Warner Robbins Museum of Aviation

Retirement is great and now that COVID is on the wane we can actually take advantage of it.   We recently had a short cold snap and believe it or not we had no doctors appointments for Sonya, her parents or myself.  We took the opportunity to do an overnighter up the road up to Warner Robbins, GA and Robbins Air Force base to the Museum of Aviation that is located there.

Warner Robbins is located 3 hours north of us, approximately 150 miles from the house.  So we packed up the Fuse on Tuesday night and left on Wednesday morning after I got back from an 8am doctors appointment.  OK, our schedules weren't perfectly clear but close enough.   It was a beautiful day and we had a really nice drive up US-319 to Tifton and then we jumped on I-75 up to Warner-Robbins.    It was a leisurely ride and time went by super fast.

The museum is great.  It is located just outside the Air Force Base so you do not have to pass through any sort of security and there is a huge amount of parking.  Not really any shade to park under but you could put several hundred class A motorhomes in their parking lot.  Another great thing about this museum is that admission is free.  This museum is owned by the Air Force and is the second largest Air Force Museum behind the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  Donations are appreciated and there are several ways to provide support if you want.

I am just going to leave a number of the photos from inside and outside.  There are well over 150 aircraft on display both inside and outside.  You could spend most of the day here looking at the aircraft and reading the information on the displays.  One of the most interesting things is that you can watch as aircraft are being restored in one of the hangers.  While we were there 4 different aircraft were being brought back to be put on display.

After we toured the museum we went back to the interstate to head for our stop for the night.  We could have driven back to Tallahassee but what is the fun in that.  But there was one thing we had to stop at on the way.   There is a Buck-ee's in Warner-Robbins and even better, it is at the exit you use on the Interstate to go toad from the Museum.  We got some fuel there, not because we really needed it, filling up only took 5 gallons but because the sun is still super hot in the south and we wanted to park the Fuse under the shade of the over hang while we went in. I felt guilty not getting fuel if I was blocking a pump. No complaints Buck-ee's has hundreds of pumps, most were not being used so I was not causing a backup. 

While at Buck-ees we got our food for dinner, a BBQ brisket sandwich and a BBQ Turkey sandwich.  Though not the best BBQ I have ever eaten, it is good enough to stop if going by to pick up some up for lunch or dinner and it is sold at a fair price.

After picking up our dinner we went 15 min down the road to our stop for the night at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko, GA.

The milage for this trip is not complete since I did not fill up when I got home but we did pretty good.  We averaged somewhere around 18mpg for this excursion.  Chalk this up to the slower speeds (60mph) for half or more of this trip up and down US-319 and the really nice conditions on the Georgia roads.

Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 8 & 9 - Russelville, AR to Tupelo, MS to Home

After a nice overnight stay in Russelville we started our journey back home.    The first leg was back to Tupelo and the Campground at Barnes Crossing.  Sorry no photos from this part of the trip.  We just drove 5-6 hours a day fro both days to get home.  

We started out on Tuesday morning after a nice stay at Ivy's Cove in Russelville.  After stopping for some diesel, off we went.  Going back along a path we had already done is not as much fun as we have when seeing new things but it was the shortest path to home.  Interestingly enough our milage was not as good as the day before.  On this stretch of Interstate highway we only averaged 14.7mpg.  After fueling we headed another 20 miles down the road to the Campground at Barnes Crossing in Tupelo.  We got our spot  assignment and surprisingly enough, it was the same exact spot we were in 1 week previous.

After a good nights stay at Barnes Crossing we headed for home.  I filled up twice on this last day.  First outside of Montgomery where I got 13.4mpg and the second time at the Walmart just North of Dothan, AL and on that tank we got 15.7mpg.   The 15.7mpg is a little misleading since this was mostly on US231 at 65mph.

Ok so lets see how well the Fuse did for the whole trip.  We traveled a total of 2,034 miles ignoring the Dothan to Tallahassee leg.  We did not fuel back up once we got home and Dothan is only 70 miles from the house.  We consumed a total of 129.38 gallons of fuel.  This works out to 15.72 miles per gallon for the entire trip.  

