Words/No Words
Lenticular Cloud over Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, from Paradise
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 Sunset Mount Mansfield April 6, 2024 4/24/24 Good afternoon from Westford, Vermont. We've been visiting our friend, Diana, since the 5th of April and, while we enjoyed an amazing Spring day yesterday, today we're back to a mix of snow and rain. Tonight's low is predicted to be 25 degrees Fahrenheit. While many of the maples have their familiar red flowers of Spring, stick season and mud season are with us. My last Travel Journal post was on January 10, 2024 when I posted our Annual Report from Collinsville, Mississippi. We were on our way to meet friends, Robyn and Hank, from Florence, Alabama for a camping weekend at an Army Corp of Engineers campground. Our friends bailed on camping due to inclement weather (storms and cold) and we ended up spending a nice few days with them at an Airbnb in Water Valley, Mississippi near Oxford, Mississippi. 4/26/24 I had technical trouble stopping my progress on the 24th, life happened yesterday. Anyway, continuing with my summary of the past few months (how Melanie and I spent our Winter 2024), because of weather (low temperatures) we had to travel south quickly from Water Valley. We spent a couple of nights camped at Paul B. Johnson State Park outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Lots of improvements currently happening to their campgrounds but, once competed, what's already a great setting will be worth a stop as a camping destination. We made it to the Gulf Coast and spent three days at Fort Pickens Campground (a favorite) located within Gulf Islands National Seashore. It's truly a wonderful resource near Pensacola, Florida. It was a bit cold for our bikes this time through, but we took walks and one day took the van and traveled as far east as Navarre Beach and back. After Fort Pickens we needed to travel back to Birmingham to get our bikes repaired, but temperatures remained too cold, so we headed east along the coast to Topsail Hill Preserve State Park (another favorite) and spent three nights there. After Topsail, we traveled to Birmingham, Nashville and over to Sevierville, Tennessee staying a few nights at Two Rivers Landing RV Resort. This was a way point on our way towards the east coast, but we enjoyed a nice quiet few days. We stopped at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on our way towards Greenville, South Carolina. Outside Greenville we camped at Paris Mountain State Park and spent another quiet few days walking the trails there. From there we next spent a few days just southeast of Charleston, South Carolina in James Island County Park. James Island is the nicest of the County Parks in which we've camped thus far. Volunteers do a nice job of maintaining the campground facilities. Great hiking and multi-use trails which we biked and walked for four days. Many of the activities happen during the summer months. Lots of activities then for families with children. Continuing south along the coast we next camped on Hunting Island, South Carolina. We spent 3 days there at Hunting Island State Park. The weather cooperated a bit and we were able to get our bikes out and explore. We spent a rainy Sunday midday in Beaufort, South Carolina walking around and having lunch. Skidaway Island State Park was our next destination. We camped there for two nights and enjoyed a bit of what Savannah has to offer. We always like spending a few days in Savannah and the State Park is definitely a favorite. We also took in Wormsloe State Historic Site not too far from the park. Farther south we spent two nights on Jekyll Island at the Jekyll Island Campground. We enjoyed both walking and riding our bikes around the island which has extensive multi-use trails. After Jekyll Island we headed into Florida and Clay Fair RV Park in Green Cove Springs the city where we are domiciled, where our home is registered, where we vote. Melanie had a doctors appointment and we camped there for 3 days checking out the area for the first time since we domiciled there over 5 years ago. We then visited family near Orlando, Florida and traveled farther south to Melbourne Beach, Florida camping in Long Point Park. Long Point is a nice county park located on an island on the Indian River. From there we stayed a night in Vero Beach, Florida at a Cracker Barrel. We'd used a Cracker Barrel parking lot while visiting family near Orlando, our first and, since the experience was a good one, we stayed at the Vero Beach location. Without belaboring the obvious, Winter travel in Florida is competitive with many seasonal campers in evidence. So, when you fly by the seat of yo' pants and don't reserve campsites far in advance..., Cracker Barrel to the rescue. 