If ever a rating is established for the nicest, friendliest, and most pleasant place in the world, I’m sure Huntsville would be included in the short list. The people always seem to be wearing a smile, greet you will a pleasant hello, and will [almost] always patiently wait while us out-of-towners figure out where we want to go; this is especially evident while driving.
Our trip from Gadsden to Huntsville was about 70 miles of good road. As we prepared to leave our campsite, a light mist started falling. After just a few miles the mist turned into a moderately heavy downpour. At times the raindrops took on the size and shape of golf balls. I’m sure someplace in the fine print of our yet unread GPS users manual are words that say, “accuracy may be affected by weather”. For a while we were sure the little lady living in ours was having a stroke. She couldn’t decide which road we were on, kept changing her mind as to our direction, and continually said, “recalculating”. We finally had to turn her off and resort to the primitive practice of map reading.
We traveled thru some beautiful territory including crossing the Tennessee River. The countryside is deep green everywhere. Nature refuses to allow any little bit of earth to show through. The Tennessee River forms a massive lake that highway 431 crosses. We were wondering if this was part of the TVA project. I’ve always been interested in the times, methods, policies, and politics of the TVA. We need to see if there is a visitor centers that discuss the TVA project nearby.
Our first Hustsville stop was the visitors center. The little lady in our GPS had recovered from her conniptions, and guided us to the center. The only problem was railroad-crossing construction along the roadway that had the street blocked to traffic. We could see the center, so decided to park the Roadtrek and walk.
Arriving at the Visitors Center, where we were greeted by our first Huntsville smile. We didn’t learn of any additional places that we wished to visit but did learn of an RV park adjacent to the Missile and Space Museum. The lady at the visitors center tried to call the RV park 3-times but the line was always busy. We also got a recommendation for a breakfast restaurant.
Returning to the Roadtrek was interesting. The railroad construction had progressed so that the entire roadway was blocked even to walkers. The construction crew saw our problem and MOVED their equipment so we could return to our RV. Huntsville courtesy shines again.
The Blue Plate Cafe recommendation was a winner –. I had cheesy grits, biscuit and gravy with a couple of eggs on the side. Cheesy grits taste like regular grits with melted Valvita blended in. I’m not sure if that’s the recipe but the taste would be very close if prepared that way. Mary had her normal Blueberry pancakes. They were good but where’s the adventure?
On the way to breakfast, Mary called the RV Park and managed to snag 2-nights. That way we can visit the Missile and Space museum during tomorrow’s good weather and run a few errands today.
The RV park is only $18 per night with 30-amp service. No cable TV but we were able to watch CSI with our built-in antenna. The sites are paved and well spaced and it is green, green, green everywhere. I wonder if we will get as tired of green as we did the desert vistas of just a few weeks ago?
Costco gas: $2.709
Total Miles traveled: 3726 --- time for an oil change.
Total Gallon of gas: 269
Total fuel cost: $767.70
MPG: 13.85
