Category Archives: National Park or Forest

National Park or Forest

Grand Marais, MN June 18, 2017

We left Duluth and drove up the North Shore Scenic Drive to Grand Marais, forty miles from the Canadian border. Grand Marais, population 1,351 is a beautiful town situated on Lake Superior. It has a summer vacation destination vibe with small tourist shops, restaurants, a few hotels and tons of gorgeous scenery. There are no fast food restaurants or big stores located in Grand Marais. Like the rest of Minnesota, it is a fisherman’s dream come true.

We stayed at a city campground/marina with beautiful water views. The campground was a short walk from the small downtown area. One day we strolled downtown and wandered along the waterfront. Bill had a great fish lunch at the Dockside Fish Market where you can buy lunch or pick up fresh fish to take home. Bill had fish and chips with what he said was delicious whitefish. The only way to get it fresher was to go out with your own fishing pole!

Tuesday we drove forty miles up to Grand Portal State Park located right at the US/Canadian border. In fact when we turned into the entrance to the park we could see the border crossing just ahead and the welcome to Minnesota sign for those arriving from Canada. The state park, established in 1989, is actually located on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The Native Americans lease the land to the state of Minnesota for $1 a year.

Our purpose for coming here was to see the High Falls, which at 120 feet is the tallest waterfall in Minnesota. To view the Falls we walked an easy half mile along a beautiful boardwalk through a forest setting.

The High Falls were gorgeous and we could see the Pigeon River which is part of the international border between Canada and the United States. Here, the Pigeon River is twenty miles of a series of treacherous cascades and waterfalls on its way to Lake Superior, making this section of the river completely unnavigable. For this reason a “Grand Portage” was necessary. In this case, the Portage consisted of a 8.5 mile foot path used to carry boats and supplies from Lake Superior to the Pigeon River. It was followed by voyageurs (French for travelers) to Port Charlotte and the boundary waters separating Minnesota and Canada. Through this portage passed all the trade goods from Montreal and furs from the Canadian Northwest. Along this 8.5 mile path voyageurs carried two 90 pound packs as well as their canoes.

Native Americans were the first to develop and use the portal from Lake Superior inland for centuries. The Ojibwe called the portage “The Great Carrying Place”. The Ojibwe people frequently traveled the portage carrying birch bark canoes and baskets of fish, garden seed, wild rice, and copper. The two oldest copper sites in North America come from the Lake Superior basin. When the French traders came in the 17th century the Native Americans showed them the portage which they then used to transport goods from large lake canoes to smaller canoes. The Grand Portage was the earliest European presence in the Great Lakes region with the first documented travel along the Grand Portage in 1731.

Next we stopped at the nearby Grand Portage National Monument. We saw an excellent movie on the history of the area, with an emphasis on the Native American viewpoint. The Visitors Center also had interesting exhibits and displays. We then walked down the hill to a reconstructed Ojibwe village and Voyageur Encampment reconstructed based on archeological excavations. The furnishings are in the 1797 style. The settlement consisted of a stockade, great hall, kitchen and warehouse.

In 1763 after the French and Indian War, France ceded Canada to Great Britain and the British took control of the fur trade away from the French. From 1784 to 1803 the North West Company, owned by Highland Scots, ran a very profitable fur trading operation in the Great Lakes area. The company’s headquarters was located at Grand Portage and was the largest fur trade depot on the continent. It was a profitable time for the Europeans as well as the Native Americans. They got along well and traded goods each needed. The Native Americans taught them how to build birch bark canoes and traded pelts and their immense knowledge of the area for glass beads, wool clothing, kettles, axes, firearms and liquor. Some of the voyageurs even married Native American women. Much of the settlement was empty most of the year as the men were out hunting, but every July they held the Rendezvous, an annual gathering when furs from wintering posts in Canada were delivered to Grand Portage.

Hundreds of vogageurs came to the Grand Portage and it was a time of great celebration for the voyageurs as well as the Native Americans. The North West Company shipped fur pelts originating from over 100 trading posts through the Grand Portage. In the 1700 and early 1800’s, fur pelts were used for fashionable clothing. Furs for hats made up more than 65% of all English fur imports. Beaver pelts accounted for over 60% of total pelts traded in one season during the height of the Grand Portage between 1785-1802. The use of beaver pelts for hats severely depleted the beaver population in North America, Europe and Russia. In 1793 alone 182,000 beaver pelts passed through the Grand Portage. Beaver was considered the highest quality fur. The Rendezvous was when the voyageurs received their pay for the past year’s work and once the celebration ended the trappers headed out for another season of travel and trade.

The North West Company left the Grand Portage in 1803 when the new United States claimed the area in a border agreement with Canada. The Company knew possibly doing business with the new United States led to issues of citizenship, licensing and import duties they wanted to avoid. Their leaving the area after years of profitable trade with the Indians led to hard times for the Native Americans in what they called “The Starving Times”.

In the early 1800’s there was an intense and sometimes violent rivalry between the North West Company and the Hudson Bay Company for business. The two companies merged in 1821 into the Hudson Bay Company.

In 1958 the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe donated the land to the United States and it became a national monument.

On our last morning in Grand Marais, Bill took some great pictures of a sunrise and found a beaver friend swimming in the bay.

