Winter Excursion 9, Day 210

We spent the morning doing camp maintenance. For the last several legs of our trip the Trailer Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) has not been working correctly. The system is probably 7 years old. I replaced it with a new system and it seems to be working. We will see on Monday when we leave here.

We did a quick trip to the grocery for a few supplies. The local Publix is almost never crowded, but I wouldn't want to try it on a weekend day.

We haven't been in an area where we could fly our drone, so I got it out today and charged up the batteries, updated the software and firmware, and flew it just over our picnic table. We are to close to an airport to fly it very far from here. Here's a pic.

That little drone takes a nice picture!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 209

We drove to Sycamore Chapel Cemetery in Ashland, TN about 40 miles from our campground. Catherine's ancestors are buried here. These are the Girard's that migrated from Canada in the mid 1800s. This would be Cath's Great Grandparents. 

On the way back to camp the truck started to act up. Seems we had no lights (brake, reverse, running, turn signals) on the back. The front was normal. I got under and wiggled some wires, but no joy. We drove a short distance to a Ford dealer. I explained the situation and they were super helpful. It might have helped I had my Army hat on (LOL)! They took the truck in right away and had us back on the road in an hour or so. We had a bad connection in one of the plugs in the back. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 208

I was putting the finishing touches on our laundry, We had two more loads. On the way I saw two more full time inhabitants of the campground.

They didn't even stir (wake up) while I was taking this picture. They were 3 feet off the campground road.

We watched the campers coming and going during the afternoon and then drove over to Emily & Joe's house. 

It was great to see them and catch up on everything new. They have made some really nice improvements on the house and yard since we were last here. We had a good burger/hotdog dinner and then had to leave as we wanted to drive back to camp in daylight. We will see them some more this weekend.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 207

Today was our reoccurring favorite day..LAUNDRY...not! The campground has two washers and dryers and they are outside behind the bathhouse. It rained on and off all day which made laundry day even more fun. I was using my bike to go back and forth. I did get a nice pic of some of the full time inhabitants at the campground. They were certainly not afraid of me!

After laundry was done we did a few errands and then just hungout at camp. We both wish the rains would stop and give us a chance to dry things out! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 206

The weather cooperated and the drive was cloudy and dry! The first 50 miles was on backroads, but Gipsy finally dropped us on I65 and we headed north. Our new campground is on the east side of of Nashville. I was glad we were on the Interstate as traffic was heavy. I can't imagine rush hour around here!

While on I65 well south of Nashville we witnessed something we had never seen. It almost caused an accident as the highway was busy. A car in the left lane decided to make a U-turn on the interstate, but over shot the turn-around. He stopped and put the car in reverse and backed up so he could use the turn-around. Meanwhile I was in the right lane and had to go into the shoulder. The car next to me in the left lane slammed on his brakes and almost hit the offending car. We were all doing 70+. It was a close call!

Our new campground is COE on Priest Lake east of Nashville. Seven Points Campground is really nice. All 60 sites are paved. Many are waterfront. The campground is clean and in great shape. Here's a few pics of our site #7.

We were all set up before the rain started. It is forecast to rain on and off all night.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 205

After a quick breakfast we drove to the closest Lowe's (36 miles) to get some new bathroom sink faucet knobs. One of ours cracked.

On the way back we filled the truck up as we are leaving in the morning.

We spent the afternoon packing things up. We are once again expecting thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. We can't remember a camping year when we've had so many storms. Hopefully tomorrow it will calm down for our travels to the Nashville area.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 204

After a couple of days with nice weather we had rain last night and thunderstorms this morning. Luckily the storms stopped late morning as CC & Ferdie are visiting this afternoon.

They arrived around 1330 and we had a good time with them catching up on everything new. Jacob was not able to come, he was working today. CC & Ferdie liked the park/campground and we hope they can camp here next year for a few days. Cath and I plan to be here again after OMSP. 

They left around 1630. We will see them again in July at the Family Reunion.

A little TV, a few snacks, some reading then off to bed. It's been a fun day.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 203

We decided that I needed a new pair of shorts or two and Cath needed some new shirts. There is three Tractor Supply Stores within a 25 miles or so from our campground. We drove the "triangle" and hit all three. At the first one I found one pair of shorts my size and Cath got two shirts. At the second one they had no shorts in my size and Cath got three more shirts. The third store was the best! They had no men's shorts at all and no shirts that Cath didn't already get at the other stores. I inquired about the 'no men's shorts" and the employees were as puzzled as we were. They simply said that no men's shorts had arrived.

