Summerdale, AL Escapee Plantation park

We made the final 310 miles to AL Thursday 5/17 and set up mid afternoon at the Escapees Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale..  We like this park because the grass sites are large and it's in the boonies so it's quiet and dark at night.  Judy likes the large pool for water aerobics.

We returned to Alabama to finalize the details on our home.  There were several issues to resolve, the major one was the back porch.  We want a 12 foot wide sun room and porch and the manufacturer (Champion) that Patrick, The Groves Sales Manager, wanted to use came back saying they would only build one 8 foot wide.  Patrick asked them to reduce their price so he could build the porch we wanted but they wouldn't.  So, we will be getting a home from Jacobsen which is fine with us  We met with Patrick twice and then on Friday June 1 Judy signed the print and specifications so the home is now on order.  After the signing we attended a Memorial Day party (it was postponed due to tropical storm Alberto) at the clubhouse.  We visited with a couple who have lived here 9 years that we met our first year on the road.  We met them at a rally in MO.  Judy also saw in the directory a couple from Saline that we knew from St Marks church.  Small world.  We are looking forward to the home at The Grove.
ETA is 3 to 4 months and Patrick will take about 2 months for the site prep work and finishing the home.  His team does the home assembly work, flooring, painting, ramp and steps, concrete, car port, landscaping work.  We will return to Gulf Shores in October and wait for our home to be completed, hopefully moving in in November.  We'll stay at Gulf Breeze RV (about 4 miles from The Grove) and casually move from the HitchHiker into the home.

One afternoon we went to Pensacola to meet David and Shirley, HH friends, for lunch at Joey Patties Seafood.  We have heard of this place for years but never been there.  They were staying at a National Seashore CG near Pensacola.  The clam chowder was so so at best but the fish and shrimp were good.  Bottom line......we can get seafood that's just as good and closer here in Gulf Shores.

We also had new tires installed on the HH.  The old ones are 5 years old and that's as long as I want to run them for fear of blowouts damaging the HH.  I went with Sailun rather than Goodyear as they were $900 vs $2200, have a good reputation, and we will not be travel near as much as in the past.  All I can see in my crystal ball today is AL to GA to NC to FL to AL this year.  Next we'll either park the HH where the summers are cooler or sell it.  We used a fellow that comes to us!  He has equipment in his van allowing him to mount, dismount and balance tires!  He uses air bags to raise vehicles but I used the Big Foot system to lift the HH up.  He makes it easy to get tires work done.