We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
Part 1 of our January, 2012 RV trip around Florida
On this day eight years ago on January 2, 2012, we were camped on the Florida Gulf Coast in St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in Port St. Joe, Florida. It was our second stop of a month long trip wandering around Florida.
Located on the St. Joseph Peninsula on the Emerald Coast of Florida, the beautiful white sand beach was just a short walk from the campsite. The sunsets were spectacular and sometimes we had the beach all to ourselves.
St. Joseph Peninsula State Park, FLSt. Joseph Peninsula State Park, FLSt. Joseph Peninsula State Park, FL
Sadly, the campground suffered a lot of damage from Hurricane Michael in October, 2018. Although the park is recovering, the campgrounds are still closed. More information about the closure can be found here.
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
On this day ten years ago, December 5, 2009, we were camped in the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park. We spent the day exploring the national park around Flamingo.
After entering Everglades National Park, the drive to the Flamingo Campground is another 38 miles through the park. Flamingo is the southernmost place in the mainland of the U.S. (The southernmost point in the U.S. is farther south in Key West.)
I wandered from our campsite in the morning to nearby Eco Pond where many wading birds were gathered.
Egrets and Spoonbill at Eco PondWood StorkRoseate Spoonbill
Later in the day we went for a boat ride on a big pontoon boat in Florida Bay. There were some White Pelicans on a sandbar close to the boat. There were also hundreds of White Pelicans on a sand bar too far away to take pictures. As we headed back to the dock the rain started coming down.
White Pelicans in Florida BayFlorida Bay on a rainy day
The Flamingo area of Everglades National Park is far from civilization and a wonderful place for bird watching and seeing other wildlife. In addition to the birds visitors can observe alligators and crocodiles in the wild. During certain times of year there may even be manatees in the water.
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
On this day eleven years ago, November 7, 2008, we were camped at the Kentucky Horse Park, a beautiful state park in Lexington, Kentucky. What a contrast from the week before when we were camped awning to awning in a large parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida to attend the Georgia/Florida college football game. After traveling through Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, we traded the crowded parking lot for a large campsite in a quiet natural setting. We were in Lexington to attend the Georgia/Kentucky SEC football game at Commonwealth Stadium at the University of Kentucky.
Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky
The game wasn’t until Saturday so as always we wanted to explore the area. It was raining when we woke up that day so what would be better than taking a drive along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and touring a distillery. As we drove along the fall colors were gorgeous and we passed some beautiful horse farms.
Bridges over the Kentucky River at the Wild Turkey Distillery
We stopped at the Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg for a tour. It was our first distillery tour and very interesting. There were about 22 warehouses filled with barrels of whiskey ageing in the charred barrels. Each barrel is only used once and after they are used the barrels are shipped to distilleries in Ireland to be used to age Irish whiskey. Little did we know that one day we would be touring the Jameson Distillery and see Wild Turkey barrels there!.
Wild Turkey Distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Lawrenceburg, KentuckyAgeing barrels at Wild Turkey Distillery, Lawrenceburg, KentuckyOn the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
After we returned to the campground I walked by this old barn in the park as I was taking my afternoon walk.
Barn at Kentucky Horse Park
We attended the football game on Saturday, and on Sunday we enjoyed touring the museums and seeing the horses up close at the Kentucky Horse Park.
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
On this day eleven years ago, October 31, 2008, our RV was parked in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida. We were there to attend the college football game between rivals Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The two schools have been playing each other annually since the early 1900’s and, except for two years while the stadium was undergoing renovations, has been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933.
Unofficially named “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, fans of both teams start arriving in Jacksonville and surrounding areas as early as a week before the game. Hotels are booked a year in advance and finding a last minute place to stay anywhere near Jacksonville is almost impossible.
We attended our first Georgia/Florida game in 1974 and it was an annual tradition for us for many years. Most of those years we stayed in a Jacksonville area hotel for the weekend. In 2008, we decided to take our fifth wheel to RV City for the event.
RV City is a large parking lot near the stadium that is reserved for RV’s. There is a limited number of parking for RV’s and at the time, in order to get a spot in the lot RV’s start lining up early in the week before Saturday’s game.
We met friends in Jacksonville early on Tuesday morning to follow them to get in line for our sites in RV City. We spent that night in line and were in our space in RV City early Wednesday morning. From Wednesday until Friday we enjoyed the festivities and entertainment leading up to the game on Saturday.
Awning to awning in RV CityPacked in like sardines in RV City in Jacksonville, FloridaWe had a great view of the stadium from our site.There were a few waterfront sites in RV City
Yes, we were dry camping in a parking lot. Yes, the RV’s were close together. Yes, there were crowds and lots of noise. Did we enjoy it? Yes! It was a great experience and great fun!
We have friends in RV City right now. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30. We’re there with them in spirit.
We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.
Five years ago, on October 24, 2014, we were camped at Deerlick Creek Campground, a Corps of Engineers park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were returning home after a fall RV trip to Missouri and Arkansas to attend University of Georgia away football games.
We always enjoy staying in Corps of Engineers parks so we went out of our way to stay at Deerlick Creek near Tuscaloosa. The park is located on Holt Lake on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway in the rolling hills northeast of Tuscaloosa. What I didn’t know when I made the reservations was the campground is very hilly and some of the sites are difficult to get in and out of for a 35 foot fifth wheel.
This campground was like no other COE campground we had ever been to. Instead of being at lake level, the lake was way down at the bottom of the hill. Even the waterfront sites were located above the lake.
Holt Lake
Our site was one of those that was difficult to get in and almost impossible to get out of. The road was narrow and our site was a back in site near the top of a hill. To back into the site took great skill on Henry’s part avoiding ditches and other obstacles. The good news is, it was a beautiful site with a few steps up to our picnic table behind the camper. When we finally got set up and had a chance to look around, we realized it would be almost impossible to get out of.
Overall, we still enjoyed our stay. Behind our campsite was a private area with picnic table and fire pit surrounded by trees.
There was not enough room for us to make a left turn out of the campsite so when it was time to leave our only option was to make a right turn down the hill, navigate a narrow hairpin turn with campers and cars right on the edge of the road, go to the bottom of the hill and turn around. Many thanks to the nice campers who helped us negotiate the tight turn at the bottom of the hill!
A hairpin turn down the hill was in our future
Although we had a worrisome night wondering how we were going to get out, we survived to tell the tale. I would return to this park but not to site 28!
Wandering Dawgs 
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