RVing – Page 17 – Wandering Dawgs

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Arizona

January 7, 2017January 10, 2017Posted in Arizona, National Parks, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around AmericaTagged Cattail Cove State Park, Four Corners, Grand Canyon, Lake Havasu, London Bridge, Meteor Crater, Monument Valley, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Vermillian Cliffs18 Comments

State 3:

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 and next up is

Arizona

Arizona, nicknamed “The Grand Canyon State”, became the 48th state on February 14, 1912. Phoenix is the capital and the state’s largest city.

I first saw the Grand Canyon back in the 1960’s when I was in the third grade. I sat in the back seat of our Ford station wagon with my two brothers as our family went on a cross country trip seeing some of our National Parks and of course the Grand Canyon was one of the highlights of our trip.

Henry and I made our first trip together to the Grand Canyon in 1985 when we loaded up our mini van with our kids and tent camping gear and made the trek from Georgia to the Grand Canyon South Rim. Henry returned the next year and backpacked into the canyon with three friends. Having done the South Rim, we decided to make the North Rim of the Grand Canyon our first major destination in our inaugural cross country RV trip in 2006.

Before we got to the North Rim we traveled across Arizona and took in the Meteor Crator, Petrified Forest National Park, Painted Desert and the Vermilion Cliffs .

Meteor Crater in Arizona

Petrified Forest National Park

Painted Desert

Vermillian Cliffs on way to Jacob Lake

Our home base for exploring the North Rim was in the Kaibab National Forest. We saw evidence of recent wildfires and beautiful meadows each day as we drove to and from the canyon.

Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial

Grand Canyon North Rim Cape Royal Overlook

Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial

Grand Canyon North Rim Cape Royal Overlook

Grand Canyon North Rim Point Imperial

Burned section of Kaibab National Forest on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Meadow on the way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Later travels through Arizona found us at Monument Valley, Lake Havasu , and the Four Corners.

The Mittens at Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Lake Havasu in Cattail Cove State Park, Arizona

Cactus in Cattail Cove State Park, Arizona

London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Four Corners – the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada meet here. It is the only place in the U.S. shared by four states

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska

Wandering Around America one state at a time – Alaska

January 4, 2017November 28, 2017Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Road Trip, RVing, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged America the Beautiful, Arctic Circle, Bald Eagle, Denali, Haines, Ninilchik, Talkeetna17 Comments

State 2:

Alaska

Alaska became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. The capital is Juneau and it is the only state capital that can only be reached by air, boat, or birth. The largest city is Anchorage.

We spent 50 glorious nights in Alaska in the summer of 2013.

I loved meeting so many wonderful Alaskans and hearing their stories. Wildlife, glaciers, boat trips, a flight seeing tour, eagles, halibut fishing, Denali National Park, taking the RV on the Alaska Ferry from Skagway to Haines, and a train ride on the Alaska Railroad are just a few of the amazing things we experienced while we were there. Our favorite place was Haines. The most exciting thing we did was take a flight-seeing tour from Talkeetna to see Mt. McKinley and land on Ruth Glacier. The farthest north we went was Coldfoot, north of the Arctic Circle.

Pullen Creek RV Park, Skagway, Alaska

Waterfalls along the Klondike Highway

Arriving at the Haines ferry dock

Watching for whales in Haines, Alaska

Bald Eagle at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Haines boat harbor

Deadliest Catch!

Mendenhall Glacier

The free George Black Ferry crosses the Yukon River from Dawson City to Top of the World Highway.

Poker Creek Alaska

The signposts show other towns named after chickens. Who knew there were so many?

The Pedro Dredge in Chicken is a National Historic Site.

Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska

Downtown Talkeetna.

We went really close to Mt. McKinley

Loving every minute of our time on Ruth glacier

Home of author Mary Lovel in Sherman, Alaska

The Alaska Railroad runs right behind our campsite

Such an amazing sight to see their tail

Stellar Sea Lions on day trip to Juneau

Calving on Aialik Glacier one

A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

There were Puffins in the water

Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

Wandering Dawgs at the Arctic Circle

A good look at the Alaska pipeline as it goes underground

Four of these fish are ours!

Mount Redoubt sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska

Anchor Point is the most westerly highway point on a continuous road system in North America

Our first moose sighting was this cow by a pond

Lukor liked it on top of his house

Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park, Alaska

Caribou grazing in Denali National Park

Do you see the profile of a face on the right side of the rock?

Chunk of ice from the Columbia Glacier

Fireweed behind our campsite made the beautiful view even better

Mama bear looking for more fish near Valdez

Every day was memorable, every day was special, every day we saw something spectacular. Was it worth driving over 14,000 there and back? Absolutely!

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Alabama

January 2, 2017October 14, 2017Posted in Alabama, RVing, Wandering around AmericaTagged Alabama River, America the Beautiful, Gunter Hill, Oak Mountain State Park, Prairie Creek, Spanish Moss17 Comments

Welcome to the first post in our 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 starting with

Alabama

Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. Montgomery is the capital and Birmingham is the largest city.

We’ve traveled through Alabama many times on our travels either at the beginning or the end of a long trip. All of our stays have been short so we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time exploring but we have enjoyed all of our visits there. Our travels never took us to the space center in Huntsville and we never had enough time to visit any of the Civil Rights museums or walk on the white sand beaches along Alabama’s Gulf Coast. We did enjoy many beautiful campgrounds and had fun cheering on the Dawgs when Georgia was the visiting team at Jordan-Hare stadium at the University of Auburn .

We spent our first ever night night on the road in Montgomery at the beginning of our cross country trip in 2006.

Our very first night on the road on July 14, 2006

We discovered camping in Corps of Engineers parks on our way home from a three month trip in 2007.

