Meridian and I-20---We Remember It Well!

So, we woke up Tuesday morning itching like crazy! Turns out we forgot to put on our DEET when we went geocaching in the woods and we got CHIGGERS! As always, we travel with a special spray to ease the itching and we both bathed in it before we got on the road.

Now Meridian stands out in my mind from previous trips as a town with inconvenient exits and entrances to the interstate. This time was no different! After looking a the map and checking our GPS's, we headed south on highway 19, going to old US80. Unfortunately, about a mile from the entrance to I-20, there was a warning about bridge clearance, we checked and we would fit so we continued on for about another 1/2 mile. Bob suddenly pulled over into a gravel lot--he spotted the sign before I did: WEIGHT LIMIT 6 TONS! We were able to unhook the car (did I mention it was raining?) and I drove across the street to the Moose Lodge. Then I went back to direct Bob so he could back and then turn into the lot. As we were waiting for traffic to clear we were astounded to see a flat bed semi coming across the bridge! Now, it wouldn't have been so bad if the truck had been empty, but it had a FULL load of liquid. Now water weighs about 8 pounds a gallon and this truck had at least 20 five hundred gallon tanks fully loaded. The driver must have been concerned, he slowly crept across the bridge.

Well, after that detour, we went back to highway 19 and found the long way onto I-20. From there it was a bumpy, bouncy ride across Mississippi. Interstate 20 from Jackson to the Louisiana border has improved since we first started RVing in the late 90s, but more improvement is needed. This section of I-20 is still one of the worst sections we have ever traveled.

Since we had no idea as to our destination that night, we stopped at the Louisiana Welcome Center. We found a brochure on a park we were considering and decided to give it a try. We were less than a 100 miles from the park, so after lunch we were on the road again.

At the rest area just before Ruston, Louisiana, we stopped to call the park to make sure there were spaces available.  Luckily for us, there were, so we drove to Lincoln Parish Park just north of Ruston. It turned out to be an excellent choice for the night. In fact, it is a park where we would like to spend more time. It is known for its mountain bike trails. There is a small lake with a paved walking path. And to top it all off, the sites had 50 amp electric, water, sewer, AND free wi-fi! All for $25 a night.

This was the view behind our site.

After we got set up and rested for a bit, we took a walk around the lake.

 The park was well maintained and had many amenities.

 Fishing, boating (no gas motors), swimming, hiking, and mountain biking are just a few.

We had an enjoyable evening in Sol, but Wednesday would be another travel day. I know, I know, this is not our usual travel style. For the first part of this trip we are on a schedule. That will change in early August.

Wednesday morning, before traveling, we took the time to walk around the lake once more. Of all the ducks in or near the lake, this one stood out from the others with her stylish bouffant. We saw one other duck that's head feathers looked more like a mohawk, but she wanted no part of our photo session.

Time to pack up and hit the road.....next stop Rocky Point COE near Texarkana, Texas.

Twitley Branch COE Campground, Collinsville, Mississippi

Bob and I took our time driving to Twitley Branch Campground. Sol needed fuel and we didn't want to purchase it in Florida. We finally found a station in Atmore, Alabama that had diesel for $2.99. It was the best price we available AND the station had separate pumps for diesel! After fueling Sol, we were on our way to Collinsville which is about 10 miles northwest of Meridian, Mississippi. Our reservations were for 2 nights at Twitley Branch Corps of Engineer Campground on Lake Okatibbe.

After a leisurely drive, we settled in at our campsite for Happy Hour as it was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Our site backed on the lake so we had a good view.

The following day we walked the campground areas and did some geocaching in the park.

After lunch we drove to Meridian to visit Dentzel Carousel. It is housed in a special building at Highland Park. Unfortunately, the carousel was closed. We were able to look in the windows to see the double row carousel built around 1890.

The Jimmie Rodgers museum, also located at the park, was closed. Jimmie Rodgers is known as the singing brakeman and the father of country music.

I guess Monday is not a good day to visit small town museums.

From Highland Park it was on to Wal-Mart to purchase a few items, then back to the campsite.

Since it was such a nice afternoon, we decided to ride our bicycles around the park. It was the first time in a very long time that we had ridden our bikes. After our bike ride, we sat outside and just enjoyed relaxing. We finally got out our maps and gazetteers to plan our drive the following day.

So far this trip, we have had reservations, but for our next stop, we didn't have any. We weren't sure how far we wanted to go, but we knew we didn't want to drive all the way to Texarkana, Texas, from Collinsville. We finally decided on a couple of places we might stop, but we kept our options open...no reservations! Our stop would depend on our drive and the weather.

On Our Way West!

Cue Willie Nelson: On the road again......

Yes, we are back on the road.This time we are headed west, first to get our older two grandchildren and their dad in Oklahoma. Then we will continue west to Washington.

Our first stop was in Crawfordville, ,Florida. We spent the night in the driveway of our friends house even though they are already in Colorado to spend the summer at their cabin.

 Not long after we arrived, Bill called and asked us to check on the plants that Boni planted before they left. We did...they were growing and getting ready to climb the trellises Bill made.

 After dinner we walked around the neighborhood and had to run from yellow flies in one section. The next morning we were on  the road again. The next stop was Bear Lake Campground in Blackwater River State Forest. This was a new to us campground. The weather was hot and sticky and rains were in the forecast. When we got up on Saturday morning, we immediately got ready to hike Bear Lake Loop Trail. We wanted to get started before it got HOT and before the rains arrived.

 The trail was a four mile loop around the lake. There were boardwalks and observation decks along the trail. The first observation deck overlooked a small field of white pitcher plants.

 Of course, there were other flowers blooming along the trail, but the white pitcher plants intrigued us. There were more than we had ever seen in one place on any of our hikes. The dark stick in this picture is Bob's walking stick. I hope it gives you an idea of the height of the pitcher plants.

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I really enjoyed seeing all the native plants along the trail. These pink ones as well as the following white one were the most prevalent.

Bob and I both agreed that this was one of our favorite Florida trails....and we have hiked a lot of them!

One boardwalk zig-zagged through the trees.

We completed the hike just before the rains! After eating a late breakfast we decided to drive into Milton, the closest town of any size. One of our stops was Blackwater Heritage Trail, a seven mile paved multi-use trail. We had our bicycles, but the weather didn't look promising, so we headed back to the campground.

Sunday was going to be a travel day, but we decided to hike Sweetwater Trail before we packed Sol for our trip. I have to say, Sweetwater Trail was also a pleasant surprise. The trail started as a piney woods trail and then turned into a boardwalk that went over Sweetwater Swamp all the way to Krul Lake. Krul Lake is the site of another campground that has swimming only in the lake, no boats, no fishing, no pets.

About halfway to Krul Lake, we crossed a suspension bridge over Sweetwater Creek. 

We enjoyed our stay at Bear Lake Campground even though we had no cell service or Internet. It was a nice getaway for a few days. It was time to get on the road---next stop Collinsville, Mississippi.

Cruising on Oasis of the Seas--St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee

One of the reasons we kept our spring trip short our scheduled cruise at the end of April. The ship: Oasis of the Seas, the stops: Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Labadee, Haiti.

Once we boarded the ship, it was time for ice cream at what became Sydney's favorite cafe!

 This was the first cruise where we treated ourselves to a balcony.

 Dinner was always a special treat--you never knew when a photographer would come by to snap a candid photo. Sydney is always ready to smile for the camera.

 The captain's dinner was special. Everyone looked their best and had a great time!

This was the picture taken by the ship's photographer. I took the one above.

 There is always time to go for a drive with Grandpa. The Boardwalk aboard ship was a fun place.

I have to say we were disappointed with our first stop at St. Maarten. There were 2 reasons: 1. Our zipline excursion was cancelled due to windy conditions. 2. The town of Phillipsburg was still in the throes of reconstruction due to last summer's hurricanes.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, was a pleasant surprise. My doctor told me that if we didn't do anything else, we needed to see Castillo el Morro. Our time in San Juan was briefer than our other stops so Bob and I headed to the fort. It guards the entrance to the bay at San Juan. This was the largest fort Bob and I have ever visited, and we have visited MANY! Construction began in the 1500s. This view gives you an idea of the size! We both wished our time in San Juan had been longer, but maybe next time.

Our last stop was Labadee, Haiti. Here we enjoyed a day at the beach.

Cruising is a tough life, but somebody has to do it! I think cruising wore this little one out....nap time on the way home!

 Once we arrived home, it was time to prep Sol for our next big trip! It will be exciting, so stay tuned!

Ocean Pond, Last Stop of the Spring Trip

As is our usual, we didn't drive far before stopping for the night. We were lucky enough to get on of the last two campsites at Ocean Pond Campground in Osceola National Forest. Traffic was light on Easter Sunday so it was a pleasant drive. Once we arrived at the campground, we saw that the west loop was filled. We crossed our fingers, hoping that there would be a site on the east loop. Hip, hip hooray, there were two sites next to each other, close to the pond! Unlike the west loop, there were no electric hook-ups, but that was fine with us as the weather was still cool enough to make it bearable without AC.

As we were eating lunch, we saw another RV drive by to get the last site--it was another Winnebago Forza (just like our Solei), only it was the little sister to ours, a 34 footer. We gave the owners time to set up before introducing ourselves. Turns out it was another couple from the Facebook page we follow! They were there for one night before heading north. We hope to see them out west this summer!

We hiked a bit at Ocean Pond, Florida Trail passes through Osceola National Forest. We also visited Olustee State Park Battlefield. On Monday, it was time to get new tires for our 'toad' so we headed into Lake City for 'toad's' new shoes.

We enjoyed our stay at Ocean Pond, and will stop there again. But it was time to head home and get ready for our cruise and our big summer trip. Once again, the camera was in hiding, so no pictures.

Ninety-Nine, South Carolina, and Beyond

Once again I am behind on posts. Once we left Gaffney, we traveled to Lake Greenwood State Park in Ninety-Nine, South Carolina. The park was nice, but the sites were not very level. We had a reservation for the weekend in a site that we could not level side to side---we had a definite lean to the passenger side. After two days of walking crooked, we were able to change sites and we had a really nice site for one night! Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures while at the park! Bob and I did have a nice visit with my nephew who lived nearby.

When we left Ninety-Nine, it was on to South Georgia. We made a stop in Statesboro, where Bob and I met 47 years ago. There is a craft brewery that we found to be to our liking. Then it was on to Claxton, Georgia, and Evans County Public Fishing Area. We found that they allow boondocking near the lake. We spent an enjoyable evening walking around the area.

 This is the view of the lake we had from our 'site.'

We only spent one night at the fishing area before moving to our next destination: King's Bay Naval Base in St. Mary's, Georgia. It had been quite a few years since we visited the area. We spent a week at King's Bay, exploring the town of St. Mary's, the Okefenokee Swamp, and Crooked River State Park.

Our first day trip was to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. We enjoyed walking several trails in the area.

 The first took us to an old homestead located in the park.

 The next trail took us along a boardwalk to an observation tower.

 Our final trail was through a pine forest near the entrance of the park. We are really racking up those steps on this trip!

Our next day trip was not far from the base, Crooked River State Park. We hiked all the trails that were open. The river boardwalk is still closed due to Hurricane Matthew which hit over a year ago.
We were able to see the river in some areas as there were several side trails that led to overlooks.

A trip to St. Mary's would be incomplete without a trip to the old tabby sugar mill ruins. It is just outside the base.

We walked the town of St. Mary's and saw this sailboat abandoned in the marshes. I bet there is a very unhappy sailor somewhere.

We enjoyed our stay at King's Bay even though we were in an overflow site that shared electric and water with the site next door. On our last day, someone was scheduled to come in on this site so we moved to overflow next to the community center so we wouldn't have to travel on the Saturday before Easter.

By leaving on Easter Sunday, we had a better chance of getting a site at our next stop since we didn't have any reservations.

Brick House and Gaffney, South Carolina

We didn't venture far from Wateree Recreation Area. Our next stop was Brick House Campground in Sumter National Forest.We spent two nights at Brick House. There was a trail near the campground, but due to recent rains, parts of it were impassable. We did our best, but, we had to turn back after about a mile. After we left Brick House, we realized that we didn't take the first picture while we were there!

Our next stop was our scheduled stop at Gaffney Oasis Freightliner for Sol's two year check-up. She passed with flying colors and we left with extra filters---the just in case supply. While Sol was being checked, we drove to Kings Mountain National Military Park. This trip should be called "Our Revolutionary War Tour." The battle at Kings Mountain was pivotal for the Patriots in the Revolutionary War. Bob and I walked the path around the mountain reading about the advancements of the patriots and the loyalists.

 After we left Kings Mountain National Military Park, we went next door to the South Carolina state park, Kings Mountain. We walked around the lake and checked the campground. There were a few sites Sol would fit in, but not many.

It was back to Gaffney to get Sol settled for the night. The following day would be a travel day!