Author: Wandering Dawgs

Happily married 55 years, retired baby boomer, mother of 2, grandmother of 4, traveler, Georgia Bulldog fan, Air Force Brat, avid reader, amateur photographer, gardener, ovarian cancer survivor, blogger. Every day is a gift!

Remembering our 2013 Travels

Posted in Birds, Florida, Georgia, RVing, State Parks, Sunset, United States Forest ServiceTagged , , , , , 5 Comments

Happy New Year!! 2013 was a great year for wandering!

This year we checked off one of the biggest items on our bucket list: from May to September we made the trip of a lifetime to Alaska and back in our RV. In the fall we visited a beautiful COE park in West Point, Georgia. I’ve already posted about those trips in previous posts on this blog so here are a few photos from our January 2013 journey to south Georgia and North Florida.

We started 2013 with a short trip to three different parks. The first was Little Ocmulgee State Park in Helena, Georgia.

Little Ocmulgee Lake, January, 2013
View out back window Little OcmulgeeState Park, Georgia
Cypress Swamp on the Short Loop Trail at Little Ocmulgee State Park, January, 2013

Our main destination was a week in the United States Forest Service campground in Salt Springs, Florida.

Egret at Salt Springs, January, 2013
Fish jumping at Salt Springs, January, 2013
From the boat ride through Salt Springs Run, January, 2013
A great place to beach the boat at the end of Salt Springs Run, January, 2013
Sunset at Salt Springs, January, 2013

Our final stop was at one of our favorite parks, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, Florida.

The Carillon at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, January, 2013
Way down upon the Suwanee River at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, January, 2103

So where do think we will be off to in 2014? Stay tuned for more.

Wandering Dawgs Wander Again

Posted in Birds, COE Park, Georgia, RVing, Sunset, WildlifeTagged , , , , , , 14 Comments

Not all of our wandering is to far away places like Alaska or the Yukon. Sometimes we wander close to home. On Monday, we hitched up the Titanium for a road trip to Auburn, Alabama to watch the south’s oldest football rivalry between Georgia and Auburn this coming Saturday. We decided to take a few extra days and explore a new to us Corps of Engineers park on West Point Lake in West Point, Georgia just off of I-85 near the Georgia/Alabama line. It’s great traveling during the week during the off season. We are almost the only ones here.

R Schaefer Heard COE Campground on West Point Lake Site 113
View out the back window site 113 R Schaefer Heard on West Point Lake, GA

We spent three relaxing nights in site 113 in the campground with no other campers in our loop. The trees were wearing their fall colors and the sunsets were spectacular.

West Point Lake, Georgia
Fall Colors on West Point Lake, Georgia
Beautiful Fall Colors across from our campsite
Sunset on West Point Lake, Georgia
Foggy morning on West Point Lake
Morning Fog
West Point Dam is a short drive from the campground
Looking at our campsite from across the lake
Floating dock next to the boat ramp
Another beautiful sunset on West Point Lake

Our only neighbors were the geese.

Gathering of geese behind our campsite
Geese on West Point Lake
The geese swam by our campsite
We watched the geese in front of our campsite

R Schaefer Heard Campground on West Point Lake is one of three Corps of Engineers campgrounds on the lake. Our site is about 40 feet from the lake and like most COE parks we have a large site with plenty of room between our site and the ones on either side.  Our site is a paved, back in site with water and electric hookups, a tent pad, fire ring, picnic table and a beautiful lake view. For more information about the park or to make reservations you can go the Recreation.gov site for R Schaefer Heard

Stubbs the Cat, Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska

Posted in Alaska, Tourist AttractionsTagged , , 1 Comment
Stubbs the mayor cat

We met Stubbs, the cat who is the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, when we were browsing in one of the shops in Talkeetna in July, 2013. Stubbs was adapted by the manager of Nagley’s General Store in 1997 and has served as honorary Mayor for 16 years.

Stubbs lives at Nagley's Store in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska
Stubbs lives at Nagley’s Store in downtown Talkeetna, Alaska

Stubbs is now recovering from a dog attack that occurred on August 31. We found out about the attack by accident when Henry came across an article in the Wall Street Journal from October 15 about Stubbs.

After the attack Stubbs spent nine days in a veterinary hospital and is now recuperating in a room above the general store. People from all over the world have donated money to help pay for his hospital bills.

After reading the article in the Wall Street Journal, I did a search and found other articles about the attack in USA Today, Time and the Anchorage Daily News.

Favorite Canadian Memories

Posted in Alberta, British Columbia, Glaciers, Road Trip, RVing, Wildlife, YukonTagged , , , , 4 Comments

I recently posted our Favorite Alaska Memories so now it is time to post our favorite memories of traveling through Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon Territory. We spent 23 nights in Canada and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, and friendly Canadian people.

We started our travels in Canada by spending almost a week in Alberta in Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.

Elk by the side of the road in Banff National Park
Elk on the Bow Valley Parkway
Lake Louise
Moraine Lake
Peyto Lake is a much deeper turquoise than the other lakes along the parkway
Elk near our campsite in Jasper

We saw lots of wildlife as we drove through British Columbia on the Alaska Highway before arriving in Alaska for the first time.

Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway! in Dawson Creek, BC
Stone Sheep on the Alaska Highway
Caribou on the Alaska Highway
Moose on the Alaska Highway
Bison herd with calves near Liard River Hotsprings

After a week in Alaska we drove through Canada to Dawson City, Yukon and across the Top of the World Highway before returning to Alaska.

Black Bear beside the road in British Columbia
Panning for gold in Dawson City, Yukon
View on the Top of the World Highway

Our journey back to the lower 48 took us along the Cassier Highway through British Columbia.

Sunrise at Burwash Landing, Yukon Territory
Salmon Glacier in British Columbia about 17 miles past Hyder, Alaska
Bear Glacier near Stewart, BC

For a map of our entire journey be sure to check out Our Route. And for a list of all the campgrounds where we stayed check out our Campground List.

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