Beavers like to slap the water every now and then

Here are two videos for you to select and view:

Next stop: Ely, Minnesota

Hannibal, MO May 28, 2017

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Our time in St Louis came to an end and we left with great memories of a wonderful and historic city. We drove north to a Corps of Engineers park outside of Hannibal, crossing the Missouri River. The park was located on the Mark Twain Lake, a result of the construction of the Clarence Cannon Dam and Power Plant. The campground was full for the Memorial Day weekend and we were glad to be off the road and away from the holiday traffic.

Our main reason for coming to Hannibal was to see the Mark Twain locations. First we went to the tiny town of Florida, Missouri which was the birthplace of Samuel Clemens who became known as Mark Twain. The population of the tiny town has declined over the years and according to the ranger the current population is four. Yes, she said four!

The Mark Twain Birthplace and Museum, owned by the Missouri State Parks was quite impressive. Mark Twain’s parents moved here from Tennessee in 1835 and Twain was born later that same year in November, two weeks after the appearance of Halley’s Comet.

He died in 1910, one day after Halley’s Comet appeared once again. When Twain was four the family moved to Hannibal which was the inspiration for St Petersburg, the fictional home of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. His birthplace, a two room cabin, was moved to the current site at the museum and the museum was built around the small house.

There were many exhibits on Twain’s life including a handwritten manuscript of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and furnishings from his Hartford, Connecticut home.

Over the course of his life Twain was:

an apprentice for a printer (after quitting school after fifth grade),
riverboat pilot,
miner,
writer,
humorist,
entrepreneur,
publisher
and lecturer.

Twain’s personal life was tragic. Twain’s father died when he was eleven. His only son died at nineteen months, two of his three daughters and his wife Olivia predeceased him.

Twain lost a substantial amount of money on bad investments. His writings and lectures helped him recover financially, including a year long around the world tour in 1895 for the purpose of paying off his debts. We were surprised at the amount of time Twain and his family lived overseas in Europe, mainly England and Austria. Later in life Twain suffered from depression due to the deaths of his wife and children. There are no known descendants.

Afterwards we drove the short distance to the original location of the cabin where a red granite monument marks the spot.

We then drove to Hannibal, population 18,000. Here Mark Twain tourism is evident. There is the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum (privately owned), the Mark Twain Cave and the Mark Twain Riverboat to name a few. In the area were a number of buildings including Becky Thatcher’s house,

reconstructed Huckleberry Finn’s house

and a statue of Tom and Huck.

Hannibal is a pretty little riverboat town and we walked over for a glimpse of the Mississippi River.

Before leaving town we rode by the Molly Brown Birthplace and Museum. Molly was born in Hannibal and is best known as a survivor on the Titanic who helped with the ship’s evacuation and had to be persuaded to get into Lifeboat No. 6. She insisted the boat go back to look for survivors and threatened to throw the crew overboard if they didn’t. She became known as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”. I remember watching a movie by that name starring Debbie Reynolds in 1964 and there have been many movies and musicals about her life.

Next stop: Iowa

St Louis, MO Part 2 May 22, 2017

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Monday morning we were up and out the door early. We had purchased tickets online to take the 11:00 elevator/tram to the top of the Gateway Arch. The drive into the city was surprisingly easy with no traffic backups. We had scoped out parking the day before so we were able to bypass all the construction around the Arch area and pull right into the parking garage.

Currently there is a $380 million construction makeover of the Arch area including a new Plaza, museum and visitors center. We had to go to the Old Courthouse to check in and be sure our online tickets were okay since this is the location of the ticketing center during the construction projects. The Old Courthouse is a beautiful building constructed in 1828 with renovations from 1839-1862. Inside are restored courtrooms and exhibits on the Dred Scott slavery trials where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for and were granted their freedom in 1846 and Virginia Minor fought for women’s rights. A gorgeous cast-iron dome designed after the dome on St Peter’s Basilica in Rome wowed us. The dome was constructed in 1861 at the same time as the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.

We walked seven blocks from the Old Courthouse to the Gateway Arch, stopping to take pictures at the Old Cathedral, consecrated in 1834.

The Gateway Arch by law is the tallest structure in St Louis, the tallest man-made monument in the United States, the highest point in downtown St Louis and one of the most recognized landmarks in the country. It was designed by architect Eero Saarinen and is a monument to President Jefferson and his vision of westward expansion across the continent. Nearly 2.4 million people visit the Gateway Arch each year. The Arch is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, a 90 acre park operated by the National Park System and was designated a national historic site in 1935. It is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, steps from where Lewis and Clark completed their historic journey.

After checking in we waited until our designated time to board the “Journey to the Top”. The ride is composed of barrel shaped tram capsules with five cramped seats in each capsule joining together to form a train like vehicle that runs on tracks inside the hollow legs of the Arch. The capsules remain level during the ride which takes four minutes up and because of gravity three minutes to come back down. The ride design is a combination of a Ferris wheel and elevator technology that carried us 630 feet to the viewing platform at the top of the Arch. At the top is a room with a series of small windows with great views of St Louis and the Mississippi River.

These exhibits were at the bottom of the Arch.

