Chicot Lake State Park, Lake Village AR

Tonight’s camping spot is just over the Mississippi border into Arkansas. We’ve stayed here before and kayaked on Lake Chicot. That was not going to happen this time. It was cold and raining. 

The bridge across the Mississippi. You can tell by the sky that we didn’t have any blue sky. 

Lake Chicot. Lots of bald cypress trees. 

Still searching for warmer temps and also SUN, we are headed to Louisiana. It’s another state we haven’t camped in before. Driving there in the rain AGAIN. 

Still hunting flip fop weather - headed to Tuscaloosa AL

A foggy start as we got up to prepare to leave and head farther south to Alabama. 

Next stop, Adgar, Alabama. This is one state we needed to stay so we could add it to our list of states. The campground we chose is a Core of Engineer campground. Since we have our Senior America the Beautiful Pass, we pay half of the cost which was $15/ night with water and electric hookups. 

Burchfield Branch Campground is part of a lock and dam on the river. We saw one barge, but didn’t get to see it enter the lock. 

That’s the dam and the lock. 

We hiked a little through the campground. It’s a beautiful setting, quiet, peaceful with NO cell service. Had to drive about 30 minutes to find cell coverage. We both got a lot of reading done. 

Our big entertainment was watching turtles sunning themselves on logs in the river. 

At one point, we counted 10 on one log. 

Yes, I did say sun!  Definitely flip flop weather with 73 degrees. Didn’t get cold in the night either BUT it poured again throughout the night. 

Next stop will be on the Mississippi/Arkansas border. 

Going farther south to Appling Georgia

After about 7 hours on the road, which includes gas and pee stops, we pulled into Wildwood County Park in Appling Georgia. 

We really did well picking this campground, 3 nights with hookups for $60. Gorgeous lake and warmer temps. The nights are in the 30s and days are in the 60s

When we pulled into the campground, our neighbor came over and said they heard a sound coming from the camper. I drove the camper around the camp loop while Bill jogged beside me listening. He found that the wheel cover was loose. That’s tightened now. Next issue Bill has been troubleshooting is the hot water heater won’t light on propane. As long as we are plugged into electric, we have hot water. After listening to some YouTube videos, he’ll dive into the problem. 

Some pics right from our campsite

Can you spot the deer. I think we had 7 deer about 30 yards from camper. 

Morning sunrise. 

Banjo isn’t quite ready to get up yet. 

A nice bike and hike trail from the campground. 

Bill’s new toy. Hoping for s’mores tonight!

Bills been working on the hot water heater since lunch. So far he can’t find the problem. Since this is a weekend and we have electric and have hot water, we’re going to wait till Monday to contact a mobile RV repair. 

Nice campground. There is an International Disc Golf Center. 

Wish it would have been warmer to get the kayaks on the lake. BUT we did have two fires (not quite a Lew Shuffstall fire), several nice hikes and time for Bill to grill steaks. 

Headed for warmer temps

After all the snow and ice in Central PA, we decided to head out early to find warmer temps. Draper Village in Draper , VA is usually our first stop when we head south. We stayed here several times. In the past we’ve been able to hike on the New River Rail to Trail. Unfortunately, the first night wasn’t much warmer and  it raining when we stopped. No hiking this time.

Draper Village has a Mercantile where we had breakfast. A couple of quotes on the wall caught my eye. 

And of course the 12’ chicken that marks where we turn to park. 

They also have a labyrinth that is used by some to meditate. 

 During the night, we could hear the wind whistling outside. Hopefully those winds stop as we head farther south to Georgia. 

Thanksgiving with the Cali Kids

It’s almost become a tradition to spend Thanksgiving with Drew, Erin, Shannon, and Carl. AND I love it. I so enjoy being in their lives as they do the things they love to do. 

The weather was so nice, temps in the 70s so a walk around Drew and Erin's neighborhood with Winnie started us off. Look at those beautiful leaves. 

Guess we tired out Winnie. 

And a rare sunset from Drew's back yard was a perfect end to the first day. 

Decorating for Christmas and waiting for Shannon to come down for our Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Carl had to work overnight so we missed him. 

We visited 2 wineries while Shan was with us - E-16 and Turley's. Great tasting wines and relaxation. 

Then Drew and Erin handed me off to Shannon and off we went to Nevada City. We took a hike along the Yuba River and found where Santa relaxes. Look in the lower left-hand corner of the one picture. Yep, Santa is naked, soaking up the sun. I guess even Santa has to relax somewhere. 

Next it was time for Shan, Carl, Bandit and Jax and I to head up toward Truckee to cut down their Christmas tree from the Sierra Nevada forest. So much fun and what a great idea for the forest service to allow this to help with forest management. 

On the way home, another sunset. 

Decorating the tree was next. Loved looking at the ornaments Shan has collected over the years. 

Another hike among the trees in the Sierras. It was gorgeous. 

It was time for me to spend more time with Drew and Erin so Shan and I met them at a brewery in Auburn. 

While Erin taught at Pure Barre, Drew and I walked around Old Sacramento. The city has done such a nice job restoring the buildings to give us a glimpse at what Sacramento looked like in the 1800s 

Demolition Derby time in Cumberland Maryland

Ryan and Bo we’re doing their Derby thing, so we stopped on our way back home. Lew, Denise, Lloyd and Vilma joined us. It was a cold, rainy and very muddy weekend. The good news is that Bo won the derby and took home $15,000. Not bad for a weekend. 

This is Ryan's car. 


A couple other cars that took my eye.