On the drive back into camp we stopped at this little church. It's just outside the campground gate.

It was built in 1884 and is still in use today. There is a small cemetery that is well taken care of.

Mid afternoon we went out for a late lunch/early dinner at the Lakeside Inn about r5 miles from camp.

We got our "fry fix". Cath had fried shrimp and it was fried catfish for me. Check out that pile of sweet potato fries that Cath has. It was served with marshmallow fluff for dippin'!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 202

We hungout a camp all day.

I made a batch of beef jerky using our Miller's Brine. It turned out very good. We are still loving the Ninja 8 in 1 we use for outdoor cooking now.

We did a few camp chores and just enjoyed the weather. No rain for a change and temps have moderated.

We met another camping couple in our loop. We spent the morning talking with them about camping, modifications and ideas for RVs and RVing.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 201

We left camp after breakfast and drove to "The Longest Natural Bridge' east of the Rockies. It was only 24 miles from camp. I'm not sure, but I think the Natural Bridge in Virginia is longer and bigger!

Here's a few pics.

That "pole" looking thing is actually a tree.

This attraction is on private property. They charged $10 each to see it. They have a nice gift shop and naturally I got a new "geography shirt".

We took the long way back to camp and noticed a grocery store in Double Springs. It was sort of hidden and we hadn't noticed it before. The store is really nice and only a few miles from camp. No more 30 mile trips to Jasper!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 200

We left camp this morning and headed to Jasper. I needed to get the oil changed in the truck. We only had 9% oil life left and we didn't want to fool with it on the way out west. This is the last campground that has more than a 4 day stay.

We did a little shopping while in Jasper for a few supplies.

Back at camp we watched the weather. We are in the area for more severe weather, but we got lucky. We only had a brief shower with a little thunder and no winds. Hopefully this severe weather is over for awhile. We will be traveling thru Nashville and St. Louis next week. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 199

We did the short drive to the other USFS campground on this lake. It's called Clear Creek and is part of the same National Forest as our campground (Bankhead National Forest). 

The campground is older than the one we are in. The sites are much smaller, but it is really nice and clean.

Back at camp we played some cards. While we were playing one of the camp hosts was cutting the grass. Normally hosts do not cut grass at a site where a camper is, but this guy started on ours anyway. At first he was careful not to blow the grass, sticks, and stones toward the camper, but this did not last long. When he started blasting the camper with the debris I rushed outside and had a few choice words with him. At first he wanted to argue, but changed his tune when I asked who would be paying for any damages, him or the Ranger? He left our area!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 198

Today was an absolute "chill" day. We did almost nothing!

We had a storm blow through around 0530 that lasted about an hour.

Reading was the activity of the day.

We sat outside late afternoon. Temps moderated a little and the humidity slacked off a bit.

We did leftovers for dinner, watched some TV, and then hit the rack.

The "chill" day felt good!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 197

We've noticed a tree in this area we have not seen before.

It's called a Bigleaf Magnolia. It's a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America.

Our camping friends, Ray & Melinda, arrived around 1000.

It was great to see them again. We were not able to see them while we were at Oak Mountain. They were in Florida with family. We caught up on news with them, had a good lunch, and played games most of the afternoon. We made Chicken Gyros for dinner. A good time was had by all. 

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 196

We did the 30 mile drive to Jasper, AL. This is really the closes grocery store to this campground. Gypsy (GPS) took us on a short cut on this drive. She decided that washed out, pot-holed, dirt roads are fair game! We won't take that route again.

We had lunch at the "Frosty Mug".

This joint has been in existence since 1950! It looks like it too! We had burgers and shakes and they were really good, cooked to order. Cash only!

Back at camp we did some prep work for tomorrow's dinner. Our camping friends, Ray & Melinda are visiting us tomorrow.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 195

We left camp this morning a little after 0800. The power to the campground had a scheduled outage that was to last all day. At exactly 0800 we lost power.

We drove the 80 miles back to B-Ham to attend Jacob's Confirmation at his church. We grabbed some lunch and did a little furniture shopping. Actually just browsing.

Around 1430 we went over to CC's house. We spent the afternoon yakking with CC and Ferdie. We all changed clothes and headed to the church at 1700.

There was close to 90 young people being confirmed. The church was packed. They had a very nice Mass and Confirmation. 