We finished our visit to the Arch by viewing a movie at the Tucker Theater located at the bottom of the Gateway Arch titled “Monument to the Dream”. It is an excellent movie detailing the construction of the 630 foot Arch from February, 1963 until its completion on October 28, 1968. The Arch is made up of stainless steel on the outside, carbon steel on the inside and concrete in the middle.

We grabbed a quick lunch and visited the “Inside the Economy Museum” located inside the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. This Federal Reserve is one of twelve Reserve banks in the U.S. along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. that make up the country’s central bank.

We had to show our driver’s licenses, go through security and get a visitor’s badge. We had hoped there would be a guided tour of the Economy Museum but it was only a self guided tour with movies and exhibits on Global Economy, The Federal Reserve, Markets, Banking, Inflation, etc. One neat thing was a video where that showed opening up a vault door then we could see real Federal Reserve workers handling and counting money which had been brought to the Reserve to be shredded.

We then drove to a neighborhood of St Louis called the Delmar Loop. This is a vibrant, funky and culturally diverse neighborhood. An eight foot tall statue of Chuck Berry is dedicated to the Father of Rock and Roll. Our main reason for coming here was to see the St Louis Walk of Fame, with more than 150 stars dedicated to famous St Louisans and plaques summarizing their achievements and connection to the city. It is much like the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California. We spent some time walking around looking at the stars. Some of the famous people included Betty Grable, Tina Turner, Bob Costas, Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola, John Goodman, Maya Angelou, Phyllis Diller, Vincent Price, Shelley Winters, Charles Lindbergh, and Tennessee Williams. Also along the sidewalk was the Delmar Loop Planet Walk which takes you on a three billion mile walk (2,880 feet) from the Sun to Neptune on the scale model of the solar system with informative markers at each planet.

By this time our Garmin pedometers told us we had walked over five miles so we decided to treat ourselves to custard at the famous “Ted Drewes Frozen Custard” on the way home. This business has been selling frozen custard since 1929 and its location is on a designated section of historic U. S. Route 66. They are known for their “concrete” custard which is so thick that if you turn it upside down it will not fall out of the cup. I had banana and Bill had chocolate and banana flavor. Super good!

“History, by apprising the people of the past, will enable them to judge of the future; it will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of men;” Thomas Jefferson, 1782.

Little Rock & Hot Springs AR May 7, 2017

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Leaving Mississippi behind, we crossed the mighty Mississippi River where we could see evidence of the recent flooding. We skirted around Memphis, luckily passing through on a Saturday morning so the traffic was light. The roads around Memphis were really rough and full of potholes. Quickly we crossed over into the beautiful state of Arkansas. We continued to see a lot of flooded farmland as we traveled towards Little Rock, the capital and largest city in the state. The last time we were in Little Rock in Oct 2013 a government shut down closed the Clinton Presidential Library, so we were looking forward to checking another presidential library off our list.

We arrived at Downtown Riverside RV Park located right in the heart of North Little Rock. It is little more than a parking lot with hookups, but wow, what a location! It is located right on the Arkansas River with views of the Clinton Presidential Library in the distance across the river and a view of the Little Rock skyline.

Pedestrian bridge looking toward campground from the Presidential Library

A walkway from the RV park led to the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge, so the Library was just a short walk away, no need to even drive your car. The Park had security and a gated entrance so we felt safe even though we were in the heart of North Little Rock. At night the bridge was lit up with lights that changed color. Across the Bridge was the Arkansas River Trail, an 88 mile multi-use loop trail perfect for walking or biking. The Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, dedicated on September 11, 2011, is one of Little Rock’s six bridges and connects pedestrians to Little Rock from North Little Rock.

On Sunday we decided to make the drive to Hot Springs to visit Hot Springs National Park. The town of Hot Springs received its name from the rising steam from more than forty boiling springs. Native Americans were drawn to the area during the late 1700s and early 1800s for the healing potions given by the Great Spirit. People today still come for the therapeutic auras and spas. It is also the boyhood home of Bill Clinton.

The springs are found along the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain where thermal water, which is naturally sterile, begins as rainwater. It is absorbed into the mountains and carried 4,000 to 8,000 feet underground where the earth’s extreme heat raises its temperature to 143 F. The purified water makes its way back to the surface through cracks and pores in the form of hot springs. The entire process takes around 4,000 years! The 47 springs have an average daily flow of approximately 750,000 gallons. The water is collected into one central system where it is distributed to bathhouses and drinking fountains. Tub baths as well as fancy spa baths are available for a cost.

In 1832, because of the number of people coming to the area for the medicinal benefits, the federal government set aside the springs and surrounding area as the country’s first park-type federal reservation created to protect a natural resource. In 1921 it became a national park. The park Visitors Center is located in one of eight bathhouses known as Bathhouse Row. The popularity of the springs began to decline in the 1950s.

It was definitely the strangest national park Visitors Center we have ever visited. We parked in a parking garage and walked to the Visitors Center located in the restored Fordyce Bathhouse in the middle of Bathhouse Row. There we found the usual park rangers, a film, exhibits and a self guided tour of 23 restored rooms furnished as they appeared during the height of the area’s popularity. Behind the Visitors Center were display springs where we could feel how hot the water was as it emerges from the ground. We found a couple of geocaches and then wanted to explore more of the natural areas of the park. We drove to the nearby West Mountain Summit Drive where the car wound around Hot Springs Mountain with some nice views of the town below. A short hike in the park took us to another geocache.

