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.

Bluebonnet rally, Bandera, TX (19-23 Apr 2017) and more.

Once again, we attended the Bluebonnet Casita rally (they allow Scamps) held in the cowboy capital of the world in Bandera, TX. This year we decided to go early so we could catch some of the Bluebonnets that bloom in early April in Texas. We were not disappointed! Our route from our home in GA to Ennis TX and their Bluebonnet trails (available at their visitor center) included a stop on the Natchez Trace at the free National Park campground at Rocky Springs near I-20, and ended at a Corps of Engineer (COE) park at High View, a pretty little site near Ennis and actually not far from the Casita factory. We followed the map from the visitors center and were treated to several fields of bluebonnets and great photo opportunities. Being retired also gave us time to head down to the Waco TX area, where we camped at Midway COE, a great spot for visiting Waco and the Texas Ranger museum, Dr Pepper museum, and Chris and Joanne's Magnolia place (a hit HGTV show). We have to admit that we never heard of Chris and Joanne until my sister saw that we were in Waco and asked if we had visited them! Spent a few more days at Inks Lake state park, and then at Cedar Breaks COE. Recommend both of those as well. We also toured Longhorn Caverns state park, which is just a short ride from Inks Lake. Didn't see as many bluebonnets in this area, but we did find some good food at Coopers BBQ in Llano, Bluebonnet cafe in Marble Falls, and Black's BBQ in Lockhart. Spent Easter weekend at our daughter's house in San Antonio and then headed to the Bluebonnet rally. The Bluebonnet rally is huge! They usually get almost 200 campers here. Most are Casitas, but there are also a variety of older and newer brands, including Scamps, Trilliums, Bolers, and Escapes. It's a very well organized rally that always has a waiting list, and they always seem to have great door prizes for everyone. It's normally held at Skyline Ranch RV park and everyone involved is just so friendly and inviting that it's easy to want to go every year! Following the Casita rally, we headed back to San Antonio for another week with family and friends. The rally coincides with San Antonio Fiesta week, so we enjoyed going down to San Antonio and the Fiesta. (travel hint: get an all day pass on their VIA city bus for less than $2 senior price and you can ride all day, even on their city trolley buses or to the missions). We were able to meet up with several of our camping buddies on this trip (Fred and Dora, Dave and Linda, Ken and Bonnie just to name a few). Our trip home involved back country roads to avoid the hustle and bustle of the interstates, so we were able to enjoy two more COE parks on the way home. Sandy Creek COE was on Steinhagen lake near Jasper TX and very peaceful, and then Service COE near Coffeyville, AL was right on the Tombigbee river, and we could watch the barges, tugs, and yachts pass right by our campsite as they traveled up and down the river and through the nearby locks. This was our first trip using our new Dodge Durango pulling our Scamp. We got about 17.1 MPG with our V-6 and 8 speed combination, and it handled well. Not quite as much cargo room as our Dakota quad cab pickup (V-8 with 6 speed) but it does use less fuel than our Dakota's 14.5 MPG average towing.

