Natalbany Creek RV Park, Amite, Louisiana; February 29 to April 29, 2016

Our move from Tickfaw to Natalbany was easy, since it was only about 40 minutes away near Amite (pronounced A' meet) and the sites are concrete and almost level. The park itself is a bit on the seedy side – picnic table tops and seats are warped, the concrete road cracked and heaved, and the restrooms, while clean, need a lot of work. We had time over the weekend to settle in, then off to the hospital Monday for paperwork and Tuesday for surgery. The surgery went well and I had him back home and medicated by mid-afternoon. Wednesday was rainy and Thursday the heavens opened. I contacted the park office and reminded them that we would need to be notified as early as possible in case evacuation was expected since I'd need help getting the RV hooked up to travel. Also, because we could receive neither reliable cell nor TV reception, we were in the dark as to forecasts and news. After being assured that they would keep us informed, I checked to be sure things were in order outside and in, and we spent the evening watching DVDs. Before we went to bed, Rich checked outside and said there was about an inch of water on the pad, and still pouring rain. About 4:30 AM he woke me and told me the water was nearing the bottom step of the RV and we needed to hook up. By the time we had the slides in and I went out to try to find someone to help me get the 70 pound hitch on the truck, the water was up to my knees in places. We decided to get in the truck and get out while we could. The fellow I had asked to help in case we had to evacuate had already left with his unit, the couple next door was gone, and the only people we could see were leaving with their 5^th wheel. We were happy to follow them out to the main road since it was still dark and it was impossible to see the road. We surely didn't want to get hung up on a fire pit or sign post – none-the-less, my heart was still in my mouth. We drove into town and had breakfast at a Waffle House while we regrouped. Not knowing what else to do, we drove back to the RV park where we chatted with a deputy who was waiting for a boat to go in and rescue folks who hadn't gotten out. He suggested we go immediately and get a motel room for a couple of nights because with so many folks being evacuated, rooms would soon be scarce. We spent the next two days on pins and needles – hoping against hope that we'd have an undamaged home to go back to. As it turned out, leaving the trailer in the park was the best thing we could have done. We were able to move back in two days after we left and the RV was just as we had left it. Luckily, without realizing it, we had chosen the highest location in the entire park and the only thing we lost was our welcome mat. We later realized water had damaged the front stabilizer motor, but even so, we figure we got away cheaply. We saw a fellow with a 5^th wheel who wasn't so lucky. He had tried to get out, missed the road, ran over a fire pit, tore his black tank out from under his trailer, and who knows what else! Poor guy. There were propane tanks – one 100 pound – chairs, tarps, sections of fence, fittings, tools, grills, cell phones, two-way radio, and RV sewer hoses scattered all over the park – who knows what else. The heavy picnic tables (I could barely slide one end at a time) had floated into a deep gully.

To celebrate our exceptionally good luck, we went to The Boston Restaurant and got a delicious lunch – shrimp po' boy and a perfectly prepared burger. Can't wait to go back have some of their much touted sushi. We also found a Fox's Pizza Den and Murphy's Family Restaurant which were both better than average but not on a par with The Boston. I imagine we'll be revisiting each during our lengthy stay.

We took rides to Houma, Ponchatoula, and Mandeville, visited Bogue-Chitto State Park (they had water 20 feet deep in their lower campground loop – glad we weren't staying there!), and tried to keep Rich from going stir-crazy, which was especially difficult on the Easter weekend - the park was full to overflowing with families, all of which seemed to have dozens of kids and everyone had a golf cart. Finally Rich was released from the doctor's care and we headed north.

 

 

Tickfaw State Park, Springfield, Louisiana, LA; February 22 – 29, 2016

The day after our arrival the weather was nasty and we were under a tornado watch. We checked with a ranger, and she said the safest place on site was a closet in the visitor center, if push came to shove. Since we had shopping to do, we decided to go to Baton Rouge – we'd have better cell reception to keep posted on the weather than in camp and a better choice of hidey-holes, if we needed one. We made our obligatory trip to Jerry Lee's to stock up on his delicious boudin, did some grocery shopping, and the weather app on our cell phones began pinging. Severe thunderstorms were coming through the area. We stopped at the Cafe Phoenicia for their wonderful Greek food and kept an eye on the weather. We figured if it a tornado was imminent, we could huddle in the restroom there – it was safer than the truck or camp. Happily, the storm passed without any tornadoes near us and we headed back to camp after a couple other stops. Back at camp the only problem we saw was a couple of large downed trees, but there were 13 tornadoes in the area that day, including a deadly one in Convent, just 35 miles away from our campground. Pensacola, near our last park, had a tornado touch down early the morning we left. Maybe we won't head out of the Gainesville area so early next year... Other than that spurt of activity, we didn't do much other than take walks around the park and enjoy watching the birds.

While we were getting ready to leave for our next location, Rich hurt himself picking up the 70 pound hitch from an awkward spot on the ground. We went to the ER Sunday, since we were to move to Lake Bruin and it's about 50 miles from nowhere, and were told he had a bad hernia that needed to be repaired reasonably soon. Since we were familiar with the Baton Rouge area, we did some research on surgeons and hospitals, and settled on a doctor in Hammond. Monday we called and after hearing our story, they were able to get us in the next day. Since a medical clearance was needed for surgery, we were scheduled with another office and by Thursday we had the clearance and an appointment at the hospital on Monday, the day we needed to move, then surgery the next day. We were able to find a private RV park near Hammond where we could stay for the six weeks Rich would be under a doctor's care and moved there after the appointment with the hospital. All-in-all, we were lucky with timing and felt confident about our decisions.