We used very little propane on the trip but we did fill up at the KOA in Harrison.  It has been several years since we got propane and the tank showed 1/4 tank.  We filled up and it used 5.3 gallons to fill it up.

Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 7 - Claremore, OK - Russelville, AR

We started out Day 7 in Claremore, OK at the Will Rogers Downs KOA.   Our original plans were to go into Tulsa and see the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and then go to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee.   Sonya and I decided to invoke our new retired lifestyle options and change the plan and make it an easy day.  We skipped the Air and Space Museum and headed straight to the Five Tribes Museum making it a short day.  As part of our reset we also decided to skip Fort Smith, AR.   It was closed so seeing it would have been outside only.  We would travel a little further down the road and to stay at the Ivy's Cove RV Retreat again.

So off several toll roads and on to Muskogee.  We stopped to see the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.  Siri continued to have a since of humor and brought us up a road that was Singh and full of switchbacks once we got off the Interstate.  Anything bigger than a Fuse would not have made it.  She failed to note that by adding a couple of minutes to the trip we could have gotten there on nice wide straight roads with almost no change in elevation.  Siri has had a lot of laughs as she tried to kill us on this trip.

The Five Civilized Tribes museum is located next to the VA hospital in Muskogee, OK.  It was originally the Union Indian Agency Building where the Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent for the 5 civilized tribes that had been relocated to Oklahoma conducted business and lived.  This really was of interest since Sonya has a great, great, great grandmother who was from the Cherokee tribe and I have a great, great, great Grandmother who was from the Muskogee Tribe. (this may be missing or adding too many greats) 

The museum itself took an hour or so to visit.  Lots of interesting historical stuff on the first floor about the 5 tribes and some very nice art on the second floor.  It also gave us a perfect place to stop and eat lunch.

We did stop and get a treat on our journey.   We stopped at a Braums Ice Cream & Dairy Store just outside of Ft. Smith.  We had seen signs for several on our travels around Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas but had never stopped in.  Well we won't make the mistake of passing one up again.  The ice cream was great.  I had an orange freeze that was out of this world.   Next time we will stop at one and try out the breakfast menu or the burgers and shakes.

Then we continued on to our stop for the night in Russelville, AR.   We stayed again at Ivy's Cove RV Retreat.  We thought that this was a perfect one night stop RV park for us a week earlier and this time as well.  This time was a little different.  They were full for the night when we called but when we said we were in a 23 foot Fuse he said he had one spot so long as we did not mind being in the last overflow site.  No problem from us.  Unlike the last time we stopped and were in a 50-60 foot space, this time we were in a space that was 25 feet long.  Nay longer than the fuse and we would not have fit.  Good news was it was next to the laundry/bath house so we were set.  It is interesting  that Ivy's Cove is not the fanciest campground but it sure does feel comfortable to us and we would stop again..

So on this segment of our journey we traveled 248 miles and got 15.5mpg.  All of this was on the interstate system at 70mpg.  

 

Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 6 - Harrison, AR - Claremore, OK

 

We left the Rally in Harrison and continued on our journey.  Or next stop was Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.  This was about 1 hour and 30 minutes north of Harrison.

The battle at Wilsons Creek was the first civil war battle west of the Mississippi.   The park has a very nice and modern museum and a 5 mile driving/hiking/biking loop around the battlefield to see the important sites.

Our first stop was the museum.  This was a very nice and modern facility.  Lost of information on lead to the ware and in particular the lead to the war in Missouri and the other boarder states.  

There very interesting displays and interesting information on the battle.  The battle flag of the Cherokee Braves is on display.  This was a Native American unit made up of multiple tribes fighting for confederacy.  The flag has 5 red stars representing the 5 civilized tribes.  

There were many other displays in the museum and a movie that explained the battle.  Artillery from both sides was also displayed.

After the museum we took the driving tour.  It was a five mile loop around the battlefield with stops at the important locations.  It was apropos that we saw people touring on horseback at a battlefield that had a large amount of cavalry present. 

