We managed to crack one of the ceiling fan vents during our charge north, while the hot water has also stopped working, for reasons unknown. Oh, and the seal on the toilet looks to have failed, and the leveling jacks won’t work properly. But, apart from that, everything’s fine.
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One of the reasons to take a road trip in the USA is for its gas stations. Yes, seriously. You can find some of the most, well, American experiences at these refueling outposts along the main highways. And, if you think you’ve seen them all, you haven’t seen Buc-ees.
We’d arrived at northern Alabama, close to Athens, and turned off I-65 at the sight of this vast, mirage-like complex of buildings that seemed to stretch towards the horizon. Not only is it, jointly, the largest gas station on Earth – with a mind-boggling 120 (yes, one hundred and twenty!) fuel pumps, it has a gigantic supermarket attached to them, as well as a dog park, huge car wash and enough parking space for half of Alabama.
In short, Buc-ees is a cultural phenomenon, drawings fans from all over the south and south-east (especially Texas, where this remarkable brand originated in 1982) for its mix of the cute, kitsch and collectible. You want great barbecue? They got it. Candy? Jerky? Fudge? Got them, too, in multiple triplicate. There are coffee stations, soda fountains, bakery items and ice creams galore, along with thousands of plush Buc-ees (he’s actually a beaver) and other types of themed merchandise, from T-shirts to jewelry. It’s totally bewildering.
Buc-ees’ other claim to fame is they have the cleanest restrooms on the Interstate, and Susan can confirm that, yes, they are as clean as a whistle. Spotless and shiny, in fact. Another trademark is their Beaver Nuggets, crispy corn nuggets that have various types of coating, including white cheddar and sea-salted caramel. Sure, it’s a cheap and cheerful approach, but that is its charm (along with a general level of cleanliness that would put many hospitals in the shade), and it is utterly captivating. We’ll keep an eye out for more Buc-meister outlets as we go.
Oh, and the barbecue was delicious.
If that was today’s lunch, we finished up at our latest Harvest Hosts discovery, another overnight stop, this time in northern Tennessee, just past Nashville (no Grand Ol’ Opry for us on this trip, sadly). However, Sumner Crest Winery more than made up for missing out on the Tennessee musical icon. This little gem in Portland, Tennessee, features a truly darling wine bar and cafe, with local wines, their own chicken salads and pimento cheese (our tip: try the one with candied jalapenos!), and both indoor and outdoor dining and sampling.
You can try their wines by the glass, flights or bottle, and some of their creative fruit wines and slushies are absolutely sipping sensations. The interior Chandelier Room would be great for a special occasion, and their gift shop was another dazzling collection of cute trinkets and souvenirs, with plenty to interest most wine-drinkers.
Tonight, we are hitched up to one of the winery’s three electrical posts, putting us in pole position for the road to Kentucky and Indiana tomorrow. It was a good day. A Buckin good day, you could say.
How we ended up in a field on a pecan farm in Georgia.
One day down, another 364 to go….
So, after a frantic day’s packing on Saturday, we left nice and early on Sunday at, er, 11:30am. Well, we had a few more tire issues, and, by the time we had everything sorted out (and Simon stopped swearing), it was about an hour and a half later than planned.
We don’t have specific daily targets for the first 5 days, as the object is just to get up to Michigan by next weekend for Susan’s mom’s memorial at their Okemos home. Our dear Kathy Prelesnik died in April 2020, and we hadn’t managed to get back there for a whole heap of reasons until summer 2022, and then Susan’s step-dad Gene took a major turn for the worse and he passed away last September.
In truth that was the final catalyst for our Big Trip, a kind of “it’s-now-or-never” moment. Anyway, that’s the background, and we are ‘winging it’ to start with, just heading north and seeing where we end up at the end of the day.
Today, that was Georgia, with Valdosta soon left in our rear-view mirror, and then Tifton, where we turned left aiming for Alabama. As a member of the Harvest Hosts system – where various businesses offer overnight stays to RVers – we started checking for any opportunities in this part of the state, and lo! and beold, we found ourselves in an open field, all on our own in a pecan farm.
It makes for a great start to our Year On The Road, and we can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
And here are the happy crew (all together now, “Me and you and a dog named Boo…..”)
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