Dang RV

I just could not pass by Moab, UT with not one but two national parks nearby and not stop. That would definitely have been an RVer sin. Sooo I found a campground just south of downtown Moab for a week. I stayed at Moab Rim Campark. Nothing fancy. No extras. Just a site with full utilities and that is all. Great view though and decent location. Passport America discount was nice.

Moab is another active spot for river rafting and ATVing. Don’t expect a lot of trees. It’s red rocks for as far as you can see and beautiful. I took a drive over to Arches National Park first. The first thing you learn there is to bring a bottle or two of water as there is none in the park except at the Visitor’s Center. You have no business being in the park without your own water on board. The other thing is to use the bathroom before you go because again bathrooms are in short supply. I suggest wearing hiking boots too if you have them as well as a hat and a walking stick or cane is nice to have. Don’t forget to bring your camera and extra batteries too because photo opportunities abound there. Since the park is huge and you can drive through quite a bit of it, be sure to fill up on gas before going in. There is a campground or two  in the park with no utilities which were pretty full.

Most of the arches are not visible from the road. You are going to have to get out and walk if you want to see them. However, there are plenty of other great natural formations to view along the road through the park.  Once upon a time, people did try ranching there and mining.  That’s all gone now. I did get out and walk a bit. They have some great trails and there were plenty of others on the trail at the same time even though it was very hot out. At one point I had walked too far for me and dearly wished there was a tank of oxygen at the lookout point. I was not alone in that thought. It is easy to get lost in the beauty and push your limits.

Another day, I went to Canyonlands National Park. The formations are a bit different than the Arches so don’t skip either. Both drives are fairly easy with lots of turnouts and picnic spots. Again, take plenty of water. One thing I noticed about both parks was the accents of the visitors. There was a little French, a little Japanese, and a whole lot of German.

For more pics click here.

On to Kentucky to claim it on my state map. I drove through Nashville and on up to Cave City which is only 5 miles from Mammoth Cave National Park. I waited too long to book into the C2C rv park but happily found Singing Hills RV Park in the midst of bunches of tourist attractions. It is a Passport America park thus very inexpensive and the owners are wonderful and helpful. They understand that some of their sites are too short and happily let me park my large SUV in the small site next to mine. It is a very basic park with no pool or anything but none of that matters considering everything surrounding it. The wifi worked great. I would definitely stay here again when in the area.

I first drove back south to Bowling Green to see Lost River Cave by boat tour. I very much enjoyed the boat and ducking to slide the boat under the entrance. It was sooooo cool in the cave on a very hot day. Morgan’s Raiders used the cave to hide out during the Civil War and Jesse James may have also used it to hide out after a bank robbery. Locals have always used it to stay cool and party in it’s ballroom at the entrance. A walk along the paths outside past the blue holes and butterfly house is interesting. They even have some geocaches there and are kind enough to provide both information on geocaching and a Magellan Explorist 200 handheld gps device already programmed for the caches.  It was my first chance at using  a handheld since I use my car gps device for hunting normally. Maybe it’s a matter of familiarity but I still prefer my Garmin C330 car gps. I found 3 including a travel ingot/bug, a change purse, and a winner’s medal.

I ate at White Castle before heading back just to see what the big deal is with their hamburgers. The look of the bun and the small size did not appeal to me (Size matters, at least when it comes to hamburgers!) but the burger did taste very good. I still would not spend a whole night going through everything Harold and Kumar did to get one. Get a life!

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On up the 59 through Alabama lies the next destination, Pigeon Forge, TN. One thing I can tell you, I have not been on such a lousy main road since I was on the I90 through Minnesota. Ick! It shook my nerves and rattled my soul. I couldn’t wait to get to the I75. It was a long hard drive. I should have calculated the time better and broken it up into 2 parts. The closure of I40 through Knoxville TN didn’t help any. We stopped at the rest area/welcome center just across the border for food, restroom visit, and quick snooze. The dang cat was pushing for a stop as much as I was.

Finding the Eagle’s Nest Campground on Wears Valley Rd. sure wasn’t hard. Lots of campgrounds along it. This one is Passport America with no restrictions, good level well-defined sites, great free wifi, and free cable TV. The laundry room is a bit expensive at $1.75 per wash load and taking out the trash requires a car but the rest is good and it has a trolley stop right out front. Definitely a good place to stay again.

