Trip Begins Tomorrow

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (my homebase); Mansfield, Louisiana

Well, I've been home for one month. I've seen all three of my doctors and got a "good boy" from all three. My cardiologist said my condition had improved and I should continue what I've been doing since I saw him last. We will know more when I see him again in six months and they do another Echo. But, if he noticed an improvement then I'm crediting my use of Cayenne Pepper, Cocoa, Berberine, Cinnamon and Chromium. Those are basically the changes I've made since I saw him last. All of those things are natural ingredients with proven results over time, albeit, proven by the "old wives' tale, double blind, evenly distributed placebo, multi-generational, case study". All I can say is it appears to be working for me. I also conferred with my general practitioner about my blood tests, and he thinks by cholesterol is too high/too low. I disagree but I was very polite and told him I would consider his opinions. I'm still considering it. I'm reminded of, but ignoring, the words on my Optometrists' coffee mug that says, "Please don't confuse my optometry degree with your Google searches". I guess I may just be too old and set in my ways to blindly accept what my doctors say, unless it's an emergency such as an accident or heart attack, etc. With the advent of the internet, doctors seem to have lost some of their power and mystery. Oh well, I really trust 2 of my 3 doctors and will generally take their recommendations seriously. Some of what I just typed is BS, but most of it is true. 

I'll pull out tomorrow around 9:00 headed to my first campground which will be an oldie but goodie for me. It will be Willow Beach Corps of Engineers Campground just a little past Little Rock (if those last 6 words rang a bell, it's from a country song). I'll only be there for 2 days.

I usually move pretty quickly when traveling but will be faster than normal on this one. I have campground reservations for 2 nights each at Little Rock, Arkansas,,,, Poplar Bluff, Missouri,,,,,,Carlye, Illinois,,,,,,and Kankakee, Illinois before arriving at the big Forest River International RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana on August 9th. 

I have high hopes to get my refrigerator replaced and possible my door during the Rally. If it's done, it will be free of charge. More about that in future posts. 

I've had some nice visits with my kids, grandkids and x-wife. I'll miss them but will be back sometime before the end of the year. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

Trip Begins in about 10 days

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana (Homebase)

I've been back at my homebase for about 3 weeks now. I had some great visits with family which is always a reason to return home. I've accompanied my X-wife to a couple of her doctor's appointments and will a couple more before I head out on August 1st. I've seen my optometrist, and he says my glaucoma is doing really good with eye pressures of 16 & 17. For comparison, the worse pressure I've had, which would have been many years ago was 24. The worrisome boundary is 20 with the lower the better. Checking the pressure in your eyes is a simple process and painless process. I believe everyone should have it done, if for no other reason than to establish a baseline pressure to be used as comparison for future tests. For, a simple man like me, I look at it like this. The eye pressure builds up because the fluid that drains from the eye (not tear duct) is blocked. It builds up which increase the pressure in the eye which damages the optic nerve which leads to blindness. That's really oversimplified but it is the way I look at it. 

I see my cardiologist on Thursday and my GP next week. I have subjects to discuss with each of them. I'm lucky in that the doctors I have are willing to discuss things as an equal partner and not someone "speaking from on high" and handing down the word with directions on what to take and things to do. Both visits should be interesting and possibly life-changing (hope not). 

I hit the road on August 1st headed to Goshen, Indiana for the annual Forest River International RV Rally. It's a week-long event with technical seminars, good eating and visiting with like-minded people. Also, free repairs are made to your RV if you meet certain criteria. In my case, I meet that criteria and hope to get my refrigerator and door replaced. I may be disappointed but based on past experiences at previous rallys in which I've received about $15,000.00 of free work, I don't think I will be. Just like my upcoming doctor's visits, my fingers are crossed.

I'm leaving a little later than usual, so I'll be doing a little longer tows with only two days at campgrounds. It will work like this: 1 day of travel, 1 day of rest, repeat that process until I arrive at the rally on the 9th. I could dead-head there in a couple of days of hard driving but then would need a couple days to recover which sort of defeats the purpose of the relaxing part of the Rally. We will see how this works out. 