Prairie Creek Campground - Our first COE Park — Prairie Creek Campground – Our first COE Park

Sunsets over the lakes and rivers in Alabama are some of the prettiest we’ve seen.

Sunset over the Alabama River at Prairie Creek Campground

We love camping underneath Spanish Moss draped trees.

We love it when we discover a pretty, peaceful place to spend the night.

Scenic drives and walking trails made our stays at Oak Mountain State Park one of our favorite campgrounds of 2016.

View from the top of Peavine Falls Roadgames in Auburn.

We planned a couple of fall trips around the Georgia-Auburn game in Auburn.

Jordan-Hare Stadium at Auburn University

We didn’t get to walk on the beautiful Gulf beaches in Alabama but we did stop for lunch at Flora-Bama on the state line between between Florida and Alabama.

Best Campgrounds of the year – 2016

December 19, 2016June 25, 2017Posted in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Parks, RVing, State ParksTagged Favorite Campgrounds, Fifth Wheel, Fort Pickens Campground, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Oak Mountain State Park, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Stephen C. Foster State Park11 Comments

Welcome to our third annual “Wandering Dawgs best campgrounds of the year” list.

Our 2016 wandering took us on a short trips to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.

We prefer staying in state and federal parks and this year our top three all fall into one of those categories.

Number 3: Oak Mountain State Park, Pelham, Alabama

Early Morning at Tranquility Lake — Tranquility Lake was just a short walk from our campsite

We stopped at Oak Mountain on our way to Mississippi and enjoyed it so much we returned to the same site (A28) on our way back home to Georgia.

Our site was spacious with full hook ups and nothing but woods behind us. This large state park has a golf course, archery range, equestrian camping and horse stables, nature and hiking trails, lake front beach, mountain bike trails, and scenic drives. The road through the park is a popular place for bicyclists. Nearby Pelham and Birmingham have restaurants and shopping.

Read more about our stay at First Stop on our Fall Football Road Trip .

Number 2: Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Fargo, Georgia

Do you see the alligator behind the Cypress tree?

We love this place so much we have camped here numerous times in past 10 years. Our most recent trip was in March, 2016.

Just getting to the campground is an adventure. After turning off the highway, seventeen miles of driving through pine forests and palmettos takes you into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It is remote, quiet, and wild.

We camp in one of the large premium pull through sites. It is a short walk or bike ride from the campground to the marina where you can go on a guided tour of the Okefenokee Swamp, rent a boat or canoe, launch your own boat, or take a walk on the nature trail through the swamp. Alligators are often seen around the marina but we’ve never seen one in the campground.

You can read more about our stay at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Number 1: Fort Pickens Campground, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida

Ready for Beach Chair Sitting on the Gulf of Mexico

Miles of white sugar sand beach in Gulf Islands National Seashore within walking distance from our campsite, an historic fort to explore, a nice campsite, nature trails, beautiful sunsets, fresh seafood, fishing pier, museums and a lighthouse nearby – what’s not to love?

Read more about our stay at Gulf Islands National Seashore .

Honorable Mention:

We returned to Mississippi River State Park in Marianna, Arkansas, our “Best Campground of the Year – 2014“. I left it out of the top three to make room for three new campgrounds
Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center, White Springs, Florida
Eastbank Corps of Engineers Campground, Bainbridge, Georgia

Where do you think we will wander next year? Stay tuned…

SEC Football at Ole Miss in Oxford

November 5, 2016March 10, 2018Posted in Mississippi, Restaurants, RVing, Sporting Events, State Parks, SunsetTagged City Grocery, College Football, Georgia Bulldogs, James Beard Award, John W Kyle State Park, Ole Miss, Oxford, SEC Football, Tailgating, The Grove9 Comments

We had just returned home from our fall football road trip when three days later we evacuated for Hurricane Matthew. This post has been on hold ever since.

If you follow SEC college football you know that our favorite team, the Georgia Bulldogs, are not having a good year. That’s all I have to say about that.

I have to say that except for the game on September 24, we had a great time in Oxford during the weekend of the Georgia – Ole Miss football game. The people of Oxford were gracious, the Ole Miss fans friendly, and the atmosphere in town on Friday and as we wandered through the Grove on Saturday before the game was like no college football game I’ve ever attended.

Our home for the weekend was John W. Kyle State Park on Sardis Lake, about a 30 minute drive from downtown Oxford. All through the campground were RV’s displaying their team colors. We didn’t spend much time in the campground but I was able to get a sunset picture over the lake on the first night.

Friends of ours were staying in Oxford within walking distance of downtown and the stadium. We met them Friday afternoon to browse the shops around the courthouse square and have a fabulous lunch at City Grocery. As we were enjoying our meal we noticed not one but four James Beard Awards on the wall! The food, service, and company were all excellent.

City Grocery on the square in Oxford, Mississippi

Two of the Four James Beard Awards at City Grocery

Kickoff was set for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday so we left the campground early in hopes of beating the traffic. We planned it perfectly and met our friends in time to eat a quick breakfast before heading to the Grove.

The Grove is a large area in the middle of the University of Mississippi campus. On game days it is transformed to a sea of tailgate tents lined up side by side with fans from both teams walking elbow to elbow on the pathways between the tents.

Tailgating Tents as far as the eye could see

A few Georgia fans were tailgating in the Grove — Fans from both teams were tailgating side by side

The Ole Miss band marched by before the game

Georgia and Ole Miss Fans getting ready for the game — Georgia and Ole Miss Fans in the Grove before the game

Did I mention it was HOT the whole time we were there? The temperature was in the upper nineties on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.

If your favorite college football team ever plays against Ole Miss in Oxford, get some tickets and go! It’s a one of a kind experience. And hopefully, your team will do better against them than my team did. And I hope I never hear the Ole Miss Hotty Toddy cheer ever again!