Travel from Pine Mountain, Georgia to Red Bay, Alabama

We drove our coach 279 miles, about five hours of driving, from Pine Mountain, Georgia to Red Bay, Alabama.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Route map

An interactive map:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

A very narrow road in the campground:

Very narrow road in campground

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Historic LaGrange:

Historic LaGrange

LaGrange park:

LaGrange park

LaGrange College:

LaGrange College

We drove over an object on the road (couldn’t avoid it), and saw in the rear-view camera that it was dragging from the rear of the coach:

Item dragging from rear of coach

So we stopped at the next opportunity, and I went out to investigate; it turned out to be a bag like for a folding chair, hooked on to the rock guard; I quickly removed it:

Bag stuck on rock guard

I-20 West:

I-20 West

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Then we parked for lunch:

Parked for lunch

Popeyes for lunch:

Popeyes for lunch

I-20 West

I-22 West:

I-22 West

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Bathroom break (in our coach, of course) at a truck stop:

Bathroom break at truck stop

Paladin mid-yawn:

Paladin mid-yawn

Welcome to Mississippi:

Welcome to Mississippi

MS-76:

MS-76

Highway:

Highway

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama:

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

Arriving at Red Bay Acres:

Red Bay Acres

Our site:

Our site

Refilling our fresh tank with a water bladder and pump

We usually stay at full-hookup campgrounds, as we enjoy our creature comforts. But occasionally we stay at more rustic campgrounds or rallies where there isn’t a water faucet in our site. If a week or less, we just avoid doing laundry, long showers, and using our rear toilet (as that is a macerating one that uses more water on each flush), and can cope without difficulties.

But if we’re staying longer, we have the ability to refill our fresh water tank via a water bladder and pump.

I bought an Aquatank II water bladder from Amazon, a drinking-water-safe flexible water container with a 60 gallon capacity. It folds up really small for when we don’t need it, and fits in the bed of our truck when in use.

Our fresh tank is 90 gallons, so it takes two loads if totally empty, though I usually do one load when it’s about halfway.

Here it is empty, spread out in the bed of our truck. It has an upper hose fitting for adding water, and a lower hose fitting underneath for draining:

Water bladder

I drive the truck to the potable water supply at the campground, and use a hose to connect it to the water bladder:

Hose from potable water supply

I use a water meter to track how much I’ve added:

Water meter

The water bladder mostly full:

Mostly full water bladder

50 gallons:

Water bladder

I then drive back to our campsite, and use an electric pump to get the water into our coach, via the usual filters and water softener as I use for campsite hookups:

Pump

(I also got a drill pump as an emergency backup.)

The electric pump is about 16 PSI:

Gauges

The water bladder during draining:

Water bladder

It takes about an hour to do the full fill and empty cycle, depending on the water pressure at the campground. Definitely not as convenient as a faucet at our site, but when we don’t have one, this solution lets us stay longer without having to worry as much about water usage.

Video

Video: F.D. Roosevelt State Park campground timelapse

A timelapse of the view from our site of F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

F.D. Roosevelt State Park

We stayed at F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another nice state park, though a little tight for a big rig.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-03-17
Check out: 2024-03-24
7 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy; a couple days with some rain
High temps ranging between 59-70°F, lows around 30-50°F
Some wind, gusts to 29 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

#104, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Fairly level, a little high on the driver side; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by about 15 feet wide
Slope to driver-side site 20 feet wide
Grass and trees on passenger side about 75 feet wide
Picnic table and fire pit on 20×10 feet gravel patio
Clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
40 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 6-9 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
T-Mobile: 10 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 50-120 ms ping
Verizon: 15-25 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
AT&T: 30 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters
Trading post
Lake
Park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park, a little tight for big rigs

Very few sites here are FHU, but they all have lovely views of the lake in one form or another. The roads into and around the campground are a bit narrow and windy to drive a big rig around comfortably, but if you take your time and pay attention it’s manageable. Lots of nice trails around the park for hiking and boat rentals are available at the lake. Nice camp store at the main building where you check in and a convenient trading post in the campground itself, where you can get snacks, bait, firewood, etc. In the spring, the pollen is positively ridiculous, turning every internal and external surface bright yellow. If you’re sensitive to such things, bring your meds. We camped at F. D. Roosevelt State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

There was tree pollen everywhere; here’s some on our truck:

Pollen on truck

We used our griddle:

Griddle

The visitor center; we went straight to our site, then drove our truck back to check in, since their parking lot is too small for our coach and toad:

Visitor center

Park info sign:

Park info sign

Visitor center:

Visitor center

This site, #113, would probably be my preference if we were to stay here again:

Other sites

It has a nice private patio overlooking the lake, down a couple of steps:

Other sites

Another Tiffin Allegro Bus:

Another Tiffin Allegro Bus

Other sites:

Other sites

Playground:

Playground

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Shelter:

Shelter

Little free library:

Little free library

Goose:

Goose

Lake:

Lake

Trading Post:

Trading Post

The nearby Liberty Bell Pool:

Liberty Bell Pool

A narrow exit road:

Narrow exit road

Video

Video: Adel to Pine Mountain, Georgia motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 191 miles from Adel, Georgia to Pine Mountain, Georgia.