We left to drive back to camp around 1900. We haven't done much night driving in the past few years, but all went well and we arrived a camp a little after 2100.

The power was back on and the ACs were blasting. It was a long day, but we had a good time. Sleep will come easy tonight! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 194

We left oak Mountain State Park at 1100 and made the 80 mile drive to Corinth Recreation Area. This is a really nice USFS campground with a huge day use area. It has 50 amp service and full hookups! Here's a few pics of Site #33.

We took our time setting up as temps are in the mid 80s and humid.

This place is really in the boonies. We are anxious to do some exploring in this area. We will be here for 12 days and then start our trek west.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 193

We spent the morning doing a little packing up. We leave tomorrow for Corinth Recreation Area just north of Jasper, AL.

We did some last minute shopping, there were a few supplies we needed. The most important was the TP and the chocolate!

Today was probably our last day of cool temps. Forecast is for mid to high 80s, typical southern weather.

We never cook for our last night before a move. We went to a Tex-Mex restaurant and had a nice dinner with a few margaritas! Got the truck filled on the way back to camp.

We watched a little TV then off to bed. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 192

Our favorite day! LAUNDRY DAY, it should be a National Holiday! The new facility here has three washers and three dryers. I loaded them all up first thing this morning, put in our quarters, selected temp and mode, pushed the start button, and two of the three washers worked fine. The third one was broken, but had no sign on it! Of course it was a top loader so all the laundry I had in there was wet with detergent and Oxy...GRRRR! We finished up our seven loads before lunch time.

We spent the afternoon reading. I did a little bike riding. 

I talked to one of the hosts and inquired about their duties and such. There is normally 4 hosts. They are currently short one. There is over 50 RV sites and about the same number of tent sites. The hosts are "supposed" to keep these clean as folks come and go. On top of that there are three bathhouses with individual rooms. The large bathhouse has 10 rooms, the smaller one has 8, and the one at the playground has 2. That's 20 bathrooms to "clean"! When the host has all this done they are supposed to spend the afternoon weed eating! I'm pretty sure we will not ever be hosting here! BTW: None of these facilities were what we call "clean".

We went over to CC, Jacob, and Ferdie's house for dinner. A good time was had by all.

Back at camp we did a little more reading then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 191

After breakfast we played a few games of 3 handed cribbage. Jacob Won! I guess the old saying "If you wanna play cribbage with Granddad, you gotta learn to add" has finally paid off for him!

Jacob left around noon. Cath and I went to the store for a few things and then just hung out at camp reading and watching TV.

We still are getting these torrential rains that last for hours. The whole area is under a flood warning.

We only have a few more days here and then the trek west will begin.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 190

We took Jacob to breakfast at Big Bad Breakfast. It was great as usual, but the place was packed. I guess I should have figured that for a rainy Saturday morning.

Back at camp we cleaned up the camper and got ready for CC, Ferdie, and the boys to arrive. They got here around 1330. The weather cooperated and we were able to grill hamburgers outside. For the most part we just played some games (UNO No Mercy) and yakked!

Jacob and the boys all went for a walk before it started raining again. Somehow they got separated. The boys came back to the camper with no Jacob! Seems he decided to get lost and came out of the woods on the park road, went the wrong way, then turned around and made it back to camp. He probably walked 3 - 4 miles!

CC and crew all left around 1700. Cath, Jacob, and I watched TV and hit the rack by 2100. 

It's been a fun day! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 189

We did our shopping for the weekend this morning. The rest of the day we just did a few camp chores and read our books. 

Jacob arrived around 1700 and we had a nice dinner. It was great to see him, we missed him all week.

After dinner Jacob tried to teach Cath & I how to play WORDLE, but us old folks just couldn't grasp it. I think a little practice s in order!

Rain is forecast for almost the entire weekend. We are hoping the forecast is wrong as Ferdie, CC, and the boys, are coming over tomorrow for dinner. Time will tell!  

Winter Excursion 9, Day 188

We did the short drive to Camping World for a few supplies for the camper after picking up our new vacuum at CC's house. On the way back to camp we had lunch and then hit the Mexican Grocery Store for some Fajita meat. Our friends introduced this marinated Fajita meat to us a few years ago. It is delicious!

On the ride back to camp we found the tree that had caused the road to be closed and the power outage yesterday.

We spent the afternoon playing with the new vacuum and reading. We were in a weather advisory for thunderstorms, but they never materialized.

All is well in the Boss camp!

