Tweak Thursday: we added body wash / shampoo / conditioner dispensers on the wall of our shower:
Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey
We stayed at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in Ozark, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A one-night stop on the way south. KOA Journeys are usually an easy choice when we don’t want to untoad.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-12-21
- Check out: 2024-12-22
- 1 night
Weather:
- Sunny
- High temp 51°F, low 30°F
- A little wind, gusts to 15 MPH
Noise:
- Some highway noise
- Occasional nearby train horn noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #19, pull-through, concrete
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
- Somewhat level site; high on driver side and back; used hydraulic leveling, since on concrete
- Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
- 16 feet to neighbors on both sides
- Picnic table on concrete patio
- Some tall trees
- Clean site
- Elevation 330 feet, front facing West
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 65 PSI water, conveniently located
- Didn’t use the sewer connection, but it was conveniently located, with two ports
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 363-421 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- AT&T: 55 Mbps down, 1-2 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Convenient stop
We stayed one night on our way from Red Bay to Florida. This was a very convenient in-and-out place to stay. The friendly and helpful staff guided us to our spot and made sure we were good to go. There was a bit of road and train noise, but not too bad. Our site was a long enough pull-through that we didn’t need to disconnect our tow vehicle or fuss with positioning. The only downside is if you’re headed south when you leave, you have to wait a while for a decent break in the traffic as there isn’t a merge lane across the divided highway. We camped at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Other sites:
A nice little pond area:
A decent one-night stop.
Video: Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 288 miles from Red Bay, Alabama to Ozark, Alabama.
Travel from Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama
We drove our coach 288 miles, about five hours of driving, from Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama. (With lots of Paladin pics.)
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map:
A video of Paladin getting pushed by the slide-out coming in while we were preparing the leave; he didn’t care:
Goodbye Red Bay Acres:
SR-19:
I-22 East:
Lunch stop:
Back on I-22 East, with Paladin on the dash:
“Break the drive if sleepy”:
Rest area:
Paladin on the dash again:
“End higher fines”… sounds like a protest sign:
Fuel stop:
Some women admiring Paladin at the fuel stop:
US-231 South:
KOA:
Guided to our site:
Girard replaced window awning
In December 2023 the big window awning on the passenger side of our coach broke; it slammed open when extending it, and wouldn’t retract anymore. We got it repaired when in Red Bay, Alabama (home of Tiffin) in March 2024; see this previous post about that issue and repair.
Unfortunately, that repair didn’t last; after a few months it started making clunking noises when extending, and wouldn’t automatically retract. We could still use it, as I could push it back up and it’d stay retracted, but it wasn’t ideal.
So we made an appointment for when we were back in Red Bay in December with the Girard Awning Service Center next to Red Bay Acres (where we were staying), and got them to install a replacement.
Since the old awning was from a different manufacturer, they needed to do a few adjustments. They filled the holes from the old awning mounting with rivets, and painted them, after the old awning was removed (look closely just below the black slide topper rail):
Here’s the new window awning installed:
Painted rivets from the old awning arm mount; not an entirely tidy paint job, but only visible in certain light:
The left side is a bit tidier:
They added an extra cord bracket (used to hold the awning open); they asked if we wanted to remove the old one, but we said it’s fine to leave it; we could use it to have a shallower angle. The lower one is the new one:
The new awning open:
Definitely a nicer product. We did consider replacing the two on the driver side too, so they’d match. But they are still functional, and it wouldn’t be cheap, so we decided to leave them as-is.
Red Bay food and shopping
Some food and shopping around Red Bay, Alabama.
Casa Fiesta Mexican Grill, not bad Mexican food:
Piggly Wiggly grocery store, pretty basic:
Holiday lights:
Mia Marlie’s Hometown Pizza, fairly good and inexpensive:
Cardinal Drive-In, much like Sonic, but better:
Big Star grocery store, much nicer than Piggly Wiggly, and lots of super-tasty treats (of which we stocked up!):
Happy Hollow, home-goods and outdoors stuff, we always get some cat toys there:
Red Bay is a small town, but has some good food and shopping options.
Video: Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama motorhome travel timelapse in 360°
A silent 360° timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 184 miles from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama, including a portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway. Drag to look around anywhere while playing the video.
Red Bay Acres RV Resort
We stayed at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in Red Bay, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Our fourth stay here, and third in 2024.
Dates:
- Check in: 2024-12-15
- Check out: 2024-12-21
- 6 nights
Weather:
- Some cloudy days, and some rain and thunderstorms
- High temps 51-65°F, lows 31-58°F
- A bunch of wind, gusts to 21 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train horn noise
- Hourly clock tower noise
- Negligible neighbor and tech services noise, since the park was mostly empty
Site:
- #32, back-in, concrete
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Level site; used hydraulic leveling
- Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
- Grass between sites, 15-25 feet wide on passenger side, 15 feet wide on driver side
- Picnic table
- No trees
- Clean site
- Elevation 660 feet, front facing NW
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 370-400 Mbps down, 45-55 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- AT&T: 110-125 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 75-95 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi (in Yacht Club): 6-8 Mbps down, 4-6 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Package delivery to office
- Onsite restaurant
- Pond
- Hometown of Tiffin; local RV repairs
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Still the best place to stay in Red Bay
We’ve stayed here several times while getting our coach serviced in the Red Bay area, and it’s still the only place I would choose to stay. The lake in the middle is pleasant and we love having the on-site cafe. It is a little disappointing that they seem to be cutting back on the menu there (pretty much only sandwiches now, when you used to get wings and other hot items). I also wish the concrete pads were a bit wider, as it rained nearly every day, and the infamous Red Bay mud was inescapable when hooking/unhooking for our service appointments. December is a bit of a mixed bag as the town closes the week before Christmas through the New Year. Having the campground to ourselves was nice, but services were harder to schedule. We camped at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: After several trips to Red Bay the big question is, why did it take me so long to discover the majesty of Big Star’s bakery? I’m still dreaming of their chocolate chip cookies….
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
On a frosty morning, you can see the framing of the coach:
A thunderstorm rolling through:
Red Bay Yacht Club:
Pond:
Other sites, mostly empty throughout our stay:
The week before Christmas was a good time to visit, other than being rather cold. We don’t have any current plans to go back to Red Bay, but it seems inevitable that we will in due course, and will stay here again when we do.
Video: Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 184 miles from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama.
Travel from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama
We drove our coach 184 miles, about three hours of driving, from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama.
Here’s a map showing our route (kinda), heading north:
That wasn’t actually our route, as we decided to take the Natchez Trace Parkway, which the RV routing didn’t like, but I examined closely and determined it’d be fine for us. Here’s an interactive map of the actual route:
A branch and lots of leaves by our truck:
A narrow road from the campground:
A sharp turn from the park road; not too hard for our coach:
Another Allegro Bus passing us:
A drizzly drive:
Entering Natchez Trace Parkway:
Lunch stop at the Jeff Busby area:
Loose dogs roaming around:
Leaving Natchez Trace Parkway for I-22 East:
MS-25:
Turned into MS-76 (a newer and much nicer highway):
Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama:
Arriving at our destination, Red Bay Acres:
Mostly empty RV park:
Oooh, a Zephyr (top of the line Tiffin motorhome):
Our site:
