Roadrunner Backfill: Vicksburg National Military Park

Not exactly sure how to handle "posts I intended to do but now we have left the area." There are plenty of blogs I have wanted to write, but didn't for one reason or another.  After we leave the area, I am hesitant to write about it because it may be confusing to our readers.  So I am going to call them, "Roadrunner Backfills".  Sort of what I used to tell the boss, "After the meeting/event, I will backfill you in what I found out."  We are now in Austin, TX and here is my first "Backfill" post.

After our time at Red Bay, AL we drove to Vicksburg, MS.  I knew that Vicksburg was one of the major battles of the Civil War, but beyond that, I really didn't know much about it until we went there.
I found this short synopsis and photograph:

We drove through town and saw some historical markers and went down along the river where we also found a 'Wall of Murals'.  I always find those interesting so we will leave that to another post.

We found the Vicksburg National Park on the edge of town and went by.  We took in the usual video in the Visitor's Center and the adjacent displays to get and a feel for the major story lines of the area.

Outside there were some re-enactors camped out.

Vicksburg reminded me a little bit of Gettysburg National Park because of all the monuments and the driving tour.  But this area is much more hilly.  When trying to image what it was like a 150 years ago, I realize  the landscape is so different than it was.  Some of the older pictures of that time show a mountain side ravaged by bombardment.  The heavy forests were obliterated by weeks and weeks during the siege of 1863.  The beautiful drive and meadows and buildings are far different than the horrors combatants experienced then.

Vicksburg was the last major battle of the Civil War concluding one day after the Battle of Gettysburg. Union Major General (two-star) Ulysses S. Grant's forces faced those of Confederate Lieutenant General (three-star) John C. Pemberton.

Grant had 35,000 men while Pemberton had a little more than half - 18,500.  After a number of failed attempts on the city, Union forces bombarded the Vicksburg from the River and surrounded the city, finally settling in for a siege.  They dug in the hill sides which lasted for weeks.

Finally after 47 days, Pemberton and Grant met and agreed on terms of surrender on July 4, 1863.

We took a driving tour of the Vicksburg National Military Park.  

The large number of monuments, plaques, markers and tablets make Vicksburg one of the most 'monumented' parks in the world.  It was a nice day to take a leisurely tour through it to learn more of America's history.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Time at the Texas State Capitol - Austin Texas

Today we visited downtown Austin and the State Capitol.  It was really impressive.  The grounds were well laid out and the trees and flowers and grass on the rolling hills were in perfect condition.  The structure itself may be the most beautiful of any state we have visited.

We only visited a few and we hope to get to all of them eventually.

Our first visit was the Capitol Visitor's Center.  That building was built in 1856-1857 and once was the General Land Office building.

The Visitors Center is about 100 yards from the Capitol.  Along the way we met a couple of happy furry friends.

Also along the grounds from one building to the next, we saw some monuments that told some of the history of Texas.

High atop the dome is the statute of the Goddess of Liberty.  On near the South entrance to the capitol we saw:  the Confederate Soldiers monument; the Texas Cowboy; and Terry's Texas Rangers.

Next, we went into the capitol.  The structure itself is huge and palace-like.  The architecture is Italian Renaissance Revival and is built of limestone with the outside structure covered in red granite.

Inside, we first saw a large painting of David (Davy) Crockett (who died at the Alamo)

and statutes of Sam Houston 

and Stephen Austin.

Next, we entered the rotunda.  The floor is

On the terrazzo floor you see the six seals of the United States, Mexico, France, Spain and the Confederacy surrounding the emblem of the Republic of Texas.

Looking skyward is the inside of the massive dome.

On the second floor, we toured the chambers of the Texas House of Representatives

and the Senate

One thing I noticed was the detail work even in the door hinges prominent use of the Lone Star in the Senate lighting and chairs and the rotunda.   

Outside we went back to a couple more monuments. I really liked them all but was particularly impressed with the Confederate Soldiers.

The base of the monument has the Confederate Battles from 1861-1865 which is a history lesson in itself.

Then a more traditional bronze statue work with plaques at the Tejano Monument.

Lots to do and see at the Texas State Capitol.  I was another interesting morning learning about the great State of Texas.

Thanks for joining us! And thanks for leaving a comment.

