2010 Winter Trip

We took off the day after Christmas for a few weeks of wandering down south, trying to escape the cold. It was warmer than New England, but not by much.

Georgia
One of our favorite Georgia state parks is Fort McAllister Historic Park in Richmond Hill. It’s a nice park, on the Ogeechee River. And not far from Savannah, which is great for day trips.

We didn’t stay at our other favorite GA park this trip. That’s Virginia Bryant State Park, closer to Atlanta.

Florida
Want to treat yourself? Try Topsail Hill State Park in Santa Rosa. Large park, large sites, right on the beach. Each site has water, electric, sewer, and cable. Expensive for a state park, though--$42/night this year. We were here a week, and for New Year’s Eve, had dinner out at a great local restaurant, Stinky’s Fish Camp. And while you’re here, take a ride to SR 293 to the Mid-Bay Bridge. It’s a toll ($2.50), but you don’t have to cross. Just watch for the signs for the whaling wall parking. It’s a huge marina building with a whale landscape painted on all four walls. Worth the trip!



The federal campground at Fort Pickens has just re-opened. We took a day trip to see the Fort; didn’t stay at the campground. The road to the Fort had been washed out in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan, and just re-opened this spring.

Louisiana
Visiting New Orleans? Try Bayou Segnette State Park, in Westwego. It's just west of New Orleans, on SR90. Go around the city, and come in from the west, it’s easier. There's a ferry service nearby; you are charged to park for the ferry, but passengers are free, and it drops you 2 blocks from the French Quarter; runs from very early to after midnight. And all the Louisiana state parks accept the Golden Age pass for a full 50% discount, so Bayou Segnette is $10.50/night for water and electric, and it's a nice park, free laundry.

Missouri
If you get as far as Vicksburg, MS, look for Magnolia RV Park. It's just off SR 60, and the office will tell you the short cut from the back of the park into town. It’s easy from there to get to the National Park, or the Coke Museum.

Texas
We wanted to see Galveston, TX, and maybe stay at the state park there, but it was closed. Found a private campground, for one night. Next morning, we did visit the USS Stewart, a destroyer escort and the USS Cavalla, a sub. Both are permanently berthed at Seawolf Park. And we visited the Ocean Star, an oil rig museum.


Next stop, Corpus Christi, where we stayed at the Padre Balli Park, part of the Nueces County Park system on Padre Island. We’ve stayed at Mustand Island (the state park) and at the National Seashore on previous trips. Our favorite would be the National Seashore. It’s dry camping, but you can’t beat the scenery.


And we visited the USS Lexington while we were there. We missed the USS Alabama in Mobile, because it was cold and raining when we drove by, but two ships and a boat should be our nautical fix for this trip.
On to San Antonio, where we stayed at the Alamo KOA. We try to stay at state parks and places where we can use our Golden Age Pass, but the KOA membership came in handy here. They’re on the city bus route, and for $1.10/pp, it was worth it to get into the city and not have to look for RV parking. And we got to see the San Antonio River without water! It was drained for the annual cleaning.

Home after 5 weeks, and guess what? It's still cold!

Aug 13--Leave the UP

Driving Route 2, and now we're leaving Michigan's Upper Peninsula, going over the Mackinac bridge. What? We can't use our FastPass?
That's the fast ferry to Mackinac Island. Maybe next trip we'll plan a day on the island.

Aug 12--Wanoka

Found a campground in the national forest, just as we were driving along.The campground was a former CCC camp. There are 20 campsites, all quite large, and there's a small lake. Lots of the people there had brought their 4-wheelers, because there were trails in the woods for them.
About all that's left of the CCC camp are 2 hand pumps, which are the water supply for the campground.

Aug 10--Lake Itasca, MN

Met another truck camper at Teddy Roosevelt, a fellow from Arkansas. He recommended Lake Itasca in Minnesota. So, since we're headed that way, we stopped. Lake Itasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi River.This is the starting point for the great river.
It's just a little creek here, and you can walk across on the stones! Imagine--just wade right in.
Mosquitoes were bad, though. The fellow from Arkansas told us he found out what they feed them up here--visitors!

Aug 8--Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

They told us at the entrance to be very careful around the buffalo--it's rutting season, stay out of their way, keep well back, it's their park first--we're just visiting.
This is the campground, which is in a circle. The buffalo cross from the surrounding woods to the center of the campground to graze. If you are outside, and they're coming close, get inside.
This was taken through our screen door as they passed by our chairs and table.
One even left a gift by our table. Good thing his aim was so good. Few inches closer and that table would have gone in the dumpster!
Great granddaddy Bison--everyone paid attention to him.
So, sometimes you have to wait a little to use the dump station.
And you may have to wait for the showers and bathrooms too!
They're magnificent animals, and we're so glad we stopped to see this park. We drove the entire 14 miles of road in the park, almost of half of which is under construction. The views were wonderful, and the buffalo could show up around any corner. You'd just have to either stop and wait for them, or try to go very, very slowly. The ranger told us that a big bull could tip a small car.

Aug 8--Badlands, ND

Home again, home again, back to the USA. Travelling through Montana and North Dakota, on Route 2, which is just as fast as the interstate highway, but much prettier, and offers more sights.Route 85, off Route 2, is the route to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, which has been recommended by friends.
So, we're off to see Teddy's bison.

Aug 6--Glacier

Plan for the day was to take the gondola ride to see the town, the hot springs, the mountains, etc. Weather however didn't cooperate--rain and fog again, so we headed north to the Athabasca Glacier, a 2.5 hour ride from Banff.Above is the view from the parking lot. That's the glacier, descending between the mountains.
Here's one of the vehicles that takes people to see the glacier. The descent down the road is an 18% grade, 33 degrees. Top speed in one of these is 6mph, and going down the hill is at about 2mph.
We're walking around on 1000 feet of ice. Along the edge of the glacier, where it's melting, you can drink the water. It's quite pure, just tastes a little dusty. They say one taste will turn the clock back 9 years. Does that mean if we drink it, we're no longer retired, and have to go back to work?
Oh, and it was about 34F, too.