We spent New Year’s 2018 weekend at Cypress Glen Campground in the Withlacoochee State Forest at Silver Lake in site #46. This is a nice campground, but there are not a lot of level sites big enough for a 34′ motorhome. We barely fit in our site, had to jack our front wheels 8″ – 10″ off the ground, and our front door barely cleared a large oak tree. It was difficult to enter or exit the camper without making contact with the tree.
We managed to place our portable satellite dish in a spot where we could acquire 2 of the 3 Dish Network Satellites which provided us with every channel we required for New Year’s Day college football. Satellite access from any other site would have been difficult. There was no access to broadcast television via the antenna. We did get good Verizon voice and LTE data coverage as I was “on call” all weekend and unfortunately it was a busy weekend.
All negatives aside, we camped here with friends and had a great time. We took the Weber Bullet Smoker with us and smoked ribs on Saturday. Smoking at the camp site was easy, but cleaning up the mess while camping was not nearly as convenient as at home.
Today we decided to head home a day early and try to get south of what was left of Hurricane Irma. We were very lucky to have no damage at home an no loss of power. We called the campground in Alabama we had planned on staying at and they couldn’t assure us that they’d have any spots available because they weren’t sure all of their hurricane evacuees would depart today. We decided to leave at 10:40 AM EDT and see how far traffic allowed us to go.
We took US-49 from Vicksburg, MS to Hattiesburg, MS and then US-98 to Mobile, AL. US-49 was fairly good road most of the way and US-98 was real nice until just a few miles prior to the Alabama state line. It switched from 4 lane to 2 lane in Alabama and it seemed to take forever to get to I-65 and I-10 in Mobile, AL. There was quite a bit of congestion where I-10 narrows to 2 lanes for the tunnel under the Mobile river.
We started to receive Hurricane Irma’s winds and rain when we got on I-10. I truly white knuckled it across Pensacola Bay. The wind gusts were heavy and blew the Winnebago all over the lane (fortunately there was not a lot of traffic around me on the bridge). Beth called quite a few campgrounds throughout the afternoon and they were all full of evacuees. We finally got a call back from Sunset King Lake RV Resort with an opening and we jumped on it. By then we were tired of fighting Hurricane Irma and the traffic. We probably passed a couple hundred power trucks from Arkansas, Missouri, and Alabama in route to help with the recovery.
We haven’t seen much of this campground because it was raining and windy when we arrived at 6 PM EDT, but it seems very nice. There is a large percentage of permanent RV’s, but all are kept up very nicely.
We are in Site J-1 and have 50 Amps and full hookups. We are able to access their Wi-Fi, but the speeds are very slow. Verizon service is 3 bars but the LTE is very slow (0.57/2.47)
We left Lake Catherine State Park today and moved on to the Ameristar Casino & RV Park in Vicksburg, MS. We took US-270 to US-65 to I-20. US-65 was 4 lane divided highway for a large portion of the trip and even the parts that were 2 lane were very straight and flat with plenty of opportunities for people to pass us. US-65 follows the Mississippi River on the Arkansas and Louisiana side through the flat river bottom land. We had the opportunity to see some VERY large farming operations harvesting soy beans along the way (very impressive) along with several sections of road that ran right along the river.
The RV Park here at the Ameristar Casino is very nice with 50 Amp service, full hookups, and paved pads (although our pad is not very level). Although we are able to access the Wi-Fi, it is not connecting to the internet. We are getting 5 bars on Verizon Wireless and LTE = 28.24/27.00.
The casino provides free shuttle service that picks you up and drops you off at your campsite. We had very nice sirloins tonight at Bourbon’s for just $19/steak.
We moved from the Crater of Diamonds to Lake Catherine State park today. This was a 70 mile drive which took nearly two hours (serious two lane hilly roads).
This is a beautiful state park and we have a great site (#44) right on the lake with full hookups. We are able to pickup all the local channels on our antenna and all of the western arc satellites on our satellite dish (we are using the portable dish so that we can get all available channels for the debut of NFL football). We are getting 4 bars on Verizon Wireless and LTE = 4.69/11.49.
