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!