Back in the groove

Piney Grove Campground, New Site, MS – July 28 through July 31, 2022

After three days of mechanized chaos enduring the cacophony of air compressors thumping, compressed air hissing, rotary sanders imitating the sound of dentist drills, and polishing machines whirring away we have finally escaped to the quiet sounds of nature.

We spent those three days at Appalachian Foothills Service Center in Winfield, Alabama. Miss Mosey is now 10 years old and a general freshening up was her present. As part of her Spa Week she received new bedroom and bathroom windows, new slide toppers, new clearance lights, had a few scratches removed, front cap and rear cap and side rails repainted, grilles repainted, engine hatch repainted and the area around the bathroom window repainted. Finally the last vestiges of the “Red Bay Disaster” are gone and we can put all evidence of that disappointing experience behind us.

 

 

 

We made a quick stop in Red Bay Alabama where Miss Mosey was built to pick up a few items at the Campground Parts Store. EJ found a new grille for the gas stove and I picked up a few miscellaneous spare to parts to have on hand.

  

 

Our final stop for the day was Piney Grove Campground which is a Corp Of Engineers park arriving at about 2:30PM. EJ provided hand signals and directions to get me successfully backed into our site, #99.

 

But when she plugged Miss Mosey into the 50 amp outlet the energy management system displayed an error code and wouldn’t connect to the park’s power.

This is definitely NOT good. It’s 93 degrees out and the “feels like” temp is 103. We NEED electricity! We fired up the generator to get the air conditioners going to keep Miss Mosey cool while we pondered the problem.

One option was to request a different site. But we liked this site. It had a path to the lake and a breeze coming off the water. Nope, don’t wanna move. Then EJ asked “what if we just hooked up to the 30 amp receptacle?”. That initiated a brain fart on my part wondering if we could utilize the 30 to 50 amp Y adapter.

The 30 to 50 amp Y adapter.is a device that takes two 30 amp inputs and combines them into a 50 amp output. It looks like this.

For this to work, the correct leg of the 50 amp receptacle had to work and the 30 amp plug had to be functional. I just happened to have a 50 to 30 amp adapter which we plugged into the 50 amp receptacle and the other into the device shown above. Then we plugged the other 3 prong plug into the 30 amp receptacle on the pedestal and crossed our fingers. Wow! Nothing blew up! Next I used the multi-meter to test the 50  amp end of the adapter and by golly, everything checked out. We then plugged in Miss Mosey and the EMS said OK, I can handle this. We were back in business.

We went ahead and turned in a ticket at the front gate and they said someone would be out the next morning to check it out.

So Friday morning I woke up at 6:30AM for two reasons.First our furry co-traveler, Gabby, decided to let me know her food bowl was empty by dancing on my stomach (never a good idea when one must use the bathroom upon arising) and by batting at things on my nightstand and knocking them to the floor. The second reason was I wanted to be up early in case the park electrician was one of those folks that liked to get their work done before it got too hot and like to start the work day at 7AM.

Sure enough he showed up just about the time I started on my second coffee. Within 30 minutes he had discovered and repaired/replaced a bad 50 amp breaker, a loose connection and a missing ground wire.

Whew! Now we can hook up the proper way and keep the air conditioners running. Did I mention it is HOT? Now that the projects, schedules and minor hiccups have been handled it is finally time to slow down for a few days.

Our campsite, #99 (did I mention that already?) is on a finger of Big Springs Lake near the community of New Site, Alabama. While the lake is part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway, we cannot see the main channel from our location. So no barge and tug viewing for us.

So here it is Friday, July 29 and we are watching the sun sparkling off the ripples of the lake, the breeze gently caressing the cat-tails at the water’s edge and listening to the leaves rustling in the trees above us. Thankful for our health and good fortune, we are indeed, very blessed.

Obligatory cat picture follows.