I'm not sure if I'll post again before hitting the road. If not,

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.   

Streetlights are on; Time to head home

 Location: Poverty Point State Park; Delhi, Louisiana (about 40 miles into Louisiana)

This trip ends tomorrow when I get back to my home-base at The Heart of Haynesville RV Park near Mansfield, Louisiana. I left on this trip on March 24, 2025, and headed south to the Gulf of America near Lake Charles, Louisiana. We then turned east and followed the Gulf coast to the Pensacola, Florida area before turning north to the Ohio River valley near Louisville, Kentucky. It was time to cross the Appalachian Mountains through the Cumberland Gap before arriving at the Atlantic Ocean in northeast North Carolina. We turned south and following the Atlantic coast down to Charleston, South Carolina before finally turning west towards Louisiana.

The raw numbers are 99 days,10 states, 28 campgrounds (18-COE/Federal,,,, 7-State Parks,,,, 3-County/City). about 3600 miles of towing and $1,250.00 of fuel. The average cost for the campgrounds worked out to be about $18.00 per night.  I'm really happy I didn't have to stay in any privately owned campgrounds. The COE's are still my favorite by a long shot. 

This is the map showing the stops along the way. 

My campsite here at Poverty Point State Park. Just a 2 day layover without any exploration.

I thought I would be able to re-cap the trip in pictures, but I can't. There just isn't enough room in a blog post to do that. Just know that there was a lot of different scenery, weather, topography and great people along the way. 

Tomorrow is moving day, and I'll probably pull out of here early since my home-base campground doesn't have a check-in time. Once I get there, I'll cruise through the campground, find an empty site, set up camp and Venmo the owner the month's rent of $425.00. I'll be there for one month to see all of my doctors, go with my x-wife to a few of her doctor visits, see the kids/grandkids and do some maintenance work on Freedom and Liberty. I'll be back on the road on August 1st when I'll be headed to the big Forest River RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Twiltley Branch COE at Okatibbee Lake (mostly Pictures)

 Location: Twiltley Branch COE Campground; about 10 miles north of Meridian, Mississippi right on the banks of Okatibbee Lake. 

I've tried to stay at this campground over the years, but something has always come up that made me change my plans. I finally made it here, and I got really lucky with the campsite I chose. It is right on the banks of the lake. The end of Liberty is about 10 feet from the water. As I'm making this post, I can hear the waves lapping against the stone revetment. The good news is I haven't seen a single mosquito since I've been here. Also, Liberty is in the shade which is helping the refrigerator stay in the 50-degree range and best of all, no ants or other bugs like at the last campground. 

Nice shady spot without any near neighbors

This gives an idea how close we are to the water. After this picture I set up my starlink right behind Liberty and it worked at about 70% of optimum

This is looking out my back window in the evening. The party barges are going back to the boat ramp and the geese are getting some exercise.

This is also out the back window but in the morning as the fishermen are heading away from the boat ramp.

This lake seems very popular for family outings with the kids swimming in the lake directly from their campsite. I have a view of the boat ramp from my back window and there must have been a hundred boat launching since I've been here. The campsite is also within easy driving time of Meridian, which is a good vibe, decent sized city.

If I'm at a COE campground, I have to go take a look at the dam. This is gravity dam and since it not on a navigable waterway, there isn't a lock or powerhouse. There are lots of picnic areas and playgrounds,,,more than usual.

 

This is a picnic spot on a peninsula. It was a nice spot.

I explored one museum which was the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience. It is like the Mississippi Hall of Fame for entertainment people. I was surprised how many top entertainers, writers, TV personalities, etc came from Mississippi. As it happens a lot for me, I was the only visitor in the place and could take my time looking around at all of the exhibits and stuff. When I checked in at the front desk, she asked me if I qualified for any discount from the $15.00 entrance fee. I said, I'm a senior veteran. She said the senior part saves you some money, but the veteran part gets you in free. I liked that, especially the way the young girl phrased it. I think my age showed a little though. She asked how I found out about the place, and I answered, "google maps". Which is how I learned about the place as well as directions. The girl I was talking with didn't bat an eye, but the girl behind her couldn't contain her laugh as she repeated, Google Maps. Oh well, it's a nice museum, (7 out of 10) and worth a couple hours to walk through it. 