When we finished with our battlefield tour we headed for our stop for the night, the KOA in Claremore, OK.  

Today we traveled 233miles.  Our milage was 14.2mpg.   We did a lot of idling in the park as we did the auto tour around the battlefield.

Heading to the Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 3 - To Harrison, AR

We took our time on Thursday morning getting on the road.  From Russellville to Harrison was only a couple of hours according to Siri.  Should not be a problem.   So we did not get off until 10AM or so.  

And off we went dutifully following Siri's advice.   So how would she take us to Harrison this morning? Well she decided to take us on something called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway.  I still do not know why on one day Siri picks one way to go and on another day she picks another way but we just follow the advice.  

When we made our plans the maps app showed us going straight north from Russellville up HWY 7 on the 2hr 11min path but there must have been construction or an accident or Siri was just messing with us on Thursday so off to the Pig Trail, we went.  The longest option when I took this snapshot the day after.

Sorry there are no pictures,  I was holding on for dear life.  It actually was not that bad in the Fuse but I do not know how a large Class A would do it.  After we left it we saw several heading that way and were passed by several Semi trucks so I and sure they made it.  There were a number of switchbacks and curves where the speed limit was 15mph and I would guess the average speed limit was 35mph.   It actually was a beautiful drive but as Sonya and myself agreed, we would have hate to have done it at night or in the rain.

So how did we do on day 3, performance wise.  We drove 181 miles and got 13.5mpg.   I actually think that was a good MPG rating this time since it was all up and down.  Town/Haul mode in the Fuse got used almost all of the way.

We had lunch at a McDonalds in Huntsville.   After lunch the road straightened out and we had a nice ride into Harrison and the KOA.    Showing our age, we actually have been through Harrison before when we went to the Rally in Branson a few years back. We remembered when we saw the Walmart and the Arby's we ate at last time.  

Heading to the Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 2 - To Russellville, AR

 On Wednesday We left Tupelo and headed for a jaunt through Mississippi with our ultimate goal of spending the night in Russellville, AR.   After a great night we headed out through the backroads of Mississippi to see Fort Curtis, a reconstructed Civil War Fort in Helena, AR.   

Well we listened to Siri and Apple Maps drove down a number of farm roads, backroads and saw a huge number of Farms growing everything from soybeans, to wheat to cotton.   We even found a bump over some railroad tracks where I think the Fuse was airborne.  Think of the Fuse taking the place the General Lee in the Dukes of Hazzard.   Decided to come to almost a stop before going over any more train tracks after that.

We got to the Fort and it was closed.  It looked nice but it was locked up due we guess to COVID.    We ate some lunch in the Fort Parking Lot and then went on a tour of the farms of Arkansas.  It is always amazing to me the difference in the land on one side of the Mississippi River and the other.  

We drove for a while and arrived at our destination at the Ivy Cove RV retreat in Russellville, AR.

We thought that Russellville would be a small town but it was not.  Big and bustling with every store you could imagine and it was the home of Arkansas Tech University.   Right down I-40 from Little Rock.  The best part was the restaurants all seemed open so KFC was for dinner.

So on Wednesday we traveled a little over 323 miles.  We got 16.5mpg

Heading to the Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 1

 

Well we are off to the Fusing in the Ozarks Rally in Harrison, AR.    Our first time out now that Summer is over.    We are super excited and heading down the road.   

Our first stop this trip is in Tupelo, MS at the Campground at Barns Crossing.   You can read about this camp groups at: http://confusedrv.blogspot.com/2019/09/campground-at-barnes-crossing.html.    We have stayed at this campground several times and it is a good one just off of I-22.   Take note that this campground does not take credit cards so bring a checkbook or cash.

With COVID still around it is a little different traveling.   We normally stop for takeout once or twice a day.  We are finding that this is a hit or miss proposition.   Going up restaurants in Alabama all seemed to be open more or less normal.  Once in Mississippi, the fast food restaurants were drive through only.  So We got lunch at an Arby's in Dothan, Al but missed out on KFC chicken just outside of Tupelo.  I guess I could try bringing the FUSE through the drive through, but I am not really that brave.

