Dry Camping in Cherokee, NC

Due to the heat we have stayed in campgrounds with at least water and electric so we could run the air conditioner.  One if 30 amp and two if 50 amp but the weather has turned cooler and we decided to dry camp at the casino in Cherokee, North Carolina.  We may have saved $30 for the night and I won’t even talk about how much was lost in the Casino.  I’ll just say it was heavy on the negative side.  We did have a good lunch buffet and then a good breakfast this morning before we left for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  To get from Cherokee to Pigeon Forge you go right across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Hiway 441.  We took one side trip in the park and went to Clingmans Dome which is the highest point in the park.  It is 6643 ft above sea level.  We actually only went to the parking area since it was about 1/2 mile by foot to the top and it was 43F.  We decided we didn’t want to go that bad.  Mattie and Gary had gone up before so they didn’t want to go either.  The following pictures were taken from the parking area.

Here we are in the parking lot just before we left.

Ho Hum another beautiful city

We left Savannah yesterday and drove to the campground outside of Charleston. As has become our norm, we went into Charleston in the afternoon, did a little looking around and then went back to the campground. Today Gary drove his truck to Wal-Mart and we got on a city bus that took us to a Mall where we boarded another bus that took us to old Charleston. Charleston has history of both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Four signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were from Charleston. The Civil War actually started at Charleston with the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861.

We went down to the “High Battery” which is now a park and is the location of a battery of cannons that guarded the city. The following pictures were taken from the sea wall around the park area. The first is taken across the harbor toward Fort Sumter, the second of Twila, Mattie, and Gary across the street in the park, and the third looking up Bay Street toward Charleston. Bay Street is completely lined with mansions that were built from 1830 to 1850s.

There were several statues in the park, some for the Revolutionary War and some for the Civil War but one seemed to attract Twila’s attention more than the others.

Oh, maybe you would like to see the entire statue.

This one was for the Revolutionary War.

Twila & Mattie thought that they had to go to the Old City Market. Gary & I walked through quickly, then waited outside in the shade until they finished. There were probably 3 blocks of booths with everything from jewelry to antiques. The Market was built in 1841 to sell produce & meats. Sorry, it didn’t interest me enough to take a picture.

What a beautiful city

We went back to Savannah today and took a tour on a trolley around the historic section of town.

All of the streets of old Savannah were laid out North, South, East, and West with 24 squares or parks. There is a square, then a street, then another square, then a street, and so on. This is going north/South and also East/West. This layout makes for a beautiful city. The tour lasted for about 1 1/2 hours and since we started about 10am we were ready for lunch. We went to a restaurant on River Street which is the street next to the river. Now isn’t that logical.

Those two in front look vaguely familiar. I think that woman might be stalking me. Yeh! I should be that lucky.

We went to the “Cathedral of John the Baptist” which was built in 1900 and was restored to its present glory in 2000. This church is as magnificent as most of the churches in Italy.

On a much lighter note, Gary just happened to run into Marilyn Monroe and couldn’t resist getting his picture taken with her.

Day 15, we must be in Georgia

The Savannah Area to be exact. We came in yesterday but all we did was drive to the campground at Fort McAllister State Historic Park. The Park is about 10 miles east of Richmond Hill, GA and is a very pretty place to camp. The Park has 30 amp electric and water with a dump station on the way out. Did I mention it is reasonably priced. We are finding it hard to find RV Parks that are less than $30 a night and since it is hot we need electric to run the air conditioners. Counting a $5 entrance fee and a 20% discount for being 62 the total for 3 nights was only $62.60.

We went to Savannah today. Mattie had to meet a lady at the Chamber of Commerce at 10am to talk about her bus trip and then we headed to Paula Deen’s Restaurant. Yes it was as good as the hype. We knew Paula wouldn’t be there since we saw her in New York on the Today Program but she had certainly taught someone how to cook at her and her sons restaurant. We got to the restaurant a little after 10:30 and put our name on a list for the 11:00 seating. The restaurant has 3 floors with a buffet on each floor.