Arkansas to Florida; October 19, 2015 to February 22, 2016

I was very bad in getting blogs written, worse at getting them posted, and from Arkansas on, didn't take many photos or do much out of the ordinary, so this is one all-inclusive post.

We were in Old Post Campground just outside of Russellville, Arkansas from October 19 to the 26^th. We had never stayed in the area before and this was a nice Corps of Engineers Park with lots of places for good walks, near groceries, the weather was beautiful, so what more did we need? There was a dam nearby and a small visitor's center but the one thing that I had never seen before was a sign that told about evacuation if the nearby nuclear plant had a problem. It didn't. We had a great lunch at CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers – a 50's style burger joint where we enjoyed great burgers (beef, not mystery meat), fries, and malteds while 50's rock 'n roll played on the juke box. It was a fun trip down memory lane.

We left Old Post and headed out to Pendleton Bend, waving at Little Rock as we passed, for the week of October 26 to November 2. This is another Corps Park but we had stayed here in 2013 so it was no surprise that grocery stores were few and far between so we went prepared. The good thing is it's a large, very quiet park this time of year, with lots of places to walk. This is the place where on our first trip we were treated to hundreds of semis loaded with grain lined up at the grain elevators to unload and watch more grain being loaded into barges. We were surprised, however, to find that we had timed our arrival with the migration of thousands of anhingas (also known as snakebird or water turkey).

A few of the thousands of anhingas on their stop-over at Pendleton Bend.

We are on the Arkansas River near the Mississippi River and this area is full of swamps, bayous, oxbows, with hardwood forests tossed in. On one of our walks along the water, we saw a large cloud of birds come flying down the river toward us. They skimmed and skittered across the water, some touching down just to begin flying again, others skimming the surface until they found the perfect spot to land. (Why do we still call it land even though it's on the water?) This group of hundreds of birds continued down the river in this manner until finally settling on top of the water a couple hundred yards down river. Meanwhile, another swarm of birds came into sight, and the whole ballet began again. This continued two or three more times, each new flock pushing the previous birds farther and farther down river until there must have been over a mile of river covered in anhingas. The next morning, the river was empty of the birds. Our idyllic week came to an end all too soon and we were back on the road headed south.

Our next stop was Lake Bruin State Park near the small town of St. Joseph, Louisiana. This is in a farming area – lots of cotton grown and not much else. There's a really good restaurant, Fish Tales, near the park and a grocery store, post office, a couple of gas stations and not a whole lot more. (We did have a fine fish dinner at Fish Tales.) Jackson, Mississippi is about an hour north and Natchez an hour and a half south with only a few small towns in between. The campground, perched on the edge of the lake, is a beauty in spite of the lackadaisical supervision of the park manager. Modern, spic-and-span restrooms and a laundry are a plus for us, as are the paved roads that make walking in the early mornings and evenings enjoyable. This was our second visit here and although our site was much better, we had electrical problems – the shore power voltage at our site and several others on either side was low enough (109 V instead of 115-120 V) that our surge protector was showing an alert and we were concerned that it might damage the electric motors in the RV. In spite of calling it in to the local office, nothing was resolved until we contacted the state office. We got an email a few weeks after our departure that let us know a problem was found with the power coming into the park and was being fixed.

From there, it was to Tickfaw State Park where we visited a nearby park and a small museum which unfortunately didn't allow any photos – even with no flash, and then Three Rivers, and Blackwater state parks where we've been previously but didn't do anything new.

My favorite building in Mobile, AL

We headed to Rodman a day early since I had jury duty Monday. Happily it didn't last long since it was Thanksgiving week. It all worked out, since we could stay at our home while on jury duty, and while there, could see my son and his family on Thanksgiving.

From Rodman we went south toward the Tampa area and spent some two weeks at Hillsborough River state park. We saw my daughter and her family and I did some Christmas shopping at IKEA (my first time) with Beth and her youngest, Pete. Rich was pretty impressed with my purchases so we went down the next week and found some more things, stopped at an RV dealership for a repair part . While Rich was working to find the part we needed, I wandered around and found some nice Euro-style leather recliners which we had been wanting for a while. We did some measuring, removed the fold-out sofa, and returned to pick them up the next day.

Before we left, we picked up Beth's older two and took them up to Stephen Foster state park. They have been camping with us since they were toddlers and since we've been traveling so much, we've missed having them with us, so this was a real treat. Before we knew it, it was Christmas and both of my kids were able to get up to the park to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful end to a spectacular year.

January found us at Paynes Prairie, we spent some time in our house, and catching up with our doctors, then down to Rainbow Springs State Park near Dunnellon, which is a first for us. We were only there for a few days, but we found The Front Porch Restaurant, which became a favorite, and on one near-freezing morning, I went out with a local bird watching group and had a great time. I returned with Rich and good some good shots of birds and the gardens.

From there, we were back to Stephen Foster State Park where we enjoyed a ranger program about using native plants, creating baskets and ropes with palmettos and mother-in-law tongue, and all sorts of other interesting things.

From there, we went on to Three Rivers where I took a nice hike – saw five deer and was able to watch them for nearly fifteen minutes.

Blackwater River wasn't as wet as it had been the last few times so we got a couple of hikes in, had some winged visitors in camp and completed some last minute preparations for a new year of traveling. Wahoo!