So on Tuesday, We went from Tallahaseee to Tupelo.  I won't report on the milage on the first tank of gas since it was a partial, a lot of idling in the driveway and up and down the road around the house.   We drove a total on Tuesday of 425 miles.   And on the second tank of diesel we got 14.97 mpg going from Dothan, Al to Tupelo, MS.   Not too bad for mostly Interstate Driving at 75mph.

Vicksburg National Military Park

We are on our way to the Branson Get Together and today we visited the Vicksburg National Military Park.  I had not visited here before and it was well worth the stop.  It would have been better if the temperature was not 95, but it was a pretty interesting even with the heat.

We got up this morning and got started.  Filled up with diesel and got some biscuits at McDonalds across the street.  Milage yesterday on the second tank of diesel was 15.2mpg traveling with our speed averaging 60-65mph mostly on US highways.

Sometimes people ask exactly how maneuverable is the Fuse.  Here is a picture of ours at the McDonalds this morning.  Fits in the spot fine.

Our campsite was a short 10 min drive away from the main entrance to the park.  National Park fees have really gone up recently.  Entrance fee was $20.00.  Not that I mind paying.  I wish more of my tax dollars would go to the parks.  I love the National Parks and think they need even more money.

Our first stop was at the museum at the entrance.  It had a little movie and some nice displays.  Not large and we were in and out in less than 30 min.   Then for the driving tour.  This is what this park is mostly about.

There were lots of monuments and markers and other things to read.   It got kind of confusing since this was a siege and there were lots of Union monuments all spread out and fewer Confederate markers all bunched up.  But if you think of the battle and use the visitor's guide, it makes more sense.

So why was the battle so important?  Vicksburg controlled the Mississippi River.   There is a beautiful overlook on the Conferderate side of the line that commands the river.  From here you really understand why this place was important to both sides.

One of the highlights of the tour is a partially restored Union ironclad.  The USS Cairo.  It was sunk and recovered recently and is cut away so you can get a real good idea of how it was constructed.  There was a museum here as well with artifacts from the ship.

We spent all morning here and did not even get out and walk much.  We could have spent all day if we had, but the heat and Lily's back kept us in the Fuse.

Then we got some KFC chicken (2 blocks from the park entrance) and ate lunch at the Louisiana welcome station on I-20.  Another treat we do not normally do at home.

Then we drove to our destination for the night,  the Pecan Grove RV park in Lake Village, AR.    So today we drove 118 miles.  Not many for us but it was a full day.

For the first several hours today as we did the driving tour of the park we drove 25mph or less and had the Fuse idling when we stopped.  That was 2-3 hours.  The rest of the miles today were at 55mph down US highways.   The good news.  19.6mpg using a calculator to check the milage.

On the Road Again

Well we are finally back on the road again.  Our last trip in the Fuse was in April at the Bowling Green Get Together.  Been a real eventful time in the family since then.  Sonya had health issues, Lily had health issues, we had family issues and just no time to take the Fuse out.  Been using it in the driveway. I used it by myself in June for a radio event, but we just have not been able to go out exploring.

Well we are back!  

Today we got on the road for the Fall Fuse Get Together in Branson, MO.  We drove from Tallahassee to Vicksburg, MS.  Left the house around 0900 eastern time (I have to get the time zones right) and drove 3 hours to a spot between Pensacola and Mobile.  Why did we stop there?  Guess.

There is now a Buc-ees in Alabama on I-10.  If you are not failure with Buc-ees you are missing something.  Think the cleanest, fanciest, truck stop you have ever been at with no 18 wheelers.   Why no trucks I have no idea, but wow it is nice.  Had to have 100 covered pumps and it had super clean bathrooms.    They even had food.  We got a selection of BBQ sandwiches.  Pork, Brisket and Turkey.  Not the biggest fan of the sauce, but the brisket was out of this world.

From there we continued west through Mobile and got off on I-165.  Wish I had got photos but you go right by the USS Alabama and one other thing.  You go by the Austal shipyard where they are building Navy Ships.  I saw 3-4 LCS ships under construction and a fast transport ship as well.  US industry at its finest.

Next we headed up US-98 to Hattiesburg, MS and then up US-49 to Jackson, MS.  Then on I-20 over to Vicskburg, MS and our campsite for the night at Rivertown Campground.  

Arrived at 5:00 PM Central Time We will give the review for that tomorrow but at first glance looks nice and clean but no CableTV.  At $28.00 for the night with full hookups I can deal with that.

So what was the stats for the day.   We drove 490 miles about half interstate and half US highway.  Milage on the first tank of diesel was 13.85 using the calculator (70mph on I-10).  Will not find out on the second half of they until we refuel in the morning.

Best part of the day was we are back in the Fuse and going down the road.  Can't beat that.

Iowa Back to Tallahassee

After a super enjoyable Compact Coach Rally we headed back to Tallahassee on Sunday.   We had a great time, made some good friends and saw old ones.  If you are able to attend a rally at the Winnebago Factory, go.  Winnebago is a great host.  So with some sadness we had to head back home.

We headed back south.  We got off late.  We slept in late and then dumped tanks at the rally grounds.   Then we headed on our way.   The weather was 40 degrees, windy and overcast.  Perfect vacation weather for a couple of folks from Florida looking for Fall.

Being so close to the Minnesota border we had to go and check it out.  So our first stop of the morning was the Minnesota Welcome Center on I-35. About 15 minutes North of the exit going to Forest City.   We made our pit stop and Lily got to play with some children there.

Then we headed South.  Well South-East.  Over to Cedar Rapids and then South to St. Louis.   Once we started heading south the weather cleared and warmed up.  But we ran into a slowdown, or actually a stoppage.  The highway was closed since a semi overturned with 6500 gallons of ethanol.   So we had an hour detour around the accident.  Then we continued south and through St. Louis in the dark.  And over to our stop for the day.  The Archway RV park in Mt. Vernon, IL.

The Archway RV park is located just south of the Intersection of I-64 and I-57.  It was nice and clean and the staff was very friendly.  The bathrooms were big and there was plenty of hot water.  We got in late, but it was a great place to spend the night.  The exit it was located at had plenty of amenities including a Walmart.  So we re-stocked on groceries so we could make it the rest of the way home.

The next morning we headed on south.  Our destination was somewhere around Huntsville, AL.  Like most trips we are on, we plan as we go.  So we headed south.  As we headed south we saw in the facebook group a mention of a possible rally site in Bowling Green, KY.    That was only 30-45 min out of the way so a small correction in our course.  Instead of heading directly for Nashville and then Huntsville we would go by way of Bowling Green.

 

We stopped at the Bowling Green KOA and looked around.  I think Rebecca Harris found us a winner for the next Get Together.   There is a Cabellas about a mile down the road and I got another gray Cabella's T-Shirt to add to my collection and then we headed for Huntsville.

Well we stopped at a RV park just south of Huntsville called Quail Creek Golf and Conference Center.   Located in Falkville, AL, this was very nice but kind of quirky.  Perfect for us.  It is located at a golf course several miles in the country.  It looks like someone with a farm built themselves a golf course and then opened it up to the public.  Really nice with maybe 30 sites and it looks like it is expanding.   They were designed for big class A's or large fifth wheels.  I think we could have easily fit 2 Fuses on the site.  There were three really large bathrooms that were super clean.  Definitely on the stop again list.

The next morning we headed for Tallahassee.  Pretty uneventful.  We made it home at dinner time.  The weather was a little better than when we left - 93 degrees and 90 percent humidity.  A far cry from Iowa.

So for the trip we did 2,750 miles.  195 Gallons of diesel and an average of 14.1miles per gallon.  The best leg was 16.6mpg and the worst was 13.0mpg.   We also used 2 gallons of LP gas.