Sunday morning before heading to Hot Springs I discovered a rash on my thighs that was very itchy. Bill and I both thought it was bug bites. During our visit in Hot Springs the rash and itching intensified and at times I felt dizzy and lightheaded.

By Monday morning the rash now covered a larger part of my body, the itching was driving me crazy and I was weak and very dizzy. Bill took me to a nearby walk in clinic in North Little Rock. By this time I was so lightheaded I could barely walk from the car to the waiting room. As I walked to the examining room I briefly passed out and was sick to my stomach. As the nurse asked me questions I mentioned that eight days earlier I had been bitten by a tick while hiking at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama. That comment immediately alerted the nurse and doctor who diagnosed my sickness as a tick borne illness. They gave me a shot at the clinic and i was put on Doxycycline antibiotic, Prednisone and an anti nausea medicine. It has taken a week of treatment and excellent care from my wonderful husband for me to start feeling better. The side effects of the Prednisone has been pretty unpleasant as well as the rash. I had no idea a tick bite could make a person so ill. I have heard this is going to be a particularly bad year for ticks. Please check yourself after any outdoor activities and check your pets as well!!

Needless to say our sightseeing in Little Rock did not happen as planned. We drove by places I had hoped to walk around and visit.

One really beautiful place was The Old Mill at T.R. Pugh Memorial Park a short distance from the campground. The Old Mill was built in 1933 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was never a real working mill but was built to be a replica of an old water powered grist mill that was in service in Arkansas in the early 1800s as a tribute to Arkansas pioneers. What caught my attention was it was used in the opening scene of the 1939 classic film “Gone With the Wind” and is the last standing structure from the film. The Old Mill was honored on the 50th anniversary of the film and was the site of the unveiling of the Gone With the Wind commemorative stamp.

It is truly a gorgeous setting. I made it to the mill bridge while Bill went inside and looked around.

We drove by the state capitol building, something we try to do in all capital cities. Constructed between 1899 and 1911, I had hoped to see the six doors at the front of the building up close. They are made of four inch thick bronze fashioned by Tiffany of New York . In the early 20th century they cost $10,000 each. Today all six would cost 1.5 million. The capital grounds also include many memorials and monuments. All that will have to wait for another visit.

Bill toured the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. Located in the historic tower of the Old Arsenal which was built in 1840 as part of a frontier military post, it is the birthplace of General Douglas MacArthur and a National Historic Landmark. MacArthur was born here while his father was stationed at the arsenal. It houses exhibits of Arkansas military history from Territorial days to the present as well as exhibits about the Civil War, World War I and World War II.

Bill’s Grandfather Robert Tucker served with the Rainbow Division

The main reason we came to Little Rock was to see another presidential library, in this case the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. The original plan was to leave the car at the RV park and walk across the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge with its magnificent river views of Little Rock. But a tiny little Alabama tick had other plans for me so we drove over instead. The glass building projects over the Arkansas River representing a “bridge to the 21st century”. There is 20,000 square feet of exhibition space including the largest collection of presidential archives and artifacts in U.S. history. Also included are replicas of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. There is a penthouse suite above the museum where President Clinton often stays.

We began our visit with a twelve minute film about President Clinton’s life and political career before touring the museum. I sat on a lot of benches but Bill was able to spend time looking at the exhibits.

We liked Little Rock very much and there is certainly much to see and do there. It certainly deserves another visit in the future.

Next stop: Bentonville, Arkansas to see my Aunt Shirley!

Summer Travels Begin, Farewell FLA, April 2017

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This blog has been delayed due to my being under the weather. It is from back in late April, but we didn’t want you to miss any of our travels, so bear with us as we catch up!

As our time in Florida came to a close, we reflected on arriving in Florida the beginning of November. We began in the Panhandle and gradually worked our way counterclockwise around Florida. We spent time with family and friends, had a major repair on the RV and completed our yearly physicals. We counted many many alligators along the way and took our first airboat and swamp buggy rides. Now it was time for our last stop in Florida. We stayed three nights in Jacksonville and very much enjoyed visiting my Uncle Bill, Aunt Peggy and cousins. We also managed to meet an old friend of Bill’s and his wife for dinner one evening. Bill met a Boy Scout childhood friend he hadn’t seen in fifty years for coffee on Saturday morning and really enjoyed reminiscing and catching up.

Aunt Peggy and Uncle Bill

Rachel, Sarah, Peggy and Becky

And with that, our winter travels in Florida ended and our summer travels began!

First stop was in Cordele, Georgia for two nights so we could visit Bill’s cousins nearby. Always nice to visit these sweet, lovely ladies!

Bill and 2nd Cousin Helen

Shirley (Ruby’s daughter), Bill and his 2nd Cousin Ruby

While in the area we made the short drive to Fitzgerald, Georgia to visit the Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site. The museum was closed that day but we did walk around the thirteen acre historic site in the beautiful Georgia countryside. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a few men crossed the Savannah River into Georgia on May 3, 1865. Davis was headed to unite rebel forces and continue the fight. On May 9, 1865 they camped in this pine forest, unaware they were being pursued and the enemy was close. At dawn they were captured by two groups of Union cavalry. Strangely, the two Union forces were not aware of each other and briefly shot at each other, killing two Union cavalrymen. Davis was taken prisoner and held in Virginia for two years until he was released. A monument marks the spot he was captured. We really enjoyed our visit here but the Georgia gnats were vicious!

