Georgia – Page 20 – Wandering Dawgs

A Few of our Favorite State Park Campgrounds

September 16, 2014January 1, 2015Posted in Florida, Georgia, South Dakota, State Parks, Sunset, Washington, WildlifeTagged Cape Disappointment, Custer State Park, Floridas Forgotten Coast, Iron Mountain Road, lighthouses, Needles Highway, Okenefokee Swamp, St. Joseph Peninsula, Stephen C. Foster State Park12 Comments

We love camping in state parks. Most state parks we have found have big sites, beautiful surroundings, and wildlife.

We didn’t discover state park camping until the only place we could find to stay in Arkansas on our way home on our first RV trip was Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, Arkansas. Our site was big, we weren’t lined up like sardines next to our neighbors, and we had a nice lake near our site. From that night on, we have looked for state parks whenever we travel.

Here are just a few state parks we love.

Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota – the Black Hills, scenic drives and wildlife.

Mama bison with baby on Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road in June, 2011

Custer State Park Game Lodge Campground Site 12

Mount Rushmore as seen from Iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park

Along the Needle Highway in Custer State Park

Needle’s Eye on Needles Highway in Custer State Park

Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Washington – 2 lighthouses, a path to the beach behind our full hook up campsite, a dog friendly beach on the Pacific Ocean, and a Lewis and Clark museum. What’s not to love?

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, WA

North Head Lighthouse seen from beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington

Blondie enjoyed the beach at Cape Disappointment

A path to the beach was behind our site at Cape Disappointment State Park

Henry enjoying a beautiful sunset at Cape Disappointment

St. Joseph Peninsula, Port St. Joe, Florida in Florida’s Forgotten Coast – beautiful uncrowded white sandy beaches, nature trails, and sunsets.

Enjoying a January day at St. Joseph Peninsula

We could hear the waves from our campsite

We had the beach almost to ourselve

Deer at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park

We watched the sunset every night

Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, Georgia – Huge sites in the middle of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

Boat ride through the Okefenokee Swamp

Big Pull through site at Stephen C. Foster State Park, Georgia

Alligator in the Okefenokee Swamp

Other state parks that stand out are Itasca State Park in Minnesota, Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia, Beverly Beach and Humbug Mountain State Parks in Oregon, Kentucky Horse Park in Kentucky, and Cattail Cove State Park in Arizona. We’ve also camped in many Florida and Georgia state parks and love them all.

If you are an RV’er or tent camper and never stayed in a state park, give one a try on your next trip. And if you don’t camp, many state parks have cabins for rent and a few even have lodges.

An Unexpected Visitor in the Neighborhood

August 28, 2014August 13, 2015Posted in Birds, Georgia, WildlifeTagged birding, Coastal Georgia, Georgia birding, Juvenile little blue heron, Nature, Roseate Spoonbill, salt marsh, Wading Birds13 Comments

Coastal Georgia is home to many wetlands birds. Herons, Egrets, Wood Storks and Ibis are regularly seen in and around the salt marsh, creeks and rivers here.

One July afternoon this summer I was surprised to see a large pink bird flying over the marsh. It was too far away and flew by too fast for me to to tell for sure but I thought it must be a Roseate Spoonbill. Spoonbills nest along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana and in south Florida but they are considered uncommon this far north.

A neighbor confirmed that yes, I did see a Spoonbill. In fact, she saw a pair feeding in the creek at low tide. I continued to see the brilliant pink of the pair as they flew by our house almost every afternoon for about 3 weeks. One day I finally saw where one landed so I grabbed my camera and ran out to capture a few pictures.

Roseate Spoonbill with 2 young juvenile little blue herons in Georgia

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill eating oysters

Roseate Spoonbill in Georgia creek

Tri Colored Heron finds a snack in a Georgia creek

Juvenile Little Blue Heron

Roseate Spoonbill in Georgia Tidal Creek

Other Roseate Spoonbills have been spotted in other coastal Georgia locations in recent years. I know from now on I will always be on the lookout for pink birds among the flocks of Herons and Egrets I see in the salt marsh.

Staycation

July 11, 2014June 20, 2015Posted in Birds, Georgia, Sunset, WildlifeTagged barrier island, Egret, red-bellied woodpecker, ruby throated hummingbird, salt marsh, Staycation14 Comments

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of staycation is “a vacation spent at home or nearby.”

There are so many fun things to see and do near where we live that we decided to stay home this summer instead of wandering in the RV. Here are just a few things we’ve enjoyed so far this summer.

Egret Preening

Red-bellied Woodpecker on Palm Tree

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Taking a Drink

Spring Road Trip

April 8, 2014June 20, 2015Posted in COE Park, Georgia, Road Trip, RVing, Tourist AttractionsTagged Carolina Jasmine, Harlem Georgia, J Strom Thurmond Lake, Laurel and Hardy Museum, Oliver Hardy, Spring Flowers, Wild Dogwoods, Winfield Campground7 Comments

Our first stop on our spring road trip was in Appling, Georgia at one of the Corps of Engineers Campgrounds on the shore of J Strom Thurmond Lake. For three nights we enjoyed the peace and tranquility of our lake front campsite.

Looking at Winfield Campground Site 10 from the lake

View of J Strom Thurmond Lake from Site 10 at Winfield Campground

The lake was just a few steps from our campsite

When it is springtime in Georgia the Wild Dogwoods and Carolina Jasmine add splashes of white and yellow throughout the woods.

Wild Dogwoods

Wild Dogwood

Carolina Jasmine drapes many of the trees

Wild dogwoods bloomed all through the woods

A small Wild Dogwood

Carolina Jasmine was in full bloom

We took a short drive to Harlem, Georgia to visit the birthplace of Oliver Hardy. He was born there in 1892 and moved to Milledgeville, Georgia with his mother after his father died. He attended the Military College of Georgia there and the University of Georgia for a short time. There are images of him all through town and in October the whole town celebrates with a Laurel and Hardy Festival.

Oliver Norvell Hardy was born in Harlem, Georgia in 1892

Even the water tower in Harlem honors Oliver Hardy

Laurel and Hardy Museum at Harlem, Georgia

One of the many displays in the museum

Mural of Laural and Hardy in Harlem, Georgia

On Saturday we took a drive to Modoc, South Carolina to meet with friends Bill and Carol who are work campers there. We had a great time catching up with them and making some new RV friends.

Remembering our 2013 Travels

December 31, 2013June 20, 2015Posted in Birds, Florida, Georgia, RVing, State Parks, Sunset, United States Forest ServiceTagged Egret, Little Ocmulge, Ocala National Forest, Salt Springs, Stephen Foster, Suwanee River5 Comments

Happy New Year!! 2013 was a great year for wandering!

This year we checked off one of the biggest items on our bucket list: from May to September we made the trip of a lifetime to Alaska and back in our RV. In the fall we visited a beautiful COE park in West Point, Georgia. I’ve already posted about those trips in previous posts on this blog so here are a few photos from our January 2013 journey to south Georgia and North Florida.

We started 2013 with a short trip to three different parks. The first was Little Ocmulgee State Park in Helena, Georgia.