We had the buffet which was $13.99 each. It had several items that I didn’t get but I had fried chicken, beef tips over rice, sweet potatoes, green beans with ham and potatoes, and lasagna. They also brought a cheese biscuit and a hoe cake. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better they came by with the dessert tray. You got your choice of banana pudding, peach cobbler, or gooey butter cake. None of us know what the gooey butter cake tastes like because we couldn’t get past the other two. Twila got the peach cobbler and I got the banana pudding and we switched half way through. Talk about ‘slap ya momma!!!!!!!’ It was without a doubt the best buffet I have ever eaten and I have had some really good ones. Everything was excellent.

I was sitting where everything has been eaten except for the hoe cake and the napkin. Do these look like happy people?

After eating where do you suppose we had to go?

The Paula Deen Store of course.

Next we decided to go to Tybee Island and Twila got to put her feet in the Atlantic Ocean. That Fountain of Youth still seems to be working better on her than me.

St Augustine

We got to St Augustine, Florida on Saturday the 19th and checked into a campground Northwest of town. We decided to go into town after we got the RV’s hooked up. We hadn’t eaten lunch and it was after 3pm. We had spotted a Cracker Barrel at the exit to the campground just off of I-95, so we immediately headed for there. Gary had his usual, breakfast, and Mattie, Twila and I had their Chicken and Rice. Ummmm goooood. We left there and went into St Augustine and then over to the Island. We ended up having supper at Applebee’s and then went to Wal-Mart.

Today we left a little after 9am and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Do you see a trend here? After filling our bellies, well Gary and I filled our bellies and Mattie and Twila filled their dandy little Stomachs. After breakfast we started some heavy duty site seeing. We bought tickets for the Ripley’s Sightseeing Train. Yes, Ripley’s as in Ripley’s Believe it or Not. St Augustine is the home of the original Ripley’s Believe it or Not and they have several motorized “train” vehicles that they use for tours around the city.

For those that might not know, St Augustine is the oldest city in the United States. It was founded in 1565 and the location itself was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513 and Yes, St Augustine is the location of the “Fountain of Youth”. I now know why people keep asking me if Twila is my daughter. I now know her secret.

You know I’m only 6 years older than she is !!!!!!!!!!! Things might be looking up for me since I took a drink of water from that fountain myself today.

We saw a college that was originally a hotel built by Mr. Henry Morrison Flagler. Mr.. Flagler co-founded Standard Oil Company with John D Rockefeller. The hotel called the Ponce de Leon was opened in 1888 at a cost of $250,000. I have no idea what that would be in today’s dollars but I am sure it would be several million.

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He then built a second hotel which was a little less luxurious and was called the Alcazar. It is now the home for the Lightner Museum.

We also visited the fort that guarded the port into St Augustine. The Spanish called it Castillo de San Marcos.

St Augustine is a very interesting city and I would recommend to to anyone, especially anyone who loves history.

Just Traveling, little dull

We left the campground on Dauphin Island about 8am. This is really early for Twila and me. We normally leave out about 10am and are in a new camp about 3pm. We went about 300 miles today. We got up early in case we wanted to drive all the way to St. Augustine, Florida but we remembered we would be changing to Eastern Time from Central Time so it would be an hour later when we stopped. We went a little past Tallahassee to the exit for Monticello. The campground is right off I-10 so it is real convenient. We plan on leaving about 9am tomorrow and we only have 182 miles to drive.

Florida is a new state for Twila and I, we flew into Fort Lauderdale when we took the cruise for our Honeymoon and we stopped in Key West on a cruise going to Italy but this is our first time to RV here. We really aren’t seeing a lot of it since we are only going across the top of it. Maybe someday we will return and go down one side all the way to Key West and then come back up the other side. I seem to always have another trip we need to take. You noticed I said need not want but that is a subject for debate another day.

Not going far

Since we were only going from the Gulfport area to the Mobile area, about 50 miles, we decided to go back to the casino for breakfast. Again we left the campground about 9:00am and were through with breakfast by 10am. Today was two for one day so the buffet was really cheap but we again went into the casino. I ended up losing the $25 I was ahead yesterday and Gary end up about $80 ahead. Mattie had to come get us because we had lost track of time. Gary even won $80 of free play on the slots.