Death Valley National Park to GA and places in between

We left Quartzsite AZ on the 12th of Feb after the rally and headed out on a 385 mile trek to our reservations at Furnace Creek campground in Death Valley National Park. February is an ideal time to visit Death Valley (unlike the time in June when we drove across the desert). 12-17 Feb: We joined John and Kathy Roeder here for the week, and took day trips from here to visit the park extremities (Scotty's castle is still closed due to last year's flooding). Furnace Creek allows reservations and it was full so it was good we got them. They also have two other campgrounds just across the highway, one of which was mostly empty (no shade) and the other, Texas Springs, is first come first served but is a pretty campground if you enjoy rock formations as a backdrop. We might try for Texas Springs next time. There are several great hiking trails and driving trails within Death Valley. Being an aviation buff, I really enjoyed looking down as the F-18's flew through the valley under us at Father Crowley overlook near Panamint Springs. We also enjoyed watching dogfights and air to air refueling when we visited Ubehebe crater at the Northern end. It was dry, since they only get about 2" of rain per year (I think we got that much the day we left though) 17- 20 Feb: We stayed at Desert Eagle FAMCAMP in Las Vegas. Not big fans of Las Vegas, although we did join up with John and Kathy to take a night tour of the strip and see the lights. We prefer the nearby attractions, like Hoover Dam, Valley of Fire state park, and Red Rock Canyon scenic drive. The FAMCAMP is nice, they are friendly there, and if you get lucky you get to see the Thunderbirds in the traffic pattern. 20 Feb: Our need to get back for scheduled doctor appointments required me to break the last 2,000 miles into long driving chunks that we don't usually like to do, but we did it. Looking at the map, Holbrook AZ looked to be a good stopping point, and a check at campendium.com revealed a free campground at the South entrance to the Petrified Forest National Park! Crystal Forest free CG south of Petrified Forest entrance was actually a pretty nice place to spend a night, with a covered picnic table. No hookups, but another campground across the street has hookups for a small fee. The campground is right at the southern entrance gate, so you can watch as they come in and unlock the gate in the morning. We figured it would only take about an hour or two to go through the park (after all, how many petrified trees can you look at). This turned out to be much more interesting than we expected, so we spent most of the day taking small hikes around the petrified trees and geological formations. This is a beautiful park! We even crossed paths with another Scamp from GA, Linda Fisher Crowley! 21 Feb: This was a late drive to Kirtland AFB NM FAMCAMP. It was getting dark as we arrived due to our long stay at the Petrified Forest, so we just picked a spot and left in the morning. No reservations, but they had plenty of room. 22 Feb: Another long drive brought us to Caprock Canyons state park, TX. We arrived late in the afternoon, but early enough to hit a trail and get some good sunset pictures over the canyon. 23 Feb: We stopped to visit our adopted family June and Pat in Rockwall TX and parked the Scamp in their driveway overnight. Nice being able to visit once in awhile! 24 Feb: Twiltley Branch COE MS. Nice place to kayak. Unfortunately, due to our fast moving schedule we didn't stay long, but this is a pretty campground and we had a long pull through site. We actually thought we were on one of the campground roads, but it was just a really long site! 25 Feb: Arrived home in time for Saturday church.

Quartzsite boondocking

John and Kathy Roeder talked us into attempting boondocking at Quartzsite, AZ for the first time ever. Not the first boondocking for us, but the first time we traveled to Quartzsite. We were a little bit wary of the unexpected, having no idea of whether we would even find the "boondocking" area, but we decided to forego our usual FL trip to try out AZ for a change. We already had a 90 watt solar panel that I added on top of our Scamp, and we also had a portable 90 watt panel for an extra charge if needed. I did decide to upgrade our 100 amp "marine" battery to a 155 amp "golf cart" battery just to give us an extra margin of watts for my CPAP and the heater fan, but as it turned out, it never really got cold at Quartzsite and we had plenty of sun all week. The fiberglass group gathering this year was held between Feb 6 - Feb 12 and was the 10th anniversary of the fiberglass gathering there. The weekend before this was superbowl weekend, so we stayed at Arizona Oasis RV park just before the rally so we could be sure to have TV coverage. I had my Falcons shirt and my GA bulldogs hat on, and when the USAF Falcons overflew the stadium, it was a good omen for the Falcons, and they surged to an unbelievable halftime lead! Alas, they forgot they were playing against Mr Cool, Tom Brady and the Patriots. Arizona Oasis also provided up with the opportunity to empty our tanks and fill our water tanks and extra water jugs to maximize our boondocking capabilities! (There are no toilets, dump station, hookups or water at Quartzsite BLM) We left Arizona Oasis and soon found the area right along I-10 that we were looking for. We checked in for our free 14 day camping permit, and then headed to whatever spot we felt like occupying in the BLM Dome Rock area. Picked a spot on an upper ridge, set up our Scamp and screen room, and kicked back for an enjoyable week with many friends old and new that camped nearby. The weather was great as far as I recall (I'm writing this 3 months later and tend to forget any bad stuff), although it was windy enough at times that I did not even attempt to put our awning out. Our Coleman screen house did just fine though. Fortunately we were able to make it through the week without having to dump or refill, and the battery filled up with solar energy very quickly every day. Quartzsite boondocking might not be for everyone, but we enjoyed it and plan to be back next year! We got together with different friends and enjoyed pizza and beer at Silly Al's pizza, and some great burgers at Bad Boyz Cafe. Best part of Quartzite is the laid back atmosphere and good winter weather, and getting together with friends.