Oh my God! I have stumbled into another Myrtle Beach with bunches of dinner shows to decide between, wonderful restaurants, a gazillion fun tourist traps, Dollywood, Smoky Mountains National Park, fascinating stores, and on and on. Oh my God! Way too many decisions to make while I’m here. I will definitely have to come back when I have more time.

I had planned to hit Dollywood first thing on my day off but of course they had to be closed that day. Switch to plan B. I took a drive through the town to get acquainted, located the trolley station at Patriot Park since I will likely go to Dollywood by trolley, then got sucked in by Lid’l Dollys gigantic quilt and little girl’s dress store. I had to get beautiful and ridiculously frilly southern belle dresses for my granddaughters, a quilt for the daughter-in-law,  and my youngest son will be glad to know I now have another blanket/quilt on board for the times he joins me for some fun.

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The idea of camping in a theme park attracted me to Childersburg, AL and Desoto Caverns not to mention it is very close to Talladega International Speedway. I’m not a huge racing fan but do appreciate the sport. I purposely came right after a big race. I’m not inclined to pay $70 to sit in the hot sun all day watching cars go round and round but I did want to see what the track is like up close and the International Motor Sports Museum.

The RV park at Desoto Caverns is right up against the theme park. They had assigned me a spot against the fence of one of the attractions but I quickly told them that would not do as I need to sleep during the day which would be impossible with all the noise of the kids. I had already driven through the park and knew where the open spaces were. Luckily, one farthest away and in a location with access to the southern sky for my satellite dish was available. It was level, angled, and easy to slip into by myself. They do have some nice pull thrus as well. They provide full utilities and most spots are level. Being Passport America, the price was right. I enjoyed staying there and the location is excellent.

The theme park was interesting though expensive for what it is. During the week many schools go there. Weekends is for families. It is fun watching the people mice running through the maze from the tower. Walking the wall, the maze, water balloon battle, archery, and the ship to ship nerf ball cannons were popular. The cave crawl looked interesting though I would not want to be trapped in the box with others as some did. My favorite was racing potties and bathtubs. I kid you not. They have motorized battery driven toilets and bathtubs with a whole lot of pep to race around a track.

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With a 6 hour or more drive to my next stop, I needed to stay somewhere for one night to break the drive up. 6 hours is just too long when towing a trailer. I was planning on staying way down upon the Suwanee River but checked on it the night before and found both state parks were flooded and closed. After a little scrambling, I found a cheap Passport America park in White Springs, FL just off the I75 and I10 interchange. Lee’s Country Campground is a great place to layover. It’s quiet and peaceful with grassy open pull thru sites, a big screen TV available in the office area 24 hours, decent showers, and rocking chairs to enjoy the evening air. The sites are not level so be prepared for that.

We had a thunder and lightening storm that night with tornado warnings in other nearby counties so I was very glad to be off the road.

The weather, as predicted, got pretty bad on departure day and was even worse where I was heading so I decided to take a week out nearby to go say hey to my friends in Bushnell again and also check out Breezy Oaks which is next door to the Escapees park I usually stay at. I found it odd that it is so popular that it is always full every winter since it is right next to I75 which means lots of noise and there is more to do in the Escapees park. However, the monthly rate and daily Passport America rate do make it much cheaper to stay at. It also has pretty good Verizon aircard signal and wifi is available. The pool is heated, large and very very nice. Every night someone is playing cards in the clubhouse. I hear they have lots going on during the season which seemed to end around April 1st when all the snowbirds started winging their way home again. The great migration back north actually seems to start the last week of March but the biggest group leaves the next week and the parks suddenly become empty.

I stopped in next door at my favorite Escapees park a couple nights. I put most of a puzzle together one night. They invited me over for Easter dinner. I also got an invite from the folks at Breezy Oaks. It’s nice to be wanted.   I was tempted to go for the Breezy Oaks dinner where I knew someone was bringing KFC cole slaw but in the end chose the Escapees at Sumter Oaks and was not disappointed. They had shrimp platter and deviled egg appetizers, ham, chicken, my baked beans, green bean casserole, salads, potatoes, and lots of cheese cake. Woohoo!