We hurried back to the camp and left a little after 12pm headed for the Mobile area. We got to the campground we had picked out but when we got there it was full. It looked like it was full of permanent residents, maybe workers. We decided to head for the campground on Dauphin Island. Of course Mattie called first to be sure we could get in. It is really pretty. The campground is right next to the ferry that goes from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan, Alabama. After we got hooked up we were, believe it or not, hungry, so we went to a Restaurant on the Island called Barnacle Bill's. It was excellent. Twila had catfish and it was so so but I had fresh Gulf Shrimp, Gary had shrimp and Grupper, and Mattie had Grupper with a seafood topping. Later about dusk, we walked out on the beach through the woods next to the campground with our lawn chairs and a bottle of wine. It was wonderful. We had to walk back in the dark but I had a small light on my key chain that gave us enough light to keep from tripping.

Go’in to Gulfport

We left out from the campground in Westwego about 10am. We stopped outside of Slidell, LA and took a Swamp Tour. The tour lasted about 2 hours and didn’t start until after 12pm. It was interesting. We saw several Alligators and a few birds. The best part was watching the guide feed the big Alligators some hot dog wieners on the end of a really short stick. Mattie and Gary were in a different boat then Twila and I. They said their guide was feeding them by hand and he had both hands. At least for now.

I think the one in the back is Twila.

After the tour we went to the Cracker Barrel for lunch and then took the scenic route along the coast on US 90 to the Ocean Springs, MS. It was a really pretty drive with miles of white beach The camp ground is the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We stayed in tonight and played Jokers with Gary and Mattie.

New Orleans twice

We went into New Orleans Sunday the 13th but it rained so hard that we gave it up. We took the ferry from the South side of the Mississippi River instead of driving over the river bridge so I got a good shot of the Church in Jackson Square and a riverboat. We did go by Harrah's Casino for a while, I lost $40 at Black Jack and Gary won $90. We went back to the RVs and later went to a Casino in Westwego. I lost $100 and Gary ended the day about $40 ahead.

Today we went back to New Orleans about 5:30pm, ate dinner, and then walked down Bourbon Street and headed back. Got in after 11pm.

On the way to New Orleans

We went by the Jungle Garden on Avery Island in New Iberia on our way down US 90 to New Orleans. It is a drive through bird and alligator sanctuary that belongs to the people that own the Tabasco Plant. It was the wrong time of the year for many birds or flowers but Mattie wanted to check it out for her bus tour in the spring of 2011 and since she had gotten 4 free tickets we went. It would have been $6.25 each otherwise and would have been worth it earlier in the year. We did see some alligators and a few birds and there was a Buda Temple on the grounds. We got to the campground in Westwego, LA about 2:30pm, took a nap, and then had supper with Mattie and Gary. They had brought some Brisket with them and Mattie made some Tabouli and a baked potato. Twila had some cream cheese pie. Good meal. After supper we went to Wally World.

Last day in Lafayette

We left out about 9:30am headed for the Post Office and then took off for a swamp tour about 12 to 15 miles west of town. When we got there the first tour had left at 10:00am and we missed it, so we headed for the Acadian Village which is a collection of Acadian Houses around a bayou. It also had a doctor’s office and a blacksmith shop. All the houses were from the 1800’s.

Next we went to Vermilionville. This is also a group of homes ranging from 1765 to 1890. Some are original buildings and some are reproductions. They are a combination of Cajun, Creole, and Native American houses.

After all this culture we came back to the campground for a couple of hours and then took off for Randol’s Restaurant and Cajun Dancehall. The food was really good, Twila and I both had a Red Snapper dish that was a little bit of Cajun spice but really good. Tomorrow we are going to go by the “Jungle Garden” on Avery Island in New Iberia, LA on our way to New Orleans.

Still in Lafayette

We went to Shadows on the Teche today. This is a home that was built around 1845 by a local sugar cane grower and it still had about 90% of the original furnishing including pictures. Then we went to New Iberia to the Tabasco Plant and took a tour of the plant. Gary even had some Tabasco ice cream. Later we went to a Rice Mill and wanted to take a tour but we missed the last one for the day. We did buy some brown rice with pecan flavor added. It was a good day. Gary and Mattie went to a local restaurant tonight but Twila and I weren’t really hungry since we had a big lunch at Chile’s. Mattie is checking out restaurants in the area for her bus tours.