😎 Belle Glade, Florida and Torry Island Campground, another county park, was our next camping spot. We camped there for 6 days. We walked, biked around the park and on a trail that runs around nearby Lake Okeechobee and spent a nice day in Palm Beach where we biked around the Island, had a great lunch and rode by the scene of the crimes, Mar-a-Lago. We visited family in Palm Harbor and spent a nice weekend there. It was then back to Jacksonville for follow up doctor's appointments for Melanie and another Cracker Barrel. Traveling west from Jacksonville, we spent a night in Sanderson, Florida camping at Ocean Pond Campground located in Osceola National Forest. A hidden gem. Farther west we camped 1 night near Tallahassee, Florida in Midway, Florida at High Bluff Campground. Another campground as way point. The campground offers lake views, secluded, dry camping on Lake Talquin. In Port Saint Joe we camped 5 days at Water's Edge RV Park, a smallish park located outside of town and adjacent to the Indian Pass Raw Bar. We ate at the Raw Bar a few nights and explored the area walking, by bike, took Miranda over to explore Saint George Island on a rainy day, and, while there, checked out Dr. Julian G. Bruce State Park, for future reference, a definite great spot to camp for days. We made a just after New Year's 2025 reservation to camp for a week at Saint Joe Peninsula State Park. The campground was reworked after a hurricane and has all new campsites and a new bathhouse. Great spot. We began a northern trajectory after Port Saint Joe, first camping in one of our favorite Corp of Engineers campgrounds, Gunter Hill, just outside Montgomery, Alabama for 2 days, then on to our friends, the Andersons for 3 days. We were able to have dinner with a friend, Michael, in Montgomery while we were there. It's always great to see the Andersons and driveway surf with them in Birmingham and, as bonus for us, we were able to spend much more time with them this winter season since we didn't travel out west as in past years. We also were able to see our long-time friends, Keith and Beth, again for brunch while in Birmingham. More time with them always a plus. For those following along, we're now into March and we're beginning to look forward to being in Vermont for the solar eclipse, but first we had to travel to Saint Louis, Missouri for installation of a new storage compartment in the place where our generator used to be. May that smelly, noisy thing rest in peace. Continuing north, we spent 2 days with Zoe and Tate in Nashville, a night in Metropolis, Illinois at Fort Mossac State Park, and then into Saint Louis camping in Cahokia, Illinois just across the river in Cahokia RV Parque. Lunch one day at Grace Meat + Three, a nice meal at Sidney Street Cafe and visited our favorite bar, Venice Cafe, while in Saint Louis. From Saint Louis we traveled east again towards Louisville, Kentucky and a visit with our friends, Pif and Chip, who live there. We also got to catch up with Pif and Chip's daughter and son-in-law, Jessica and Ziggy too. We stayed a night in Gentryville, Indiana camping in Lincoln State Park as a way stop before Louisville. Lincoln State Park is a nice park and campground with trails for hiking and there's boating on Lake Lincoln built by the CCC in around 1932. We camped in a Cracker Barrel parking lot in Louisville. This one's a bit noisy, by the by. Leaving Louisville, we headed northeast to Cincinnati, Ohio where we camped 2 cold nights on the Ohio River at Tuckers Landing RV Park. We took a chilly afternoon walk in light snowfall along the Ohio River on the Ohio River Trail when we first arrived and visited the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden the next day. Alum Creek State Park was our next camping spot on a lake created by the Army Corp of Engineers for flood control and recreation and near Delaware, Ohio. We spent 2 nights there and visited the campus of Ohio State as we passed through Columbus, Ohio. Melanie lived in Delaware and worked for her sorority that had a chapter on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan. We spent a night in Salt Fork State Park in Lore City, Ohio. Salt Fork is a beautiful state park located on Salt Lake. We lucked out on a camping spot there. I had scheduled us to camp at a Cracker Barrel in Cambridge, Ohio, but in checking out Salt Fork State Park nearby we discovered they had opened up more campsites that day. We were one of two campsites occupied in a newly opened loop. Sublime. We also took a walk on the Great Guernsey Trail just outside Cambridge during the day. We have a good friend, Rebecca, who lives in Morgantown, West Virginia. Rebecca lost her husband, also