Winter Excursion 1, Day 143

Slept late and then cleaned up camp.
Drove over to Ft Knox and looked at all the old buildings and quarters. Post is huge. Hit the commissary while we were there and stocked up for the rest of the trip. We will be sad to see this Excursion end.
We had a fellow camper (Kip) over for dinner this evening. Hamburgers and all the fixings.
A little TV then off to bed. We will be packing up and doing laundry tomorrow as we are heading to Dillon State Park, OH on Saturday.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 142

Helped Jerry and Carolyn get packed up and ready to go. It was good to see them, we always have a good time together. They are off to their old area in KY to see friends.
We did a little camp clean-up and then took a nice walk. This Army Recreation  Facility is actually quite large. Besides the camp ground there are cabins to rent, pavilion areas for parties, nice trout stream, walking trails, and a lake. The lake is stocked with bass and catfish, the stream is stocked with trout. Here's a pic of the lake,

We spent a lazy afternoon waiting for Erich to stop by for dinner on his was to see Jacob. We had a good few hours with him over dinner, then he was on his way.
A little TV, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 141

Had one heck of a thunderstorm last night. Pea size hail and lots of thunder and lightning. Probably dumped a half inch of rain in 30 minutes. After that we slept like babies.

Woke up to a foggy day. Checked truck and camper for any hail damage; all is well, no damage.

Left camp around 1100 and headed to Glendale, KY for lunch at a place called The Whistle Stop. The food was excellent; fried chicken and all the fixins'. Toured the little town and the girls visited some of the shops. It is a tourist trap, but there were lots of locals around.

Back at camp we sat around and yakked with Jerry and Carolyn. Crab cakes for dinner. Jerry and Carolyn will be leaving in the morning. Cath & I are hoping Erich can stop by tomorrow evening on his way to see Jacob.

Here's a few pics of camp.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 140

Best thing we did yesterday was to get all packed up. Woke up at 0600 to rain, but it was on and off. By 0700 we were on the road and had a nice dry drive all the way on RT79. Stopped at Fort Donelson National Battlefield on the Cumberland River near Clarksville, TN and did a quick tour of the batteries overlooking the river. Here' a couple of pics. And yes we got the passport stamped.

Arrived at Camp Carlson (Ft Knox) safe and sound. Did a quick set up and then went over to Jerry & Carolyn's for ABs and dinner. Jerry did his famous pork chops.
Nice campground and I'll post some pics tomorrow. Bed will feel good after a 350 mile drive.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 139

Today was a pack up day. We were worried about the storms that were supposed to come through, so we got it all packed up,.
Didn't want to get dirty dishes so we went out out a Mexican Joint for dinner. It was really good, 5 stars on google, Here's a few pics:
Margaritas were great!

 Diner was even better.

 And here's Kaylee, "we have to go again?"

Movie and then off to bed early, we have to make a time change for the worst tomorrow.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 138

Lazy Day!
Ran some errands after the rain stopped. Planned the route to Ft Knox, KY and loaded it into the GPS.
Played some cribbage this afternoon and did a little camp maintenance after the rains.
Dinner and a movie then off to bed.
Sorry no pics, but not much happened today.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 137

Left camp this morning and took a drive north on RT51 to Fort Pillow. This was an artillery unit during the Civil War. The batteries overlooked the Mississippi.
Park entrance.

 This is where the guns were. Zoom in on the pic, it's interesting that the river has "moved".

 Current River.

 River during the Civil War.

Going to get some heavy rain and wind tonight. Tomorrow will be a good cribbage day.
Another movie then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 136

Beautiful weather today. We left camp around 1000 and headed to downtown Memphis, Beale Street. It is about 3 blocks of bars, restaurants, and shops. At 1100 in the morning it was not crowded, but I guess at night this place gets rockin'!
Here's a view looking east down the street.

The obligatory "welcome" sign.

Tons of bars.

The sign says you can rent this theater for parties or weddings.

Memphis skyline looking northwest from Beale Street.

Jazz is the theme here.

Lots of BBQ joints too.

Beale street looking west.

And the Elvis Statue.

We also did part of the River Walk on the Mississippi.
Looking north, that bridge is I-40.

 Here's Cath and the Wild Viszla. You can see the famous pyramid at the top right.

Memphis skyline from the river looking northeast.

 Another view of Kaylee.

Riverboat rides.

