A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 257 miles from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
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Posts featuring the coach.
Travel from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida
We drove our coach 257 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida. Our last travel day of 2023. (Yes, the blog posts are a bit delayed; we do things faster than I can post about them!)
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops marked:
Leaving the state park:
I-10:
Entering Florida:
“No stopping; photo opp in welcome center”:
We did stop at the Welcome Center rest stop for a quick break, though didn’t go into the Welcome Center:
Home of the Blue Angels:
Our coach at the rest stop on a traffic cam:
I had fun spotting our coach via other traffic cams too:
Bridge over Escambia Bay:
More traffic cams:
Another rest area stop, this time for lunch:
Sleepy Paladin enjoying the stacked dining chairs:
An interesting feature of the rest areas was a truck windshield washer:
We also appreciated signs that displayed the rest area truck parking availability (which was also available via the traffic website):
Speaking of, a couple more:
Then we exited I-10, for some highway travel:
Starting with a fuel stop:
While Jenn fueled up, I went in and got some Cokes (to help us stay alert) and snacks:
$284.62 for 77.787 gallons of diesel; we saved $22.17 off that with our discount card:
Paladin watching us from the dash:
Cotton field:
Blountstown mural:
The bridge where we entered Eastern Time Zone:
An uncomfortably narrow road:
A portion was also a little under water; not ideal:
Roadworks to alleviate the flooding; a tight squeeze:
Our destination for the end of the year:
A long drive, but then we were stationary for three weeks.
Tweaks at Davidson RV
We got Davidson RV to help us with a few other issues.
One was to replace our water pump, as the old one wasn’t performing well:
Another issue with fortunate timing was the entry step didn’t fully retract; they lubricated it, and it’s been fine since (I have been lubricating it with silicone lube, but have since purchased some better lube):
Finally, the USB ports on my side of the bed had stopped working, so they replaced them:
I could have done all three of those things myself, but easier to get them to do so while we were there.
Meaher State Park
We stayed at Meaher State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A delightful state park with spacious sites and lots of wildlife. The I-10 freeway across the water isn’t ideal, but not too bad.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-12-03
- Check out: 2023-12-17
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy, some rain
- High temps ranging between 57-72°F, lows around 39-59°F
- A little wind, gusts to 28 MPH
Noise:
- Freeway noise across the bay
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise, other than kids on weekends
Site:
- #54, back in, asphalt
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
- Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by about 12 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 52 feet wide
- Picnic table on asphalt patio about 18 by 14 feet
- No fire pit
- Clean site
- Waterfront, though with the back of our coach facing the water
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 25 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 4-9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- AT&T: 180-395 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 22 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9-12 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Waterfront (bay)
- Walking paths
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Gorgeous sunsets, distant hum of I-10
This is a lovely state park along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gorgeous views of the water, and various shorebirds. I-10 is visible, but the hum is distant and pretty much just background white noise. There are many nice walking trails in the park, including a boardwalk through the wetlands. Sites were large and nicely spread out. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Meaher State Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site, backing onto the water:
Utilities:
Shortly before we left, I got out my telescoping ladder to clear off a bunch of large pinecones that had fallen on our coach:
Not too bad, though (a rare look at our roof; I’ve still never been on it, and this was only the second time I’ve used the ladder to clear stuff off it):
Behind our site:
“Do not feed or harass the alligators” — we didn’t see any, but they’re probably all brumating by this time:
We were warned that there were invasive ants in the area, and advised to sprinkle borax around the coach (which we did). We saw some ants, but none near our coach:
Other sites:
Cabins:
Tents:
The entrance station:
Baby turtle crossing:
Fungus:
Bathrooms:
Other bathrooms:
Picnic shelter:
Boat ramp area:
Kayaks etc:
Boat ramps and dock:
Kayak dock:
There were lots of birds in the area:
Some bees:
A small beach, popular for fishing:
A nice delta boardwalk:
A fishing pier:
One evening I went for a walk to the fishing pier shortly before the sun set, and enjoyed watching the sunset and hundreds of birds:
Back to our coach:
Another day, another sunset behind our site:
A very nice state park. We’d definitely stay here again.
Video: New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 146 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
Travel from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama
We drove our coach 146 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:
An interactive map with potential stops; we actually only stopped at the Flying J:
Preparing to leave our site:
Hooking up our truck, with the City of New Orleans paddleboat in the background:
Rail crossing and onramp:
Drawbridge:
Bridge:
Another drawbridge:
I-10:
“Welcome to Mississippi”:
We stopped at a Flying J truck stop for lunch:
The truck parking was rather full. With our toad attached we can’t back up, and this parking area has back-to-back spots, so we could only park where there was two adjacent ones empty so we could pull through. It was a difficult turn and tight squeeze, but Jenn’s driving skills got it done:
This Flying J has a Denny’s restaurant, so we had lunch there:
I tried a rather decadent “choconana pancake slam”, just to be different:
Jenn’s was a bit more conventional:
Back to our coach:
“I love the way you look at me” Buc-ee’s billboard… a little creepy, perhaps:
I had fun spotting our coach passing by on traffic cameras:
Bridge:
An amusing info sign: “Cats have 9 lives. You are not a cat. Buckle up”:
Another traffic camera:
Alabama state line:
“Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama”:
I think these are electrical transformers:
Another couple of glimpses of our coach on Alabama traffic cameras:
Mobile, Alabama:
A tunnel under the Mobile River:
You can see it curving downward as it goes under the river:
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park:
Our destination for the next two weeks, Meaher State Park:
Check out the video from this drive, which includes a picture-in-picture of the view from the truck behind our coach.