I got some great tips from fellow RVers there. One in particular to pass on is http://rvdirections.com which has tons of GPS waypoints and info for RVers that can be loaded into both a Garmin GPS device and computer programs “Streets and Trips” and “Street Atlas”. It is a wonderful source of waypoints for the discount camping club parks like Passport America, Coast to Coast, Good Sam, Escapees, etc. It also has rest areas, dumps, walmarts, super walmarts, etc. The info that comes with each waypoint can be invaluable with prices, descriptions, ratings, etc.

Another good tip if you are in the area is you can fill your propane tank for $15 flat fee at a propane place just up the road from Walmart on the left side. Much cheaper than at the RV parks. They are open M-F.

Silver Springs, next to the Ocala National Forest, is the home of Silver Springs Theme Park where numerous commercials and movies have been shot due to its crystal clear 99% pure spring water. The Tarzan series of movies with Johnny Weismuller, Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges, Legend with Tom Cruise, one of the 007 James Bond movies, the commercial of a family living and eating underwater, etc. were filmed there. It is also an animal rehab and sanctuary as well as an excellent concert venue. The glass bottom boats and concerts are what  brought me to stay for 5 weeks at Wilderness RV Park nearby.

Wilderness RV Park has been very nice with all the amenities including a pool, hot tub, exercise room, laundry, propane, a lodge and meeting hall for nightly activities, lots of planned activities, river access with kayak and canoe rentals, etc. The sites are wide open so no issue with my satellite TV though they do also provide cable TV free. My site was level on grass while some sites have a concrete pad. I highly recommend using a water filter on the incoming line. The water is loaded with both sulfur and chlorine so it smells pretty bad.

I had no problem finding things to do and entertainment in camp. I got on a treadmill for the first time and found I can actually do it despite my health issues and with no pain whatsoever. It is wonderful to do at night wih a TV available to watch while working out and a chair to sit in afterward to cool down and get over the dizziness it causes. There is also a sauna and shower provided while the bathhouse is right next door. The pool is unheated at this time but some folks still refresh in it on hot days. I gave the hot tub a whirl. I managed get in on a group campfire, a spaghetti dinner, Mardi Gras parade, a Space Shuttle launch, a corned beef and cabbage dinner for St. Patrick’s Day,  several games of cards with very nice folks, wii bowling, and gator races (no kidding!). I loved game night with the bowling and races. I lost 75 cents betting  on the gators but I also won twice and I ate at least that much in free nachos with tons of cheese and piquante sauce along with lime punch.

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A little checking around quickly told me that I was about to miss a window of opportunity if I didn’t move fast. Florida is a major haven for snowbirds (people running away from Northern winters) from December through April. They know it and cater to snowbirds while also adjusting prices for RV parks according to the season. My best chance to see the Keys was now before December 1st when prices double. EEK! No way am I going to pay $60-80 a night for a piece of ground to park my trailer on. The state parks don’t change their prices but that is why they are usually booked up a year in advance for the season. I did check them and found 1-3 days available here and there in them but since the Keys are so long and have so much to do, that is not nearly enough time for a visit.

The drive out through the Keys on the Overland Parkway is lots of fun. The speed limits are low but the water and scenery are so beautiful who cares. It is very surprising to see so many well known stores, restaurants, and even schools out there in an area so well known to be hit by hurricanes and only 3 feet above sea level. All the fast food joints are there as well as the usual grocery stores and pharmacies. Even the fancier restaurants are there. Be careful of your speed. It is strictly enforced there, particularly near the deer preserve.

I got lucky once again and found a Passport America park in Marathon, FL on Grassy Key, Jolly Roger Travel Park. I got 5 days at the discount rate and paid for 2 more at the off-season rate to get a whole week to explore. The PA section is close to the road with lots of noise of course but I didn’t mind. I had no problem sleeping there despite the noise. No pool or clubhouse but it is very nice looking and has a great view. If you want to swim with dolphins, the Dolphin Research Center is very close (very expensive too).

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