Next up we said farewell to Georgia and hello to Alabama. We spent four nights at the huge and beautiful Wind Creek State Park in Alexander City. Our final days in Florida had been such a whirlwind we spent the time here resting, stocking up at Walmart, picking up our mail at the local post office, doing laundry at the park’s nice air conditioned laundry room and catching up on monthly paperwork. We did drive over to the 2,040 acre Horseshoe Bend National Military Park in Daviston, Alabama. It is the site of Andrew Jackson’s victory over the Red Stick Creeks, a faction of the Creek Nation in the horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa River. This was the last battle of the Creek War of 1813-1814 and resulted in the Treaty of Fort Jackson which gave 23 million acres of Creek land, half of their land, to the United States. Today, three fifths of that land is now Alabama and one fifth is what is now Georgia. It also brought national fame and recognition to Andrew Jackson, his first step on the road to the White House. Nine months later (1815) Jackson defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans, the last battle of the War of 1812. In 1828 Jackson was elected president and two years later signed the Indian Removal Bill, requiring southeastern tribes to move west of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) leading to what the Cherokees called the “Trail of Tears”.

I think this is definitely one of the lesser visited national parks but the ranger was very friendly and we toured the exhibits at the visitors center and watched their twenty minute movie about the Creek culture and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. There is a three mile loop drive with five stops where exhibits describe different events. We enjoyed the beautiful drive and found several geocaches. On the way home as we crossed the Tallapoosa River, Bill noticed hundreds of turtles sunning on rocks.

One funny story about our stay here. Our first day in the park we heard birds walking on our roof. They sometimes do this when they are looking for food. Back in November we were having the same problem and we could occasionally hear them pecking the roof. Bill bought a large fake owl. It is very lifelike and you fill the inside with small rocks to keep it stable. We named him Hootie and when Bill placed Hootie on the roof we had no more bird problems. So once again Bill got out Hootie and placed him on the roof of the RV. That night we kept hearing an owl hooting. He kept at it until we finally fell asleep. We think the owl was trying to talk to Hootie! We had the same thing happen when we used Hootie in Clearwater. That time the hooting of the owl drew the neighbors and us outside where we saw it in a tree until we spooked it and it flew away. Yes, Hootie looks very real and draws owl friends!

We really enjoyed our time at this lovely Alabama State Park. Well done, Alabama!

Next we headed to Clear Creek Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest outside of Jasper, Alabama. Bad weather was headed that way so we left Wind Creek State Park early, drove through Birmingham on a quiet Sunday and arrived at Clear Creek under a tornado watch. We just settled in before the heavy rain started. Fortunately the extreme weather stayed away and we just had about an inch of rain during the evening and through the night. We were greeted the next morning with beautiful clear blue sunny skies, pleasant temperatures and a steady breeze. We loved being able to open up the windows and letting the breeze in. While here we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary with dinner at home and a bottle of Asti.

While at Clear Creek we went geocaching in an interesting area of the park. One tricky geocache was located under these rocky overhangs, which served as shelters for prehistoric people for 10,000 years in this part of the United States. During the Civil War this county seceded from the Confederacy and many people forced from their homes sought refuge here. This geocache required some rock climbing which always makes me nervous so Bill found it without my help.

After a three night stay, just relaxing and enjoying the forest, we headed to Chewalla Lake Recreation Area in the Holly Springs National Forest outside of Holly Springs, Mississippi. As we crossed the border into Mississippi we stopped at the Mississippi Welcome Center. It was the prettiest Welcome Center we had ever stopped at with lovely antique furniture and paintings of Robert E Lee and Jefferson Davis. There was definitely an Elvis presence to emphasize the fact that Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

General Robert E. Lee

President Jefferson Davis

Our campsite at Chewalla Lake in the Holly Springs National Forest was almost empty and very quiet. We considered driving an hour east to Tupelo to tour Elvis’s birthplace or driving an hour south to Oxford to see the home of the famous author William Faulkner while we were in the area, but both days it rained and the temperature hovered around 50 degrees. We just couldn’t get motivated to get in the car and do any driving and sightseeing in those conditions. We did make the short drive into Holly Springs to pick up some supplies at Walmart. We also managed to grab two easy geocaches so we could add some Mississippi geocaches to our total.

Next stop is Little Rock, Arkansas where the drama got real!