This stop is my next to last one before getting back to my homebase and it has provided me two nice sunrises. I can see them out my back window. I haven't seen a sunrise or sunset in a long time and it was a good feeling to see one. I have a feeling it will be my last for a while, but you never know. 

First sunrise. This is looking out my back window.

Second sunrise.

This red-headed woodpecker came to this same spot each morning. I like to think he came by to tell me "good morning". 

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be sleeping in Louisiana tomorrow. I'll be staying two nights at Poverty Point State Park just north of Delhi, Louisiana in the middle of nowhere. I've stayed there before and don't plan to explore the Indiana Mounds again. I think I'll just rest up those two days and maybe do a recap of the trip.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.   

3 Slow Days at Demopolis

 Location: Foscue Creek Campground (COE); Demopolis, Alabama (about halfway between Montgomery, AL and Jackson, MS)

I've stayed at this campground before and liked it so I'm back again. But surprisingly, one of the biggest draws for me was a local restaurant about 5 miles away. It is called Simply Delicious Bakery and Eatery and located in front of the Walmart. Although they don't advertise it, there is a sense of Amish/Mennonite influence. No menus are needed. You walk through a small cafeteria type line and chose one of four main entrees and two side dishes, cornbread or roll and drink included in the meal. The main dishes change daily, and they are open from "10 a.m. till everything's gone", five days a week, closed Saturday/Sunday. I got the beef tips/rice, green beans, corn casserole, roll and diet Dr. Pepper. I also bought, separately, a hunk of Humingbird Cake. This was only the second time that I've had that type of cake. The first time was at this same place a couple years ago. To me, it's a strange cake. It starts out tasting really good, but it's downhill from there. If my memory holds, I won't get it again. Too many other choices of homemade desserts. I rarely take pictures of my meals, but I couldn't resist this time. 

It's good eating if you're in the Demopolis area

The only exploration was to see the dam that is nearby. This campground is on the banks of the Black Warrior River which is part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway. The dam is a gravity dam with a navigation lock. No gates on the dam or hydro-electric powerplant. Simple and easy. There is a nice park near the end of the lock for people to picnic or just sit and swing. Good job Corps.

Central Alabama

The setting sun was shining on the refrigerator side. I wish it was more shaded.

This is a young couple sitting in the swing looking at the river. Then entrance/exit of the lock is just to the right and the gravity dam in the background. 

Big bench. This is attached to a pavilion. It would be a great place for a family get-together.

I liked this one. Nice bench in the shade. 

I didn't do any major exploring. An update of the refrigerator: Strangely, it started working for a couple days before I got here but then it decided to slow down. It's maintaining about 60 degrees in the refrigerator and 20 degrees in the freezer. I've gotten confirmation from my x-wife that the thermistors that I ordered have arrived. I'll be back at home-base on the 1st and will install one and cross my fingers.

I picked up some hitchhikers. I always carry some Terro Liquid Ant Bait for situations like this. The ants will be gone by in the morning. 

 Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed to another COE campground. This one will be just north of Meridian, Mississippi on the banks of Okatibbee Lake. I made the reservation in the blind since Recreation.gov didn't have a picture and Google Maps didn't ride through the campground. I hope I get lucky. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Strange Vibes in Montgomery but Peaceful Campground

 Location: Gunter Hill Campground (COE); about 15 minutes west of Montgomery, Alabama

Today is day four and my last day at this campground. The campground is nice, probably in the top 20 COE's where I've stayed. I had plans to explore the Legacy Museum in Montgomery but when I showed up, the line to get in was around the block. I wasn't going to wait that long to explore any museum, especially because I've become so jaded to them. Since I'm a "planner", I went to plan "B". Plan "B" was another museum, sort of. It was The National Memorial for Peace and Justice. When I got there, it was the same thing. People lined up around the block. I couldn't understand it because it was a weekday. Why weren't all of these people at work and leaving these tourist trap places to travelers like me? I've never seen a museum in the middle of the week with so many people waiting in line. I gave up and got something to eat and heading back to the campground. On my way back to the campground I saw a sign about a "Juneteenth" celebration and realized that it was today. That was the reason for so many people in line.