Traveling from GA to Quartzsite AZ via Big Bend TX and Arizona state parks

This year we decided to try the free BLM camping at Quartzsite, AZ. Since it's over 2,000 miles from our home, it's definitely not an overnight trip. I've decided to jot down a few notes about how we got from here to there. Departed home 4 Jan after Marilyn’s doctor appointment. We stayed overnight in the MS rest area on I-10 at the LA state line. Arrived San Antonio on the 5th and camped in Jen’s driveway. Departed Jen’s house on the 17th and stayed at the following places; 17 Jan: Seminole Canyon state park TX. This park is on Hwy 90 (we like hwy 90 vs the little bit shorter I-10) and has some petroglyphs that can be seen on the canyon walls if you take the ranger led hike. If this is your first state park visit in TX and you plan to spend a few more nights at TX state parks, you can buy an annual pass that covers the daily entrance fee for you and your companions, which is a good deal. 18 - 23 Jan: Big Bend NP Rio Grande village. Site 43. We love touring Big Bend. Last time we stayed at Chisos Basin but waited to long to make reservations so this year we got a spacious pull through site at Rio Grande village. This trip the weather was warmer than last year's winter storms so no ice on the step to test my balance (although strong winds knocked me over on one of the canyon trails this trip). We took the international ferry (rowboat) to Boquillas Mexico for a lunch and a beer (don't forget your passport). Had a scare as this was on inauguration day and some Federales came roaring into town in their Humvees, and we were worried they were closing the border! 23 - 26 Jan: Davis Mountains state park. Scenic tour and Ft Davis. Their is a 73 mile scenic loop where you can drive (or take your bike if you are so inclined) that goes through various topographies of this region. Fort Davis is a good place to visit and see what the Buffalo soldiers had to endure. The McDonald observatory is also in this area, so you can sign up in advance for one of their star parties and have an unbelievable view of the night sky. 26 Jan: Aguirre Springs NM. Beautiful but steep curvy drive. The National Recreation area first come first served campsite is fine for little 16' campers like ours, but 20' and longer might be pushing it. The campsite has hiking trails and a good view of White Sands missile base. No hookups, but you can collect drinking water at the host station at the entrance. Nice cool site up in the hills. 27 - 29 Jan: Catalina state park, AZ. Nice CG, visited Allen and Aurora Glasgow who live close by (I worked with Allen and we shared an apartment at my first Air Force base in 1970). Nice hiking trails at this campground, and we got to watch the Roadrunner, followed by Wiley E Coyote pass right through our campsite! Spotted a golden eagle on one of our hikes. 29 Jan - 4 Feb: Lost Dutchman state park, AZ. Site 64 was looong! We could have fit another entire Scamp or Casita ensemble in our campsite! This is a really pretty state park with a great view of the Superstition mountains. There are several trails with increasing difficulty levels for beginners to the pros. Lots of mining history and scenic drives in the area. We also got to visit another coworker from my Air Force history on our way through Goodyear, AZ, John and Glenda Pannell. 4 - 6 Feb: Arizona Oasis RV park. Stayed for the super bowl, ATL lost a heartbreaker. See next blog for more details. This campground accepts Passport America rates!

Blue Angels Navy demonstration team homecoming, Pensacola, FL

We departed our home in GA 9 Nov and stayed the night at Tyndall AFB at the "Raptor Ranch" FAMCAMP. Nice facility, got to see some F-22s finally since the departure path is right above the campground. Free coffee and donuts at the center. Headed to the Blue Angel Naval recreation area FAMCAMP on the 10th and finally got to eat at Joe Patti’s restaurant on the way there. The last time we tried to eat here they were already closed, so lunch is a good time to go. Decent meal grouper and shrimp and a great price. Got so much food that we had enough to reheat some Saturday. The FAMCAMP located right on NAS Pensacola would be a great place to stay, since you can walk to the airshows, but reservations are really hard to get. The FAMCAMP we stayed at was a few miles west of the base, but the traffic flowed nicely when we drove there so it wasn't too bad. Had quite a hike once we got to the parking spot. Watched the day and night show on Friday, and headed to Ft Pickens to watch the Blues Saturday. Ft Pickens has a decent view of the base so you can see the aerial maneuvers, but not the ground shows or displays. Didn’t make reservations in time to get on base or at ft Pickens. Spotted 2 Casitas at Blue Angels. Great weather. Sunday we visited the NEX and also had dinner at Herman and Ann Parker's house. Enchiladas! Nice way to spend a birthday weekend!