Miami, FL Part 2 March 4, 2017

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This blog continues with more of our time in Miami. Even though it was Spring Break time for college students, we decided to drive to Miami Beach. Rather than taking the interstate or turnpike, we took the scenic route Old Cutler Road. The drive was beautiful with huge trees including banyan trees as well as azaleas in full bloom. When we entered the Miami Beach city limits we began to see cruise ships and the traffic picked up. We drove down Ocean Drive and as expected it was pretty crazy with throngs of scantily clad college students crowding the restaurants, roadways and beach. We drove to the northern end of Miami Beach where it seemed a little calmer and after only a little time stalking for a spot, we found a parking space. There was a very nice boardwalk sheltered from the sun and we found walking on it much more appealing than the crowded beach in the hot sun. Pictures sometimes really are worth a thousand words so I will let the pictures do the talking. One college student from Kentucky managed to get in Bill’s picture. He told us he hated going back home to the cold weather the next day. He said he had had a great time in Miami but had also made some bad decisions. Sounds like stories I don’t want to know! Along the boardwalk we passed big hotels including The Fountainebleau, featured in the 1964 James Bond movie “Goldfinger”.

On our last day in the Miami area we visited the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. The museum is on the site of the former Naval Air Station Richmond, the largest coastline airship base built for World War II. The museum featured exhibits of passenger cars, locomotives, freight cars and cabooses. Many of the trains were open to tour and some had exhibits inside on the history of train travel. Our main reason for wanting to visit the museum was to see the Ferdinand Magellan, a National Historic Landmark and the Pullman car built for President Franklin Roosevelt and used by the president beginning in December, 1942. The train also carried Roosevelt’s body back to Washington after his death. The car has four bedrooms, a dining room and an observation lounge. There is 5/8 inch steel armor plating, three inch bullet proof glass and two escape hatches, one in the ceiling of the observation lounge and the other in the side wall of the shower in the presidential bathroom in the center of the train. At one time there was a special elevator installed on the platform for Roosevelt’s wheelchair but that was removed after his death. This train was also the location where Truman held up the famous newspaper headline declaring “Dewey Defeats Truman”. Four presidents used the train, with the last official use ending in 1954. Ronald Reagan used the train for one day in 1984 during his presidential campaign as part of a whistle stop tour. Due to extreme deterioration of the interior, tours of the inside have been very limited. But we asked about seeing the inside and the guide graciously offered to unlock the door and let us walk through. It was amazing to walk through the car and imagine the history that unfolded there. The guide told us Roosevelt’s casket was placed on the dining room table and we could visualize presidents waving from the platform. The inside smelled very old and much restoration still needs to be done to preserve this piece of history. According to the museum’s brochure they are waiting for funding.

We ended our last day in Miami by having dinner at Casavana, an excellent Cuban restaurant.

From Bill Baggs State Park to Biscayne National Park to touring Miami Beach to historic Gold Coast Railroad Museum, we had a great time in Miami!!

Next stop: Fort Lauderdale

Miami, FL Part 1 March 4, 2017

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We reluctantly said farewell to our alligator friends at Big Cypress National Preserve and headed towards Miami. Fortunately we moved the day before smoke from wildfires blanketed the Big Cypress National Preserve. We encountered some road construction and then arrived at our destination for the next fifteen days, Larry and Penny Thompson Memorial Park located in South Miami Heights. This is a large, popular county park located about twenty miles south of downtown Miami. It is so popular that reservations are very hard to get, as are many parks in southern Florida in the winter.

Our campground, as is all of Miami, is located in a culturally diverse community. One quickly feels like the minority in this area of south Florida. Miami has changed quite a bit since it was once called “The Magic City” and was viewed as a winter playground for the rich and famous. Between 1960 and 2000 the Miami metro area grew by 141%, with a large number being people from Cuba as well as Puerto Rico and many foreign countries.

On Wednesday we drove over to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. We enjoyed the beautiful views located in the park. Juan Ponce de Leon called the area Cape of Florida when he landed here on his first Spanish expedition to Florida in 1513. The park is home to a lighthouse built in 1825 and reconstructed in 1846. It is the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County. Near the lighthouse is a reconstructed lighthouse keeper’s house, Bill and I enjoyed the nice water views from the rocking chairs on the front porch.

From the Biscayne Bay side of the park, we had views of the remains of what was once Stiltsville, a group of wood shacks built on stilts. It is believed the first shack was built in 1933 toward the end of Prohibition by Crawfish Eddie Walker. He built the shack for gambling which was legal a mile offshore. A few years later two of Eddie’s friends built shacks on stilts and between shipwrecks and channel dredging, more people built stilt shacks. Newspapers began calling the area “the shacks” or the “Shack Colony” and in the 1940’s and 1950’s it was a popular place for lawyers, bankers and politicians to drink and relax, including Florida Governor LeRoy Collins. Various social clubs were built on stilts shacks and when rumors of gambling persisted, the clubs were raided in 1949 but no evidence of gambling was ever found. Crawfish Eddie’s shack was destroyed by Hurricane King in 1950. Most of the remainder structures were damaged by Hurricane Donna in 1960. In 1965 the state required shack owners to pay $100 annually to lease their “campsites”. No new construction was permitted, no commercial leases, and no shacks more than 50% damaged could be rebuilt. In 1980 the area fell within the boundary of Biscayne National Park. The leases were still honored. At the beginning of 1992 there were fourteen shacks but after Hurricane Andrew struck that same year, only seven remained. The Stiltsville Trust was formed in 2003 to save the remaining structures with caretakers doing periodic maintenance and park personnel installing hurricane strapping to try to prevent damage from major storms, all in an effort to save the historic structures. Over the years Stiltsville has been the setting for movies, TV shows and books.