our friend, IB last year. We met them in Brevard, North Carolina at a National Forest Campground years back and became friends. It was great to catch up with Rebecca as we continued to grieve the loss of IB, an engineer who loved adventures of all kinds. Centre Hall, Pennsylvania was our next stop. We camped at Stem to Stable Farm, a Harvest Host location. We purchased their lamb chops and ground beef for later consumption. Great evening with these nice folks. Sayre, Pennsylvania was our next stop and Halcyon Hill, a Boondockers Welcome location. We spent the early afternoon walking around Stephen Foster Lake in Mount Pisgah State Park nearby. We were able to spend nice time with Kay, our hostess, who told us about the area where she grew up. She gave us information on local attractions for next time through. We made a short trip to Richford, New York for a visit with our friends, Linda and Michael. Linda was on the board of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship while Melanie was executive director. Great catching up with them. We traveled into Ithaca took a nice walk along Lake Cayuga on the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, had lunch at Moosewood and bought coffee beans at Gimme Coffee, a favorite place for beans. Leaving Richford, we traveled to Lake George, New York where days earlier they'd had 18 inches of snow. When we arrived at Whippoorwill Motel & Campsites, we were one of only a very few Rv's, and the landscape was still covered in 4-5 inches of snow. Luckily temperatures were moderating and we spent a nice couple of days there. We took walks on the Warren County Bikeway into town. Lake George is pretty much a seasonal destination and we were early. Many businesses close for winter and don't come back until sometime in Spring, many were yet closed in late March. We made it into Vermont and camped in a Boondockers Welcome driveway in Bennington for the last two days of March. We walked on the Bennington Rail Trail and Melanie attended Easter Services at the Episcopal Church. Bennington is a nice town and a nice reintroduction to Vermont. April Fool's Day was spent in Brattleboro, Vermont at a Harvest Hosts location, Saxons Distillery. The distillery was closed, but they allowed us to spend the night there. I should add we've enjoyed Saxons libations on previous trips. Recommended. 4/28/24 After lunch along the Connecticut River at Whetstone Beer Company, we drove to Keene, New Hampshire where Melanie walked around town and I took my bike out and rode a portion of the Ashuelot Recreational Rail Trail. There's a favorite shop in Keene where we've bought truffles and Melanie, loving me as she does, bought me a nice variety. Leaving Brattleboro, we traveled north to West Barnet, Vermont to another Boondockers Welcome location and spent the night next to our hosts' nice garage. The weather at this point was beginning to look really dicey, snow, significant snow, was predicted for the next several days. We made the decisions to contact our friend, Diana, in Westford and ask if we might arrive two days early. She graciously consented and we luckily arrived the next day before the rain, followed by snow began. Over the next 3 days we received about 18 inches of snow. It was a Spring wonderland. We've been in residence here in Westford since. The eclipse on April 8th was nothing short of spectacular and, while we arrived believing we might not experience it because Spring in Vermont is cloudy a lot, we lucked out and got the full show. One of those once in a lifetime events not to be missed. We discussed the next one happening in Europe in a few years. Who knows? We are so very grateful to Diana for allowing us to stay with her here in Westford while we figure out next moves. I've got my own space for writing and processing photos upstairs in our bedroom. I'm looking at cloud draped Green Mountains and Mount Mansfield as I type this morning. Melanie has applications out for Park Ranger jobs at two National Parks in the Northeast and we're waiting to hear about those. She and Diana have traveled into Burlington this morning for church services and a quick trip to a market. Our refrigerator gave up the ghost on our way into Vermont, freezing everything inside the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment too. A new and different one has been shipped and should arrive in a matter of days. I found Peter at Vermont Road and Home to perform the installation service for us. We're, off and on, discussing the possibility of a bit of touring in Canada later in Spring/early Summer, but it's likely we'll spend much of Summer in Vermont. Watch this space. 😎 Winter/Early Spring Photos 2024
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