Sampson state park NY and Niagara Falls ON wine Escape rallies

Departed home in GA 29 Aug after Dr appointments for VA and stopped at Kings Mountain state park campground near York, SC for the night on the way to VA. Didn’t get to tour much, we were in the travel to the kids house mode, but the campground loop we stayed at was empty! No problem getting showers. Visited Greg and Ela and our Grandkids for a few days. Departed the kids house in Barboursville, VA on 5 Sept for Little Buffalo state park near Harrisburg, PA for the night, since that was about halfway to the Sampson state park rally in NY. Headed for Sampson state park on the 6th, and met Fred and Dora in their Casita along the way. It was cool because we were on intersecting highways, got within CB range of each other, and then both got to the same intersection at the same time. We all stopped to see the Little League hall of fame in Williamsport. Free admission for all with my ID card :-) Sampson state park has a museum and lots of wineries nearby. It used to be a Naval training base, and an Air Force base. Had a great time there at the rally, and visited a couple of wineries in the area. The museum is certainly worth a visit if you're nearby. Sept 11th we then headed to Watkins Glen state park for 2 nights. Hiked the beautiful gorge and would like to visit there during the annual old time racer parade. Continued to Letchworth state park on 13 Sep (park was voted best in Nation in 2015) and met up with Ann and Joe who were in their tent for 3 nights. Friday the 16th we headed to Niagara Falls Riverside Park for the Niagara Wine Escape rally with Ann and Joe. Got lots of rain on Saturday during the potluck. Rode the Horatio Hornblower from the Canadian side Sunday and had a great time visiting the falls. I think that the Canadian ride into the falls is a bit more exciting than the American side, the lines were shorter, and it cost a little less due to the favorable exchange rate. The Niagara wine Escape rally is a fun rally with lots of fun Canadians and their Bolers. Bolers look a lot like Scamps and this year there were 2 Scamps including ours. There are also several Escape travel trailers there, which is what the host Alf owns. Monday the 19th we left for Hickory Run state park in PA, and the next day headed for Dover DE. Hickory Run seems to be a great campground for hiking and scenery, but again, we were in travel mode and headed to Dover as soon as we got up. Stayed 2 nights with Ann, then 2 nights with Reg, then headed to VA on the 24th in time for Ela’s birthday. Left Greg and Ela’s Monday the 26th and headed all the way home since it was raining where we were going to camp.

North, to Alaska!