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch where we were visited by some new friends. We then went down to the beach and enjoyed dipping our toes in the Atlantic Ocean. We enjoyed the views of Miami during the drive over and back.

Another day we drove to Biscayne National Park. This park is located thirty-five miles south of Miami International Airport, twenty-one miles east of the Everglades, and is the northernmost part of the Florida Keys. First established as a monument in 1968 and later as a national park in 1980, it is made up of 181,500 acres, with only 5% of the park land. The other 95% of the park is submerged or made up of small islands only accessible by boat. It is a paradise of crystal clear aquamarine waters and lush seabeds. It is composed of the longest stretch of mangrove forest on Florida’s east coast and part of the world’s third longest coral reef tract. We drove to the land part of the park at Convoy Point and visited the Dante Farrell Visitors Center where we saw an excellent film on the park’s ecosystems. We walked along the boardwalk where we saw a stingray, barracuda, schools of fish and views of a distant Miami.

In the next blog we will continue our explorations of Miami.

Big Cypress National Preserve & Shark Valley, March 1, 2017

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We left Wauchula after a sixteen day stay and headed south to Big Cypress National Preserve. As we got closer to our campground we began counting alligators in the canals alongside the road. We arrived for a four night stay at Midway Campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve, a nice campground arranged around a small lake. The campground has electric sites with water and a dump station nearby.

Big Cypress National Preserve was the first national preserve in the National Park System. It is a 729,000 acre wilderness of cypress swamps, prairies and wooded regions. It is home to a multitude of wildlife including bobcats and the Florida panther.

On Thursday we visited the Oasis Visitor Center with a boardwalk viewing area where we saw many alligators. We drove down through Everglades City to Chokoloskee with beautiful water views. On the way back to the campground we went on a sixteen mile scenic drive looking for alligators. It took a couple hours to drive the sixteen miles since the road was gravel and like a washboard in many places. It was very dusty and made quite a mess of the car! In the beginning we didn’t see many alligators and as we neared the end of the drive we thought we had wasted our time. But the last few miles were loaded with alligators sunbathing and lounging on the banks and along the side of the road. They really didn’t seem to be bothered with us and ignored us. A park ranger told us they are most active at night. It appears they do most of their hunting and eating at night. During the day they are lazy and sleep while basking in the sun. Final alligator total for this day was 66.

Friday we had reservations to ride the tram at Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. First of all, Shark Valley does not have sharks. It is predominantly a fresh water sawgrass prairie that floods each year to become a shallow thirty mile wide river. This water flows south into the Shark River which was named for the bull sharks found at the mouth of the river. Shark Valley lies between two higher ridges making the area a valley. So because it is a valley that flows into the Shark River, it is called Shark Valley.

The first thing we did at Shark Valley was ride the tram. For $19 each we had a two hour, fifteen mile tram ride around Shark Valley guided by a park ranger. We saw many alligators, turtles and just as many birds, including an egret nest with two babies. We rode by some baby alligators and didn’t have a chance to really see them, so after the ride was over we walked a mile back to get a better view. The mother was guarding her babies so we were afraid to get too close. Since this is the dry season, many of the alligators were sunning themselves on the banks, sometime right at the edge of the roadway.

After leaving Shark Valley we took a different scenic drive home. We didn’t see many alligators, but the final alligator count for Shark Valley and the scenic drive was 106!

We certainly enjoyed our time in this area. Next stop: Miami.

Nov 5, 2016 Conecuh National Forest, ALA

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On Oct 24th we left Stone Mountain and headed to Cartersville, Georgia (way northwest of Atlanta) so we could visit Bill’s sister-in-law, niece and her husband and children in nearby Acworth. It was a nice campground except the campsites were 300 yards from an active train track. Trains ran frequently day and night and never failed to blow their horns. For that reason we shortened our stay from three nights to two. One day we drove over to Rome so Bill could do some genealogy research at the public library. The lady who could have been the most assistance was out due to the death of her husband so the research Bill did was not very fruitful. Rome is named for Rome, Italy. Last spring when we were in Italy we saw the famous statue of the Capitoline wolf with Romulus and Remus brothers feeding like baby wolves. Rome, Georgia has a likeness of the statue in front of their City Hall.
After leaving Cartersville on Oct 26th we spent a delightful four days at a Corps of Engineer park in West Point, Georgia (north of Columbus Georgia). It was a struggle to get satellite tv but Bill worked his magic and we settled into a great site with a view of West Point Lake through the trees. After a busy several weeks of visiting family and friends and sightseeing, it was great to just relax in the beautiful, peaceful setting.
Our next stop was supposed to be a privately owned campground in Hope Hull, Alabama south of Montgomery. We pulled into the campground in the early afternoon of Sunday, October 30 and knew we would not be staying. The campground sat right next to the interstate with a view of the cars whizzing by. We knew we would never be able to sleep and there was no good reason to stay in the area. Bill quickly got online and with no other decent campgrounds in the area, he found a national forest with campsites about an hour and a half toward our route to Florida. We didn’t know what to expect from this national forest campground with electric and water hookups, but we had no other choice and nothing to lose. We can pretty much deal with anything for one night as long as we feel safe.
We pulled into the Open Pond Recreation Area in the Conecuh National Forest in southern Alabama, about fifteen miles from the Alabama/Florida line. We immediately fell in love with this beautiful campground, large campsites and a view of a lake. With Bill’s America the Beautiful senior national park pass, the nightly camping fee was a whopping $8.00. Best of all the campground was quiet and peaceful with a beautiful view. After one night we canceled our reservation in Niceville, Florida and decided to stay here seven nights instead of three.
On Monday we drove to Niceville to see our dear friends June and Randy. June is a great cook and we had a delicious dinner and lovely visit with them. On Friday we returned to Niceville to have dinner once again with June, Randy, their son Chris and grandson Preston. June fixed another amazing dinner and we played a game of dominoes.
We left their house around 9:00 P.M. for the hour and a half drive home. Most of the drive home was through wooded areas. We saw deer along the way with their eyes glowing in the headlights. Near the Florida/Alabama line a car going in the opposite direction flashed his lights at us. The car in front of us slowed down and we could see at least two deer in the road in front of us. The deer moved to the side of the road and the car went by. Just as we passed the deer, one of them decided to run across the road in front of us and we hit it. Bill stopped the car and put on the emergency flashers and got out to check. It was pitch black dark, not a light in sight. He didn’t see the deer and he did not see any damage to the car so we continued home, both shaken and nervous about the rest of the trip. We finally made it home and were very grateful the deer incident wasn’t worse. Bill checked the car the next morning and there is minor damage to the right front fender.
Sunday, Nov 6th we head to a series of Florida Panhandle beach campgrounds on the Gulf of Mexico for much of November. We are really looking forward to being in our home state and near the water again.