My campsite. Heavy shade with a small opening directly above. I pointed my starlink at it and got a signal. Not 100% reliable, but workable. I still have a strong Verizon signal but it is nice to know that such a small opening will bring in a starlink signal.

 These two museums are located in old downtown Montgomery. I'm familiar with what went down around here back in the 60's but figured time had moved on. Afterall, it has been 60 years. Nope, the strange vibes I had been feeling was like a time warp. It felt as if Montgomery was trapped back in the 60's or early 70's. Once you leave old downtown and head into some of the older residential areas, the same old-time vibe is felt. It's not a heebie-jeebies vibe or a hinky vibe or even a bad ju-ju vibe. I haven't run across it before so I'm going to call it a time-warp vibe. I don't think it is healthy for the town and heck, they may not even be aware of it. It's also probably a pretty safe bet, it could just be my craziness poking its head up. But I'm also betting I'm not the only full-time traveler that trusts his feelings about people and places. I wouldn't have a problem coming back to visit those museums, it's not that type of feeling. We will see what the future holds.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading west to another COE campground just outside of Demopolis, Alabama. I've stayed there before and it's a nice campground. This trip is beginning to have the "feels like far" feeling (Jeremiah Johnson movie reference). I'm ready to get back to home base although I'll only be there for a month before hitting the road to the big RV Rally in Goshen, Indiana in mid-August.

This was looking out my door around sundown. It was a nice combination of tree, smooth lake and changing sky. It's a "sleep well" type of feeling,,,,much better than any ole time warp feeling. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Georgia's Little Grand Canyon and a Dam

 Location: White Oak Creek Campground (Corp of Engineers; Eufaula, Alabama. (On the Georgia/Alabama state line about 60 miles north of the Florida State Line)

Dang, I should have just posted a map instead of such a long description. It sure feel great being back in a COE campground. It is just a completely different feeling than private or state parks. This is a seven day stay because I had to scrabble to fill in some time when my reservations at another COE south of here got cancelled. The reason was staffing shortages. Surprisingly, a couple of weeks after I got notified of the closure, I received an email that things had changed, and they would remain open. Too late, I had already modified my reservation to seven days at this campground and I'm glad I did. This is a nice campground and is located close to the descent sized city of Eufaula.

There is a lot more "pivot irrigation" around this part of the south than I expected. I'm used to seeing in other places around the country. 

 

Typical two lane highway in southwester side of central Georgia

This is a rare view in such wooded countryside. It's common out west but not usually in the south. 

When I modified my reservation, I had to give up a nice lake view site but I've been satisfied with this one. It is very shaded and the view out my back window is great for a nosey interested person. 

There were two things I wanted to explore around here. The first was Providence Canyon, which is sometimes referred to as Georgia's Little Grand Canyon. This canyon was not created by nature. It was completely caused by man and his ignorance back in the early 1800's. Around 1830, men started farming the land where the canyon is now located. They foolishly and unknowingly plowed their fields up and down the hillside. It didn't take long or many rainy seasons before the erosion became apparent. By then, there wasn't anything to do except watch it. Well, I decided I wanted to watch it too or at least see it, so off I went to look at it. It cost $5.00 to see it and I felt like a kid at a traveling carnival paying to see the bearded lady or some other sideshow attractions. The younger readers may need to find a seasoned citizen and ask about such things. The $5.00 is paid to an "iron ranger" on the honor system so I could have cheated but I know my conscious well enough that if I had done it, in a month or so I would be mailing $5.00 back to the State of Georgia with an apology. I'm a believer that if you do something bad, you'll be punished 10 times over. Also, if you do something good, you'll be rewarded 10 times over. 

