Spirit of Suwanee music park, FL

11-15 Jan 2018 Spirit of Suwanee music park, FL First time for us at the “Florida Egg Rally and S'More” rally at the Spirit of the Suwanee music festival campground in Live Oak, FL. I think they had more than 80 camping units scheduled for this 2nd annual rally hosted by Sherri Magill. It was a fun rally, although the unseasonably cold weather kept the nighttime campfire groups down. Got down below freezing for two of the nights we were there and we had about 4” of snow the day after we got back to GA. We had site 41 in “the loop”. Good location, and Live Oak has all the stores you need. They have a general store on site with all you need at reasonable prices, a place to launch canoes ($2 fee to launch) and an amazing treehouse tour. We watched for bats to leave the bat house, but it was too cold for them to come out this trip. The place is huge! Fat-tired bikes suitable for sand would be ideal here, although my folding bike worked well for most roads. We were sited between a Casita and an Escape, with many campers represented by Scamps, Bolers, Casitas, Escapes, Bigfoots, Trillium, and Little Snoozy here. The "S'More" part of the title refers to non-fiberglass campers that also joined us. Live music available on weekends, and a cafe too.

Trip to Germany and England

This was not a camping trip with our Scamp, but we did spot several campers in Europe! Since two of our sons currently live in Stuttgart, Germany, we decided to go visit them. Flights from Atlanta to Stuttgart ran about $1100 per person though! We found flights on Google flights for $440 from Baltimore to Munich. This worked for us since we could visit our families up in DE, jump on the airplane in Baltimore, and then tour Munich at both ends of our trip. The strangest part of the flight pricing was that the $440 flight from BWI actually put us on the $1100 flight from Atlanta! Trains are frequent between Munich and Stuttgart so that's how we got there. Had a great time visiting, and while there we all took a cheap flight on Ryan Air to England for a weekend, reliving old times from when we were stationed there with the Air Force. On our way back to the USA, we spent the night at a hotel in Munich, which allowed us to spend the previous day visiting the Dachau concentration camp, and the Christmas Market, and then catch an early flight back to the USA.

David Crockett birthplace state park "King of the Wild Frontier" rally.

12-15 Oct, headed to David Crockett birthplace state park in TN for the first annual "King of the Wild Frontier" rally. Site 70 was great! This is a new rally started by Maynard Waters and Larry Clift. We chose a water/electric site (they also have full hookups available). Ours turned out to be a great site, as they had a tractor show that weekend and several old tractors parked right next to us. The tractors had a parade the next morning, right by our site before heading downtown. We had lunch at the Old Pilot Mill general store one afternoon, and the tractor parade had just been there too! The park ranger is doing a good job with improving this campground. 15 Oct Headed straight home, may stop at Crockett Tavern for lunch next year.

Museum of the US Air Force, Niagara Falls, and on to Acadia National Park, Sept-Oct 2017

This was a 6 week trip in our Scamp, listed chronologically. 1 Sept, Blue Heron Corps of Engineers (COE) campground, KY site 43. Didn't get to enjoy this campground much, as we were just using it for an overnight spot between point A and point B. 2-4 Sept, Wright-Patterson FAMCAMP site 51. Campsite in better shape than before, nice and clean. This is a campground open to military right on the Air Force base. The host is really involved in creating a great atmosphere and they had a BBQ open to all the campers while we were there. The Museum of the Air Force is located next to this base, with 4 huge hangars full of all types of aircraft. It could take several days to look at every airplane and read all the histories. I highly recommend this free museum. 5 Sept, Shenango Rec area, PA. This was First come, first served (FCFS) campground. Reservations ended Labor day and CG closes next week! Nice campground and a good location for an overnight. 6-11 Sept, Letchworth state park NY fall gathering. Site 208. Letchworth is a beautiful state park with lots of hiking and a good waterfall. We had a group get-together of friends with fiberglass campers. Lots of good hiking available here. 11-15 Sept, Willow Bay NF site 62. Very nice site with good view of water. Friends John and Sta met us here and then my Sister Ann and Joe met us the last 2 nights. Used solar on this side of loop since we have it. Electric available on the other side of the road but we had a great lake view from our site. Visited the local area including a tour of the not to be missed ZIPPO museum, and the Eldred WWII museum in Eldred. This campground is also close to the Kinzua bridge state park, which features an old railroad bridge that was half destroyed by a tornado, but has been left as a great viewing platform for the valley below. 15-18 Sept, Niagara rally at Riverside campground on the Canadian side. Another annual gathering of fiberglass campers. Of course we had to visit Niagara Falls and take a ride on the sightseeing boat "Horatio Hornblower". I like viewing the falls from the Canadian side, because you are looking at the more scenic USA side which is not as commercialized as the Canadian side. The boat prices are less right now due to the favorable exchange rate. 18-19 Sept, Verona Beach state park, NY. Nice campground with beautiful sunset. Would have stayed longer but we had a schedule to keep at Acadia. 19-21 Sept, Rogers Rock state park, NY. This was a nice campground. Since we had an extra night here, we kayaked on lake George. The water was crystal clear! We were able to modify our travel route the next day to visit my cousin Jimmy up in Burlington, VT. 21-22 Sept, Lafayette campground at Franconia Notch SP, PA. FCFS and hiked the Franconia Notch gorge after we left. The gorge is worth paying the fee to hike. 22-24 Sept, Drove the Kancamagus hwy to Covered Bridge CG site 35. Colors not peaked yet. We could probably have fit across the covered bridge, but the height restriction is based on the lower heights on the edges rather than the higher middle height. Drove the long way around and came back the long way. Pretty little park. We took a scenic drive and drove our cars (without campers) up the Mount Washington road, not for the squeamish or faint-hearted! 24-26 Sept, Acadia NP, Seawall CG site 31. Enjoyed Seawall. Visited Bar Harbor night of the 25th, had lobster at restaurant. Marilyn had symptoms of potential stroke morning of 26th, took her to MDI clinic after 3rd episode. Clinic used ambulance to MDI hospital. MDI hospital sent her to Bangor hospital in ambulance with suspected seizures. 26-28 Sept. Camped 3 nights in the Eastern Maine Regional Medical Center parking lot. Glad I had some water and solar power for the camper. The hospital was very good about letting us keep the camper in the parking lot. It meant I could get some much needed sleep and still be nearby to visit Marilyn. 28-29 Sept, Finally made it to Blackwoods for the last 1 night of our 4 night reservation. We had called the first night and receptionist said our sites were safe because we paid for them, but when we arrived 3 days later the ranger said not true! Our site was still available but Ann and Joe had to use a different site, which was fortunately nearby. 29 Sept - 3 Oct, Schoodic Woods CG at Acadia NP. Beautiful campground with electric and good wifi. Site 30 was convenient to rest room (no showers). We enjoyed the quiet side of Acadia and did some hiking here. Met a couple (Morgan and Teri) with a Scamp 19'. 3-4 Oct, Harold Parker state forest, Andover MA. We chose to just show up, due to requirement for 2 nights if reserving. HUGE campsites! Electric and water but did not use water since outlet was too far from where we were camping. Stopped to see cousin Skip on way out next morning. 4-6 Oct, Melville campground RI. Private CG, well maintained. Site 117. We toured Newport RI and found out that PT boats were built nearby, and JFK trained here before becoming famous in the PT-109. 6-7 Oct, Gateway NP CG, Floyd Bennett Field NY. Sites on old aircraft parking ramp. No hookups but water available. Showers. They have a nice museum here with restored aircraft. Good place to visit if you're an aviation buff, but it requires a horrendous drive through Brooklyn streets to get there, and ours was during Friday rush hour on 3 day weekend. The turnpike would have been great but towed vehicles are not allowed to use it! We stopped in Mystic, CT and ate at Mystic pizza on way to this campground. 7-11 Oct. Stayed at my Sister Ann and Joe’s house in DE 11-12 Oct Stayed at our son Greg and Ela’s house in VA.