Oct 1, 2016 Gettysburg, PA

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Our last stop in Pennsylvania was at Gettysburg Farm – Thousand Trails about thirty minutes from the Gettysburg Battlefield. This campground is a charming working farm and we were delighted to interact with some of the friendly farm animals. They anticipated being fed and would come running when they saw people.
We were last at Gettysburg in 2010 for a long weekend. At that time we did an extensive tour of the battlefield using an auto driving tour. So on this trip we were interested in seeing the Eisenhower National Historic Site. Dwight and Mamie only owned one home, the Gettysburg Farm they purchased in 1950 at the end of his thirty year military career; he rose to the rank of five star general. During his two terms as our 34th president they used the farm as a weekend retreat. World leaders and dignitaries from around the world visited them where President Eisenhower used the laid back charm of the property to encourage friendly talks. During Eisenhower’s heart attack in 1955 the farm served as a temporary White House. When President and Mrs. Eisenhower left the White House in 1961, it became their retirement home where the President enjoyed painting and raising Angus cattle. They gave their home to the federal government in 1967 with the understanding that they both be allowed to live there until their deaths.
After buying tickets at the Gettysburg Visitors Center we rode a bus for the fifteen minute trip to the farm where a guide met us for part of the tour. The view from the farm was absolutely beautiful. We saw the helicopter landing field where dignitaries would land and be greeted by Eisenhower in his golf cart. He would take his guests for a ride around the farm to “break the ice” before heading to the house.
The house today is much like it was when the Eisenhowers lived here, and Angus cattle still graze in the fields. The house has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms and Mamie’s favorite color, pink, is throughout the house. Even though the house has many bedrooms and baths, it did not feel that large and had a modest look. Most of the furnishings are original and the living room showcases the many gifts received by the Eisenhowers in the White House. At that time of the 34th President, gifts received while president could be kept. The Eisenhowers spent little time in the living room, preferring to stay on the porch, his favorite room where they watched TV and Eisenhower pursued his hobby of oil painting. It is in this relaxed homey room that he entertained Khrushchev and De Galle.
The farm also includes a Secret Service Office, a guest house, a small putting green, an 1887 barn, several farming sheds, a cattle show barn and a garage with his presidential limousine, a station wagon he drove around Gettysburg, and several golf carts including the Surrey With the Fringe on Top golf cart he used to show guests around the farm.
One funny story is Eisenhower was always chauffeured around during his military career and presidency. He did not get a driver’s license until the age of 70 after he retired. Evidently he was not a very good driver. Before he and Mrs. Eisenhower would leave to have dinner at their favorite restaurant in Gettysburg, he would call the restaurant owner and have him go outside and block off several parking spaces in front of the restaurant so the President would not have trouble parking.
President Eisenhower died in 1969 and Mamie continued to live at the farm until her death in 1979 at the age of 82. They are both buried at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas.
After completing our tour of the Eisenhower Farm, we did spend the rest of the afternoon driving around some of the 24 miles of the Gettysburg Battlefield. It is such a beautiful, peaceful place that it is hard to comprehend the suffering and agony that occurred on this hallowed ground. The battle began on July 1, 1863, continued for three days, and the casualties were high. On July 3rd, Confederate General Robert E. Lee lost over 5,000 soldiers in ONE HOUR. When both armies marched away from Gettysburg, over 51,000 soldiers were dead, wounded or missing. More men died during the Battle of Gettysburg than in any other battle on American soil before or since. At first the soldiers were buried in hastily dug graves, or not at all. Four months after the battle, re-interment began on seventeen acres that became known as Soldiers’ National Cemetery. On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg for dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. There he gave a speech which became known as the Gettysburg Address.