Friday Night in Red Bay

Our last evening in Red Bay we decided to go to the Rattlesnake Saloon for dinner.  It is not in Red Bay.  In fact it is about 22 miles away in Tuscumbia, AL.

The Rattlesnake Saloon is a regular hangout of locals and RVers like ourselves that spend time in Red Bay.  It is definitely a unique and 'one of a kind' place.

The Rattlesnake Taxi was waiting for us when we pulled into the parking lot.  You can walk down to the bottom of the hill, but taking the taxi is more fun.

The drive down is a bit steep but that adds to the experience.

Most tables are set up outside under the opening of a large cave.  It is really a fascinating place.

The band sets up in the middle and there were about 15 tables and a area for dancing.  On one end of the cave is the entrance to the saloon and bar.  You can also eat inside.  But most don't.

 It is very well done.  And off to one side is a porch/over flow area of folks to hang out with some great scenery and flowers.

Things were a bit slow on the dance floor until two couples got up and did the two-step.

 (I think it was the two-step but ?)
I didn't get the name of the band, but they were pretty good.

It was fun to sit there and listen.  We had some pretty good bar food, too.  Pam and I had the hamburger which hit the spot.

After a couple of hours, we boarded the taxi for the return trip up the hill and stopped off at the gift shop.

We didn't see anything we couldn't do without, but it has a good supply of T-Shirts and hats and other stuff.

Fun night and a good way to spend our last night in Red Bay.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Red Bay Repairs and Maintenance

We have been here at Red Bay, AL at the Allegro Campground - also known as the Tiffin Service Center.  We arrived a little before noon on Saturday morning and took it easy the rest of the day.

On Sunday

we made it over to the new wash rack.  They moved it from the other side of the service bays.  Now it is an open and level area.

It took me a while to get the grime off the top of the Roadrunner, but after 90 minutes, it was all clean.

I really like the 'flex hoses' we got.  They seem to be working well.

On Tuesday after Memorial Day, we talked to Norris, got the word it might be 3 or 4 days to get into service since we did not have a reservation.  Then we went over to Bay Diesel and got the fuel filters replaced, the generator serviced and a couple of other things.

After that, we drove over to Belmont, MS to check out the paint warehouses.

Then to our surprise we got into a "Express Service" bay on Wednesday morning to get our 'list' worked on.  We showed up at 6:45.  The biggest thing we had was a problem with our fresh water tank.

It was still filling when we had the lever in 'City Water' mode.  They changed out the lever and the check valve and solved that one. 

And we had some smaller items:  replace/repair light switches over the PS sofa and bed, adjust a bay door, replace a fog light and adjust the front door latch.

Ugh oh.  Dustin came over to check the wet bay and roof rails.  No problem on the rails.  Big problem on our 19 month old already replaced wet bay.  It needed to be replaced again.  This time with an all plastic no wood solution.  Oops.  There went our fastest - ever time in Red Bay.  We were told it would be 2-3 days to get the 4 hour job done.

The next day, we we back to Billy to tell him our door handle adjustment needed some more work.  He said 'Mobile Team A' would get on it.  Sure enough, Charlie came out and cleaned it all up and made some adjustments.  It was better but still not like we thought it should be but we were OK with it.

Our two day wait to get into the Wet Bay repairs ended up being two days and we got in at noon on Friday.  These guys were impressive.  

These guys were impressive.  They were done in 2 1/2 hours except for pulling off the painter's tape.  

So we finished up with our list after 4 work days.  We were pleased.  It seems the new reservation system is working better than it ever has and the wet bay repairs are taking 1/2 the time it did 19 months ago.  I hate having to get the wet bays fixed again but I love the fact that Tiffin picks up the tab for that.  From our view - we continue to be happy customers.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Remembering Tuscaloosa Tornado 2 Years Later

A few days before we left Tuscaloosa, we took drive around the area near Holt which was close to our work site.  We were near the Alberta area building houses.

We took some photos of the area.

This is where Alberta Elementary School once stood.

And over in the Holt area more effects of the storm:

We saw only one storm shelter:

And a house with a pool and garage - only the garage left

The devastation and destruction of these tornadoes is hard to comprehend.  We have never been through one or experienced it.  Two years later, things are a lot better, but their lives have changed and they have endured a lot.

When we see the recent tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma our hearts go out to them also.  But for now I think about what one homeowner said to us while we were in Tuscaloosa, "Thanks for remembering us".

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...