A Lazy Weekend on the Mountain and Ooops

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I thought that place looked familiar! We love Monte Sano! We've stayed there twice, both times when we traveled to Huntsville for a gathering of Nikon photographers from the online Nikon Cafe group. Gosh, I miss those days! We did the Burritt tour and just fell in love with the place. We spent long times standing on the overlook near the campground, just staring out at the skyline. The first time we stayed, there was another Cafe family in the site next to us, and we had so much fun walking through the Japanese garden there together. Both years, we hosted a a campfire night for all the Cafe families, and everyone came up on the mountain with us and had hotdogs and pizza and s'mores. Anyway, enough of my stroll down memory lane! It's great that you live so close and can visit there often....such a beautiful place!

Yes, Monte Sano is a little treasure we have!! I grew up visiting the picnic area, crawling around on the burned out lodge, taking hikes on the trails, as a teen, "parking" on Bankhead, and then as an adult camping with Scouts. Maybe sometime next year, I'll have another weekend there and can explore more and take more pictures. There are some BREATHTAKING views of the surrounding area!

Sorry you had a glitch but glad it didn't spoil your weekend!

Thanks!!

I 'm in... The park looks simply relaxing... One of those weekends you just slow down and recharge.... Sorry for the convertor problems, but I'm sure you'll be up and running in no time.

New one was ordered last night!! As soon as it comes in, my super repairman (daddy) will be over to help me swap it out!

ho hum, sorry we didnt make it up, you have NO IDEA how much I wanted to sneak out the back door and run up the mountain!! lol

LOL, missed ya sweety!!!

Glad you got to get away, but sorry to hear you had an "oops". At least you knew what to check and how to fix it, so you could stay. I would have been totally clueless and :panic: would have set in. Can't wait to hear how the rest of your week-end played out.

Fortunately, I belong to a VERY knowledgeable T@B owners group, and every topic that can be discussed about T@B is discussed, and there are many troubleshooting guides and pictures to help us all out with issues. This has all developed over the past 8 years to help us out, cause even the dealers that sold them had little clue, and the owners manual was USELESS!!

Were you all alone Carol?

Looks like a nice quiet getaway. Bravo to the folks in tents, in the primitive spots. We did that once in Croom, and the damn raccoons ripped into our tent! That was after Trevor chased one off with a 9 iron! Too many critters to be that low to the ground. ^-^

Bummer about your converter, but at least you worked around it.

Fortunately not too many critters. Saw the occasional squirrel, and LOTS of Daddy longlegs, but other than that, no worries.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

My converter went bad in my new RV. Luckily it was replaced under warranty, then when we got that back, something else was wrong with my fridge, so it could not be used in electric. So I had the RV back in for work the next Monday. Once again fixed under warranty, but what a pain.

Glad you were able to figure out what it was and that you were able to charge the battery through the 7-pin.

I didn't have hardly any warranty issues except for a leaky hatch, which I had replaced, but honestly, the overall design of the hatch spelled leaks of some sort. I was finally able to solve that through a fix of my own design.

Yeah, like I said, religious reading of my owners group posts prepared me!!!

I consider myself lucky, the trailer is just over 5 years old, and the converter has many, many hours of use under it's belt. As a matter of fact, the trailer stays plugged in 24/7 since we had the garage built in 2009, so it's done well!!

Except when the converter fails.

Why did Trevor have a 9 iron at Croom?

And why did he select that club?

I always use my driver to clobber raccoons.

TCD

That's funny Andrew!!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Oh, and yeah Stef, I was solo this trip, but that doesn't bother me much!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

OK, time to finish this one up!!

I'm gonna backtrack to Friday evening. I had just finished setting up and I'm sitting in my chair, and what do I see at the next site over??

This!! (Pic taken Saturday afternoon)

I knew we had a fairly new Fort Fiends member (jenremley), that lived in the area, that had posted pics of her new Mickey Lamp Post!

I walk over and introduce myself, and sure enough it was them!!! We chatted for a few minutes. Delightful folks, with cute kids!!! They had other friends or family with them, so I didn't stay, but SMALL WORLD!!!

Now, I'm back to Saturday evening. I spent the evening just chillin in the chair, piddlin on the laptop, huntin for a replacement converter, and I got a text from Yvonne! Here and her daughter could get away for a bit, so they came up to visit. We had a very nice conversation about homeschooling, school in general, FortFiends (anybody's ears burnin?) (all nice stuff I promise), and the fact that we wished Judy and Joanna could join us!! We got a text from Judy about then, that she was stuck with family The visit didn't last as long as I hoped, and sadly Yvonne decided that she needed to get on, so we said our goodbyes. It was about 9:30 at night by then though!! Where did the day go??!!!! Plus I forgot to take pictures!!!

I then headed for the shower, and crawled under the covers with a book, and some interesting stuff on Public Television (we never watch those channels on our cable either).

Nighty night!

[stefa70 205]

And why did he select that club?

TCD

His caddy recommended it.