Solar Eclipse, Twin Lakes Corps of Engineer campground near Clemson, SC

18-24 Aug 2017, Solar Eclipse trip to SC and family visit in VA. With all the hype about the solar eclipse, we decided to go see it! We were late looking for reservations at any campgrounds directly under the eclipse path, but finally found one near Clemson, SC. We went to Twin Lakes COE campground situated on Lake Hartwell. Total eclipse was fantastic! We got some amazing photos and it was like a party atmosphere. I got a short video after the eclipse started and it was fun watching it as it quickly got dark and everyone was hooting and hollering! Normally when it starts to get dark yo see shadows getting longer and a sun descending on the horizon, but with an eclipse overhead, the shadows never stretch out and the sun is straight above you! Our son Greg and family traveled down from VA and stayed at a hotel nearby and spent the eclipse day with us. Kids enjoyed kayaking in our big green sit-on-top kayak. Nice campground! We then headed to Rocky Knob campground on the Blue Ridge parkway for 1 night. We used the RV loop, since the other loop had sites too small to fit both our 16' Scamp camper and the tow vehicle (it would fit one or the other, but not both). We had a pull through site, many available this time of year. Headed to VA for a couple of days with our son and family, and then home.

My Old Kentucky Home State Park, Bardstown, KY

8-11 June, 2017, My Old Kentucky home rally, Bardstown KY This was a fiberglass camper and friends rally organized by Troy Hawkins in an area of KY that has several distilleries. It was a nice rally with lots of people we know and like. Site 9 was a bit tight so we’re glad we have just a 16' Scamp and didn’t have a 21’ camper! Make sure you check the site sizes on Google maps before you select one. We had a free tour at one of the many local distilleries, and toured the downtown area. Stephen Foster was a composer of a lot of familiar songs (including "My old Kentucky home") and the main street is named after him. We enjoyed it enough that we also have reservations for the 2018 rally. We stopped at our friends John and Rebecca’s house on the way up in Cookeville TN for the night, and drove straight home to GA after the rally.

Eggs on the Hiawassee rally in Hiawassee GA

We attended the 2nd annual Hiawassee fiberglass rally at Riverbend campground in Hiawassee GA this past week. Riverbend campground is a beautiful and well maintained campground right on the Hiawassee river. Most sites have full hookups and the shower rooms were beautiful! Friendly folks at this rally, with so many brands of fiberglass campers that we lost count. More Olivers than we ever saw at one time, plus Scamps, Casitas, Bolers, U-Hauls, a Little Snoozy, a Parkliner, and Escapes in several different shapes and sizes. The campground put on a fish fry on Thursday, and we all bought sides to go with the fish. Robin and Cindy Fortner added the necessary "chips" (French fries on this side of the pond) to go with the fish. We had to leave early Saturday before the potluck due to a funeral we wanted to attend, but the rally was great and the weather cooperated most of the week. Already have our reservations for next year (May 30 - June 1 2018), but we will bring a kayak or canoe next time due to the great paddling options.