2024 Epilogue

 71 days on the road.

7204 miles traveled.

With the exception of one stop, a successful memorable trip in our opinion. There were some deviations from the original plan. The stop not deemed successful was Salt Fork in Ohio. A beautiful park, the trouble was with the weather. It seemed the weather system followed us for some time. In Ohio the weather was quite ugly in the direction we needed to go. (north by northwest). We don't mind drizzle or even rain that is green on the radar. Our designated day for sight seeing would have meant driving 50 miles into a solid storm, more dark red than orange or green. We opted to be safe. After the storm had passed and skies cleared we drove to nearest town for groceries. When we came out it was raining and looked ominous to the east. When we got back to campground we found limbs down, hail/sleet piled up against the wall of check in gate. Rather nervous at this point, we were relieved to find Veronica had survived a glancing blow from the storm.

 In West Virginia I made a last minute change in our place to stay. My gut was correct in the place we stayed at was fine, where we were supposed to be not so much. In Georgia I changed campgrounds having decided the plan one would have meant too long of day trip. Good decision. The COE contacted me and cancelled our stay at Stillhouse hollow campground. So I found a spot at Bastrop. At the same time I changed a planned stop on Lake Sam Rayburn to one at Lake Livingston.

 We spent more time running a heater than we did the a/c. The last two weeks were quickly changing the balance toward ac. Because of heat advisories we decided last night to forego camping at Bastrop. A place we have been to many, many times. Instead we made the long drive from Livingston to home. Home sweet home. Will take some time to empty and clean out Veronica. She is a good traveling companion and we got many compliments on her. She gathered a nice selection of refrigerator magnets to remember her adventure.

time to rest from gathering rosebuds.

Lake Livingston SP

 On Wednesday, June 26 we left Natchitoches behind and drove about 160 miles. We are now situated at the state park. Nothing on the agenda, just not killing ourselves trying to get home. Probably will antagonize fish some, just for fun.

Been fun but happy to be back in the lone star state 

Gathering roasted rosebuds. A tad warm...

Back to Cane River

  On Sunday, June 23rd we made the long drive to Natchitoches. We were here a few years ago and enjoyed our visit. Beautiful area along the river in the historic downtown section. Also Grand Ecor RV park is one of the nicest we are ever visited. In case you are wondering how to pronounce the name it is Nat-cha-tis.

 Temps are a little toasty so not much on the agenda other than some creole food.

carpe diem

Gulfport/Biloxi

  When we last past thru here, 15 or so years ago, it seemed a lot of high rise condos were being built. Happy to say that is not the case. While there are still many abandoned driveways, and steps to no where, single family home building has flourished. Most of them have a antebellum look to them, which helps promote the pre Katrina look. A good thing, a very good thing. We drove up and down scenic 90 enjoying the view. Stopped and walked thru some casinos we have spent many hours in. Not so much this trip.

 On our way in yesterday we saw some strangely modified trucks. Rear bumper nearly dragging the ground with front end sticking way up high. Over sized rims, (think 26 or 28 inch). Really took a new useful pickup and ruined it. Have never seen any like these before. Must be a southern Mississippi thing. Well on our way down 90 we see more and more of them. Also some Tahoe's and Suburban's modified the same way. What the hell is going on? Then saw street information sign warning of delays due to citywide event. Not knowing, because have never heard of it, we were in town for a big show. More information HERE . No, we did not go to the event. But people were lined up along 90 to watch them go by. We just wanted to escape the traffic and noise (ie stereo competition). The bass would rattle you teeth from blocks away.

 You just never know what you will see along the road...

gathering rosebuds in a pretty area of the country.

Three state day

 Ok, not as impressive as the earlier 4 state day, and to be honest another 15 miles would make it a 4 state day. That being said we are in Waveland Mississippi for the next 3 nights. No set agenda other than visiting old haunts and seeing the changes. This area took a serious whooping from Katrina. While it has rebuilt, it is not the area of charm it once was. We will see what develops.

Seize the day...

Paved paradise and put up a parking lot

 Well not actually, but figuratively yes. I will explain by describing the past two days.

 Pensacola Naval Air station is home to a museum about, wait for it, Naval aviation. Our kind of place. But also Pensacola is home to the Blue Angels. And they have scheduled practice days. Tuesday the 18th was one the scheduled days. Match made in heaven right? Well we got up and out early as it is a good distance to the only gate you can enter. We had our passport for identification ready. The road leading to gate, Blue Angel parkway, is 4 lane road. Two lanes in, two lanes for exit. Gates open at 9am, practice starts at 10am. What could be simpler. Well buckaroo they only let in what museum parking will hold. You are blocked from rest of the facility. Obvious safety concerns. When we neared the gate, still 2 miles ahead all traffic came to a stop. Checking identification I am sure, takes a little time...Ha! 45 minutes later we still are not within eyesight of the gate. My measurements on Google earth indicated we were now 1.19 miles from gate. Time to face reality, we ain't getting on the base anytime soon. Health break would soon be a concern, concrete barriers would eventually eliminate any change of plans...You guessed it, we did a big u turn thru the median and headed back home. We tried, but so did 50 million other people. 

A for effort.

Nine years ago we stayed at Grayton Beach state park. Fond memories and funny stories. Love the beautiful white, sugar sand beaches. Let's head south to the coast, find a beach and dip our toes in the sand. Excellent idea! Off we went towards Fort Walton beach. Things are going great till we come to 98, the coast road. The beltway in DC has nothing on 98. Bumper to bumper for mile after mile. We ain't having fun. If someone offers you use of condo anywhere near Fort Walton Beach to Destin, don't say no. Say HELL NO! Hours later we craw into Destin and pull into parking lot in front of Margaritaville. A place we visited 9 years ago. We were greeted with barricades and signs saying $30 to park your car. Uh, no. So we did another u turn and they let us out, no charge. Good man.

Past Destin we came to Henderson state park, Beach access. Six bucks later we were in, due to rough conditions could not get in Gulf. No problem,  we just want to dip our toes in the sand we told the guard. So today was a success, albeit stressful. Destin beaches are beautiful, just stay home and admire from afar.

Tomorrow we move on to Mississippi. Only 11 days left to our vacation. 

Sandy rosebuds we be gathering...

A point of pride

 As this little trip winds down, I wanted to post some photo information. While we still have about 2 weeks, those stops will not noticeably change the screen shots.

 The first is an enlarged shot of one on first page of blog. States visited. We have visited more states than shown, but this version is for only those visited via an rv. We colored in 7 new states this trip, and highly unlikely to color any new ones. Future trips will be to states already colored in. In case you are wondering the seven new states from this trip, in order are: Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina.

Tried to work in North Dakota but could not make the logistics work. Actually drove thru part of Wisconsin while on a trip. But that was a day trip so doesn't count in my book.

 Secondly I utilize a website to find campgrounds. I then do further research to see if I want to stay there. I always post a review of our stay to help others make informed decisions. I can then review my activity and refer back to a particular stop if (when) my memory fails me. The following is a screenshot of our activity.

When challenged, I think I can speak with some authority about campgrounds. Proud of those Canadian provinces as well.

 A few more post before we get home, but really nothing new or exciting to us.

....gather ye rosebuds while ye may...
  

Gator country

 On Sunday, June 16th we moved on to Blackwater River state park. Could not get a reservation at one on the beach but this one is fine. Plans are to be at Naval Museum on Tuesday morning. If weather permits the Blue Angels are scheduled to practice that day. That would put us up close and personal to something neither of us have ever witnessed. Also plan a day at the beach. Way back in 2015 we spent a couple of days at Grayton Beach SP. Fond memories. The beach sand in this area is unlike any found elsewhere along the coast. Sugar sand. Flash back can be found HERE

 Carefully gathering rosebuds...

Georgia on my mind...

 Thursday the 13th we left Huntsville heading south. On a last minute decision I had changed our reservation location in Georgia, and one in Texas as well. Part of our route had us going thru Columbus and past Fort Benning, now known as Fort Moore. We were doing great till I missed my exit, not well marked in my defense. You know you have screwed up when the sign over freeway says "Welcome to Fort Moore" and gate numbers. I pulled up to the armed guard and told him the obvious, I had missed my exit and no way I wanted to be on that Army base. They directed me to do a u turn and halted traffic. Thanks guys!

If I say Andersonville, what comes to mind for you? We have covered a lot of civil war this trip and I warned you about ugly ahead. Andersonville was the location of a notorious Rebel POW camp. They have a lot about it, but in addition combined it with stories and artifacts to create a National POW museum. LINK

Very well done with a lot of exhibits and information. Sad, but informative

Well worth your time and effort to visit.

Our route to Andersonville took us thru Plains Georgia. I know you know what that meant. While I felt like he was in over his head, and I took a lot of ribbing about being " Jimmy's boy", he has since earned my utmost respect. We spent a lot of time visiting parts of the Jimmy Carter National Historic site. Mainly the high school and train station where he began his campaign. His house sits right on the highway and close to "downtown" Plains. Knowing he was in the house, near death was sobering. Like or dislike his politics, a Man of impeccable moral character. Traits severely lacking today.

Nobel Peace Prize

carpe diem

Huntsville Alabama

 I would probably turn this into 3 different post but will condense due to data constraints. On Monday, June 10th we made the relatively short drive from Nashville to Huntsville. Our camping spot was Monte Sano state park. A nice park that had some nice celebratory items concerning CCC's. Will try and share those with you.

 Our first stop was the Marshal Space flight center LINK. When the kids were little we really wanted to send them to space camp. You can read more about it in the link. We had a full day being tourist and semi adults.

 Next item to tour was on the road to our camp. Interesting house and history I will provide link to. LINK

Our final stop is a beautiful place. To fully see and enjoy it requires a lot of walking. It was hot, and we are not as young as we think. Still enjoyed the facility. LINK

Sorry for lack of detail. If we can get strong data, and I have time, will do a more detailed catch up post.

carpe diem

Connected society

 Everybody has mobile devices. Always in touch, up to date on social media. Anywhere in the world. Bullshit. Just spent the last 3 days about 5 miles from downtown Huntsville Alabama, no voice no data and very limited text

Where we are now near Lumpkin,Georgia is not much better. Maybe other providers have good signal coverage, but Verizon sucks. Will try and catch up on our activities, I hate being behind

Gathering Georgia peaches...

Almost full circle

 What is that old fool rambling about now? Just being honest. Remember back in April, the 29th, to be exact. We stopped in Cave city to visit Mammoth Cave. If you don't remember you can page back to confirm. Well OK, what does that have to do with the title...

So with all we have seen and done in the 6 weeks since Cave City, as the crow would fly, we are 60 miles or so from where we were.

I think that qualifies as almost full circle...

carpe diem

Not as planned and more history

  I believe the old saying goes something like "...the best laid plans..". Well so it went today. To avoid the CMA fest going to centennial plaza to see the Parthenon seem plausible. In case not familiar, go HERE. Well it might not have been part of CMA but it was BUSY. We could not even find a parking spot so we gave up and went on to plan B.

 After extracting ourselves from downtown Nashville, we drove to the Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson. Once again if not familiar go HERE. We opted for the house tour which was well worth the added cost. Sorry, no pictures allowed inside. Full of antiques and as it was in 1800's. After his term as president he died in one of the rooms.

He, and other members of the family are buried in the family plot on the land.

 Now for a twist if you will.

At this point you might want to research either "Petticoat Affair" or "the Peggy Eaton story" I will give you a minute....

 You back? Good. Now what is the mystery? Remember back in May and in particular this POST? No, not Manassas, Mary and her research. Part of the research that led us to Patrick the immigrant, also led us down unexpected paths. One path led Mary to Peggy Eaton, daughter of William Robert O'Neill, who is Mary's 4th great grandfather which makes Peggy Eaton a 3rd great aunt. So one of Mary's relatives caused quite a stir in Washington. Didn't see that coming did you!

doing our best...

New home and lessons learned

  We have visited many cities, with and without a camper. You go to your city of choice, visit whatever it has that attracted you. Then move on to next city and repeat the cycle. Not so fast buckaroo. No longer can one just roam about and do that, for the most part. What we have discovered on this trip is that popular attractions now have timed entrance tickets. And we have found some attractions with the times filled months in advance. Gee, have to reserve camping spots months in advance, now have to reserve time to see whatever months in advance. Way, way to much regimentation for this old fool. And ticket prices! What the hell are families doing if they want to enrich their children's learning? We have passed on seeing some things due to pricing. Can we afford it? Yes but value received for cost paid equation is way out of balance.

We are outside of Nashville at a nice COE park and are lake front. Great spot. Unbeknown to us, this is the week for CMA fest (country music awards). They are expecting 90,000 plus attendees on Broadway. Guess where we WON'T be! Never fear things to see and do not related to CMA fest.

three chords and the truth...(comment if you know what I mean by that)

Cumberland Mountain

 In planning my route i was looking for a place to stop between Knoxville and Nashville. I stumbled upon this jewel. If you have read this blog at all you know I pay homage to the young men of the CCC's. I may of reached the top. This park is dedicated to those men and so this post is as well.

To the men of the CCC's, THANK YOU for making my life so much better.

...gather ye rosebuds while ye may...

Asheville part 3

 An unexpected surprise. We did not know of it in advance but it was basically next door to the national forest we were camping in. We visited and are glad we did. It was a rainy day, (surprise, surprise) so we did  not cover all the many acres. Beautiful gardens, education areas for children of any age. We especially liked the bonsai gardens. Amazing and beautiful. As stated it was a rainy day and my trusty phone/camera took some of the crappiest photos ever. Look up the arboretum for more info if interested.

bonsai rosebuds...