God only knows why he had any club in his truck. Think he found it in the yard of one of his accounts, near the golf course.

Carol, very cool that you ran into another fiend. I guess you just never know when you're going to run into another Disney lover.

"Crawled under the covers with a book" Ahhhhh... I don't do much tv when camping either, but there's something about chillin with a good book that's different than when you're at home.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, time to finish this one up!!

What the Fort?

You just got started.

What do you mean it's time to finish up?

That is amazing that you ran in to a Fiend!

His caddy recommended it.

God only knows why he had any club in his truck. Think he found it in the yard of one of his accounts, near the golf course.

Oh, then, good choice.

I understand now- I can't imagine any other reason for anyone to have a golf club at Croom.

TCD

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

Carol- I thought most campers come with 3 way fridges?

TCD

Even the gas/elec still require 12 volt for control voltage. Also when on gas that is how the auto igniter lights the gas burner. Not like the ones from the 70's that had a pilot.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Even the gas/elec still require 12 volt for control voltage. Also when on gas that is how the auto igniter lights the gas burner. Not like the ones from the 70's that had a pilot.

That's true, and even my Cool Cat which is all electric requires 12V for the thermostat, because the thermostat also runs the furnace (if I had one, which I don't), and the furnace does run without electric power on propane.

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

.....SMALL WORLD!!!

I'll give you three guesses on what song is stuck in my head now. Thanks Carol. I did love the report though (although like TCD said it's over already). :)

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Actually, I have one more update, I got distracted by nasty old work, and had to hit the post button!!

Sunday morning dawned crisp and georgious!!!

Here are a few pics of the sunshine peaking through the trees from my awning

I piddled around the campsite that morning, mostly just enjoying the calm of the morning, had a quick breakfast and just chilled, not wanting to leave, but then silly things started chirping on the camper again, so I knew the battery was getting low again, so time to pack up and leave.

I got broke down rather quickly, stopped by the dump station to empty my grey water container and the portapotty and headed down the mountain.

One last pic of the little general store where you check in, as I was pulling out

Oh just a couple other details. The camp store is open 8-5 or 9-5 (I forget which). However, you can arrive and check-in with the site host until 9pm. They have a campsite just beyond the security gate. You park your rig in the front lot, walk past the security gate, and they will give you a map with available sites, you pick your site, and they give you the gate code. You can then pay for your site the next morning.

Anywho, I got home, pushed the camper into the garage, unloaded the fridge, and turned the battery off and did not plug it in. I spent the afternoon on and off, emptying out everything, so I could get to the guts of the converter. I found one more fuse, but that was good, and I checked all wire connections, and they were good. So went inside, ordered the converter online, so now I wait till it comes in. They said 7-10 days shipping, and daddy (my fixit man) is retired, so we should be able to get the new one in before Defeated Creek!!!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I'll give you three guesses on what song is stuck in my head now. Thanks Carol.

Glad I could help!!!!

[polkadotsuitcase 12]

Such a purty campground. So glad you could sneak away for a quick trip! We've been back from TX for maybe 1-1/2 weeks and I'm already itching to get out again. Might need to take your lead and just do a quick local one!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Even the gas/elec still require 12 volt for control voltage. Also when on gas that is how the auto igniter lights the gas burner. Not like the ones from the 70's that had a pilot.

Thanks, Dave. I wasn't getting it- because my camper's fridge can run on AC, DC or gas. I don't have a battery, but it never occurred to me that I would still need the converter working to use the AC.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great report, Carol! See you at Defeated Creek!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

over already.......

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

over already.......

It couldn't be!

Could it?

This must be some kind of record or something.

Fastest trip report ever.

TCD

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I am so glad Jessica and I were able to get up there to spend some time with you. I just wish she would have stopped talking and let us get a word in once in awhile. LOL!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I am so glad Jessica and I were able to get up there to spend some time with you. I just wish she would have stopped talking and let us get a word in once in awhile. LOL!

I just wish one of you would have taken some pictures!

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Love looking at your camp setup Carol, it always seems so cozy. And the pics you took from your site into the woods are so peaceful and beautiful.

Was this report over so quickly because you didn't give anyone time to hyjack the thread?

[fortpartyof4 108]

Sounds like the perfect little get-away-from-the-madness weekend. I love places like that.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I envy your lazy weekend!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

It couldn't be!

Could it?

This must be some kind of record or something.

Fastest trip report ever.

TCD

for carol.. yes, fastest TR evah

[Lou... 3,118]

It's time for Carol to retire early, sell the house, get the 45 foot MH, and hit the road full time. She deserves it.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

It's time for Carol to retire early, sell the house, get the 45 foot MH, and hit the road full time. She deserves it.

I agree Lou!!! But my creditors don't agree!! (And that was a real up arrow, not a "let's play a silly game" up arrow)

[LORNADUCK 261]

Glad you had a relaxing weekend and got to see a few fiends as well.

The CG looks really peacefull. I would love to have one near here with some trees, other than the fort. The one we stayed in last weekend, thou it was really nice there wasn't one tree near the site.