RVing – Page 18 – Wandering Dawgs

SEC Football at Ole Miss in Oxford

November 5, 2016June 16, 2026Posted 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!

First stop on our Fall Football Road Trip

September 18, 2016June 16, 2026Posted in Alabama, Nature, RVing, State ParksTagged Birmingham, Georgia Bulldogs Football, Oak Mountain State Park, Peavine Falls Road, Pelham, Scenic Drive13 Comments

After enjoying a relaxing summer at home, we are once again on a fall road trip to watch the Georgia Bulldogs play an away football game. This year we are on our way to Oxford, Mississippi to see the Dawgs play the Ole Miss Rebels. But in true Wandering Dawgs fashion, we are not taking a direct route to get there.

We started the trip in Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama, a few miles south of Birmingham. This is Alabama’s largest state park and it has something for everyone – mountain bike trails, golf course, lake with a beach, hiking trails, a scenic drive, a beautiful campground and more.

Wandering Dawgs in Oak Mountain State Park Site A28

Every day Blondie and I walked on the trails around our campground loop.

Moccasin Nature Trail behind our campsite

One day we drove to the dead end of Peavine Falls Road on Double Oak Mountain. As we wound our way up the narrow road I was reminded of some of the drives we have made in the Great Smoky Mountains.

This sign was at the parking lot at the dead end at the top of the road

We had a picnic at the Peavine Falls Overlook

We enjoyed our stay and were even able to do a little shopping in nearby Pelham and Birmingham before continuing our journey west to our next destination.

Celebrating Ten Years of Wandering

July 15, 2016June 16, 2026Posted in Lighthouse, Road Trip, RVing, Sunset, WildlifeTagged black bear, Enchanted Rock, Fifth Wheel, Split Rock Lighthouse, Yosemite Valley33 Comments

What an amazing ten years! Each marker on this map represents a place where we camped in our RV.

Ten years ago, on July 1, 2006, we spent our first night in an RV park in Tampa, Florida. Two weeks later we left Georgia with no reservations anywhere and a bucket list of what we wanted to see. You can see highlights of that trip at Looking Back on our First RV Trip. Last year I posted a few of our most memorable experiences from our first nine years at Celebrating Nine Years of RVing.

Many of our trips revolved around either visiting family or attending a special event such as a wedding or Titanium Rally. Sometimes we traveled just for the fun of seeing new places. No matter where we were going, we always took the long way around to get there.

We discovered beauty in every state and province we visited. Sometimes the everyday things were the best.

I love watching the changing landscape and seeing the many farms and ranches.

I love seeing the farms as we drive along

We always enjoy seeing lighthouses.

Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota's North Shore — Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore

Seeing wildlife is always a treat.

Black Bear beside the road in British Columbia

And of course we loved visiting many of our National Parks.

Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View Overlook

Sometimes we enjoyed watching the sunset from our campsite.

Mount Redoubt sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska

We did a few amazing hikes.

At the Summit of Enchanted Rock in Texas

Chilling by a camp fire is always fun.

Now that we have ten years of RV’ing under our belt, our priorities have changed. Of course, we are ten years older and it is more difficult to make long trips. When we started our wandering, we only had two grandchildren. Now we have four and we want to spend as much time with them as we can. Going on long trips takes us away from them for too long.

Our wandering days are not over. There are still many places we haven’t seen in and near our home state of Georgia so from now on we will travel a little closer to home.

Into the Okefenokee Swamp

April 22, 2016June 16, 2026Posted in Birds, Georgia, National Wildlife Refuge, Nature, RVing, WildlifeTagged Alligators, cypress trees, Okeenokee Swamp, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Snowy Egret, Stephen C. Foster State Park6 Comments

We enjoyed walking around the marina and going on the nature trail at Stephen C. Foster State Park in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge but we wanted to be in a boat to really experience the swamp. On one of our visits a few years ago we rented a canoe to paddle into the swamp and another time we rented a boat to venture even farther into the swamp. On our most recent trip in early spring we decided to take a ranger guided boat tour.

As we glided through the man made canal our guide pointed out the baby alligators and their mother Sophie who was keeping a close watch on her babies. Her mate Zeke was no where to be found.

As the boat exited the canal we entered the big water of Billy’s Lake where we were about six miles from the headwaters of the Suwanee River. The water here gets up to six feet deep, much deeper than the average depth of two feet.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water and we saw a few other people out on the water.

A kayaker goes around the bend deeper into the swamp

Our guide took us through the narrow waterway toward Minnie’s Lake. In some places the water was barely wide enough for the 24 foot Carolina Skiff. As we ventured farther into the swamp it was as if we had stepped back in time to a prehistoric age. We were miles from civilization in this incredibly wild place.

Boats had to navigate around this cypress tree

It is estimated that the alligator population in the swamp is about 20,000. We saw quite a few as we went along. It was mating season and I wondered if this gator was trying to attract a mate.

Another gator was behind a huge cypress tree.

Do you see the alligator behind the Cypress tree?

And there were young ones sunning on a log.

There are many species of wildlife besides alligators. While we didn’t see any raccoons, opossums, turtles, or bears, we did see a few birds out searching for food.

After our incredible few days in the Okefenokee it was time to return back to civilization and the real world.

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

April 5, 2016June 16, 2026Posted in Birds, Butterflies, Georgia, National Wildlife Refuge, Nature, RVing, State Parks, WildlifeTagged Alligators, Egret, Fargo, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Okefenokee Swamp, Stephen C. Foster State Park, White Tail Deer, wild turkey22 Comments

Big gator beside the canal next to the road

On St. Patrick’s Day we left Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center in White Springs, Florida and drove about 50 miles to another park named after the famous composer. At the end of the road 17 miles from the nearest highway, Stephen C. Foster State Park in Fargo, Georgia is located in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge .

This is one of our favorite Georgia state parks and one we have returned to over and over through the years. There is just something I love about being surrounded by nature miles away from civilization.

The Okefenokee Swamp is one of North America’s most unspoiled natural wilderness areas. According to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge web page, “the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge has 353,981 acres of National Wilderness Area within the refuge boundaries. In addition, the refuge is a Wetland of International Importance (RAMSAR Convention – 1971) because it is one of the world’s largest intact freshwater ecosystems.”

Indians who once lived in the area called it Okefenokee which roughly translated means “Land of Trembling Water.” The headwaters of the Suwanee River is located in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Going out in a boat is a great way to see the swamp but there is also plenty to see from land. All the photos in this post were taken as we walked around the campground, marina and on the Trembling Earth Nature Trail which starts at the marina. One section of the trail is a boardwalk through the swamp. This huge gator was sunning on a log beside the boardwalk.