May 11 - Aug 13 2016 Alaska trip. This page is still under construction since we revised our original itinerary based on weather as we went. I'm actually compiling this in Jan 2018 but it snowed and the comment book is outside in the truck. Needless to say, we loved our trip to Alaska on the Alaska highway going up, and the Cassiar highway coming back. Fabulous trip, starting from Sharpsburg GA, and spending the first night at our friends John and Rebecca’s house. They gave us some tips as they have made this trip a couple of times. Next stop was Roy’s fish fry rally at Shakamak state park in IN the next day. Headed across IA (Fishermans corner COE, then NE (Offutt AFB FAMCAMP and Lake Ogallalla SRA, then Riverside Park in Scottsbluff, NE. Riverside park was within view of Scottsbluff National Monument which we visited the next day, as well as a nearby state park that boasts the tallest lighthouse in Nebraska! (Also the shortest, and only lighthouse in Nebraska). Lander City Park in Lander WY was a free campground with water taps and toilets, plus free dump at the city lot a few blocks away. Headed to Gros Ventre campground (FCFS) (Grand Tetons NP) for a couple of nights to have a place to tour the Grand Tetons and Jackson WY. Saw several mooses and a few right in the campground. Next we headed to Yellowstone NP (had 4 nights reservations at Bridge Bay) and got there just before the Memorial day crowds. Stayed at Lewis and Clark caverns state park in MT and toured the caverns, then visited our former neighbor Diane in Whitefish for a couple of days, parking the Scamp behind her house. Whitefish is not far from Glacier National Park so we headed there. Snowfall kept the "Going to the sun road" closed, but we could drive partway up. Crossed into Canada at Roosville, and they actually had us get out of our Scamp while they searched it. They probably thought I had a gun since I recently obtained a concealed carry permit. Headed to Tunnel Mountain campground at Banff NP and saw Scamp friends Craig and Josie while there. Had reservations at Banff but didn't really need them this early in the season. Toured Banff area for a few days before heading North again. Lots of good hiking trails surrounding the Banff area, definitely visit if you get the chance. Headed to Wilcox Creek campground near Icefields Parkway and had a great site for the night (FCFS). Walked to the Icefields glacier. Headed to Jasper NP (Whistler CG) for a few nights, where we had reservations we made a couple days before we got there. June 8-9 Dawson Creek 5 hours (Kiskatinaw Provincial Park North) ($18 night) (Swan Lake provincial park South near Tupper)(Stop and take a photo at the intersection in town where the highway begins. Visit the historic buildings at Pioneer Village and check out the Dawson Creek Tourist Information Centre.) The Kiskatinaw curved wooden bridge is a great place to take a picture of your camper, it's right outside the campground. June 9-10 Fort Nelson (5 hours) Toad River lodge in Toad River?(Good eats at the Shepherd's Inn, about 75 miles out of Dawson Creek. Stop at the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. Fort Nelson also used to host a Visitors Program. Check at the Visitors Bureau across the road from the Heritage Museum.) June 10-11 Liard Hot Springs (4 hours) June 11-12 Watson Lake (3 hours)(visit the Alaska Highway Interpretive Center next to Signpost Forest. See if you can find the Casita sign we put up in the Signpost Forest. The Northern Lights Center is across from the Signpost Forest. It is about as close to seeing the Northern Lights you can get unless you go up late in the year.) (Head up the highway toward Teslin. Stop at Rancheria Falls. CAUTION! Watch for bears here, especially in the dumpster! In Teslin, stop at the Yukon Wildlife Gallery. Visit the George Johnson Museum, just out of Teslin on your left. June 12-13 Johnsons Crossing (4 hours) (Skagway was scheduled but deleted from trip) June 16-18 Whitehorse (3 hours)(The SS Klondike stern-wheeler and the McBride Museum. There is a walking tour of Whitehorse. Get a brochure at the Visitor Center in downtown.) The Whitehorse WalMart has a "welcome campers" sign with a map showing where to park. There is a gas station right here with a free dump and free fresh water. Also a Canadian Tire store which is always a treat for the guys! Stop at the Braeburn Lodge for the biggest cinnamon roll you've ever eaten. June 18-19 Pelly Crossing June 19-21 Dawson. We passed through Dawson and crossed the Yukon on the ferry so we could get a campsite at the Yukon River campground. Yukon territory campsites cost $12 CAD per night and provide free firewood. We walked back to the ferry to visit Dawson and spotted some friends from the South crossing in their two Olivers! Once you arrive in Dawson City, visit the Klondike Visitors Association along the Yukon River for info, "Must see" attractions include Gold Dredge #4 (guided tours by Parks Canada, eh!) Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall (show & slots), and Dawson City Museum - make sure to watch the "City of Gold" film. You may consider taking a walking tour of Dawson City. June 21 We left Dawson for Chicken, AK, and crossed back into the USA at the Northernmost customs station in the USA. Friendly customs guy offered to take our picture. Very smooth new highway for about 7 miles, and then we hit the worst gravel of the trip on the road to Chicken on the top of the world highway. A few miles before reaching Chicken we spent the night at Walker Fork campground, which I think is National Forest, cost was $5 with our senior pass and free firewood! You can pan for gold for free across the highway from the campground, host can provide gold pans if needed. June 21-22 Tetlin Junction/Tok After Delta Junction is Rika's Roadhouse. Good place for a bite to eat, but tour buses stop here too. Stop at the Knotty Shop for Alaska gifts. North Pole is next....visit Santa Claus House. In Fairbanks, there is a lot to see & do June 23-25 Eielson AFB FAMCAMP June 23-25 Fairbanks Tour the University of Alaska Museum of the North. If you are into museums, you could easily spend at least a half day there. Take in a ball game of you'll be there during solstice and watch the 2nd baseman adjust his sunglasses at 2 AM. There was a Farmer's Market on the weekend. Pioneer Park is another "must see." Take in the Palace Theatre & Saloon "Golden Heart Review" about life in Fairbanks. Take in Sunday brunch at Pike's Landing. Sit on the deck overlooking the river unless the mosquitoes are bad. June 25-26 McKinley Park June 26-29 Denali June 29-30 Wasilla/Palmer. Tour Palmer (stop at the visitor information center) and learn about the Creampuff Pioneers. Visit the Musk Ox farm outside of town. June 30-2 Elmendorf/Anchorage. Great market on the weekend in downtown. The city used to offer free bus tours of the port. Check at the visitor bureau in downtown for info. JULY JULY -2 Elmendorf/Anchorage JULY 2-4 Seward. Don't even think about going to Seward over the 4th of July! Stops along the way? Portage Glacier for sure. In Seward, walk around downtown and visit the Alaska SeaLife Center (built with BP $$$ after the grounding of the Exxon Valdez). Camp on the beach, operated by the city of Seward JULY 4-6 Homer Spit. After Seward, head back toward Anchorage, but at Tern Lake, turn left and head to Soldotna and Kenai. Fish the Kenai River. Camp at Fred Meyer or one of the local RV Parks. Head to Homer (watch for moose along this stretch) stopping at all the little towns along the way, especially Ninilchik. Homer is one of our favorite places. Camp on the spit. Visit the Salty Dog, Pratt Museum, and Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. Downtown Homer has a few breweries and art shops. Souvenirs are available at the Safeway store and on the spit. Look for the eagle's nest near the city owned dump station across from Safeway. JULY 6-10 Valdez. head to Valdez, on the Richardson Highway. Stop at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Visitor Center. Take the "loop" through Copper Center. From Thompson Pass into Valdez it's all downhill....literally. Did you stop at Bridal Falls for a photo?? I highly recommend taking the all day Stan Stephens Glacier tour of Columbia & Meirs Glacier. You may have to wait a day or two for a seat, as this is a very sought after tour and there are a lot of tourist in the summer, especially from foreign countries. If you stay at Bear Paw RV Park, they can book your cruise and you can walk to the dock from camp. The cruise, while pricey, well worth the money. Visit the Valdez Historical Museum. Lots of little touristy places in Valdez. JULY 10-12 Tok JULY 12-13 Destruction Bay JULY 13-15 Whitehorse JULY 15-16 Watson Lake JULY 16-18 Cassiar JULY 18-19 Hyder. Hyder, AK and watch the bears. Visit the Toaster Museum in Stewart, BC. JULY 19-20 Burns Lake JULY 20-21 Prince george JULY 21-23 Red Pass (Jasper) JULY 23-25 Banff JULY 25-28 East Glacier JULY 28-29 Great Falls JULY 29-1 Rapid City (Custer etc) AUGUST AUGUST 1-3 Badlands AUGUST 3-4 Sioux Falls AUGUST 4-5 Kansas City AUGUST 5-6 St Louis AUGUST 6-7 Paducah AUGUST 7-9 Nashville AUGUST 9-11 Chattanooga AUGUST 12 Home (give or take 2 or 3 weeks) One Provider trailer tire had steel belt showing on the way back, so placed spare Loadstar on. It had been wearing on outer edge, first noticed on way up and rotated/balanced in Montana, but belt came through on Icefields parkway on way back. These were the M rated Providers, tire amazingly kept together though. Installed Carlisle 205/75R-14 D rated tires after this trip. 14,123 miles total, 1014.8 gallons, 13.9 MPG, approx 12,000 on Scamp.