Lafayette, Louisiana

We came down I-49 from Shreveport. The road was really flat and mostly downhill so I turned loose of the reins and let “Big Blue” run. I set the cruise at about 70 and let her roll. We stopped at a Welcome Center just before Alexandria, La and then at a Cracker Barrel in Alexandria for lunch. We ended up pulling into a city park with 50 amp electric and water for $13 a night at Lafayette, LA. We will be here for 3 nights. We had some fun getting to the park. I had set my GPS with an address for the park but it was a little short of the entrance to the park and we had come down a narrow street with some low hanging limbs and when the GPS said we were there the street got even narrower so I was afraid to go any further. We went back around a square mile and I let Gary lead. They saw a camping sign as we came back around to the road we had been on so Mattie went into a convenience store and ask how to get to the park. It was just about a block from where we had turned off the road. It is a very pretty park with lot of live oaks. No satellite signal but we are picking up the local stations over the air.

Head’in out

We had our alarm set for 6:45am this morning, but as usual I woke up about 6:30am. I guess I’m just excited about going. Must be the gypsy blood in me. We were scheduled to leave at 8:00am and meet Mattie and Gary at the intersection of Norfolk Road and Hi way 33 but when I was pulling off the Pad I noticed a mat we had used to cover the logs, boards and bricks was stuck between the duel wheels in the rear. I soon discovered it was wedged between the wheels by a half a brick so I had to get a hammer and pry the brick out. This ended up throwing us about 30 minutes late but after that everything went OK. We drove almost to Shreveport, LA and camped at Kelly RV in Greenwood, La. We drove into Shreveport in Gary’s truck and had supper at Sammy’s which is a fish and seafood place close to the fairgrounds. Several members of our Good Sam Chapter had gone their during the Louisiana Samboree in the Spring. We hadn’t gone since we went to the National Rally in Albuquerque. The food was really good and unbelievably cheap. I had 8 jumbo fried shrimp, dirty rice, and green beans for $6.95 and Twila had 5 pieces of fish with the same extras for the same price. Then we went to a Casino and it wasn’t cheap but I don’t want to talk about that.

A good time was had by all, well almost!!

We went to Tulsa over the long weekend, left on Saturday morning and came back on Monday morning. We stayed at the RV park that my brother Bill and his wife Pat are in through the summer. Mike Prough, Bill’s youngest son and his wife Terri and there 3 sons were also there. We went over to get a Select Comfort Bed that was in Bill and Pat’s new motor home. Pat didn’t like it and was going to have it taken out, so we paid the $100 to have it taken out of their motor home and installed into ours. Camping World sells them for a little over $1300 so it was a great deal for us and we just love it. We were parked next to Mike and Terri so Twila loved having the grandkids next door.

We got home Monday Morning and left everything we could ready to travel for Tuesday Morning when we will start our trip with Mattie and Gary House around the Southeaster USA. Now comes the almost mentioned above. When I backed onto our “Pad” for the motor home I have some bricks at the point where I stop the back tires, but when I backed over the bricks I thought it was the front tires coming onto the “Pad”. Long story short, I went right off the back of the “Pad” which at the point is about 10” down on one side and about 8” on the other side of the MH and to make matters worse the septic tank is under the ground. The good news is the bottom of the MH didn’t hit the concrete slab and the tires didn’t break through the top of the septic tank. In other words, I was almost in the “Crapper”. I was able to back up a few inches and get some logs about 4” in diameter and some 2 x 10 boards and the bricks next to the slab to give me a little bit of a ramp. I put the MH into drive and held the brake while I brought the RPM up to about 1300 before I released the brake. After about 3 times with more boards added each time I was able to get back on the “Pad”. Yes I will be changing the method I use to determine where I stop. I plan on using the cap blocks used for concrete blocks. They are about 4” thick and I plan on stacking two of them together. I don’t think even I can get over 8” of concrete.

We went to Chan and Martha Ray’s House in Pawnee Monday evening for hamburgers and hot dogs. Their son Danny and his wife Julie and their 2 kids were there along with the youth minister, his wife and little girl. We had a good time and Chan got a good laugh at me and my MH backing experience. We also played “Jokers”, which is a board game played with cards and marbles. We hadn’t seen Chan and Martha since they came to Colorado.