2011-15 Tennessee

Tennessee

Manchester-Coffee County

Old Stone Fort Archeological State Park

Lynchburg, Jack Daniel Distillery

Falling Creek Falls State Park

Campground:  Old Stone Fort State Park.  $20 30amp Elect/water.  Heavily wooded sites, paved roads and camping pad, concrete picnic tables. Lots of shade, perfect for those hot summer days.

Campground: Falls Creek Falls State Park.  $25, 50amp/full hookup.  $20 for elect/water sites.  This is a huge park and has the look of a National Park setting, golf course, Lodge, cabins and conference center. No Verizon signal.  Free wi-fi in the lodge/restaurant.  Spotty Tv access.

I was thinking back the other day, when I first started full-timing 7 years ago what a great life I have.  I had many friends asking what I’d do without a home base?  Wouldn’t I feel lonely and odd without having roots somewhere that I could go back too?  Well, I’m now in my 7th year on the open road and I have to tell you, I would hope to never go back to a home stuck to the ground.  The freedom I feel every day, knowing I can stay in an area as long as I want to, or move on down the road has given me a life I’ve always wanted.  And not having to follow a schedule, time table or a rutty routine is so liberating.  So here I am, back on the road, telling you about another adventure on down the road.

view from a wayside park on an island in the river

I enjoyed the 3 days at the free resort in Georgia but as usual was looking forward to heading back on the road.  I took two major highways, hwy 40 and hwy 75 right on through Atlanta.  I usually don’t like to take these main arteries as they are usually very crowded with traffic.  Luckily I was traveling on Sunday, so I took the chance and it wasn’t too bad though much heavier traffic than I‘m used too.  I’ve learned to always stay in the middle lanes while traveling though heavily congested areas to avoid needing to change lanes and avoid merging traffic from on ramps.

After an overnight stay in Chattanooga, I headed north to Manchester where I plan to stay at the Old Stone Fort State Park.  Bonnaroo music festival begins later this week, and hopefully I’ll get out before it gets too bad.  They expect about 80,000 festival goers.

But for now I’m here at the Old Stone Fort.  Ist off, as many named historical sites in the U.S. the name does not reflect the true nature of the site.  This was never an actual fort.  It is an historical 2,000 year old site with stone walls surrounding a spit of land that is surrounded on three sides by two rivers.  The land high above the river bed was a natural protected site.  After the Woodland Indians created the stone walls with earth and rubble filling the interior of the walls as well as two conical mounds at the entrance, they had created a safe secure site.

Archeologists have determined that it was probably a ceremonial enclosure as no artifacts were found indicating domestic living took place here.  There are so many questions I want to ask about sites like this that will never be answered.  Small clues tell us that the Woodland Indians of the area had developed farming and with hunting good in the area, they were mostly sedentary, not traveling from site to site.  This gave them more time to build these labor intensive sites and develop a more structured society.

only the mound indicates the hidden stone walls

Another interesting thing in the area at least to me, is US 41.  It’s the same highway that runs through my hometown in Northern Michigan, Houghton.  When ever I cross paths with hwy 41, I feel connected to my hometown of Houghton.  It runs north/south from N Mich all the way to southern Florida.

I’m listening to some Willy Nelson music on my sound system in the camper after a fun day exploring the country side and hollers of middle Tennessee.  Passing rounded hills, each topped with a gorgeous home, the sloping hills manicured pastures that look like fine grass lawns.  The surrounding land a thick forest of some 350 different varieties of trees.  Down the road on hwy 55 I finally come to the small community of Lynchburg and the home of the Jack Daniels distillery.  It’s in a dry county of all things.  One of the best known whiskey makers in the country and they can’t sell a drop in the county.  Well that is until recently, when Jack Daniels company went to the state legislature and had a law enacted that permits them to sell the whiskey on the distillers property.  On the tour, we get a chance to see the making of fine sour mash whiskey, the original building Jack Daniels once ran his distillery from.  Never married, but having many a filly waiting in the wings when ever he’d a mind to playing around.  But never had any children and when he died, everything went to his nephew.  The nephews picture is prominently displayed on a few walls, a huge smile on his face.  Wouldn’t you be smiling too?

We walked behind the white clapboard building where the natural spring comes gushing out of a cave on the side of the hill, that pure water that has been used for years to make whiskey.  Lots of interesting stories told about the founding of the distillery, once owned by a Lutheran minister who had to make the choice between making good whiskey or preaching.  The minister chose God and Jack bought the business of making sour mash.  I think they both got a good deal.

Odd to go into the small town of Lynchburg (pop. 350) with all its’ signs touting Jack Daniels, souvenirs of every kind with the name and logo, but not a drop of the real stuff for sale.  You know, most of the people probably work for the distillery.

Planned to sit outside this afternoon but with the occasional blood sucking mosquito and ticks in the area, I decided it was safer to sit inside and enjoy a good book.  The mosquito’s I could handle with bug spray, but the ticks (Lyme disease) are much more difficult to control.  Does bug spray keep ticks off a person?  I don’t think so but I’m not sure.  And it’s been such a nice day to be outdoors.  Such is life in the great outdoors sometimes.

About an hour and a half down the road and I’m in Falling Creek Falls State Park.  A huge state park by any standards that has the look of a National park.  Wonderful waterfalls, hiking trails, a lake and rec. center.  I’m paying for a couple of days for a premium site, full hookups and nicely paved pad.  The ride east from Manchester to Falling Creek was more of a north, south, north, south and finally western route.  It was a crazy quilt route that brought me through the heart of Tennessee.  Lots of smaller farms on those hills, valleys and hollers.  I’m not sure but my GPS might have been playing tricks on me with the route it took.

My friends Chris and Tom have named their GPS, maybe I need to put a name to mine as well.  It’s a part of my Droid phone of course, so if you can think of a great name for the phone/GPS system let me know.
Haven’t officially named the new camper either, so see if you can come up with a good name for the Montana Mountaineer 5th wheel.  I think I’ll be keeping this one for quite some time.  My last one was named “La Casa Grande, Del Sol, De Doug”.

And as my good friend Mary wrote in her jottings “if you’ve managed to read this far, then your doing well…but at least you know I’m alive and well and keeping up my end of communication.”

Enjoy your own adventures and thanks for coming along on mine.

2011-14 Georgia

Hazlehurst GA
Vidalia GA
Greensboro, GA

Campground:  Towns Bluff Park and Heritage Center.  $12.50 per night (Passport America rate) 30/50 amp elect/water.  Nice washrooms and  a washer/dryer 75 cents each. Nice county park with nice campsites both pull thru and back in with lots of space with grass and tall pines. 6 over the air digital TV stations available.

Campground:  North Shore Resort, Greensboro GA.  I was able to get 3 days FREE by taking a 90 minute tour.  Full hookups.  On Lake Oconee, two swimming pools, train car cabins, large Rec hall, tennis courts, shuffle board and mini gulf.  This is a well kept but older tired park.  The transient Rv sites are close together and many not very level.

Campground:  Camping World (Chattanooga TN) . $25 full hookups w/cable tv.  Old campground part of Camping World. Ok for one night.  Swimming pool and laundry room. Close to interstate for easy access.

Blog info:  If you haven’t looked lately, check out the resources I developed on the right side of this blog.  There are some good links in My Favorite Websites to help you find campgrounds, what digital TV stations are in an area and lots of other great links.  I’ve also added links to All the state parks in the contiguous U.S. with hints as to discounts many give to seniors.  As an example, Georgia gives half off the price of a campsite to anyone 62 and older both residence and non state residence.  That’s one heck of a good deal.

Stories from Mayo

I was talking to my neighbor campers the last couple of days.  These are true Southern Crackers.  Tom has worked for the lumber company.  He was telling me that he started out 34 years ago making $2 an hour and he and his wife were living like kings.  Now he makes $27.50 an hour and the money goes faster than he can make it.  At the lumber company they make cellulose  for paper products and use 52 million gallons of water a day that is then somewhat filtered in settling ponds and then dumped out into the river and Gulf of Mexico.

They say in Perry, if you smell that odd pungent smell, yes it’s the paper mills, but they prefer to say “it’s the smell of money”.

Went to an antique shop called the Dust Catchers.  The owner moved up here with her husband 35 years ago and eventually bought the building the shop is now in.  Did pretty well even after her husband got a divorce (maybe too much collecting?).  But when two dollar stores moved into town, her business has dropped dramatically in the past year or so.   The locals don’t need to go to her shop for dishes, glassware or gifts when they can go to Family Dollar or The Dollar General for new stuff cheap all made in China of course.  The name of the shop really says it all, Dust Catchers.

Back on the Road.

Well after driving across hwy 90 the original east west road in North Florida, I headed north on 301.  But somehow (GPS was not turned on) I ended up bypassing Kings Bay on the east coast of Ga.  So instead of going to the Navy Submarine base I’ve ended up at a county park in Jeff Davis County Georgia.  A super nice and quite park that will do rather nicely for a couple days stopover.

Drove around the Hazlehurst area today and discovered there are a couple of lumber mills in the area.  Huge piles of pine trees debarked, stacked one on top of the other.  Some are being sprayed with water, others are trimmed cut and stacked into planks and 2 by 4’s to dry and cure.  Surprising they can keep going with such a slowdown in the housing industry.  I’ve seen quite a few trucks hauling those trees as well.  Big industry in these parts.

While driving through Alma Georgia, I came across this unique George Jettson Bank.  Still in operation.  I did not take the picture (don’t ask me why) but was able to find a picture on the internet to share with you.
What a unique building.  If I’m ever back that way, I must get a few shots of it myself.

In Greensboro Ga while staying at the North Shore resort, I took their 90 minute tour designed to get me to buy into the Ocean Canyon Properties.  After finding out about me of course, they were trying to become “friends” you know, the tour continued via gulf cart around the property.  The company owns about a dozen resorts in the South East, all former private campgrounds down on their luck, which enabled the owners to come in and buy them on the cheap.  Fix up each place a bit and now sell ownerships in the properties.

North Shore Resort

It’s an interesting piece of property on a lake with cabins made out of train cars and cabooses positioned precariously along the sides of the sloping hill leading down to the lake.  After the tour we discussed price.  Which began at the gold level, $11,995, the charter membership at $11,995 but with special one day bonus offers included.  Wow, how could I refuse.  Then it was decided I could get a 1st day incentive of $2,000 off the price, plus another $1,000 off for having worked for the military.  Bringing the price down to $8,995. Now really, how could I refuse such a generous offer.  Finally after more discussion, it was determined that the Bronze membership would be more suited to my needs at only $6,995.  Gad, the bargains kept getting better and better.

The bonuses kept pouring in.  A free cruise and 1st years dues would be paid if I paid cash.  1st years membership in Coast to Coast, RPI, ROD, AOR and ICE.  They were practically giving away the stuff.  But, alas, I did not bite.  I did not put down any money and walked away with my free gift a 7” Netbook PC.  And 3 days free at a VIP hotel of my choosing.

Besides, it’s scorchingly hot here in the middle of Georgia.  I couldn’t even imagine spending an extended stay down here.  Thank goodness I had a second A/C put on the camper when I purchase it and I have 50amp service to run the two of them.  I’ll wait till the sun goes down this evening before going for a swim.

An interesting note, most all of the workers up in this part of Georgia smoke.  Haven’t seen that much smoking in years.  They are constantly walking outside to light up a cigarette.

WPA Painting in Post Office

I did take a quick tour of Greensboro after having lunch in town.  Stopped into the local Post Office to see two painting done by the WPA program during the depression.  Now behind glass after someone threw eggs at them a number of years ago.  You see, the painting depicted the history of the area including blacks picking cotton and the fighting between the Native Indians and the European settlers in the area.  The post mistress said when she was a child, she had picked cotton and it was really hard work.  It took a lot of cotton picking to fill a bag.  Imagine, meeting someone before the cotton gin came into existence and cotton was still picked by hand.   I also went into a shop that had items all made in Georgia.  A really nice shop.  I’ll post some pictures on the Picasa site.

Greensboro GA

After a $3.75 all you can eat pancake and bacon breakfast, I headed out to Eatonton Ga to visit the Uncle Remus Museum.  Made famous by the author Mr Harris.  You know the stories of Tar baby, Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox.  Uncle Remus and the little boy were real people that the stories revolved around.  The stories were thought to be lessons for black children growing up in the south, but quickly became popular stories in their time throughout the country.  Now I checked on the computer to see if the museum would be open on Saturday and sure enough it was….. That is, until I arrived on Saturday and the town was having their 2011 Dairy Festival.  The museum with it’s sign stating “open” was closed tighter than a well you know what.  So you and I will have to go to the Uncle Remus web link and visit it virtually, though I did see the outside of the reconstructed log cabin, built from the remains of three slave cabins.  The web link has 37 complete stories worth reading if you can get into the southern-eze speak, which I find hard to follow, though the stories are all very good.

The Eatonton Ga Dairy Festival

Who knew there would be a Dairy Festival in town.  There’s a heavy mix of black population, about 65%.  I enjoyed the mix of all these southerners as it was a real people watching experience. Especially with all the hip young kids with their baggy pants slid down around their knees, boxer shorts in full view for the world to see.  The girls a bit more conservatively dressed, though a few were wearing some pretty snug fitting outfits that showed perhaps a few too many bulges and curves were emphasized a bit more than they should be.  Everyone was super friendly. I think what surprised me the most was that so many blacks were not wearing hats.  Now realize, it’s about 91 and a steamy heat with the sun bearing down on everyone.  I would think that darker skin would heat up even faster than the sparse head of hair on this ol white boy.  Though I could tell just about everyone who moved more than 2 miles an hour had a good sweat on.  Since it was a Dairy Festival, free ice-cream and milk were being handed out.

I had my free ice-cream, picked up a few freebees, listened to some local musical talent, but when the sound guy continued to do a really poor job of mixing the sound, I left in search of an air conditioned truck to take me back to the resort.

Left Georgia today and will stop over in Chattanooga for one night before heading north.  Spent $100 today filling up on diesel.  Really hits home when you see how much you've spent at the end of the day

Next stop, another adventure at a state park…. To be continued.

2011-13 Mayo Florida

John and Margie

Mayo Florida

Charles Springs

Dowling Park (Advent Christian Village)

Lafayette Blue Springs State Park

Florida Folk Festival, one more time

Campground:  Suwannee River Rendezvous.  $21 per day water/Elect.  ( @ weekly rate)  A fish camp style “resort” and campground.  Lots of spreading oak trees, small motel, cabins and campsites.  Entertainment on weekends and  Grandma Susie’s cooking shack opened on weekends. Note:  poor set up to use dump station behind bath house.  Tree in way, requires user to park 20 ft away.

Holy Leaping Sturgeon!  I’ve arrived on the Suwannee River. And yes, the sturgeon are huge and leaping high out of the water and another adventure begins.  Just look out for those sturgeon that can get up to 8 ft long and weigh 200 lbs.

I traveled to north central Florida and once again I’m near about 6 natural springs.  The Suwannee River Rendezvous even has a small natural spring right on property called Convict Springs.  It got it’s name many years ago when prison chain gangs would come through this area on work duty.  Since the prison was too far for them to go back too each evening, they set up camp here at what became known as Convict springs.

Convict Springs

Today it’s still a campground and “resort” but there are no convicts, that I know of any way.  It’s a chance to explore the deep south and the tiny town of Mayo, population 900 and surrounding area.  As well as visit with my good friends John Sterpe and Margie.

The last couple of days it’s been a steamy 95-98 degrees with no rain in the immediate future.  The Suwannee River is at an all time record low with raw limestone walls once covered by the Suwannee River, now exposed as the dark river meanders along at it’s lower level.

On the way to Suwannee River I came across an old train sitting on the side of hwy 19/98.  It was along a lonely stretch of highway as straight as an arrow as the highway cut through a thick forest of pine  and oak trees.   I’d seen it unexpectedly each time I drove this section of quiet rural highway and finally stopped to check it out.  The locomotive, surrounded by a metal fence and paved loop, the diminutive park called what else, Wayside Park with a big sign indicating no overnight camping permitted.  Darn, and I can tell you, it would have made a great spot to stop overnight.  A crystal clear spring fed stream runs through the thick jungle on the edge of the park and a small patch of well trimmed grass.   No picnic table, no trash can, no restroom.  Just the locomotive behind the fence and a quiet wayside stop along a lonely road.  The train was originally used to haul the lumber from the forests to sawmills in the area.  Now a silent reminder of how our country started.

Today I drove the mile or so into the tiny town of Mayo. This is the county seat so they have the big county court house in the center of town.  Two historic buildings are across the street.  The first being the three story wood building which was the original county courthouse.  It’s white clapboard siding and wrap around balconies fill most of the block it sits on.  Stairs that lean to one side and the long balcony that has a dip and sway add to the years of use.  A lot of paint goes into maintaining this old place.  The other historic building is the house of the 7 gables.  It was commissioned after the owner read the book, the House of the 7 Gables.  An oddity in a small southern town.  The octagon shaped main section looks overwhelmed by the 6 gables on top.  The seventh extending over the rectangular extension.

I had lunch at a small café in town operated by Peggy.  She makes a pretty good Cuban sandwich and a nice broccoli salad.  We happened to both be cancer survivors and  when we got onto Oprah’s last couple of shows (I watched the 2nd to last show with charley the dog in the rec room of  Suwannee River Resort), Peggy said she had sent in a couple letters to Oprah suggesting that she do a show on what life was like for survivors after the cancer.   Peggy described her own miracle after recovering from cancer.  Said she had twins and the Dr. said, why sure, she could have had more than twins since her “eggs” dropped pretty much all at once after recovering from cancer.  Who knew!   Her family moved from the Orlando area to Mayo so she could raise her kids in a small town.  We both lived in Orlando during the same period.

While out wondering around the town of Mayo, I notice a prison gang working in town, planting new shrubs.  There was an additional prison team in the town park doing similar work.  So it appears those work teams of years ago that Convict Springs was named after all still being utilized today.

I was able to hook up with my friends John and Margie today and as it happened, it’s Margie’s Birthday so of course I took them both out to lunch to celebrate.  We went into the town of High Springs and ate at a top notch restaurant called “The Great Outdoors”.  A beautifully old restored building with indoor and outdoor seating.  Two of John’s large paintings are prominently displayed in the main room.  And yes, I feel privileged to know the artist.

The next day, John and I went on one of our springs adventures.  Searching the back roads for some of the many springs along the Suwannee River.  This is the kind of day I live for.  Exploring with a friend who loves to take pictures for inspiration for his paintings of the Real Florida.  After taking the usual wrong turn, we finally headed back to Mayo and headed north on county road 51, down dirt roads as white as powdered sugar and just about as fine.  Another dead end.  The springs were on the other side of the Suwannee.

Not to worry, we figured out the National Geographic map "The Suwannee River Wilderness Trail".  Down more powder white dirt roads and we finally reached Charles Springs.  It’s a natural spring with two limestone natural bridges over the springs.  Drought has reduced the springs to a gentle swirling pool of water.  The natural drainage leading to the Suwannee is just a dry channel.  4 young Spanish speaking guys were snorkeling along in the Suwannee River.  I was tempted to jump in too, but we needed to explore some more.

We headed north to Dowling Park, thinking it was another springs.  Not.  It is an Advent Christian Village.  Out here in the deep south.  An almost Stepford Wives looking community perfectly manicured homes on once acre lots in natural settings of tall Pines and oaks with lawns so perfectly meticulous they must have used a tweezers.  Further in, smaller closer concrete block Florida homes lined up along gentle curving roads that are also gulf cart friendly and finally a mature living 4 story manor and small Village.  John and I ate in a small cafe in the Village where I had another one of those odd meals I‘ve had along the way.  I ordered a Tilapia topped César salad.  What I got was shredded iceberg lettuce with black olives, croutons and  a dressing that was between an Italian or Greek dressing.  Weird.  Not bad, just really weird.

John at Lafayette Springs State Park

After lunch we headed west across the Suwannee River and headed back south towards Lafayette Springs.  Along the way, we stopped and took some great pictures of old farm buildings and Florida cracker homes.  To ensure that we would reach Lafayette Springs, I finally turned on my Droid GPS and spoke into it for  directions.  I don’t bother to type most stuff into the Droid as it’s word recognition software is great.  John was amazed at how quickly the Droid searched for, found and gave directions to the springs.

Lafayette Springs State Park

Lafayette Springs State Park.  What a great small Florida park.  They’ve recently built new restrooms, raised tree house cabins and handicapped ramps and sidewalks to the springs and picnic areas.  Yet the natural beauty of the area exudes.  John convinced me to jump into the cool 72 degree clear springs and we snorkeled around and looked into the deep springs cave.  The springs are flowing pretty good as the water tumbled  over moss covered limestone rocks into the Suwannee River.  We swam through the springs and tumbled over those moss covered rocks and were dumped into the Suwannee which is surprisingly a warm 80 degrees.  Heaven.  With the river so low, a nice sandy beach has appeared for sunning.  It was hard to get me out of the water.  Swimming between the warm currents, into the cooler spring waters mixing with the Suwannee River, one could find the perfect temperature for cooling off on a hot day.

More photo's at Picasa.

2011-12 Inverness Florida

Inverness Florida

Great Blue Heron

I’ve been checking out the area and if you’ve never experienced the Real Florida this is about as close as it gets.  The town is surrounded by lakes covered with lily pads, lush landscapes, cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, cattle farms and horse ranches with there 4 board wood fences.  Rich green pastures and an air-boat in every yard.

Just down the street from where I’m staying along the Withlacoochee River is one of many fishing camps called Riverside Lodge & Rv Resort.  I had to stop by and take a picture of their signage out front.  An orange painted trailer with a man sitting in a canoe fishing on top of the trailer.  It is one of the best advertisements I’ve ever seen.  The owners son came out and gave me a tour of the place on his gulf cart.

They’ve got lots of old and newer deluxe cabins, about 14 Rv sites right on the Withlacoochee River, with a couple small gators on the banks of the river near their boat dock, and they even have 4 platforms for tenters on an island.  What a cool place.  Nice to meet locals from the area.  A tad overpriced for their campsites, (unless you have Passport America) but still a fun place to check out.

Today I went on the Wild Bill Air Boat Ride on the Withlacoochee River.  $30.00.  It’s barely a hop and a skip from 1000 Palms where I’m staying.  The Air boat holds up to 20+ people in a stadium seating arrangement.  The day is very warm and sunny.  The water as flat and calm as plate glass reflecting a deep blue sky, or is that the effect from my sunglasses.  Our captain is a heavy set good ole country boy with a soft voice as he describes the scenery each time we stop and he turns off the huge fan blades that propel our flat bottomed boat across the water, weeds and hydrilla.  Gators are everywhere along with ibis and great blue herons.  An osprey nest is high up ion a dead tree and we watch an osprey catch a fish and struggle to fly off with it.

Withlacochee River

Along hwy 44 east of Inverness:

Had lunch at a local place called the Fish House and had a fish sandwich.  The mild white fish was lightly blackened and covered over half the plate.  Hardly saw the sub roll it was sitting on.  They do special dinners once a week and you have to make reservations for the special of the evening.  Only one dish is served and they are always packed.  This week it was a complete Turkey dinner.  Why not?  No reason to wait all year to have a good turkey dinner.

Molly McGees

I also checked out Molly McGee’s.  It’s a colorful Deli and Mini Mart that specializes in Cuban Sandwiches.  When I first walked in, it was a bit confusing.  The place is an odd mix of a mini-mart and a really eclectic shop/restaurant seating area. They were out of Cuban bread, so I had an 8” turkey sub with chips and a drink for $6.  Molly put a lot of heart into making one tasty sub.  The place is a wild collection of stuff inside and out that Molly has collected throughout the years.  She tells me her and her sister used to go out  competing to find the best stuff and that what’s in the shop is not her real good stuff, just more of the stuff she collected along the way.  And now Molly wonders what on earth she was thinking buying all this stuff and the money spent on it.  Well, for us customers, it sure is fun to see all the things she’s acquired along the way.  Great atmosphere, great subs.

Molly McGee's dining room

Checked out their local flea market which was a total disappointment, but we’re hitting the heat of the summer and they may be slowing down during the summer months.

and you know there are more pictures at:  my Picasa site.

2011-11 Mississippi to Florida

Waveland, Bay St Louis, MS

Robertsdale AL

Perry Fl

Inverness Fl

Campground:  Hidden Bay Rv.  $20 (Passport America half/price)  full hookups.  Simple campground mostly pull thru sites.  Nice swimming pool and new laundry room.  Rec room is always locked but looks nice through the windows.

Campground:  Camping World, Robertsdale Al.  Repair work done, so I got the campsite/parking area with full hookups for free.

Campground:  Perry Fl KOA.  Full hookups, with cable TV and wi-fi.  $30 (with discounts) - $39+.  I was abler to get a Military discount having worked for the Navy, $30.  Mini gulf course, big swimming pool and spa. Usually never stay at KOA's, they are too expensive.

Campground:  Thousand Palms, Inverness Fl.  Passport America, $16.50 half/off.  Elect/water.  5 over the air TV stations available. Swimming pool, club house, small laundry.  Nice old Florida park.

MISSISSIPPI

Waveland.

This is a nice location to be in.  Away from the big cities and close to the Gulf Coast beaches.  About an hours drive to New Orleans along some back roads through the bayou country.  I went to the beach yesterday and enjoyed the sun (under my umbrella) with a nice breeze to keep the heat of the day from getting too much.  The Gulf waters are already warm and it was fun splashing around in them.  Didn’t see any tar or oil from the oil spills, but I’m sure they haven’t just disappeared.  Will be interesting to see when and where that ecological disaster finally shows up.  As I’m sure it will in the future.   You know millions of gallon of oil just doesn’t go away, never to be heard from again.

5 years later, scars are still visible from Katrina

A few more homes have been built along the coast.  Higher up and more fortified against the next big hurricane.  But much of the land is still scarred and empty.  Concrete foundations, driveways to no where.  And they are slowly rebuilding the roadway along the gulf shores.  Reminds me of little worker ants after their mound has been stepped on and they furiously start to rebuild it all over again in the same place.  Except here it’s taking much longer and the effort seems just as futile.

Hidden Bay where I’m staying for a few days is pretty empty and when I called to make my Passport America reservations, the owner said, gee we normally don’t like to take Passport America on weekends, but they would anyway.  (there are no restrictions on the Passport web page for this campground) Well, when I got here and saw how empty it was, I can imagine that they would have liked to collect the full nightly fee.  Kind of gives the impression that they are just barely holding on.

Buccaneer State park which was completely devastated by the hurricane 5 years ago has reopened with over 200 campsites, many with gulf views.  I’d plan on staying here the next time I’m in the area.  I understand the full hookup sites are $24 a night.  Great price for a million dollar location and views.

This is also the home to a gazillion Waffle House restaurants.  Not sure why especially since the food is marginal at best.

So this morning as I was putzing  around and I discovered a bolt was protruding up through the floor in my kitchen pushing up the linoleum.   Can’t imagine what it’s attached to underneath the camper and or what it’s supposed to be holding (up?).  I’ve got an appt at an Rv dealer tomorrow and hopefully they’ll be able to fix things quickly and I’ll be on my way.

who would think a bolt could unscrew itself

 So as if that wasn't enough, as I was trying to make a few calls on my Droid Verizon phone, I could make the call, but the person on the other line couldn't hear me.  What’s up…..  Did a quick search using the Droid for a local Verizon dealer, brought it in and they were able to fix it.  For all those techie people out there, the Verizon techie told me it was probably the “app killer” program I had loaded on my phone.  As it kills programs and leaves tons of stuff on the ram memory, clogging up the whole system.  He deleted the program and re-booted the phone and all is well now.  Said the clue was if your phone starts giving crash messages like, “program not loading, wait or force closure“ your ram is clogged.    Also said try to remove battery and reinstall, which forces the phone to completely start over like new.  Usually works…. I’ll try and remember that next time.

ALABAMA

Next day, the “bolt” popping up through the floor has been fixed and they didn’t even cut into the flooring where it shows.  Nice work done by Camping World.  Course it took most of the day, but I’m staying overnight in their free campsites.  Warranty work that would have normally cost $228 but was free under the warranty and a free campsite for the night.  I’m pumped.  You know free is my favorite price.  

Just a note on Alabama.  Robertsdale, where I’ve stayed overnight while the camper was being fixed, is on the peninsula sticking out into the gulf of Mexico.  From what I’ve learned about the area, is, it’s a great vacation area especially for campers.  there are numerous Rv parks near the Alabama coast, some within walking distance of the beaches as well as a State Park.  I think I will explore this area again.  It’s also close to Pensacola Fl.

FLORIDA.

As I entered Florida, I felt like I was coming home again.  Even though I grew up in Mich.  I still feel Florida is home.  The scenery has become much more lush.  With the tall pine trees and large oak trees dominating the skyline.  I’m traveling inland along hwy 20, a peaceful but perhaps boring country road for some as all one sees are thick forests, lush ferns, rivers and streams and naturally occurring scrub palms and sable palms along the way.  Fresh cut grass as they have to cut the grass constantly along the sides of the roadways and continually cut back the advances of the shrubs and trees.  In a few areas, the trees actually made a canopy over the roadway.  This is virgin Florida and much of the land is owned by lumber companies.

I eventually head south around the bend in Florida onto hwy 98/19/Alt 27.  Which follows the western side of the state through small cracker towns, the heart of the old south.  In Perry I had a late lunch at Pouncey’s a local restaurant where I had a country meal for $7.95.  Included fried chicken, a drink, and three sides along with cornbread.  Best home made mashed potato’s I’ve had in ages, a nice cucumber/tomato/onion salad and a peach short cake.  Yum.  Southern cooking, at it’s best.

1000 Palms Rv Resort

I drove into Inverness, a southern country town with a great feel in the heart of Florida.  I’m here to check out a campground I plan on staying at this coming winter season as it’s a part of Florida I really enjoy.  Of course my AZ friends will not be happy, but I feel I need to experience more of our wonderful country and this is an area I think I’ll enjoy next winter.

Also having my eye exam.  Already, the Dr. here in Inverness is questioning whether I really have glaucoma.  Additional test will be done this coming week.

I'm hoping that the hour drive from Orlando will not be too much for my friends and relatives to come visit me when I come back into the area for next winters season.    If not, I should be able to camp in the Orlando area for a couple of weeks to visit with everyone this coming fall season.

And there's an open invitation for all my AZ friends to come visit Florida, especially while I'm here this coming winter season.

After my short stay here in Inverness, I'll be heading north to do more exploring, so join me as the adventure continues.

1000 Palms, nice warm pool during the summer, not heated in winter

2011-10, Texas

Texas

Campground:  Hamlin City Rv Park.  Full Hookups, free first night, then $10 after that.  On Main Street, corner lot with about a dozen campsites.

Campground:  Faunt Le Roy Park.  Gatesville Tx.  This is a city park with 8 Rv sites and a couple tent sites.  30 amp Elect & Water. $15 per night.  Loop with campsites parallel to the circular road.  Park is used for local walks, picnic area and kids playground.  Sites were originally free for the first two nights, but they now charge for every day you stay.


I left Clovis NM heading SE on hwy 84 driving into Texas, the landscape changed from prairie to both dry farming and irrigated farm land.  I was told they now dig wells thousands of feet down to get to the water table.  Cotton, peanuts, alfalfa and hay are just being planted.  Many  of the farms containing those one armed oil rigs.  To the point the air is infused with the smell of pungent crude oil.  And the land is flat flat flat.

