spent a puzzling afternoon.  The story is something like this...

Last week, we took the motor home to Bay Diesel for the yearly oil change and maintenance.  After the oil was drained, the young man put more oil in than was called for.  So, some was drained out, and Mark was told to check it the next morning.  It was low and he reported that back to the tech.  He probably drained out a little too much.

Then, we recalled that last year, the oil was changed and by the time we got to Texas, it was low. Mark added a couple of quarts to bring it back to the full line on the dipstick.

Mark went to Bay Diesel to discuss the situation.  So, just how much oil was needed?  Did they put in too much, did they take out too much?  And, what about last year?   Well, the only way to really know what's going on was to

 

take it back to Bay Diesel and let them check it out.  So, today, it was put up on the racks and

everything was cleaned like it was going to surgery.  Then, the tech

started draining all the oil and

measuring it, quart by quart.  Well, guess what, it came out just perfect.  Exactly what was suppose to be there 23 quarts.  So, they

put it back in and let it set for a little while.  Dipstick in...dipstick out, and, oh, no...it was low.

Then, after some discussion, some more

measuring, both here and

here, they finally had an answer...we have the wrong dipstick!

The tech located a new dipstick to match our engine and now we are getting the correct reading.  However, just to make sure that this was the problem, Mark will take a few more readings over the next few days and report his findings back to Chris at Bay Diesel.

Thanks guys for figuring out what was going on.

Meanwhile back at the camp ground, Jim and Ellie had arrived to join the party.  Upon their arrival, we learned that Steve and Shirley, friends of theirs from Colorado, were also here.  So, we gathered up Randy and Pam and the eight of us headed off for a fun evening

at the Rattlesnake Saloon.

And, the fun in Red Bay continues!

A Festive Weekend...

Red Bay is usually pretty quite on the weekends and there isn't much to do.  However, this weekend was just a little different.  Yesterday, we wandered up and down the main street where the

annual Founders Day Festival was taking place.

There were

lots of folks out for a beautiful day.

There were crafters selling their wares.  We saw everything from

hair bows to

giant metal flowers.  And of course lots of Alabama, Auburn, and Mississippi State decorations and collectables.  I am not sure who has the biggest following.

Some folks were just having a grand old time

dancing in the streets.

And, you, can't have a festival without food.  These guys were busy

grilling steak for sandwiches while others were offering...

Deep Fried Hotdogs and a Southern favorite, boiled peanuts.

We passed up on both and kept wandering until we came to the

display of old cars.  And, there were some

real oldies there.

When we had seen everything once and some things twice, it was time for us to part ways.  Mark headed back to the campground while I stayed in town for a haircut appointment.

After my haircut, I decided to walk back to the campground.  Nice walk, only a couple of miles, and a beautiful afternoon.

By the time I got back to the motor home, it was time to think about dinner.  We decided to drive over to Belmont and try a new BBQ place, Joker's Grill. Mary (the girl who cut my hair) recommended it.  They have only been open about 5 weeks, and, It was as yummy and she said it was.  We will certainly go back.

We finished off the evening sitting out visiting with Randy and Pam.

This morning, we attended worship services at

First Baptist.

I made a stop by the

local produce stand, and grocery store while

Mark

found a little cleaning to keep himself busy.  The rest of the afternoon was taken up with football, and, watching the camp ground once again fill up with motor homes.

So, while we enjoyed a leisure weekend, tomorrow is Monday, and things will once again be busy here in Red Bay.

All In A Day's Work...

Late yesterday, we received the call with instructions for this morning's work schedule.  So, we were up by 5:00 am and ready to head to

the service center for our 7:00 appointment.  Yes, that is AM!

We were greeted by Roger and Joel, who were ready to get to work.  The first thing they tackled was the topper on the driver's side slide.  Upon

inspection, it was decided that the only way to fix the sag was to

replace it.

Randy and

Mark made sure they were doing their job.

Next on the list was to adjust the

slide from the inside.  This involved replacing one of the rollers.  They put this

green tape on the floor to make sure the roller was in the correct position.

On to the shade on the front windshield.  Just a minor adjustment needed there.

I have been wanting to replace this

mini blind with a pull down shade.  So, this was the perfect time.  While the guys were waiting for it to be delivered to the work station, Roger took down the mini blind, but... when the shade was delivered, it had been damaged.  So, it had to be reordered, and should be here in a couple of days.

By this time, our 3 hours of express bay time were almost up. And, the only thing left on the list for Roger and Joel was to apply a little dab of silicone to the corner of the tile on the bathroom backsplash.

Great work guys, thanks, for dong a good job.

  However, this was only the end of the list for the Express Bay.  It was also determined that we do have to have the flooring replaced in the wet bay.  This is an onsite recall as such and is taken care of as needed.  But, it requires getting on another waiting list for another day...our time frame is probably a week or so away.

Down to the last item for the day, and that was the rear jack that has been giving us fits for a while now.  It almost always goes down, but, only comes up when it really wants to.   But, this is done in a different bay, so...

We returned to our campground site and shortly after lunch time, they were calling for us to come back to the

service area.  Once we were in the bay, the techs ran the jacks down, they ran them up, they ran them down, and back up.  They decided the jack motor was either putting out to many amps or not enough amps and confusing the controller.  The only fix...

a new jack.  So, off

with the old one and on

 

with the new one.

All done, reset, and ready to go, back to the camp ground that is.

After hours, Trevor stopped by to return my door mats that he had taken to put some new trim on.  He was also going to install our new

LED ceiling lights. These replace the

old lights.  Looking good!

  Okay...no more work today!

  Time for some fun.  We picked up Randy and Pam and headed for

The Rattlesnake Saloon.  This is a great little burger spot that is built

at the bottom of a hill in a

cave.

We shared

eyes and tails (fried jalapenos and green beans), before ordering burgers and salads.

A great evening with

friends after a busy day in Red Bay.