RVing – Page 14 – Wandering Dawgs

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Missouri

May 12, 2017September 29, 2017Posted in Historic Sites, Missouri, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around AmericaTagged Cape Giradeau, Gateway Arch, Hannibal, Harry Truman Lake, Lake of the Ozarks, Mark Twain, Mississippi River, St. Louis, Trail of Tears State Park10 Comments

State 23:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Missouri

Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821. The capital is Jefferson City.

From the Mississippi River to the Lake of the Ozarks and many places in between, we had great adventures while in Missouri.

High on our bucket list of things to see in Missouri was the Gateway Arch at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis. Henry rode the elevator up to the top of the arch while I strolled along outside. We hopped on the MetroLink to explore some of the other sights in the city.

Gateway Arch

Looking up at the Gateway Arch

Gateway Arch as seen from across the river in Illinois

Old Courthouse in St. Louis

St. Louis Union Station

St. Louis Cardinals Busch Stadium

Gateway Arch Riverboat on the mighty Mississippi River

St. Louis Cardinal baseball stadium during a home game as seen from the top of the Gateway Arch

What fun it was to explore Hannibal and see so many places where Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer had their adventures.

Tom and Huck Statue at the foot of Cardiff Hill

Mark Twain’s boyhood home and Tom Sawyer’s Fence

Lover’s Leap on the Mississippi in Hannibal, Missouri

We took a ride up the Mississippi River on the Mark Twain Riverboat

Mark Twain Cave

We climbed 244 steps up Cardiff Hill to the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse

Harry Truman State Park was a great place for camping and taking a walk on a nature trail.

Great Blue Heron on Harry Truman Lake

On the Western Wildflower Train in Harry Truman State Park

Our home base for visiting Branson was Table Rock State Park.

Rocky Bluff near Table Rock Dam

Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede

Lake Taneycomo near Branson, MO

One fall we planned a trip to Missouri to attend a football game at the University of Missouri in Columbia. In addition to enjoying a football weekend we also camped beside the Mississippi River at Trail of Tears State Park, enjoyed the spectacular fall colors at Lake of the Ozarks and went shopping at the first Bass Pro Shop in Springfield.

Moon rising over the Mississippi River at Trail of Tears State Park

Barge going down the river at sunset — A barge went by right before sunset at Trail of Tears State Park

There are 24 different Mississippi River Tales Murals on the floodwall in Cape Giradeau

University of Missouri Logo in the grass at the Mizzou Stadium

Fall Colors at Lake of the Ozarks — Fall colors at Lake of the Ozarks

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Mississippi

April 29, 2017March 15, 2025Posted in Mississippi, National Parks, RVing, Wandering around AmericaTagged America the Beautiful, beach, Buccaneer State Park, Greenville MS, Mississippi Delta, Mississippi River, Oxford, tamales, Vicksburg, Waveland13 Comments

State 22:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Mississippi

Mississippi became the 20th state on December 10, 1817. The capital is Jackson.

Our travels have taken us through Mississippi on two interstates and numerous state roads. Driving along the state roads we passed by the Jim Henson museum in his birthplace of Leland, B.B. King’s birthplace in Itta Bena, Tennessee Williams birthplace in Columbus, and many historic places along the Blues Trail,

Our wandering has taken us to Vicksburg twice. Both times we camped at the Ameristar Casino RV Park across the street from the Mississippi River. We enjoyed touring Vicksburg National Military Park and seeing the views of the Mississippi River.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Cairo Museum at Vicksburg National Military Park

The mighty Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi

Barge on the Mississippi River in Vicksburg

Another one of our trips took us along I-10 through Mississippi. Buccaneer State Park was a great overnight stop. You can read more about our stay at A night on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Walking along the beach in Waveland, Mississippi

Majestic oaks in the campground — Majestic oaks in Buccaneer State Park

While staying in a campground across the Mississippi River in Arkansas we made a day trip to Greenville, Mississippi for some Tamales at Doe’s Eat Place. They were so delicious we made a return trip a couple of years later. More about the tamales at BBQ, Pie and Tamales.

Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, Mississippi — Doe’s Eat Place in Greenville, Mississippi

Three dozen Mississippi Delta hot tamales

We traveled to Oxford in the fall of 2016 for a football weekend at Ole Miss. Friday afternoon downtown and tailgating at the Grove were fun, the game not so much. I posted about our stay here.

Tailgating Tents as far as the eye could see — Tailgaters in The Grove before a football game

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Michigan

March 24, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Birds, Lighthouse, Michigan, RVing, Wandering around America, WaterfallsTagged Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City, Pictured Rocks, Porcupine Mountains, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Upper Peninsula25 Comments

State 20:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Michigan

Michigan became the 26th state on January 26, 1837. The capital is Lansing. Michigan is the only state with two peninsulas.

Our wandering around Michigan took us to three great lakes, two national lakeshores, huge sand dunes, magnificent waterfalls, a beautiful island with no motorized vehicles allowed, a lock connecting two great lakes, lighthouses, and gigantic cliffs.

Our Michigan journeys included camping in Muskegon State Park on Lake Michigan and in Lakeport State Park on Lake Huron.

20080610Muskegon-Channel-Swan — Swan in Muskegon Channel

20080611pmLakeport-(7) — Beach on Lake Huron in Lakeport State Park

We picked a beautiful day to explore Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan.