 Closer view of the pyramid.

We ate lunch a few blocks up Main Street at the park.  There were almost 30 food trucks. We had the brisket quesadillas and they were excellent.

 A close-up of the Bass Pro pyramid. This store is huge!

Explored a State Park on the way home. Nice place and if we are in the area again we may stay there. Chicken & Cashews for dinner, a movie, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 135

Sorry no pics today.
Saw Jerry & Carolyn off this morning. Did some camp maintenance and headed out to see a little of the area. Went to Camping World to pick up some supplies and drove through downtown Memphis.
Back at camp helped the neighbor with a small project.
Steak, baked taters and salad for dinner.
We are off to Beale Street in Memphis tomorrow. Should be fun, will post some pics tomorrow.
Off to bed, I'm sure we will sleep good tonight.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 134

Temps were not as bad as foretasted, it only got to 73 today...freezing..LOL.

Got donuts first thing this morning and shared with Jerry & Carolyn, also gave one to the camp host just to try to stay on good terms. Staying on good terms with J & C in the area is tough.

BS'ed Logan while J & C went shopping. I thought they were not coming back.

Had a great afternoon yakking and telling stories.

Fried catfish, fried hush puppies, and fried shrimp for dinner. The key word here is FRIED, but oh well; we are in the south. 

A little dominoes this evening and then off to bed. J & C have to leave in the morning.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 133

Nice trip today, but the roads in Arkansas to put it nicely...SUCK! Got to the new campground in Millington, TN around 1400. Nice place on a Navy Base. Here's a few pics.

Our site.

This campground is made from an old trailer park on base that they remodeled. Lots of room between sites and the facilities are really new and clean. All in all a good stop and we will be here for a week.

During the drive today Cath got a call from Carolyn. Seems the Cartier's were headed to the same campground, talk about a coincidence! Here's a pic of Jerry and Carolyn right next to us. Catching up with them this afternoon and evening has been fun. I'm sure we will be be yakking again tomorrow. They are only staying 2 days, so we will have to really catch up when we get home. Exploring Memphis will have to wait a day.

Quick dinner and then off to bed. All is well in the Boss Camp.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 132

Last day at Kirby Landing, AR. Did laundry, a quick stop at the store, and spent the rest of the day in camp. Took our time packing up and played some cribbage. Cath beat the socks off of me!  Here's a pic of the last fire at this site.

Kaylee is sad to leave also, this has been a really nice campground and the neighbors have 

been great.

 Off to Memphis in the morning. Forgot to mention: it was 82 deg today.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 131

Forgot to mention in yesterday's blog that the neighbors gave us some catfish filets. They do a type of fishing that they call "noodling". Basically you take swimming pool noodles, cut them in thirds, attach a line and bait, and go out in the late evening and put them in the lake. Next morning they go out and find them and collect all the catfish.

Left camp this morning and headed to Washington Historical State Park, AR. this was the capital of Arkansas during the civil war. The town is preserved with all the old buildings and shops. The park would have been really nice, but unknown to us there was a festival in full swing when we arrived. That meant lots of vendors and lots of people. We stayed for about an hour, but would like to go back when it's not so crowded. Here's a few pics:
Nice Magnolia tree, there were many on the grounds, but this is one of the larger ones.

And one of the many, many vendors; both food and crafts.

Quick dinner, a little TV, then off to bed. Tomorrow is laundry and pack up day.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 130

Nice breakfast, the pancakes were really good. Did a little camp maintenance and then headed to the grocery store. After that we took the long way home to see more of the countryside.
Kaylee got another nice walk and spent the afternoon swimming in the cove.
Started the campfire early and had a great dinner, chicken Marcella.
All in all a nice relaxing day, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 129

Left camp this morning and headed back to Hot Springs, AR. Following are a few pics of Bathhouse Row.

In front of the gangster museum.

Arlington Hotel and Spa.

You can see the steam. This is right off the street.

Lots of bathhouses.

Another park off the street.

Steam...and it was hot!

Inside a bathhouse.

National Park Visitor Center.

It was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day.

And lunch at Bubba's Craft Brewery, Catfish and all the fixings with a craft brewed wheat beer. 

Back at the camper we were stuffed. Sat around the campfire, yakked with the neighbors, and felt the warm air coming up from the south. It's supposed to be in the high 60s tomorrow. The campground is filling up for the weekend.