2009/11/22 - (another night FREE ... )
Day 7, Camp 5
Rocky Springs Campground
Natchez Trace Parkway, MS

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Left Busby and headed down to Rocky Springs Campground... 140 strenuous miles... Same amenities... Nice woods and trails. A nice stretch of the 'Old Trace' trail to hike on... plus the long-gone farming...

2009/11/21 - 1 night FREE ...
Day 6, Camp 4
Jeff Busby Campground
Natchez Trace Parkway, MS

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We left Trace State Park and got back on the Parkway at Tupelo... traveling a mere 65 miles south to Jeff Busby Campground. Leisurely. Or as my good buddy Doug told me when I retired... and what I now try to live by......

2009/11/20 - (1 night @ $18)
Day 5, Camp 3
Trace State Park
Pontotoc, MS

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We left Meriweather Lewis Campground and headed down the Parkway 126 miles to Tupelo, MS. We briefly tipped our hats to the birthplace of another American legend... Elvis. Didn't catch any of the tours Did note that his dad built their two-room house in 1935 for...

2009/11/19 - 1 night FREE ...
Day 4, Camp 2
Meriweather Lewis Campground
Natchez Trace Parkway, TN

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We made our way south from Mammoth Cave on I-65 down to Nashville, TN... about 95 miles. From there you better have a GPS or Google Maps to find the start of the Natchez Trace! West on I-40 about 7 miles. off on Hwy...

Days 4 ~ 7 - Four Days on the Natchez Trace
2009/11/19 to 22
Natchez Trace Parkway,
Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi

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We spent four days traveling down the Natchez Trace Parkway. Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. 40 to 50 mph speed limits, no commercial vehicles... a very relaxing, beautiful way to travel south... leisurely enjoying...

Here are the pics of the last belly pan - the front - removed...and as has been the story of this dissembly (is that a word?), there was more evidence of prior inhabitants that believed in an in-place composting toilet and sleeping with their excrement...! joy...! When I get to reconstruction, critter "proofing", if possible, will be a key objective given the high population concentration in the high plains of New Mexico!

We have been busy lately with work but found some time this weekend to work on more of the cabinets inside. In between working, I cut and put together the floating panel separation walls for the fridge side of the hall. This weekend, they were sanded and 4 of the 5 installed along with the shelving.



This is a picture of the walls in place. It took a while to get the backside...

Removing the stabilizers was tough..the screws were rusts. Took quite a bit of teeth gritting to get them off....

To get some fresh air, I decided to go back under and get the last belly pan. First, let's geek out and take a look at all of these corroding rivets...woo hoo! Some of them had washers on them...was that original? ...hmmm...wonder what's underneath...can't wait to see!

Okay - I can't figure this one out. The panels go behind the metal door "frame" that looks like it should pop out. I show here where I cut around the door (yes, I was frustrated!) because the rivets for the panel are behind that frame. The other picture (not that great) shows the smaller rivets that I eventually took out - still no luck. Ideas?

It's all down hill from here...(famous last words)... pretty quick to remove. Luckily I didn't find any leaks, wet spots, or mold...

So, with all of these layers - the 1 foot overlap required me to go to the top layer first and remove from there. This is no whimpy vinyl clad aluminum. It was very stiff!

2009/11/16 (3 nights @ $8.50 per night)
Day 1, Camp 1
Mammoth Cave National Park,
Park City, KY

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We finally got out of Michigan on November 16th at about 8:45 am, after winterizing the house, blowing out pipes,etc. We had gotten the Bambi back after repairs, the previous Thurs. and spent 3 days packing. We drove south...

Great weekend of work. Mission #1 is completed because we were successful lifting the body off the frame.

This was a slow slightly sketch process using small bottle jack in tandem with adjustable jack stands.

We began by supporting the the interior body structure by fastening 2 x 4's to the interior lower body frame ribs with screws. Then by placing the jacks under these new cross supports we slowly began to lift.

As the body began to seperate, a few stubborn...

Pictures from this week's stay at Cheaha