   

Winter Excursion 9, Day 187

We left camp this morning and headed almost 200 miles south. We arrived at our friends house around 1100. Ronnie and I were pilots together at Ft Hood, Germany, and the Desert. All that was 25 years ago!

We had lunch with them and spent time catching up and telling lies. It was great to see them.

We left around 1400 and drove north almost 200 miles and arrived at the camper around 1700. The campground was without power as a tree had come down in the recent storms. Power came back on around 1900.

It was a long day. Our bed will feel good tonight!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 186

We did a little shopping this morning and then chilled out for the rest of the day.

The campground filled up again, the turnover in this place is amazing. I think it's due to it's close proximity to the Interstate.

We are both reading a lot, I'm still happy with my new Kindle.

Rain and thunderstorms are forecast for the next few days, but temps remain in the 70s and 50s at night. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 185

We hung out at camp all day, but we did take the drive to the top of the park to take in the view.

We figured since the weekend was over the campground would stay relatively empty. We were wrong it filled up again!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 184

Jacob left after breakfast to go to work at the Archery Shop. He will be back for dinner, but then go home as he has school tomorrow.

Cath and I spent a quiet day watching all the campers leaving. We are still in the host mode, but slowly getting out of it!

When Jacob arrived for dinner he had a new bow to show off. He has been shooting a compound bow. This one is a recurve bow, a little more traditional.

The campground is mostly empty, the weekenders are gone. It is really quiet!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 183

After breakfast Jacob left for his archery "pin shoot" He needed a 260 out of 300 points to get his next "pin". He did it with a 263! Cath, CC, and I where there to watch. He did really good. We left from there and Jacob stayed as he had to work until 1900 this evening.

On the way back to camp we did a little grocery shopping and just hung out in the afternoon.

The storms rolled in again around 1630. It was not as bad as yesterday, but it rained really hard for awhile. Here's a pic of the site next to us that our friends will be in next week. I think a storm drain is in order!

We did get a nice rainbow after the storm passed.

Jacob arrived for the night around 1930. We had a nice dinner of my now famous wings, played some cribbage, and hit the sack. He works again tomorrow.

It's been a fun day and it's great to have Jacob around!

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 182

We hung around camp today and read books until 1500. We drove over to see Jacob and had a pizza dinner with Ferdie & CC.

The storms started while we were at their house and lasted all night. After dinner Jacob, Cath, & CC headed out to CC's Nephew's school play. I headed back to the camper. Cath and Jacob got back to the camper around 2300. It was a long day for us and sleep came fast.

It was good to see Jacob. He now has a car and a job. He will spend the weekend with us when he is not working.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 181

We celebrated our first day as campers by going to Big Bad Breakfast! It was great as usual.

After breakfast we did a little shopping for a few supplies. I also need a few parts for our flag pole as it was damaged in one of the storms while we were hosting.

We hung out at camp in the afternoon.

Cecilia stopped by to chat for a little while. It was great to see her and catch up on things.

We will be seeing Jacob tomorrow after he gets out of school.

The weather is very humid with afternoon thunder storms. Typical Alabama weather! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 180

We left Dames Ferry and had an uneventful drive to Oak Mountain State Park, AL except for one thing. Gypsy (GPS) took us on a "shortcut". This included a one lane dirt road in Alabama! We thought for a little while we might have to back out of this dirt road! It got skinnier and skinnier but finally put us back on State Route 109. Whew!!!

After we gained an hour we arrived at OMSP around 1430. The campground is newly renovated and was closed for the past 2 years. We were blown away from the improvements. It used to be an old, well used, run-down campground. It is now a modern Campground with all the amenities!  Here's a few pics.

This is the new bathhouse and party rental room! It has ten private bathrooms and a nice laundry room.

Here's a few pics of our site. Full hookups and very level as all the sites are now.

This is a first class State Park Campground now.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 179 The Life of a Camp Host

We put the finishing touches on packing up this morning. It is amazing how out of place everything gets when the camper is in one place for 4 months!

We left camp late morning, picked up some sub sandwiches and drove to High Falls SP to visit our friend Ed. He was our co-host at Dames Ferry for the first month we were there. It was good to see him and we will be hosting together next January at Dames Ferry.

Back at camp we had a lazy afternoon reading and then drove into town for our traditional last night pizza before traveling.

We will miss all of our friends at Dames Ferry, but we are looking forward to the rest of this trip. We will see them next year. We are already looking forward to it.