Travel from Adel to Pine Mountain, Georgia

We drove our coach 191 miles, about four hours of driving, from Adel, Georgia to Pine Mountain, Georgia.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Departing the state park:

Departing

A stop to take out some garbage:

Garbage stop

Bye lake:

Lake

Joining I-75 north:

I-75 north

A cute small fiver:

Cute small fiver

“Georgia for Peanuts”:

Georgia for Peanuts

Separate minimum speed signs really confused our Mobile Eye warning device:

Minimum speed sign

A large rest area:

Large rest area

Paladin sat on the dash during the rest stop, and stayed there until we got back on the freeway, then jumped down:

Paladin on the dash

“Cotton” water tower:

Cotton water tower

A stop opportunity that we didn’t use, but would have worked for us; a business parking lot:

Stop opportunity

Waiting for a train:

Waiting for a train

An interesting building in Reynolds, Georgia:

Interesting building in Reynolds, Georgia

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Entering FD Roosevelt State Park:

FD Roosevelt State Park

Uphill in the park:

Uphill in the park

The visitor center:

Visitor center

Road to the campground:

Road to campground

Lake:

Lake

Our site:

Our site

Reed Bingham State Park

We stayed at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park with a lake and dam.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-03-10
Check out: 2024-03-17
7 nights

Weather:

Mostly cloudy; one day with rain
High temps ranging between 62-81°F, lows around 41-61°F
Negligible wind, gusts to 19 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
A little neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

#33, pull-through, gravel
Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Mostly level; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 150 feet long by about 15 feet wide
Leaf-covered ground between sites about 50 feet (front and back; nothing on side)
Driver side to road about 25 feet
Picnic table
Fire pit
Lantern hook
Mostly clean site

Utilities:

50 amp power, somewhat inconveniently located
50 PSI water, somewhat inconveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
Verizon: 25 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
AT&T: 30-80 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 50-90 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

Garbage dumpsters only in a central location
Mini golf

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A nice state park with a lake and dam

Nice large sites, not all 50A or FHU, so plan accordingly. We were in site 33 in loop 2, which was a large pull-through site under the trees. A pleasant walk down to the lake and dam and several easy, short hikes in the park. We would definitely stay here again. We camped at Reed Bingham State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Nice side view from our coach:

Nice side view from our coach

Utilities:

Utilities

Our first visit to Georgia, so time to add its sticker to our coach (the older ones are so faded!):

Georgia sticker

Other sites:

Other sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Little lending library:

Little lending library

Mini golf:

Mini golf

Playground:

Playground

Nature path:

Nature path

Bat box?

Kids fishing ponds:

Kids fishing ponds

No swimming, alligators present:

No swimming, alligators present

Stage:

Stage

Pond:

Pond

Boat ramp:

Boat ramp

Lake:

Lake

Ducks:

Ducks

Dam from bridge:

Dam from bridge

Flooded:

Flooded

A GIF of the dam:

Dam

The water level after the dam was very high due to rain:

Dam

Later in the week, a lower level:

Dam

A nice state park. We’d be happy to stay here again.

Video

Video: Clermont, Florida to Adel, Georgia motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 235 miles from Clermont, Florida to Adel, Georgia.

Travel from Clermont, Florida to Adel, Georgia

We drove our coach 235 miles, about four hours of driving, from Clermont, Florida to Adel, Georgia.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Route map

An interactive map, with potential stops marked:

Rain coming off the slide topper:

Rain coming off slide topper

A line to leave TTO:

Line to leave TTO

Citrus Tower:

Citrus Tower

Heading north on Florida’s Turnpike:

Heading north on Florida's Turnpike

Rest stop:

Rest stop

A busy foodcourt:

Busy foodcourt

The Villages golf cart bridge:

The Villages golf cart bridge

I-75:

I-75

A nice colored Prevost bus:

Prevost bus

Motorcycles and wildflowers:

Motorcycles and wildflowers

This car was going very slowly, with a flat tire. Just pull over!

Car with a flat tire

Our coach in traffic cams:

Our coach in traffic cam

Paladin at a rest stop:

Paladin at rest stop

“Thank you for visiting Florida”:

Thank you for visiting Florida

“Welcome to Georgia”:

Welcome to Georgia

Reed Bingham State Park:

Reed Bingham State Park

Dam:

Dam

Arriving at our site:

Our site

Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort

We stayed at Thousand Trails Orlando RV Resort in Clermont, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A second visit to TTO, the flagship Thousand Trails park.

Dates:

Check in: 2024-03-05
Check out: 2024-03-10
5 nights

Weather:

Mostly cloudy, some rain
High temps ranging between 78-85°F, lows around 59-66°F
Negligible wind, gusts to 21 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
Some neighbor noise, dogs
Distant fireworks from Disney some evenings

Site:

Mako 11, back in, asphalt
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
A little unlevel, high on right; used hydraulic leveling
Asphalt driveway about 45 feet long (plus about 30 feet of gravel behind that) by about 17 feet wide
Weedy grass between sites about 12 feet
Picnic table
No fire pit
A bunch of trash on site

Utilities: