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Winter Camping in Atlanta

2/28/2015

We are at McKinney Campground on Allatoona Lake just north of Atlanta. Getting here was NOT half the fun, as one of our camping buddies says, because it involved pulling the trailer through Atlanta traffic.

This campground is one of those with 150 sites, but we can only see about six from ours. The terrain is very hilly and heavily wooded so other sites are not visible. When we arrived, there was cold white stuff on the ground among those trees. And there was cold white stuff on the picnic table.

Last night we went into Smyrna for a delicious dinner with sister Gretchen and husband Bob. We had to watch our time since the campground is locked at 9:00 p.m. On our way out, Butch asked if we can fudge that deadline a little since we weren't sure how long it would take us coming back. The gate guy said "Sure! You can park your truck outside and walk in." Okay then.

The forecast for today says partly cloudy and cool. However, the 'now' screen says rain will start in 16 minutes. Hmmm. Well, I'm going to take them at their word and we'll try cooking some stew over the fire tonight. Gretchen, Bob, niece Natalie and fiance Terry will be out. Maybe we'll have to order pizza.

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When the Forecast is Right

2/26/2015

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It does happen. For over a week, they have been predicting 100% chance of heavy rain on Wednesday. So we decided it would be wise not to be packing up and moving on that day. We also opted not to plan any sightseeing. We got a walk in after breakfast and then a few sprinkles hit in late morning but quit. Another walk and a few more sprinkles in the afternoon. Mid-afternoon it got serious and we began to be believers.

By suppertime, we were under a tornado watch. Butch has three locations tagged on Accuweather: home, Atlanta (our next stop), and Tallahassee (our present location.) All three were under watches--home and Atlanta had winter storm warnings. We read and watched the intermittent TV screen peppered with lots of interference. When I say watched, I mean we couldn't hear much due to the pounding of the rain on the trailer.

On one of our walks, we saw two people setting up a tent. When we mentioned the possible storm, one of them told us they had been traveling the US and Canada with this tent for 11 months so they were prepared. But last night, as the radar took on the appearance of a kindergartner's finger-painting, we couldn't help but wonder at their fortitude.

Today is dry. Forecast is cloudy, 50s, and no rain. We hope they're right. And it is our daughter's birthday. Our baby turns 45. But as her brother Pat said last weekend, when is she going to look like she is over 18?

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Creature Feature

2/26/2015

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Under instructions from a younger sibling, we visited Wakulla Springs State Park southeast of Tallahassee. Wakulla Springs is the largest freshwater spring in the United States, producing more fresh water on a good day than the city of New York consumes. A financier and brother-in-law of Alfred DuPont, Edward Ball, established it as a wildlife sanctuary and built an incredible lodge in the 1930s and it did not become a state park until the 1980s. It was the site of scenes in several motion pictures, including a couple of Tarzan movies, Airport 77, and that classic which will be remembered by my generation of pre-Boomers, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The lodge features the longest marble-topped soda fountain in the world and interesting Mediterranean Revival architecture. They have guest rooms and a dining room open to the public where we had a delicious lunch. But this visit was a 'creature feature' in more ways than one. We took a boat ride on the Wakulla River, guided by a very knowledgeable ranger, on which sightings of a variety of birds, turtles, and alligators were so frequent, Disney couldn't have done a better job, and ending with the creek that was the home of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

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A Hot Time in the Old Laundry

2/25/2015

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Pretty mundane beginning to the week: move the camper to a different site, load up on groceries, and unload some laundry. Ft Pickens has a laundry and while there, we met a couple from Mankato, Minnesota who knew my cousin Harry. They left and we returned to the truck to read while we waited for our clothes to finish drying. There are no chairs in the laundry. I became aware of a chirping sound, and when I opened the door, realized it was an alarm. We ran--as much as we run these days--for the little room. The fire alarm was blaring, the most piercing sound I've ever heard and magnified in that confined space. There was no fire and no instructions on how to turn it off. I understand now how noise can be an effective torture. I would have confessed to anything at that point. We hastily unloaded the dryers and hightailed it for the camper. Quite a flourish to the end of our stay at Ft. Pickens.

Tuesday, we were back on the road east, this time to Lake Seminole on the Florida-Georgia border. The address is Bainbridge, Georgia but the nearest town is Chatahootchee, Florida. We are at Eastbank Campground, another maintained by the Corps of Engineers. Again, there are great facilities and well maintained. The first two couples we ran into have Iowa connections.

Today, the forecast is rain, rain, and more rain so we will probably lay pretty low. Tomorrow we plan to visit Wakulla Springs State Park at the suggestion of sister-in-law Mary. Friday, we head north to 'Hot-lanta,' which I don't believe is currently living up to its nickname.

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Shock and Awe

2/23/2015

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Not so much shock, I guess, but Butch's love of flight and awe of all things airplane is no secret. So yesterday, he was in his glory during our visit to the National Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. First of all, it's free and the staff and volunteers are helpful and knowledgeable. I was unable to capture the look on his face when he saw these four Blue Angels planes hanging in the atrium. Also in this area was a T-34 like the one he took instrument training in years ago.

The most amazing plane to me was the NC-4, the first plane to fly across the Atlantic. This was in 1919 and not non-stop or solo like Lindbergh's later flight. But it is huge and very Rube Goldberg looking. It is hard to imagine it flying 10 feet let alone across an ocean.

But Butch was in his element. He got to play being president on Marine One and fly along with the Blue Angels via video. We sat through a simulated launch on an aircraft carrier guided by a volunteer from Monticello, Iowa. We may incorporate some of the hand signals those guys use next time we park the trailer. We walked through a WWII era main street and checked out the inside of a Ford Tri-Motor. We marveled at the tiny size of a Mercury capsule. And we had a great lunch in the Cubi Cafe, a replica of an officers' club in the Philippines.

This museum is just a short distance across the bay from our campground but since we didn't bring our canoe with us, it was almost an hour each way by truck. On the way back, we decided to extend our stay here until Tuesday, but found out our site is already reserved for Monday night. So today will be a housekeeping day. We will need to move to another site, do some laundry, and find a grocery store. Ah, the trials of retirees.

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White Doesn't Have to be Snow

2/22/2015

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Of course. It can be beaches, and miles and miles of them. Yesterday morning we took a bike ride west from the campground past several WWII towers and gun emplacements to Fort Pickens, built in 1834 and modified through the years to suit the times. It was a very windy day, but the trail was fairly sheltered by tall grasses and shrubs. The fort is an intriguing place to visit. The most famous prisoner held at the for was Geronimo in the late 1800s. With hindsight through history, it may seem surprising that fortifications were necessary in the Gulf during WWII, but of course no one knew what direction an attack might come from so there are old gun emplacements all along with west end of the island. The northwest corner of the fort was destroyed in an 1899 explosion but the rest is fairly intact.

We returned to the campground for those two crucial Ns--naps and nourishment. Then we drove to a beach on the Gulf side of the island for a short glimpse and to admire the power of the high seas.

Finally, a second bike trail east from the campground ended at another gun emplacement and with a nice view of the calmer waters on the bay side of the island. Showers ended the day--for us in the great campground shower house and from the sky right after Butch got the pork chops grilled. A good day. Even better, today looks like it might be much nicer than was forecast!

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Shipwrecked

2/21/2015

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Well, not quite, but we are on one end of an island in the Gulf of Mexico. We arrived late yesterday afternoon after an eventful day accented by coincidence and apparent near misses. The day began with the discovery through a Facebook post that a friend was a few spaces down from us at Davis Bayou. I met Linda, from Kansas at a Midwest Glampers gathering last summer at Starved Rock in Illinois. I might have recognized her trailer, "Madame Butterfly,' but she was traveling with a friend in a different trailer. So it was pretty amazing that we connected.

After packing up, we headed east on Interstate 10, crossing several more of those high bridges that seem to be every few miles here in the south. At Mobile, we left 10 and headed south under instructions from Butch's sister Mary to check out the town of Fairhope, AL. It is a lovely place with lots of interesting looking shops and restaurants but not easily negotiable with a trailer. We were able to park down by the bay, walk out on the pier, and have a great lunch at a place called "Down by the Bay." Clever.

Then east again to Pensacola, across two causeways to Santa Rosa Island. The first part of the drive on the island is through the worst vestiges of commercialization with high rises, fast food places and casinos to the west end which is protected as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. This is part of the same park as Davis Bayou. The campground is full and sites fairly close together but the scenery beautiful. The forecast is for warmer weather than most places we've been, 60s and 70s, but coupled with high wind advisories. Of course. We hope to do some biking and visit the WWII gun emplacements and Fort Pickens, built in 1834 and named for the Revolutionary general who fought along side Nathanael Greene, Dan Morgan and the Swamp Fox at Cowpens and Ninety-Six. And we will no doubt take in the Naval Air museum in Pensacola. Another attraction of the Fort Pickens campground is the camp store with a laundromat.