Blue Angels homecoming and Big Lagoon state park FL

Big Lagoon State Park, Pensacola, FL. Blue Angels homecoming airshow. We arrived on Veterans Day and made it to the Friday night show, and then came back for the day show the next day. Impressive, but no A-10s (my favorite airplane) flying. We had a nice shaded spot at site 19, and would go here again just to take a break. We just hiked the trails on our last full day and relaxed. Met Ray and (Re)Voe here, they own an EggCamper. The park has kayaks and canoes for rental, and places to launch your own kayaks. Beautiful weather and sunsets. The Navy Blue Angels museum on NAS Pensacola is worthy of a visit any time, and can take a full day or more since it is so interesting.

Raccoon mountain TN, Southern Belle river cruise in Chattanooga TN, Rock City, and Cloudland Canyon

Raccoon Mountain, Chattanooga, TN. This trip was to catch a “fall colors” river cruise on the Southern Belle in Chattanooga. The colors weren’t quite ready yet, but the scenery was still good. This weekend happened to also be the “Head of the Hooch” rowing regatta with hundreds of rowing sculls competing. Busy waterway. We visited the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and trolley, and visited Rock City. We both used the shower in the Scamp on this trip since we had full hookups. On the way home, we drove to Cloudland Canyon state park, and walked part of the rim trail. Beautiful campground! The colors were better here, and I also went to the floor of the canyon and then back up the 400 plus stairs to see the waterfalls. Looks like a good place to camp.

Land Between the Lakes, TN. Piney campground LBL rally 1

Land Between the Lakes, Dover, TN. This was a fiberglass campers meetup, and our first rally after buying our Scamp. Several Scamps (mostly 5’ers) and 2 Casita’s and 2 A-Liners (Dennis the host bought his A-Liner) attended and camped at Piney campground. Dennis was instrumental in giving us advice which helped us pick a Scamp vs an A-Liner (he has one of each). We toured Fort Donelson National Battlefield (Union’s first big victory under young US Grant) and learned how to cook on a Dutch Oven. Colors in the trees were turning a pretty color. Campground was nice, but crowded with kids on school break that weekend. Visited the Lodge cast iron foundry in Pittsburgh, TN on the way up, and bought some cast iron of course!

Unicoi state park, Helen, GA with Greg and Ela

Unicoi state park, Helen, GA. Our Grandkids were visiting, and we still had our pop-up camper, so we took both campers here to camp with Greg and Ela. They have "buddy sites" at many of the GA state parks where you can get two sites together. Greg built a campfire both nights, and the guys hiked to Helen along the 3 mile trail, while the girls drove. We hitched a ride with the girls on the way back. Brady hiked all but about 1/2 mile. Helen is a town that mimics a Bavarian Oktoberfest type of town, and they have German restaurants and an annual Oktoberfest celebration. Swam in the beach area of Unicoi lake and also hiked up to Anna Ruby falls. Ela wanted to stop and look at BIG campers on the way back so we stopped at Camping City. They had a buffet at the Unicoi lodge while we were there, with all you can eat trout available! Yummy!

Foster reunion, Tickfaw state park LA, Coleto County park TX, Galveston Island state park TX, Lackland AFB, Cajun RV Biloxi MS

Headed to the annual Foster family reunion in Victoria TX. Marilyn's Mom's name was Foster, so it's her side of the family. We stayed at Tickfaw state park in LA the first night, then Coleto Creek county park in Victoria, TX 2 nights, where they held the reunion. Tickfaw was about halfway between our house in GA and TX, and they have a small but fun water park area for the kids. You can also kayak or canoe in the adjacent river. It sure was nice having our own air conditioned place to stay before, during, and after the reunion! After the reunion, we headed to Goose Island state park in TX for 3 nights (inner site 1st night had too many skeeters there so we moved to beach site next 2 nights). The area with trees has lots of shade, but it also blocks the breeze that keeps the mosquitoes at bay. The sites along the water had a constant breeze and the mosquitoes stayed away. They have shade shelters over the picnic tables. We had a sidewall split on the left rear Dakota tire, replaced free at Sam’s club. We then parked 2 nights in Marilyn's sister Debbie’s driveway in Floresville, TX, and then a week at Lackland FamCamp with full hookups so we could visit Marilyn's family in San Antonio. Headed to Galveston Island state park via historic TX revolution back roads for a night, then took a free ferry from Galveston and headed to Cajun RV campsite in Biloxi, MS for a night. Toured Biloxi before heading home.

GA Veterans state park, Cordele, GA

GA Veterans state park, Cordele, GA . Nice campground and they also have a small military museum and a golf course here. Camped here so we could take the SAM shortline train from Cordele to Plains, GA. The train ride itself was pretty bland, but the stops were interesting. From the train we got to visit and have lunch in Americus, and then headed to Plains to tour Jimmy Carter's boyhood home, and Billy Carter's gas station. Also visited Andersonville civil war prison on the way back. Need to reserve early if you want a lake site.