RV Anytimers

Smoky Mountain Bound

2009-07-09T09:18:00.000-04:00

We made it to our mountain home, where we'll stay till the 18th, then it's off to Washington, DC and points north. We're plannin' on stayin' in DC for 5-6 days to see the sites, or some of them anyway. After that we'll make our way to Pennsylvania for several reunions and lots 'o' visitin'.

During the drive up here we stopped at Black Mountain State Park to show Ashley what curvy, twistin' mountain roads are like as she's a 'Flat-lander'. On the way up as she movin' to the center seat belt, she asks, "Popa, are you afraid of heights?" Then said you haf'ta be a real good driver on these roads. On the way back down we stopped at the 'Cowee Overlook' and we could see lightin' and hear the thunder in the distance.

View from Cowee Overlook

We're all glad to be here and will be joined by our daughter Lisa and grandson Christopher soon. Well that's all for now. Hope to see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind

Follerin' the Red & Black lines

2009-07-09T08:44:00.000-04:00

Yep we made it to the open road for another trip. Linda & I, along with our granddaughter, Ashley, are headed for the Smoky Mountains fer a spell.

We got a jump on leavin' but no one is complainin' about hittin' the road. As much as I hate it, we headed up that big , ugly blue road I 95 to get outa' Dodge as fast as possible. Folks drivin' on those roads are always drivin' like there's no tomorrow and it's a little scary to be puttin' along at 60 when everyone else is tearin' by at 80.

Well as soon as we cleared Jacksonville, we stopped for fuel & some lunch. Linda noticed that the fridge I put on LP, before we left home, was not lit. Strange cause it never has gone out before and I knew there was plenty of gas. Turns out we lost our access panel that covers the back of the fridge on the outside skin going down the road and the wind blew out the pilot on the fridge. NOW WHAT?? I switched it to 12V, knowing relightin' it won't keep things cold, and away we go. Next stop I check and the fridge is still not doing it's thing so I made a door from cardboard and Duct tapped (the campers friend) it to the coach. A short time after that we hit some 'Frog Strangler's' and my new 'door' starts to gettin' soggy, not much I can do in this rain. we made it to Milledgeville, Scenic Mountain RV and Campground, for the night. Nice park, friendly folks, good deal for Passport America at $15 full hookup, with cable and wi-fi. After gettin' hooked up so the girls can fix supper, I go to duct tappin' the whole cardboard 'door' to waterproof it and turn the fridge on AC so we can run it on house current and get it cooled down. That should hold it, till I can find a replacement.

Well come mornin' I see the fridge is still not as cold as it should be after runnin' all night and I know it's cause I have no ventilation in my 'door' & can't put any in there or the wind will suck the 'door' off. So first order of the day is to locate a replacement. I called several RV places around the area we were in but got no answer, so I figure they have gone out of business. Next call is to a Camping World which is north of us and only a 30 mile detour off our route. They have two, and at a price of $36 I was floored. I thought it would be in the three figure area $$$. I recently tried to purchase a replacement skylight for our fifth wheel, it was $245 and junk so I made them send it back, so I figured this door would be PRICEY! Then the phone rings and it Camping World. The doors are not the right size. GREAT. To make a long story short, we had to go 60 miles back south to get one, the door would fit but not latch so I had to change the door and frame along the road. I'll remove it and install it proper when we get to the mountains.

That's all for today. I'll try to post some pictures next time. Until then hope to see Ya as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind

Cookin’ in the Heat

2009-06-21T19:39:00.000-04:00

First I’d like to say I’m sorry I haven‘t posted in so long but I don’t want this here Blog to become my cryin’ towel or my soapbox. It’s supposed to be an upbeat RV/travel related story I’m tryin’ to tell here and it’s hard to write sometimes when you don’t have any RV related stuff to write about.

We been doin’ a whole lot a nothin’ for the past few months. Did take our annual trip to the Florida State Clogging Convention, this year in Winter Haven. Stayed at Lakeshore Palms RV Park, a Passport America park, with some friends and had a great time there. The convention was OK and I think this may be our last one for a while. I’m not dancin’ anymore and that’s what holds us here, while the summer heat builds. Maybe next year we can ‘Get Outa Dodge’ earlier so we can enjoy the spring elsewhere.

A long time back I spoke of improvin’ the road to our place, well I decided to take some of that material and put in an RV pad for the 5’ver and the Lance. Where they sit now seems a little to low when we get our tropical downpours during Hurricane season and they wind up sittin’ in water till the ground soaks it up. Sometimes that takes a while, last year we had just a Tropical Storm that dropped 19.5 inches of water on us in 2 days. So I created an ‘L’ shaped pad in a higher spot in our backyard that won’t pond water.

New RV Pads

Now I’ve been up every mornin’ near the crack of dawn to beat the heat (somewhat, it’s still 78-80 at that time), while I dig a 110 feet of trench from the existing power to the new location. I have 50 amp service at present and I’m extending it to include 50, 30 and 20 amp services at the new locale. While I’m at it I figured to run water at the same time. So I work a couple of hours each morning and then quit. I have all but 3 feet of trench between pedestals dug, pipe installed and backfilled, with my ‘Georgia Backhoe’. That leaves about 30 feet of water line trench left to dig, to get to the house. I’m not pullin’ wire till we get back from our trip this summer.

No diesel needed for this Backhoe, but it does require fuel and determination.

“Did I say Trip?” Yeah we are headed up to the mountains,in Bryson City, for about a week. We’re headed out July 10th & taking our granddaughter with us. Our daughter and grandson are comin’ up as well. Haven’t worked out the route after that week in the mountains, but our granddaughter is coming with us. I’ll let ya’ll know when we know.

Until the next time, hope to see ya down the road as we’re Dancin’ on the Wind.

Spendin’ Time at the Rancho

2009-04-11T20:16:00.001-04:00

Since we got run out of Lake Rosalie last month we been chillaxin’ at home. Barb and Noel came home with us for a couple o’ days, then started headin’ towards home in Wisconsin…Brrrrr. Also spoke with Della & George who were just startin’ out for home in Indiana, they’re plannin’ on takin’ they’re time to avoid the bad weather.

I looked back at my last two posts and everything had gone askew. The text was over the top o’ the pictures and the pictures were over the top o’ the text. I straightened out everything and re-published time after time, after time, only to find it all screwed up every time. I figured maybe it was a problem with my blog writer communicating with the blog posting software. Then I decided it had to do with the position of the photos, so I moved all the pics back to center on the page. That worked but the pages seemed to blah. Finally I realized that recently I had changed the page formatting from left alignment to justified so it would look uniform down the page. So I tried changin’ it back to left alignment and left the photo placement formatting spread all of the page, like it was. Viola! It did the trick and all seems normal again. Boy I was burnin’ up brain cells tryin’ to figure that one out.

I been doin’ a lot of nothin’ lately around here. It seems that I injured myself while we were over to Lake Rosalie. I have fluid on my right elbow that doesn't seem to want to go away. The Doc drained it on Monday but said it would probably return, which it has. I’ve got to go back and see him on the 23rd, maybe he’ll drain it again. The next step is surgery, not if I don’t have to it aint!! Must have been all that heavy duty eatin’ we were doin that overworked my elbow. I’ve been restin, keepin’ it elevated, icein’ it and so far it hasn’t swelled too bad, but I can’t sit here forever doin’ nothin’. This is the first good finger tappin’ I’ve done since I got home and I got lots o’ other things that need doin’.

Our friends Colleen & Wayne from Brantford, Ontario are here for ten days tryin’ to get defrosted or tryin’ to rush the spring, I’m not sure which. We had supper here last night and we went out to Applebee’s tonight. Tommorrow is Easter and they’re taking his mother out for dinner then comin’ by here afterward. We’ll have all the kids & grandkids for the day, for the egg hunt and supper. So A “Happy Easter” to all.

Seems like ole Mother Nature has turned on summer here as the temps are startin’ to reach into the ninety’s and it just the beginnin’ o’ April. It’s way too hot for this early in the year. Our night time temps are dippin’ down to the high 60’s, that’s ridiculous! Got a fella thinkin’ on gettin movin’ north where it’s cooler.

Well I’ll see ya’ another day, maybe on down the road as we’re

Dancin’ on the Wind

A Hot Time at Lake Rosalie Park

2009-03-29T08:12:00.001-04:00

Here it is another beautiful day in the 'Sunshine State'. We're supposed to get some rain as a front passes through on Saturday night, so we have decide since we are paid through Saturday we'll leave Sunday.

Yesterday we finished the day with drinks around the campfire, after a great meal cooked over the campfire. The park is almost empty except for the three of us and some tenters.

Friday Linda & I had bagels to tie us over until breakfast was decided, since no plans were made Thursday night. Della & George announced they needed to go home as they had a seviceman coming Saturday. We all decided to meet for lunch in Lake Wales, good thing we had a bagel!

Before headin' off to town it was decided we had to have a return game o' washers. This time I teamed with George, Linda with Noel and Della with Barb.

Della gettin' ready to pitch one.

An' Barb lettin' 'er fly.

Seems George & I won the first and second round, so we were declared the victors today. Then the underdogs played for second place, which went to Della & Barb. Then it was off to town for lunch at the Chinese Buffet, not to bad. When we returned to camp from late lunch , stuffed like a bunch of ticks, we settled in for 'Happy Hour'. We made a nice campfire and just sat talking into the night, although Linda had to go watch Grey's Anatomy during the evening.

Saturday started with eggs over easy, hash with potatoes, toast, OJ & coffee at Noel & Barbs cause the wind has really started to pick up to the 25-30mph, with the approach of the cold front. Noel & Barb have decided to come back to Vero with us to see our son Jason for the day, so this morning was spent breakin' camp somewhat in preparation for our departure Sunday morn. In the afternoon we went to town to fill a propane tank, the store was closed. Saw Barb's brother and wife, who are leaving for Michigan on Sunday, then returned a campfire fireplace we've been using to friends in Babson Park. Then it was back to camp cause us fella's needed to get in our nap before 'Happy Hour' & dinner. As Noel & I are restin' we smell smoke, nothin' too unusual since we have some new folks upwind of us. Turns out it's not a campfire as we spot this as were eatin' dinner.

A bit of smoke over the bath house.

As we watch the fire we're wonderin' if the fire fighters are gettin' a handle on it at all, cause remember them 30 mph winds, they're still blowing. Well we figure that we're due north of the fire, it;s movin' northeast, so we're in a good position even though the only way out is south through the fire. The fire is still a mile away, the smoke is going diagonal to us, so we sit and wait keepin' an eye on it. Some folks tried to leave the park , only to be turned back by officials that had the road closed. We watched and figured the fire should have crossed the road from west to east by now, so we're hopin' we are in a better position now. Then folks start comin' down into the park, one after the other, being evacuated by the fire officials & sheriffs department.

Fire's gettin' bigger & closer to us.

The folks that are comin' in say the Forestry department has got it under control and have started a back fire to try and starve it out. All this while there's a helicopter buzzin' around the fire, which we figure is a news chopper, then we hear a different helicopter.

And this guy appears over the lake.

Now we feel that they'll get control of the fire.

The Forestry chopper kept makin' repeated trips to the lake or to the lake adjacent to us, Tiger Lake, for water. we watched the smoke plume as it seemed to dissipate then billow in great clouds. After about an hour a sheriff's deputy came down and told us the Fire Marshal recommended we evacuate in the next 20 minutes, cause the fire was burning in a horseshoe and after this we might not be able to leave. We decided to go. Thank goodness Noel had hitched up when we returned from town, but there was still much to do. water & electric lines started flying along with outdoor furniture, rugs, get the slides in after the inside prep. We were a bunch of flyin' maniacs. we got everything under control then hitched up Noel's boat and we were off.

We made it up the road about a mile then came to a stop with fire burnin' on both sides of us. great Noel can't turn around here, I'm startin' to wonder if one hand knows what the other is doin'. Well we get movin again and as we move up the road we realize the fire is a lot bigger than we thought. It extends way back on both sides of the road, several homes are completely destroyed and fire and emergency crews are everywhere. Maybe leavin' aint' such a bad idea, better safe than sorry. So we're headin' home to our house, 80 miles down the road.

This was our last view of the lake at sunset.

Hope to see ya down the road, on another less exciting day as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

For more pictures of our short reunion and the firey exit visit our Picasa album.

A Camping Reunion

2009-03-26T22:21:00.000-04:00

We made it to Rosalie Park to meet our friends. Noel & Barb have been here for the past week and decided to extend, since we could come over, before they start making their way back towards Wisconsin. We arrived and set up in an adjacent site, next to them.

After chattin' fer a bit George & Della came pullin' in so we tried to get them over with us but the host would only allow one unit per site. So they're one site over from us. There were hugs all around and BS'n fer the next few hours. We all got together for a nice spaghetti dinner, Linda did spaghetti & sauce, Della did three cheese bread with garlic and Barb did a nice salad and dessert. The meal was great, we all ate to much, the company of friends was great as well. We all have not been together since last winter for a shuttle launch in Titusville, FL.

Here we are for dinner!

After dinner the mosquitoes drove us inside so we passed the night watchin' American Idol. Then we broke up, Linda went for a shower and we called it a day.

Thursday started with coffee in the fresh early morning air. Noel went for his shower, I followed when he was done. Della had snuck off earlier so we were all smellin' good fer the day. All got together for a wonderful breakfast of Sausage gravy & biscuits, Fried potatoes, Scrambled eggs, Sausage patties, fresh squeezed OJ, and everyone's favorite mornin' beverage( some tea, some coffee). If we keep consumin' vittles at this pace we'll be hard pressed to get through the door in the Lance. After Breakfast we men settled down to some serious contemplation of global troubles.

We're 'Hard at it'.

In the afternoon we all got together for a game of Washers', Three teams of two, Della & I rose to victory. Followed by a game of 'Bean bags', same teams where Noel & George were the victors.

This is the view out front, It's tough to take.

Well dinner is planned and will be a group effort and I'm sure it will be great, I'll let you know next time.

Until then we hope to cross paths sometime runnin' down the road as we're

Dancin' on the Wind.

Road Trip!!!

2009-03-24T23:18:00.000-04:00

Looks like we're headin' out for a few days to visit with some friends. Got a call from them wantin' to meet them at a lakeside campground in central Florida last week. We haven't seen these folks since last year, when we watched a night launch of the space shuttle & then they stayed with us at home (Click for last years entry).

Linda's Aunt & Uncle are pullin' out in the morn & we'll be on their heels, I hope. We've had a great visit with Aunt Jessie & Uncle Don but it's time for them to head back home till next year. Gonna miss you guys.

Got to get the Lance loaded on the truck, fill the water tank, throw in some clothes and we're off. All the vittles are already onboard.

See ya tommorrow as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Gears 'R' meshin' No smoke yet!

2009-03-10T06:02:00.001-04:00

Well after much plannin' & measurin' I couldn't find any place to mount a second battery on the Lance, but I did find a spot fer one in the truck bed. Because we have a Fifth Wheel we have mounting rails bolted through the bed of our truck when the hitch is removed. So when we use the Lance I place a frame I've constructed of 2x4's turned flat, in the bed to clear the 5ver mounting rails. To this frame I've added a rectangular piece of plywood, in the front right corner of the bed to mount the battery on and a strap to secure the battery.

Then all I had to do was run some #8 wire from the battery compartment in the left rear corner, into the bathroom, under the vanity, along the wall past the furnace, behind the oven, into the kitchen base cabinet, across the water tank in front and out at the front right of the rig. I would have run #6 wire but I already had lots of #8 and figured I'm not going to be pulling a heavy amperage load from that battery. I use a 400 watt inverter to run the TV, Digital box and the DVD. Of coarse I'm not runnin' everything at once, it's the DVD & TV or the TV & Digital box. I use a 150 watt inverter in the truck to charge the laptop, which works out well.

I did an experiment one evening to test our one 125 a/h battery. I turned the Digital box & the TV on and left them on to see what kind of battery life we could expect. This battery is only 2 months old so it should be capable of 125 a/h, although I don't want to draw it down more than 50% to extend the batteries life as long as possible. Well at the start of the experiment the voltage on the battery, after disconnecting the shore power and allowing it to rest for a few hours, was 12.89 volts. After drawing from the battery for 5 1/2 hours, the voltage read 12.67, again I let the battery rest with no load for an hour. Doesn't look like I used much juice during the experiment. The TV is a 20" flat screen that might draw 50 watts and the Digital converter box, although I haven't checked it, I'm sure is a whole lot less. I realize this was not a true representation of 'Dry Camping' cause there was no lights, occasional water pump or other electrical draw, but it did give me the confidence that we can safely watch TV for 3-4 hours in the evening without killin' the battery. Let's face it when your pullin' an 'Overniter' at Wally World, you need somethin' to pass away the evening hours, so convincing the boss that it's OK to watch TV and carry on life without being in the dark all evening was a major accomplishment. Now with the addition of a second 125 a/h battery there should be no arguments. Our old battery just couldn't provide the power we needed for an evening of Dry Camping', even being extremely conservative on power.

To recharge the batteries for now we'll use our 2000 watt inverter generator, and shore power when were at a campground with hookups. Until I can make up my mind "Yea" or "Nay" on a solar setup for this camper.

Well that's all for now, until the next episode. Who knows maybe we'll see ya' down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind!

Gears 'r' Turnin', Smell any Smoke?

2009-03-01T08:54:00.002-05:00

Well here it is the end of the month already. I swear the older ya get the faster the time seems to go. Sorry I haven't posted in so long, Just didn't seem to have it in me, it's been a long month.

When last I left ya we were bouncin' along the road headed south. We made it to our girlfriends home in Kissimmee, had a great time with her & her daughter. Thanks for all the hospitality Rose & Courtney and thanks for makin' my girls birthday so memorable. We had a rip roarin' time at 'Wisperin' Canyon', boy if that aint an oxymoron.

Well we came home to find the fridge' in the house had decided to take a vacation while we were out ramblin' round the south, it just decided it wasn't workin'. Luckily our son discovered it the day it quit and transferred all the frozen stuff to their freezer, lost some stuff but not to bad. It was smellin' like a critter got up in there and died so we worked at cleanin' it over & over with everything under the sun to get the ' aroma' out. We did cleaners galore, bleach, bakin' soda, Oust', put charcoal, bakin' soda, even damp newspapers in there for nigh on two weeks, all the while livin' out of the frig' in the 5'ver. You know what a pain it is to get up to your mornin' cup 'o' joe only to have to go outside to get some milk to lighten it up a tad? Almost force a fella to drink it black! Well everything is fine now, whatever that critter was he must a vamoosed.

One evening our daughter & Grand daughter showed up with pillows under their arms. They have been sharin ' a house with our other daughter and decided they couldn't get along anymore. So they're litein' here till she can get on her feet an get their own place. A week later Linda's Aunt & Uncle from Pennsylvania come for their annual pilgrimage to soak up some sunshine. Just like we predicted when we we were up visitin' them this past summer, they have had an extremely hard winter. Snow, snow, snow, ice and temps in the -20's, Brrrrrrrr. Well they're here now soakin' up the winter warmth of Florida. So right now we have a house full and things are a mite busy round here.

I've been strainin' my grey matter a mite kickin' round some idea's to make our dry campin' easier. First one is. I'd like to add a second 125 amp battery to the Lance, somewhere, and maybe a 100 watt solar setup. There is no place to put a second battery anywhere in it, so it's gonna take some plannin'. I'd like the solar rig but I know down the road we'll have to give up Lance to fulltime in the 5'ver, and I hate to invest the money cause I know I won't get it out. Then again maybe I'll just take the solar panel off the roof addin' it to the 5'ver's system and leave all the rest of the system installed.

Next I'm pricin' out components for a solar system for the 5'ver, probably 400-500 watts to start. I know 6 volt golf cart batteries, like Trojan's T-105 will have more longevity than 12 volt deep cycle batteries, but at twice the price I haven't decided.

That's a project for the future but a fella's got to start plannin'. I've found a source for 100 watt solar panels at a reasonable price, so I have to come up with some funding while the deal is there. Even before that, I have to see the specifications on the panels,. Not buyin' a 'Pig in a Poke'.

Well got to get outside an' do some measurin', plannin' & cypherin'.

Until the next time. Hope to see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Headin' South

2009-02-02T08:20:00.002-05:00

Today we ventured on down the coast further & made a stopover for lunch n' some siteseein'. Cedar Key is one of those places ya' always hear about but ya' never seem to be able to steer off your intended route to get there. Well today we ventured off that route and went to discover Cedar Key. As we first entered the island Linda saw a sign for shrimp at the local fish house. Of course I had to turn around so she could see about spendin' some $$$. As we got inside this 'Fish House' it was clear to see it was not your ordinary place. Looked more like a 'Mad Scientists' lab with all the different tanks bubblin' colored fluids. Well it seems we were just in time for a tour, as the gent inside told us, this was a clam farm. The tour was unbelievably informative as we learned about the beds the calms are kept in to sin.pawn eggs which are then collected and cultivated, fed and grown to seed beds out in the Gulf of Mexico. It seems commercial 'clammers' lease acreage from the state to raise their clams. All the tall cylindrical tanks with different colored fluids were algae that were grown to feed the clams. This was quite the operation, they raise the clams from seed to sell to the clammers, then buy the mature clams back from the clammers to sell & ship all over the country, so they make income at all stages. Another one of those interestin' stops you never would find if you don't get off that ;Big, Blue Road'.

After the clam farm we ventured further on to the island to see what other treasures it held. By the way we didn't buy any shrimp cause they were frozen and only sold in five pound boxes. Them Truck camper freezers don't hold too many five pound boxes. The island was rather small so it didn't take long to venture about. It is geared to the 'Touristas' that want to stay on the island. Having lived on the coast most of my life it didn't excite me.

The Cedar Key Pier

When we drove onto the 'Pier', which is actually a small island itself, we were lookin' for a parkin' spot. Well i spotted the gent from the clam farm. He turned out to be the Harbor Master, and was employed by Cedar Key to oversee the boat ramps and the boat slips. I asked about parking, cause I'd seen 'No RV Parking' around, he told us to just park it as after 11 AM the parking at the boat ramps was open for anyone. We also quizzed him on eatin locally, since we didn't have lunch yet. We followed his recommendations and chose a restaurant, of which the name escapes me, for a grouper sandwich special. The sandwich was good, but not exceptional, the prices were high and the atmosphere was not equal to the prices. We wrote it up to another of life's experiences and left Cedar Key.

That's us parked down there in the middle of this shot

After Cedar Key it was southbound again as we were going to stay in a PA park in Bushnell for the night. Well if you remember in the last post we encountered our first park almost full? Well the park in Bushnell was full, so we opted to stay overnight at 'Wally World'. The folks in the park offered us a spot to dry camp for $12.50, but that's what we would have paid for a full hookup at the Passport rate.

Well until the next adventure.

Hope to see ya' down the road as were,

Dancin' on the Wind

A Visit to the State Capitol

2009-02-01T06:52:00.004-05:00

Leavin’ Conecuh Natl’ Forest we headed west to Dothan , AL for a Flying J stop. It wasn’t out of our way cause we were headin’ to Valdosta, GA to see friends. After fuelin’ up I called our friends business and discovered they were in Vero Beach, FL tending to a condo they own. Well that visit will have to wait for another day. The diesel was $2.08 in Dothan, so it was worth the stop anyway cause when we crossed into FL it jumped to $2.59, sheesh’ tell me again why I live here where the fuel prices have gotten to be some of the highest in the country. Even California’s fuel is much cheaper than us, what gives with that?

Headin' east through the Florida panhandle we decide to stop and see our State Capitol. We've visited others state capitols this trip so we figgerd’ we should really take the time to see ours. After following all the signs directin' us toward the Capitol we drove by it three times. seems it sits back off the road a little and with all the traffic buzzin' around downtown Tallahassee we just missed it. When Florida was in it's infancy there were two capitols, one in Pensacola and one in St. Augustine, both important port cities of the era. It was decided that one capitol was needed and Tallahassee was chosen as the mid point between the two existing capitols. It's funny but across from the capitol building was a dirt road leading to mainland Florida, back in the day, today it's US HWY 27. The original building still stands today and was renovated to return it to it's original configuration after nearly falling under the wreckin’ ball when the new capitol building was built. A concerted effort by the public saved it from the dust pile, after all it has history. Did you know ‘Andy Jackson’ was ‘Governor here before he became President?

The ‘Old’ Capitol building

The ‘New’ Capitol building

The "’New’ Capitol building has a beautiful fountain out front

Oh by the way we stopped in at Falling Waters State Park on our way to Tallahassee, intendin’ to lite fer’ the night but the campground was small, the lady at the gate seemed rude and the site she assigned us was so downhill we never could have gotten level. We got a refund and decided to write that park off our list. We have stayed in lots of state parks here and across this great USA but sometimes you run into people at park that, be they employees or volunteers that act like, you are interrupting their day or, they are doing you are big favor by renting you an overpriced spot to park your rig. Not to often but occasionally it does happen. We opted for a ‘Wally World’ stop instead.

Well after our visit in Tallahassee we started down the west coast o’ the ‘Sunshine State’, you wouldn’t know it by the temps here, still close to freezin’ each night. By now were pretty used to not hookin’ up the water hose overnight. I can just see me tryin’ to roll up a hose that’s frozen stiff, I been havin’ enough trouble rollin’ up that 30 Amp cord in these temperatures. We kept rollin’ down the road till we hit Old Town, Florida. We stopped at Old Town Campground N’ Retreat, nice small Passport America park, $10 a night. This is the first park we have encountered that was all but full, we had to take a spot with just W&E, which was fine with us, we’d just dump on the way out tomorrow.

Well that's all fer this day. Until the writin’ gets goin’ again.

Hope to see ya down the road, as were

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Planes, Planes & More

2009-01-30T22:01:00.005-05:00

After leavin' the Battleship Park we decided to stay the night in Mobile. We went to a PA park called McCoy RV Park, thank goodness we are self contained. The only bathroom was absolutely horrible, dirty, filthy & flooded. Had to change sites three times to find electric that was workin'. Needless to say this is one PA park we would not recommend and will never stay at again.

Next day we were off to Florida, we wanted to see the aviation museum in Pensacola. The National Naval Aviation Museum is located on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. Hint, Don't try to access the base if you have a weapon in your vehicle or rig. The museum is free for all and when we arrived we just got in on a guided tour, narrated by a Navy veteran. The tour started with the Navy's first airplane and progressed thru the years. It is an excellent stop as they have some 'one of a kind' aircraft. Towards the end of the guided tour we had to run to catch our tour of the parking apron outside. Again the bus driver was very knowledgeable about all the aircraft on the 'Flight Line' and they each have a story. When we returned we toured the museum for about one hour, till closin'. Well Linda decided that we should come back tomorrow & I agreed wholeheartedly.

Searchin for a place to lite we decided on Big Lagoon State Park as it was about ten miles and we had stayed here last year on Linda's Birthday Trip to Pensacola. The next day we returned to the base and first visited the Lighthouse which is across from the museum. Then it was off to Fort Barrancas, a site of an early US fort and a spanish fort that predated it.

I thought we were going to see ruins or a reconstructed fort, but these are the real thing. The US Army engineering officer assigned to construct the fort, in the 1839, elaborated on the design of the existing 1787 Spanish fort by building into the existing dune. By doing so they protected the masonry walls with the dune. The fort was constructed with slave labor and has 20' walls 4' thick, made of brick.

Typical passageway in the fort.

The earlier Spanish fort was called a "Water Battery" as they would fire the cannon at about water level and 'skip' cannon balls across the surface towards the water line of enemy ships. The forts are administered by the National Park Service and have free admission.

We then went back to the museum and spent several hours finishing our tour. This is an excellent stop for anyone interested in aviation, history or just a wonderful museum. Linda didn't think she would be to interested but she say's she was Wowed!

This plane was in Pocahontas Park in Vero Beach for children to play in for 40 years. It is the last F2H-2P Banshee in existence today.

We drove up the road into Alabama to Conecuh National Forest to spend the next two days. Our stop was Open Pond Campground, a really nice NF camp. Four loops 2 with W&E, one primitive and one for groups. Sites are large, private, paved, level and wonderful for $12. We chose a lakefront site but decided to move, due to the cold wind the next morning. We had a wonderful fire then showered our smoky bodies and retired for the night.

We'll see what tomorrow brings as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Battleship Park, Mobile, Alabama

2009-01-26T19:47:00.002-05:00

We left Gulf Shores headed to Mobile. We wanted to see the USS Alabama at Battleship Park along I-10. The day was drizzly, dreary so we stopped at the park for some information and decided to return the following day. Trying to locate a park for the night we drove south towards Foley, AL, which wound up being a lot further than we wanted to be from Battleship Park.

Instead we decided to go to Lambert's Cafe', where they "Throw the Rolls". The original restaurant is in Sikeston, MO and we saw this on the Food Channel and had to experience it. It was a great dining experience and more food than one person should eat. Most meals come with entree' and two vegetables and "Thrown Rolls" of coarse. Everyone is also welcome to what they call "Passarounds", macaroni & tomatoes, fried okra, blackeyed peas & fried potato's with onions. Moderately priced but an excellent value considering all the vittles they serve ya'.

"Throwin' the Rolls"

Servin' some Possum

We realized we were getting to far from the Battleship Park so we decided we'd do an over-niter at WalMart. Quietest WalMart we've ever experienced. We returned to Battleship Park and bought 'Senior' tickets for the day. The USS Alabama sitting in front of you is massive and overwhelming. Outside they have many static aircraft & Amour displays, SR-71 Blackbird, F4, F18, tanks, howitzers & Helicopters. Then inside to the museum with more aircraft, then on to the USS Drum, a 'Gato' class submarine from WWII. The USS Drum is the oldest United States Submarine left in the world.

While progressing thru the 'Drum' we met Tom. Tom is retired, served on a nuclear sub during his hitch in the Navy. Tom is a volunteer who spends his time, 70-80 hours a week, working on the sub. He and a young lady, Leslie, who is an employee of the park, work to restore and rebuild the aged submarine. Tom was nice enough to give us a little behind the scenes look at sub life and the reconstruction of this submarine. He allowed us to peek behind locked hatches in different areas of the ship. He explained systems on this sub that are still used on today's subs and allows them to obtain parts. He showed us different spare's that they have discovered onboard and have since restored or rebuilt and placed on display. Tom we enjoyed our time with you immensely, you are a fountain of knowledge with regard to this submarine.

Our "Thanks" Tom

Now I mentioned Tom is a volunteer, he spends his time and his own money on this project, because the United States Submarine Veterans organization does not have the funding necessary to restore the ship. They rely strictly on donations for funding to preserve and restore this ship. If anyone would like to make a tax deductible contribution to the preservation & restoration fund for this noble ship, checks may be sent;

Mobile Bay Base USSVI

Attn: Drum Maintenance/Restoration Fund

PO Box 190756

Mobile, AL 36619-0756

After spending so much time aboard the wonderful USS Drum we had to hustle to see the battleship. They have three different self guided tours and we quickly did all three. The ship is massive and there is a lot to see. After going back & forth, up & down on the ship I wanted to get on deck to see the 'guns'. Well not to be disappointed this ship has some guns I wouldn't want aimed in my direction.

WOW, Six 16" guns forward & 3 to the rear.

These are the Projectiles for the guns. I think they were 2700 lbs each.

Now if someone was aim'n bullets this size at me I'd wanna' be about a thousand miles away. With the nine 16" guns aboard this ship is capable of pourin' out 24,300 lbs of hot steel, every 30 seconds, up to 21 miles in the distance.

Here's a little perspective on the size of these guns.

I have more pictures of the USS Drum & USS Alabama at our Picasa album, to view them click here.

All for now hope to see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

The Final Frontier

2009-01-23T19:15:00.002-05:00

We did the last leg of the frontier road, the Natchez Trace today. After leavin' Rocky Springs Campground we headed south to Port Gibson. Port Gibson was declared by General Grant to be to beautiful to burn. Outside Port Gibson is the ruins of the Windsor Plantation, a 21,000 acre cotton plantation. The home must have been beautiful judging by the remaining columns.

This home was built with all slave labor and had 'only' 8 bedrooms.

Here I been blabbin' about The 'Trace' and I aint' shown the first picture of the durn' thing. Well here's a couple of pics for ya.

This is what the 'Trace' looks like at the northern end.

This is more at the southern end down towards Natchez. Here it is eroded and sunken due to the soft loamy soil.

Since we finished up the 'Trace' we've slowly been making our way to the coast. We were here right after 'Katrina" in 2005 when we were doing cleanup and we wanted to see how the Mississippi coast had progressed. Besides that we were still freezin' our butts off. Some rebuilding has occurred in 3 years but most of it is commercial, along US 90, that was once lined with stately homes, there are just slabs today. Remnants of what was once million dollar homes. By our guesstimate 95% is still not rebuilt.

On the way south we stayed in a Mississippi Water Park, PA of coarse, very nice, woodsy, full hookup, lakeside, 90 channels of cable TV, all for $11.50. Then we made it to the coast and found a park in Long Beach, MS. ,PA, W,E & Sewer for $12.50. Our neighbors there told us that today was 'Senior Day' at the Hollywood Casino and seniors eat for 1/2 price at the buffet, so it was off to gorge ourselves at the Casino. Really good food and too much of it. The next day we didn't know where we were headed except east and stayin' along the shore. We wound up down the road about 15 miles at Gulf Islands National Seashore. They have a nice campground with water & electric for $16 a night.

Guess who's making a scratch apple pie?

The camp is so nice we decided to stay a second day and again our new neighbors asked if we wanted to go to the Casino for Buffet, $23.50 and we got Players Club cards which gave us $10 each credit to play slots, Linda came away with $9 and me $8. So we had some fun and both ate for $6. I think this is the place to be in the winter, our neighbors say you pick up a little book and it lists all the deals at the Casino's, 2 for 1, free play money, discounted meals, sounds like heaven. All we got to do is get someone, I won't mention which of us is older, a Golden Age pass at 62 and we can stay here for $8 a day, eat ourselves till we pop, and gamble with their money. On certain days they give $20 free play money when you eat, so if luck would run right we could eat for free, gamble a little with the casino's money, and win some to pay for our site here. Well we'll see what tomorrow will bring.

Hope to see ya down the road as were

Dancin' on the Wind.

Let's try a little Catch up

2009-01-19T16:43:00.003-05:00

Well I haven't posted for several days cause I been freezin' my butt off and just didn't feel creative. The temps have been downright frigid for a flat-lander from the 'Sunshine State' like me. Thursday's high was 22 degrees, Friday's was 35, Saturday was more like it at 55. Our water froze in the fresh water tank in the camper twice goin' down the highway cause we can't run with the heat in the camper when we're travelin'. Made for some interestin' times when we stopped, till we figured what was goin' on.

Started down the 'Trace' on Thursday but it was so cold that we didn't get out an' walk to a lot of the sites. Havin' to bundle all up with coats, hat and gloves each time we stopped was a pain and the weather was bitter.

A Double Arched Bridge at Birdsong Hollow

Here's one of the flowing streams we stopped at on Thursday, "Frozen"

Stopped at Meriwether Lewis Campground, beautiful but it's to cold to stay at 6 degrees this morn. We stayed the night at J.P.Coleman State Park Thursday night in the corner of TN, AL & MS. All the sites were on Pickwick Lake and we stayed for the Senior rate of $14. I got a kick out of the entrance to this resort park in Mississippi's system, thought maybe I was out west somewhere.

You have to drive through the stream to enter the park

Friday morn' started down the 'Trace' once again, I'm still frozen from two days ago and don't want to get out of the warm truck. Some sites are just a pull-off on the road and aren't worth stoppin' at.

Didn't know Bucky lived this far south

Stayed Friday night at Legion State Park, old park, small run down campground, charged us $18, no water, even in the bathhouse, cause of the freeze. Strange, we stayed in a park north of here, where the temps were much colder and they had water, go figure.

Well Saturday brought some warmer temps and I was eager to get out of the truck. We detoured off the Parkway to go to Vicksburg National Military Park. It commemorates the Battle of Vicksburg, lots of monuments, but also lots of narratives making this much, much more interesting than Gettysburg. The salvaged remains of the 'Ironclad' Cario are reconstructed here. Seems the ship was the first to be sunk by underwater electronic mine. The museum and the resurrected ship are quite impressive.

This is the Illinois Monument

Not bad for lying on the bottom for over 100 years

All of this is original ironwork, 2 1/2" thick, backed by 6" oak timbers

This is the area of the ship the 'Mine' took out

Saturday we did an overnighter at Wally World. The temperature was quite warm. Sunday was back to the Military Park to finish up and then back to the 'Trace'. The weather had warmed enough for us to stay the night at one of the National Park's free campgrounds on the 'Trace'. We pulled into Rocky Springs Campground and surprisingly we weren't the only ones here. We tried to get some water for our tank but all the outside faucets were shut off, the only option was use a 'Water Thief' & get water from the restrooms. But the Camp Host came to the rescue after my sad tale of how we stayed at a state park and they had all the water turned off and I wanted a shower. We filled from his water service and we were all set. All three of these campgrounds the Park Service has along the Parkway are excellent camps, paved level sites(for the most part), table, grill, and fire ring. They are nicer than some states parks we have been in and these are FREE. We did our mandatory three times around the loop and chose our site. It always seems to take us three loops of the camp to choose a site. We may pull into one or two or more but always seem to have to circle before we land.

Here we are in Rocky Springs Campground

Tomorrow we finish the last 40 miles of the Parkway. Don't know what happens from there, we'll play it by ear.

Maybe we'll see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Eastward Ho!

2009-01-14T22:40:00.002-05:00

Howdy folks. We headed east from Memphis yesterday on or course to the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace. Stopped for fuel about 70 miles out, where the sign advertised $2.19 for diesel. There were no diesel pumps out front so I had to go through with the trucks on the side and search out a low flow nozzle. Since I couldn't get the pump to turn and the intercom wouldn't work, I sent Linda in with the credit card. After the pump came on I start pumpin' Linda shows up down the fuel island yellin' somethin' that I can't hear. She's yellin' to stop pumpin'. Seems they were recievin' fuel and we risked pickin' up sludge out of the bottom of the in-ground tank, why the operator turned the pump on and then told her of the risk I'll never figure out. Oh well here's yer sign!

We had decided to stop at Pinson Mounds State Archeological Area near Jackson, TN. There was also Casey Jones home & museum to see in Jackson. Due to the 37 degree weather we decided to pass on Casey Jones and go on to the mounds. Pinson is an area of 17 earthen mounds covering 400 acres. The mounds were created by an ancient Indian civilization between 200 & 500AD with the tallest being 72 feet tall. We either misunderstood or were misinformed regarding this site. We were told they had excavated one mound and you could go inside and view it to see all the layers & artifacts. Not so, but the museum is in a simulated mound and maybe that's what our informant meant. Disappointed we viewed the museum and left the park to travel on down the road. Stopped for the night at Tanbark Campground in Centerville at $13.75, 35 degrees on arrival. Woke up to find icicles hanging off the camper. The 'check engine' light came on when we started this morning and stayed on, so we stopped at a Chevy dealer in Dickson to have it checked. Seems we were 4 quarts low in the transmission with no visible leak. I had the transmission drained, flushed and the filter changed a while back and the only explanation is they forgot to top off the fluid when finishing the service. Worse than that they found a leak in the transfer case caused by a pressed in bearing that was wearing thru the case. Had to have them due an emergency repair to the case so it would stop leaking, can't have it seizing up traveling down the road. Gonna' have to keep a better eye on the fluids.

Well since we spent most of the day at the dealer we decided to stay another night at Tanbark and start out tomorrow. I post some pic's tomorrow cause it's cold outside, they're forecastin' 6 degrees overnight.

See ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

City of Blues & Rock & Roll

2009-01-12T00:17:00.002-05:00

We were up today at 7:15 and it was brisk. The temp was 27 degrees outside, 45 inside. We turned up the heat and were warm and toasty in no time. We brought something with us this trip I had all but forgot about and it is a lifesaver, Electric blanket. Livin' with a lady who could heat a moderately sized buildin' with her Flashes, it's nice to be able to control one's temperature comfort level. We stayed at Natchez Trace RV last night. Nice little park, full hookup, Pool(not gonna see my carcass there), and some of the cleanest bathrooms we've seen in our travels across this country. You know it's a PA park and a bargain at $11.80 a night.

We left there headin' north on the 'Trace' and stopped at the visitors center just north of Tupelo. The we turned and headed west down US 78 towards Memphis. In Memphis we headed to Elvis Presley Blvd. RV park get a site for the night, another PA park at $16 per night. The park is two blocks from Graceland for those interested in visiting the 'Kings' home. We then headed downtown to find Gus's on Front St. Gus's looks more like your typical old time neighborhood bar from the outside but on the inside it's all restaurant. We were greeted and took a table. Our waiter Steve promptly took our order and brought our drinks. Linda & I both ordered a half chicken. We were told by others to expect a wait of up to one hour for our order to be prepared, surprisingly our order came within fifteen minutes. The chicken arrived nested on two slices of white bread accompanied by cole slaw and baked beans for $9.95. To say the chicken was excellent would be an understatement. We have never had better fried chicken, just a little spicy. I'd have to say it surpassed the cajun fried wings we had at Granny's Chicken Palace in Maggie Valley.

After Gus's we drove around the downtown until we came to the I-40 Welcome Center. By now it was around 4PM and most of the museums were closing at 5PM. A trolley ride was suggested and since we had never ridden on a real trolley car, we jumped on the idea. For 50 cents each we took a complete loop of the downtown area of Memphis, for 50 minutes on trolley cars that were 100 years old. The trolley car are all different but the interiors of the two we rode were crafted of various varnished hardwoods. After that we walked all the river to burn off some of that dinner, then some shopping and back to the RV Park.

Elvis himself greets visitors at the Welcome Center.

I tried to get a picture of the interior of the Trolley as we rumbled down the street.

Memphis in evenings early light.

We watched some TV and called it a night. Tomorrow we're headin' back east on I-40 towards the northern end of the Natchez Trace.

Maybe we'll see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Tupelo, Mississippi

2009-01-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

We got a good start on the travel day leaving Lee's Country Campground at around 8:30 yesterday. We fueled up at Flying J for $2.23 great price for diesel these days. We then turned west and headed for Alabama. Stayed the night in Montgomery at 'The Woods RV Park', another Passport America park, full hookup, 71 cable channels, free wi-fi, all for $15, hard to beat. Also topped off at $2.09/gal , even better than this morning. Wish we were headed to TX or AZ where diesel is under $2.

Today we headed to Tupelo, MS by way of Birmingham, AL. It was a balmy 41 degrees when we left Montgomery this morning. We went downtown Montgomery to see the First White House of the Confederacy, of coarse our luck it was closed. Toured around downtown checkin' out all the state buildings including the capitol.

Alabama State Capitol

The First Confederate 'White House'

As we rolled into Tupelo I had to find the way to the birthplace of 'The King', Elvis Presley. Linda had to go since we're here, said she just had to take some pictures. Since I have never been a fan of his, and the fact that it was 39 degrees, I waited in the truck.

Elvis's Birthplace and Boyhood home

Tonight we are stayin' at Natchez Trace RV Park just south of Tupelo. Another Passport America park, full hookup for $11.80, sorry no cable tonight. It's sure gettin' cold****, 33 degrees at 8:30 this evening, hope we don't freeze.

Our plans have changed since we left home. We are making our way to Memphis for some Fried Chicken, crazy huh. Gus's is supposed to have the best spicy fried chicken in the south. Then we'll head towards Nashville,TN and start the 'Natchez Trace Parkway' from the northern end and drive the entire length of the park. I'm going to try all three free National Park Campgrounds if possible, but the weather is going to be mighty cold, 16 degrees and we may have to opt for a commercial park so we have electric to run our furnace. I put a new 125a/h battery in the camper but I don't want to kill it overnight with the gas furnace running. If we had some solar we could charge it back up 80% with the generator and then let the solar panels bring it back to full charge during the day as we drive or even when were parked. I considered purchasin' a solar setup before we left for this trip but the longer I procrastinated the closer our departure date came. I will definitely get some solar installed before our next trip, which we hope to be CA,OR & WA this summer. Also thinking of addin' a second 125a/h battery to the mix. I got some idea's bouncin' around in my nogin for that, just need to do some more ponderin' and maybe take some measurements. Boondockin' is sure more pleasurable when you have most of the comforts of home, and don't have to do without. Solar sure would be nice, just sittin' there quietly doing it's thing and keepin' the batteries charged.

Until the next time, see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Travel Day to North Florida

2009-01-09T21:30:00.002-05:00

Well we got an early start as usual, 9 AM. Traveled the FL Turnpike north this trip instead of I95. You know I don't like them big blue roads but as I've said before there's not much choice to get north in this state. We called it a day in White Springs, about 20 miles from the Georgia line. Stopped at the State Farmers Market to see if we could purchase some veggies, but alas they ship everything out. There was a produce stand on the grounds so we purchased a few things. Outside the Market area and along the highway there was what looked like a large rest area, even had a trucker parked there with all his curtains drawn. Well we thought we had found a spot to spend the night. It had a grove of large Live Oak trees, a lake, and even several water spigots. We figured we'd stay and keep the trucker company and skip paying a campground fee tonight. Well since yours truly forgot to put any water in our fresh water tank before we left, we decided rather than filling our tank with water of unknown quality, we'd just hookup direct. Well as I started to write this entry, the Market manager drove up and told me I had to leave, that this was state property, and we were not welcome. He really made a face about hooking up to the water. I told him I thought it was a rest area along the state highway, but he directed us to several campgrounds down the road. We got kicked out of 'Paradise'. Oh well!

Nice little lake complete with cypress trees.

Nice little spot.

So here we sit at Lee's Country Campground, a beautiful, clean, friendly park. Member of Passport America, they also honor the Federal Golden Age pass for 50% off camping fees. We have stayed here back in August (refer to 8-8 -2008 blog entry).

Tomorrow we head across the state line to Flying 'J' for fuel, then we're cuttin' across the Peach State to Alabama.

Until the next time. Maybe we'll see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind

Movin' On

2009-01-05T06:57:00.003-05:00

Well it looks like we're headed on up to Mississippi for a while. We want to explore the Natchez Trace Parkway thru the state of Mississippi. We don't think were going as far as Nashville, TN cause it's probaly a little to cold for us Floridian's.
Hope to head out tommorrow. If everything works out right I'll have that Lance camper loaded and we'll be out 'a' here in the morning. I would like to take the 5ver' cause fuel prices are so low but I feel we'll have better accessability with the Lance. Seems they have some campgrounds along the Parkway that are administered by the National Park Service and thier FREE, just my kind of place. I'm bettin' that they're kinda' tight to get a 36' 5ver in but we'll see. Well got to fix the coffee so I'll say 'Adios' for now.

Maryville & Cumberland Mountain St. Pk.

2008-10-02T18:42:00.000-04:00

We left Philpot Lake and traveled down the road fer a surprise visit to our friends in Maryville, TN. We figured we had plenty o' time till they got home so we went to see Sam Houston's school house here in Maryville. Seems Sam was born in VA and when his father died his mother relocated the family to Maryville. Sam always admired the Cherokee and lived with the tribe learnin' their ways for about two year. Sam was a consummate reader and eventually taught school here for a couple of years. His students ranged from youngsters to adults. He is the only man in history, to hold the office of Governor in two different states. He was instrumental in the state of Texas reachin' independence from Mexico.

Sam's one room school house.

Amy & Randy had no idea we were comin' and we wanted to sneak in on them. We made a stop at Wally World and picked up a pizza so's we'd have more visitin' time. Well it just so happened that Randy wasn't workin' today, so the surprise was watered down a bit. But we enjoyed visitin' with them, as always, and we'll sneak back maybe another time.

A visit with good friends.

We left Amy & Randy's and put in a call to some friends we had not seen in a couple of years. We had met Margie & Odean when we wintered in a park in FL in 2005. Since that year we have tried to catch up with them in FL every winter but they have had quite a busy two years, and we could never connect. After trying their home, we called their cell and Margie answered. Well they were not at home , but campin' in Cumberland Mountain State Park, about 30 miles away. So we motored on down the road to meet. It was a wonderful reunion and we stayed with them for three days, talkin' eatin' & reminiscin'. We left them with the promise to get together at the end of the month at their home in Spring City, TN.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. Hope to see ya down the road as we're;

Dancin' on the Wind.

Fairystone St. Pk. & Goose Point Campground, VA

2008-09-30T16:28:00.000-04:00

As we moved closer to the VA-NC border we made a stop at a park our niece spoke of months ago. She said that there was a State Park in VA that had all these little stone crosses lying about on the grounds. So we needed to stop and see what this was all about. Seems the legends go's, that when Jesus was crucified the fairies that lived in the forest here wept when the news reached them. When their tears hit the ground they crystallized and that's what we're a huntin' today. So I'm expectin' on findin' some crystal crosses, kind a like quartz or such. No such luck, these crosses are are silicone based mineral and kinda' gray in color. We looked for about an hour, not really knowin' what we're exactly we're lookin' fer. Well I found a whole bunch of the crystals embedded in rock and I was real pleased until we talked with this lady whose husband sells these things. Seems we were supposed to be lookin' fer individual stones. She says you can't get these that I got out of the stone that surrounds them, we'll see after I get home an crank up the ole' Dremel Tool.

Well after toilin' in the dirt lookin' for crystals, we needed to find us a place to lite fer the night and Fairystone wasn't it. We passed a sign for a park, maybe County and we just went down the road to investigate. Turned out to be a Corps of Engineers park on Lake Philpot. Absolutely Beautiful, glad we wander sometimes. Park was a little pricey at $22 but the amenities & scenery was worth it.

This is our site at Goose Point Campground.

Linda seems to be havin' her a good time.

Yours truly a workin' on catchin' up on the Blog.

Linda's been sneakin' around with the camera catchin' me watchin' a movie.

Linda has been takin' pictures lately and doin' lots a over the shoulder editin', but I can't get her to write an entry for the blog yet, it will come, one a these days.

Well that's all for today. Hope to see ya down the road as we're;

Dancin' on the Wind.

Happy Valley Camp & The Homestead

2008-09-28T18:22:00.000-04:00

We spent the night in a Forest Service camp in VA called Happy Valley. It was off the beaten path a little and we had the entire camp to ourselves again. I don't know if it's the time of year or the price of fuel, maybe some a both. We lucked out and got to stay for free cause it was National Land Use Day and the forest waived all fees for the day including camping, sweet!

In the morning we went back to Warm Springs for a visit to Jefferson Pools, a mineral spa since 1761. It was old and in need of restoration badly, which is supposed to start next year, I hope it can make it till then.

This is the Men's Bath House.

People were still visitin' fer a soak in the 98 degree healing spring water. Our next stop was Hot Springs, VA right down the road, for a visit to "The Homestead" a ritzy resort we were told that rivaled the "Greenbrier Resort in WV. After visiting both I'd have to say the woman who informed us of the "Homestead" was a trifle prejudice, to say the least.

This is the back lawn.

This is the front view.

The Homestead's Lobby.

Let's compare some shots of the Greenbrier and the Homestead.

The Greenbrier Lobby.

The entrance to the theater at Greenbrier.

Sitting room at the Greenbrier.

The Homestead was very nice , but as you can see the Greenbrier was explosive in color and decor! So if your ever in the area they're both worth a look see as they're only about 30 miles apart. Then you can judge for yourself.

That's all for today. Hope to see ya' down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Zip Back Across West Virginia

2008-09-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

We left Huntington to cross back across the state towards Virginia. I figured we needed to spend some time in the mountains again. The weather was rainy and warmer than we have experienced on our entire trip so far. Along the way we stopped at Grandview overlook, off I-64 for the New River Gorge. A different perspective and we think a much better view of the river. Here you can see the river for miles in each direction.

Next stop was the Sandstone Falls Visitors center of the New River Gorge further west on I-64. The visitors center is along the river but there is no overlook located here. To view Sandstone Falls, one has to drive 10 miles south to Hinton, then 9 miles north on the opposite side of the river. The falls is a cascade and we decided that we didn't want to see it that bad. We did visit the town of Hinton briefly, an old railroad town, but the museum was closed when we got there. So we swung back to the Visitors Center and parked in their lot for the night. After some supper we played cards into the evening and turned in early.

Next morning up early we headed east to Covington, VA and a stop at Wally World for some provisions, then to fuel up and headed north.

Along the way we encountered this nice spot, Falling Springs.

Well we'll see what tomorrow brings. Hope to see ya' down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.

Hillbilly Hot Dogs, Yeeha!!!

2008-09-25T10:39:00.000-04:00

Last night we pulled into Beech Fork State park in Huntington, WV. We're here to pay a visit to one more of the stops along the 'Diners, Dives & Drive-ins' tour, "Hillbilly Hot Dogs" in Lesage, WV.

We came in after dark last night so we changed sites this morning, again and again till I got it right. After selectin' a site we headed out to try some weenies at this local eatery. Lesage is up the road about 8-10 miles so it didn't take long to search it out. At first I thought we missed it, cause we drove through Lesage. How silly it's right along the road.

Could you miss this?

Here's a closer shot.

Linda & I went into the Hillbilly indoor eatin' place and perused the menu. After much palaverin' with the help she ordered a 'West Virginia Dog', homemade chili, mustard, onions & slaw & a 'Pizza Dog', pizza sauce, melted cheese & fried pepperoni. I ordered a 'Hillbilly dog', deep fried dog with homemade chili, mustard & onions and then a Pizza dog and then a 'Mettswurst', hot spicy smoked mett, mustard and kraut, washed down with a Root Beer. The food was great and we're glad we made this a stop on our trip. The atmosphere is laid back, extremely friendly as well as unique, to say the least. The place has been decorated inside and out by the customers. So much so that the owners Sonny & Sharie hold sales to sell off some of the 'donations' in the name of various charities. This is a must stop if in the Huntington, WV area. As their sign says; "If you find your standards are too high fer us, Please lower yours." The dinin' area inside is in one of the old school buses or select a picnic table outside. We didn't get to meet Sonny & Sharie, but the girls Tammy & Rose made us feel like we were old friends. I believe their "Code of Hospitality" is based on the premise that they have never met a stranger, and treat everyone like 'Kin Folk'.

Thank You girls, I can't say enough about you and the wonderful time you showed us.

Linda makin' ready her Dog.

Here's a shot outside the 'Dinin' Area, or "Indoor Eatin' Place" as they refer to it.

A slice of Americana.

We came back to our camp to find the deer wandering along the roads in the park. When we arrived last night they were lying about everywhere and we must have counted around 15. They don't seem to mind us much and just lie there like a dog as we go by.

Here' somebody who had a real thirst.

Well that's all for today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Maybe we'll see ya down the road as we're,

Dancin' on the Wind.