Last night on the local news, they reported wildfires and burning cars along I10 east of Mobile in the afternoon. Lucky we turned off to go to Fairhope. Thanks, Mary.

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Campin' on the Bayou

2/20/2015

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Yesterday, after a big breakfast and some housekeeping chores, we headed to the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes National Wildlife Refuge. It was the first such refuge established under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. At that time, Mississippi cranes were down to about 30-35 in number. These are not the same guys who migrate to Nebraska. I don't think they have any biases against the Huskers; they just don't migrate. We didn't see any of the 130 or so birds that live on the sanctuary because midday is apparently their siesta time but did watch an informative video, browsed the exhibits, and walked a nature trail on the restored wet pine savannah.

The dedication and helpfulness of the National Park Service and their volunteers never fails to amaze me. They are very knowledgeable and obviously dedicated to their work. The only disappointment was that our visit coincided with the only cloudy part of the day.

Earlier in the day, while Butch was tracking down the nearest RV dealer for a replacement sewer cap, I walked down to a boardwalk overlooking a 'nursery' area and read the alligator warnings. Didn't see any, but I felt very brave.

For supper we got wild and crazy and ate out--a chance to sample the local cuisine. We ate at Anthony's Under the Oaks--a very apt name because the oak in front of the place could shelter the whole town. The restaurant looks over the bay and has a wonderful view of the sunset. I had a very good broiler grouper while Butch had the seafood casserole. Every place we have been, we have learned more about the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. The 26-foot storm surge covered the restaurant as well as the Visitor's Centers here at the National Seashore and at the crane refuge. Many places have only been reopened since 2010 or later, even though the hurricane was ten years ago.

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February 19th, 2015

2/19/2015

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A little cool and windy yesterday but sunny at least. We did our grocery run and got the battery replaced in my watch--needed for the last three days. After lunch we headed to the visitor's center here at Gulf Islands National Seashore. We watched an excellent film on the history and importance of the Barrier Islands, looked at the exhibits, and picked up a few souvenirs.

The sandhill crane visitor center closed at 3:00 so we decided to save that and headed for downtown Ocean Springs. One of the gems in their crown is the Walter Anderson Art Museum. Anderson was a local artist who brought much attention to the barrier islands with his work. The museum is attached to the community center, which he decorated with murals a fee of one dollar. Fascinating place.

On the way back to the car, we stopped at the Broadway Bar and Grill for a beverage--a place decorated with posters and photos from Broadway musicals but sadly lacking, in my opinion in appropriate videos on the TV, opting for silly sports instead. The bartender explained the emptiness of the place as due to post Mardi Gras fever.

We finished the day with steak grilled over our campfire, baked potatoes and fresh asparagus with roasted red pepper and garlic seasoning. Yum. The local news included dire warnings about temperatures dipping below freezing--possibly even the 20s--during the night, with the sort of cautions we get in Iowa when the forecast is for lows around -25 with wind chills around -40. They don't however give out time limits before frostbite like the northern forecasts.

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Gators and Groceries

2/18/2015

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Monday morning we left the Dallas area and drove in almost continuous rain past Shreveport and south to Chicot State Park in Louisiana. Occasional glimpses of green leaves on shrubs and understory trees provided about the only bright spot on the drive.

Chicot is not "just off the interstate" and we don't have GPS, so we had to use old technology called maps. But we made it and got a campsite. It's an older campground with a lot of ravines; some parking pads are joined by wooden decks in order to provide a flat sitting and dining spot. The showers and restrooms need maintenance but the area is beautiful. Kudos to the intrepid family behind us who spent the 30 degree night in tents.

Tuesday morning we packed up and headed through the rest of Louisiana to Mississippi. Two bridges along the route--over the Atchafalaya and the Mississippi--were high enough to cause me some white knuckle moments and a wrong turn going through Baton Rouge required actually asking for directions. But we eventually made it to Ocean Springs near Biloxi and the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

We found the Visitor Center first and got directions plus several suggestions for other places to camp along the gulf from a very helpful volunteer. We had a reservation for the Davis Bayou campground and good thing; the campground is nearly full. Our site is small and slopes toward the back but very adequate. The best sites are in the center of the big loop but all taken. We've seen license plates from Illinois, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and other northern locales plus a number from neighboring states. The showers and restrooms are not fancy but well-kept and a big improvement over the last two campgrounds.

The weather gurus promise 50s and sun today, which sounds great. We need to do a grocery run and downtown Ocean Springs appears to have some very cute shops. There is a Sandhill Crane area close by and a bike route into town. My speed will depend on how many alligators we see.

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