You can spend the day and walk a trail down to the bottom of the washout canyon, but I chose not to do that. The reasons were mosquitoes, recent rains making the trail muddy and laziness. I was able to get some descent pictures from the trail along the rim. So, I got what I came for which was to see it.

This is the breezeway at the Providence Canyon State Park Visitor Center. Nice "rocking benches". 

 

One of two views I'll use to show the "canyon".

Second view. It's worth a stop if you're in the area, but don't go too far out of your way to see it. 

The second thing I wanted to see was the lock, dam and powerhouse that created this nice large lake that I can see from my campsite. The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a lot of siltation at the downstream end of the lock and about half-way across the dam. It was obvious that the lock and half of the dam gates hadn't been opened in a long time. Looking downstream, the river hadn't been maintained either. No commercial traffic had passed this way in a long time. Later, I searched online to find out what happened. Strangely, finding out was hard. It is like it is a big secret but apparently the lock has been closed since 2016 due a flood that over-ran the lock and control room. Apparently, navigation must not be important on this river because it sure appears that the COE has abandoned that portion of the dam. It also looked as though no electricity was being produced but I couldn't find a reason why not. I guess it's a mystery that is hiding in plain view. I was going to leave the conversation at that but, oh hell, I'll give my opinion. I think the navigational work by the Corps of Engineers along the Chattahoochee River should never have been done. The river is too unpredictable and the soils too erodible (note: the Little Grand Canyon). Someone had their head up their a$$ made an honest mistake and now the COE has realized it but wants to keep it quiet. A damaged navigation lock being closed for nine years. Come on, man!!!

This is the surprising view that I saw. The concrete structure is the lock guide-wall. That is the place where barge traffic would enter/exit. The siltation in front of it is just downstream of the dam and in line with half of the gates. Those gates and lock haven't been in operation in a long time.

  

Maybe the lock repair money was spent on this nice "thinking bench". You can see the right half of the gates looks to have not be opened in a while based on the silt downstream. The square bays on the left are the outlet bays from the turbines. Without any movement in the water, I'm assuming no water is passing through the turbines, meaning no electricity is being produced. Another puzzle. 

The view from the top of the dam looking back on the lake was really nice. The sky was putting on a show after weeks of dreary on again, off again rain showers and overcast. I soaked it in (get your mind out of the gutter, I kept my clothes on)

The dam is close to Fort Gaines, Georgia and I thought about exploring a Pioneer Village but changed my mind just as I was about to turn into the place. The buildings were recreations, and you could easily tell they were modern. I've seen the real thing and didn't want to cloud my limited memory with cheap fakes. Plus, remember, I said I was recently self-diagnosed with a case of laziness and exploring this would have taken time and effort.

Something to keep my life exciting is my refrigerator is acting up. The freezer is working just fine, but the refrigerator is only getting down to about 50 degrees. I suspect the thermistor needs replacing. For those unfamiliar with RV refrigerators like mine, they have a temperature sensor (thermistor) that is attached to the cooling fins in the refrigerator. If you slide it up, the refrigerator gets colder, slide it down and it gets warmer. They are cheap and you can get them from Walmart or Amazon for about $10. Apparently, no stores carry them in stock. I checked with Walmart, Bass Pro, Home Depot, Lowes, Tractor Supply, etc. No joy. I tried to have it shipped to a store so I could pick it up down the road. I've done that before, but this time it didn't work. None of the stores could receive it until June 30th. Heck, I'll be back at home base on July 1st, so I'll just tough it out till then. I'll order it so it will be waiting on me. In fact, I'll order at least two because I plan to try replacing just the senor. If that works, it will save me the headache of replacing it in the back of the refrigerator where there is very limited working space. I'm hoping to prevent myself from learning new cuss words by doing it this way. We will see. I'm also ordering an electric ice chest. Does anyone have any experience with them?

Tomorrow is moving day, and I'll be heading to another COE campground. This one is about 20 minutes west of Montgomery, Alabama. It looks nice and I haven't been to it before.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.