Cockpit carpet
Another little project while at Davidson RV was to add some custom-fit carpeting in the cockpit area:
Much better. That helps catch dirt coming into the coach, and is more comfortable, instead of walking on cold tile on cold mornings; the heated tile doesn’t extend into the cockpit area.
Replacing window valances
Our coach came with fabric valances above the windows, which we didn’t like… and Paladin liked scratching. So while in Red Bay, another project we got Davidson RV to do was to replace the fabric portions with wood.
Here’s an example of the old valance, in the bedroom:
They removed the whole window surround:
Then they replaced the fabric portion with wood, stained to a similar color:
The improved version re-installed:
Another example, the window above the TV lift:
Much nicer.
New Orleans RV Resort & Marina
We stayed at New Orleans RV Resort & Marina in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A canal-front site close to the attractions of NOLA.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-11-19
- Check out: 2023-12-03
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy, some rain
- High temps ranging between 54-77°F, lows around 50-62°F
- A little wind, gusts to 24 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- Distant train noise
- Plane noise from local airport
- Occasional boat and jetski noise in the canal
- Little neighbor noise
Site:
- #7, front in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
- Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 50 feet long by about 20 feet wide
- Bark between sites about 6 feet wide
- Picnic table on grass
- No fire pit
- A bunch of small garbage and dog poop
- Waterfront!
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, very conveniently located
- 35 PSI water, very conveniently located
- Very loose sewer connection (the screw part wasn’t connected to the pipe), conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 55 Mbps down, 32 Mbps up, 54 ms ping
- AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 52 ms ping
- Verizon: 9-13 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 135 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Package delivery to office
- Onsite restaurant
- Waterfront (canal)
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Industrial shipyards and pelicans
Don’t let the sketchy-looking area fool you as you drive in. This is a very nice resort close to everything you’d want to do in NOLA. We had a waterfront site and loved watching the birds skimming over the water and the parade of fishing boats going between the lake and the river. Our site was pretty short, just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, with barely enough space to park our tow vehicle alongside, but being able to face over the water was very nice.
The resort has a nice restaurant and bar onsite for when you don’t feel like going into the city itself. All the touristy stuff you’d want to do is conveniently close and parking in the French Quarter was not as scary as I thought it would be. We camped at New Orleans RV Resort & Marina in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our canal-front site:
Views from our site:
A rail drawbridge, sticking up in the open state:
And closed:
A barge waiting for the drawbridge to open:
Lots of pelicans:
The City of New Orleans arriving for servicing:
Some rainy days:
And thunderstorms:
The sewer connection was super loose:
The site wasn’t very clean; this is the trash I picked up on arrival:
We could fill a gap in our states map (but yes, by the time you read this, Florida will also be there):
We were sandwiched between two “Presidential” sites, with covered kitchens and hot tubs. We wouldn’t have preferred such a site, though, as the roof would have impeded our view:
The neighboring hot tub kept blowing open in the wind:
Other sites:
Cabins:
The office:
They allowed package delivery for guests, with a large pile in the front of the office (not very secure; people just come grab their packages; I prefer it when they have a mail room to keep packages more secure, though of course that is more staff burden):
There is a shuttle to downtown, though we didn’t use it, preferring to drive and park; plenty of paid parking available:
Pool:
Dog park:
There are two marinas; this is the smaller one behind the office:
The larger one opposite a boat repair yard:
A nice thing about this resort is an onsite restaurant, The LightHouse Bar:
Menu:
We went there several evenings; here are a sampling of our food and beverages:
A nice resort; we’d be happy to stay here again.
Travel from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana
We drove our coach 208 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:
An interactive map:
Back along the narrow road from the campground:
We stopped at the Loves truck stop to use their CAT scale to weigh our coach and truck:
The results are much the same as previous times, though the truck is heavier, no doubt due to the addition of the canopy and slide; all still within the limits:
Heading onto I-59 south:
The truck parking areas have totally reassuring signs saying “No Security Provided”; we have to wonder what incident caused them to add such signs:
Lots of space in this parking area:
Roadworks:
Another parking area stop; a little smaller and busier, but we found a spot:
“Welcome to Louisiana” sign:
Twin span bridge over Lake Pontchartrain:
Old bridge segment, I guess? Now a fishing pier:
Drawbridge:
Chef Menteur Highway bridge:
Abandoned buildings on the road to our destination:
Arriving at our destination:
Guided to our site:
We had a pull-in waterfront spot for two weeks:
Unfortunately no travel video again today; I didn’t notice that it had filled up and wasn’t recording until after this trip.