Alabama

Throwback Thursday #10 – October 24, 2014

October 24, 2019October 23, 2019Posted in Alabama, RVingTagged autumn, Deerlick Creek COE, Memories, Throwback Thursday9 Comments

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.

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!

20141024Deerlick-Creek-(2) — 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!

Find out more about our stay at Two COE Campgrounds in Alabama.

Wandering Dawgs 2017 Year in Review

December 20, 2017January 20, 2018Posted in Alabama, Georgia, RVing, WaterfallsTagged Callaway Gardens, FD Roosevelt Little White House, Tallulah Gorge, US Navy Blue Angels, USAF Thunderbirds25 Comments

This year was a little different for the Wandering Dawgs. Instead of traveling to far away places, we had many memorable adventures by staying close to home in 2017.

Our RV travel started with a short spring trip to Pine Mountain, Georgia to tour nearby Callaway Gardens and F. D. Roosevelt’s Little White House .

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Trail at Callaway Gardens

FDR's Little White House in Warm Springs, GA — FDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GA

From Pine Mountain we continued on to Alabama to attend an air show at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. All of the performances were exciting but the stars of the show were the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds at Maxwell Air Show

Seeing the Thunderbirds was so much fun we made a day trip to the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina to see the United States Blue Angels perform.

Our final RV trip of the year was a fall getaway to north Georgia to see Mountains, waterfalls, and Tallulah Gorge .

20171017NC-Nantahala-National-Forest-Waterfalls-(18) — Dry Falls near Highlands, NC in the Nantahala National Forest

20171019Tallulah-Gorge-Suspension-Bridge-(10) — Suspension Bridge over Tallulah Gorge Hurricane Falls

Visiting New York City with my daughter was one of the highlights of my year.

Just like we’ve been doing every fall since the 1970’s we made several trips to Athens to attend University of Georgia’s home games.

20171014UGA-53-Mizzou-28-(11) — The teams take the field for pregame practice before a night game in Sanford Stadium

And when we were home we when for boat rides and walked on the beach whenever we could.

20170813Boat-ride-(13) — Small island in the Georgia salt marsh

20171027South-Beach-Tybee-(3) — Early morning at the beach

My Wandering Around America One State at a Time blog project was really fun to do. As I worked on the post for each state I loved going through old photographs and reading my hand written trip journals. With each state I was flooded with many fond memories of places we had been and the wonderful people we met.

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

Look! Up in the Air!

April 23, 2017Posted in Alabama, EntertainmentTagged Air Show, Patrouille de France, United States Air Force, USAF Thunderbirds17 Comments

“Heritage to Horizons: A Century of Airpower since WWI.” – Maxwell Air Force Base Air Show April 8-9, 2017

From the moment we decided to travel somewhere to see an air show I was like a little kid waiting for Christmas. We studied the schedules of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds and the United States Navy Blue Angels to determine when and where would be the best place to see them. Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama was an easy choice. We could get there easily from Georgia, there was a great campground close to the base, and it would be nostalgic for me to return to a base where I lived for a year when my father was stationed there.

We arrived at Gunter Hill Campground two days before the air show. Both days we heard the planes as they were practicing and I kept looking in the sky to see what kind of planes they were. Both days I was rewarded when I searched the skies and saw four of the Thunderbirds pass right by the campground.

On the day of the show we arrived early so we could find a good spot to set up our folding chairs to catch all the action. We parked ourselves right in front of where the Thunderbirds were lined up. We could also see the French planes of the Patrouille de France.

Patrouille de France at Maxwell A.F.B. Air Show

The air show was celebrating the 70th anniversary of the United States Air Force and commemorating the 100th anniversary of the United States involvement in World War I. There were also historic planes on display.

Maxwell A.F.B. Air Show 2017

After the opening ceremonies the show began with the Wings of Blue Parachute Team. Once the performers began it was non stop action all afternoon. From bi-planes performing stunts to the fabulous French team Patrouille de France to a reenactment of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Tora Tora Tora group there was never a dull moment.

Wings of Blue at Maxwell A.F.B. Air Show

Re-enactment of bombing of Pearl Harbor at Maxwell Air Show

Wing Walker at Maxwell Air Show — Wing Walker waving at the crowd at Maxwell Air Show

The French team Patrouille de France (The Patrol of France) were performing to honor the special relationship between the air forces of U. S. and France since World War I.

Patrouille de France at Maxwell Air Show

Patrouille de France2 — Patrouille de France

Patrouille de France Pilots on their way to sign autographs and pose for pictures

The final act was the U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds. Before they began, a group of Air Force recruits were sworn in with their families watching them take their oath in front of the Thunderbird planes.

Before the pilots climbed into the cockpits their crews performed their pre-flight inspections as the pilots faced the crowd.

Thunderbird Pilot waves an American Flag as he taxies down the runway — Thunderbird Pilot waved an American Flag as he taxied down the runway

Maxwell-Air-Show-Thunderbirds6 — Maxwell Air Show U.S.A.F. Thunderbirds

Just in case you didn’t get enough of the Thunderbirds, here’s a video of one of their signature formations.

Spending the day enjoying this amazing air show was one of the coolest things we’ve done in a long, long time. If the Thunderbirds or Blue Angels are performing any where near you get out there and go to an air show!

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 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…