20100528Sleeping-Bear-Dunes-(24) — Dune Climb at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

20100528Sleeping-Bear-Dunes-(49) — 450 feet above Lake Michigan at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

We had a great view of the Mackinac Bridge from our campsite at Macinaw Mill Creek Campground. The campground was our home base for a visit to Mackinac Island.

Mackinac Island Ferry

On the ferry to Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

Lilacs were blooming at Fort Mackinac

Mackinac Island

After crossing the Mackinac Bridge we spent a few days in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, otherwise known as the UP. We spent a day marveling at the spectacular waterfalls in Tahquamenon (rhymes with phenomenon) Falls State Park.

20100601Tahquamenon-Falls-(23) — Upper Tahquamenon Falls

20100601Tahquamenon-Falls-(88) — Lower Tahquamenon-Falls

We drove up to Sault Ste. Marie for a look at the Soo Locks.

Another day was spent exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(12) — Sable Falls

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(52) — Miner’s Castle

20100602Pictured-Rocks-(70) — Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Our campsite at Porcupine Mountains State Park was right next to the rocky shore of Lake Superior.

We enjoyed seeing a few of Michigan’s Lighthouses.

Muskegon Lights

Round Island Light, MI

Round Island Passage Ligh, MIt

Cheboygan Crib Light, MI

Old Mackinac Point, MI

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Louisiana

March 6, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Birds, Louisiana, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around AmericaTagged Cafe du Monde, Cajun, Chef Paul Prudhomme, Duck Dynasty, Lake Bistineau, New Orleans, Poche's, Tabasco18 Comments

State 16:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Louisiana

Louisiana became the 18th state on April 30, 1812 and the capital is Baton Rouge.

Ever since I started working on this post about Louisiana the following lyrics from the Hank Williams song “Jambalaya (on the Bayou)” have been going through my head.

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun we’ll have big fun on the bayou

Each time we visited Louisiana we tried as much of the delicious local food as we could get. We sampled everything – boudin, crawfish etoufee, gumbo, dirty rice, cracklins, shrimp po’ boys and more! Chef Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans served up one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had. Is your mouth watering yet?

Acme Oyster House in New Orleans

Poche’s Meat Market and Smokehouse

Ralph and Kacoo’s in Bosier City

Lunch was delicious Boudin from the Tabasco food truck

Our meal at Poche’s – Crawfish Etoufee, Dirty Rice and Slaw – Sooooo good!

We’ve visited New Orleans three times – twice to watch our Georgia Bulldogs play in the Sugar Bowl and once to take our children when they were young. We wandered around the French Quarter, attended a performance of New Orleans Jazz at Preservation Hall, rode a streetcar to the Garden District, took a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River, chowed down on amazing Cajun food, and of course had coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

There is so much more to Louisiana than food and music. Our lake front campsite at Lake Bistineau State Park was perfect for watching the wading birds search for food among the huge cypress trees on the banks of the lake.

The rain didn’t stop us from enjoying our campsite on one of the ponds at Poche’s Fish N Camp. After a delicious meal at Poche’s Meat Market and Smokehouse I stocked up on Cajun goodies like homemade boudin, Andouille sausage and tasso ham to take home.

Pavilion at Poche's Fish N Camp — Poche’s Fish N Camp

We are one of the families who always has a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table along with the salt and pepper. A visit to the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island was a must for us.

The world's best known hot sauce — The world’s best known hot sauce

We even took a tour of the Duck Commander headquarters in West Monroe.

Duck Commander Headquarters, about 3 blocks south of I-20 in West Monroe, LA

I started writing this post right before Mardi Gras and have been hungry for Cajun food ever since. On Fat Tuesday I made a big pot of Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo using Alton Brown’s recipe (I added okra ). Yesterday I made Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Jambalaya (I left out the oysters). Now if I could just find some crawfish tails I’ll make that crawfish pie.!

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Kentucky

February 27, 2017July 13, 2017Posted in Kentucky, National Parks, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged Bison, Bourbon, Kentucky Horse Park, Land Between the Lakes, Mammoth Cave, Wild Turkey Distillery14 Comments

State 15:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is the Bluegrass State –

Kentucky

Kentucky became the 15th state on June 1, 1792 and the capital is Frankfort.

When I think of the Bluegrass state I think of horses, bourbon, and Colonel Sanders famous Kentucky Fried Chicken. We never got a chance to visit the original Kentucky Fried Chicken but we did get to experience horses and bourbon and a whole lot more.

Late one fall we set up camp at the Kentucky Horse Park State Park near Lexington. Seeing these magnificent horses was the highlight of our visit to the area.

One very overcast day we left the horse park for a scenic drive by many beautiful horse farms and a tour of the Wild Turkey Distillery located right beside the Kentucky River.

Bridge over Kentucky River at the Wild Turkey Distillery

Wild Turkey Bourbon is aged these barrels

Until we visited the Elk and Bison Prairie in the Land Between the Lakes I never knew that bison once roamed in this area of the United States.

The Land Between the Lakes has been a perfect stop over for us several times in our wandering. It doesn’t get much better than camping near a body of water and Canal Campground in the Land Between the Lakes is one of our favorite Corps of Engineers park.

Sunrise over Lake Barkley, Kentucky from Canal COE — Sunrise over Lake Barkley, Kentucky from Canal Corps of Engineers Campground

Located in central Kentucky, Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system known in the world. There are many options for guided tours of the cave. Above ground the scenery is beautiful with hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.