You know as I travel down these country roads, I love seeing the water towers off in the distance.  Many in this area are the bullet or stubby rocket looking water towers sitting high on their metal stilts.  The reason I like to see them on the horizon is that they let me know another community is up ahead.  Most of the town along hwy 84 are in the 5,000 to 6,000 population range.  Each with its own grain silos.  The high-rises of the farming community.   The more water towers, the larger the town.

Heading SE  from the Abilene area, again through the heart of Texas, I’ve left the vast farming communities behind and have entered the rolling hills covered with trees and grass, interspersed with cattle ranches. With small streams and rivers running through them.   Nice to finally hit areas with wooded landscapes once again.  I love driving down these country roads.  Some are 4 lane divided highways with grassy medians in between.  Others are true 2 lane country roads  following the curves and rolling topography.

I’ll be in  this this small community of Gatesville for a couple of days, doing some shopping and laundry before continuing my trek east.  I may even visit their history museum with the largest collection of spurs in the world.

Nice little community with the typical courthouse in the center of town.  It’s also the location of at least 5 prisons.  Each prison specializes in different enterprises, like making garments, agriculture and some even help in the local community rebuilding and fixing various community buildings.

While doing laundry today, I met the owner as he was fixing one of the dryers.  Started to tell me his story.  He has had 7 brain surgeries and with one, the Dr’s were certain he was dead…. Needless to say, he survived each one, costing over a million dollars.  He showed me the top of his head, and I must admit it sure looked all bumpy from all those surgeries.  At 70, he still works and maintains his business’s.  As he owns over a city block of property, some acreage that he leases out to a farmer, a home on the gulf coarse as well as another beautiful stone house on the top of a hill overlooking this wonderful part of Texas.  I wondered when he was going to begin living life and he did too.  But he said he keeps getting caught up in the next project that needs fixing or one of his business that needs managing.  Nice guy,  says he and his wife are almost ready to get out there and travel.

I in the meantime, explore the area and have really enjoyed staying in the city park.  It’s a spit of land surrounded on three sides by the small river.  A deep gorge created by years of erosion from the river.  Black cows graze in a pasture on one side leading into the park which is only two blocks from town, but miles away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the community.   I’m enjoying being surrounded by huge trees covered in their new spring growth, the grassy field dotted with more trees in the center of the park.  Locals come by throughout the day to have a picnic lunch, walk the circle or play with their kids.

Enjoyed reading a book this afternoon, while getting some sun.  It’s a perfect 78 degrees and sunny day.  Perfect afternoon to just enjoy a day in the park.  Note:  I'm the only camper in the park.

My final stay in Texas is Beaumont.  A town near the eastern boarder of Texas, oil country.  A town of about 100,000.  The downtown has a few tall buildings and when I drove around today, it appeared neat and clean downtown area, but almost completely deserted on a Friday morning.

I’ve come downtown to tour a few places, like the small Edison Museum.  A man who in grade school was told by his teacher that he was addled and was sent home.  Fortunately his mother believed in him and he was home schooled from then on, to eventually become the inventor with the most patents of any other person.

When he later married, he called his daughter Dot and his son, Dash after the years he had worked as a telegraph operator and helping to improve the equipment, before going onto to creating the electric light bulb, the phonograph, the first movie camera and projector, the nickel-iron alkaline storage battery and so many more.

More than that, I find his story compelling in that he was able to excel after that teacher sent him home.  He believed in exploring what had never been done with the idea that invention was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.  Imagine what anyone else can do today with that same attitude.  Who will invent the next power source to replace fossil fuels, nuclear power and go beyond wind and solar power.  It’s out there, waiting for someone to invent it.  Hope I see it in my lifetime.

Oh and I went to their art museum, a super nice looking building, not terribly large, with only a couple galleries, the rest of the space taken up by conference rooms etc.  Saw two main exhibits, all large art pieces covering the huge gallery walls.  One artists media works of trees and animals…. Another, a local folk artist who created wonderful metal sculptures.  After his passing, the art community gathered his pieces and many are now on display in the museum.  Next door is the Energy museum.

I stopped by the McFaddin-Ward House and took a few pictures from the outside, but since they wouldn’t permit photos inside, I opted not to take the tour.  So you and I will just have to go online to see what the inside looked like.  They did have a big impressive visitor center building across the street from the historic house with a nice parking area.  Obviously they think this is one heck of a house.

Next stop, Bay St Louis.

Don't forget to check out a few extra pictures on my Picasa web site.