Site 44
Site 44
We went into Hot Springs this evening. The downtown area is nice and Bathhouse Row is quite impressive. It must have been “bike night” because there were hundreds of motorcycles all over the downtown area.
We ended up driving out near the interstate and eating at the Bleu Monkey Grill. The food was great. I had a Cuban sandwich and Beth had pasta.
Bleu Monkey Grill
After dinner we returned to the camp site and enjoyed our great view of the lake.
We went searching for diamonds today. Unfortunately, we will have to return to work because we did not find any diamonds. Our biggest finds were three less than pee size pieces of jasper. However, we did have a good time. The day’s high temperature was 79 degrees (mostly sunny) and we had a good breeze throughout the day. We will probably not quit our jobs to become full time diamond miners as it turned out to be a bit of work. The good news is that we didn’t do any worse than anyone else today. When we checked out around 4PM, no one had found any diamonds.
Our neighbor on the campsite next to us had told us the day before that a geologist they had talked to had found two diamonds (one over 2 carats and one over 1 carat). When we were checking out for the day today (hoping that our jasper were diamonds) we asked if anyone had found any diamonds and they mentioned that the most recent find was one diamond yesterday (the day the geologist had allegedly found two). We didn’t think much about it, but today when we were packing up to leave, we had a chat with our neighbor at the campground and he mentioned that he was told the same thing. So, having had a conversation with the alleged geologist he mentioned what he was told regarding their two finds to the folks at the State Park. Apparently, they were reluctant to discuss the situation, but he pressed the issue and the people at the State Park stated that after detailed analysis, the diamonds presented to them were from “Africa” (aka, “blood diamonds”). My guess is these dudes had acquired some blood diamonds and were hoping to pass them off as discovered at the Crater of Diamonds in some sort of laundering scheme. The folks at the State Park indicated that this was not the first time this sort of attempt had occurred. Keep in mind that this is all hearsay coming from a neighbor at the campground, but quite interesting.
We left Guthrie, OK at 9:20 AM EDT and arrived at Crater of Diamonds State Park Site #29 at 3:50 PM EDT. Our drive was fairly uneventful. We spent several hours on I-35 and I-40 before taking the Indian Nations Turnpike for a couple of hours south. That road started out nice, but once we paid our first toll, the road quality degraded to the point that when no one was behind me I would switch to the left lane for a better ride. There were no major potholes or anything of that sort, but the cracks in the road seemed to be at the resonant frequency for our rig. I’m shocked our TV works tonight. It was shaking like it was in a paint shaker.
The Crater of Diamonds State Park Campground is top notch. Each site is paved, level, 55′ long (back-in) and has 50 Amps and full hook ups. The free Wi-Fi hotspots are reachable and on my first test I was getting 10M download speeds, but the upload test failed and there has been no internet connectivity since. Verizon Wireless is 2 bars and the LTE speeds are 2.87/0.97.
It was 93 degrees upon arrival and we didn’t feel like cooking so we zipped up to the state park’s restaurant for their last weekday meal (only open on weekends after Labor Day). This was a brilliant decision on our part as they were having to do inventory (we were the last customers) and rather than throw out a quarter bag of fries or iced tea, they just gave it all to us. We’re sit’n tall in french fries and iced tea (2 refills plus 4 more cups to take home).
Beth will be working tomorrow and I will attend Diamond Mining Training 101. I also plan to pickup some firewood. It’s supposed to rain in the afternoon and then cool down nicely, so hopefully we’ll have a campfire in the evening.
We left Wakeeney, KS this morning at 9:10 AM EDT and arrived at the Guthrie, OK Walmart at 3:18 PM EDT to stock up on supplies before moving on to Cedar Valley RV Park. The campground here is about 5 miles straight west of I-35, but we had an interesting time getting here from the local Walmart. I always verify my GPS routes on the map to make sure I’m not going to run into any issues, but I hadn’t accounted for the side trip to Walmart. The GPS routed us down the main street of Guthrie which was very beautiful. It was the original Oklahoma state capital and one of the home of one of the land offices involved in the Land Run of 1889 (we would be interested in touring the town for a day on a future trip). Unfortunately, the street dead ends into a cross street and due to construction, the bridge we needed to take was closed (missing). We were forced to turn left and it was starting to look like we were going to have to stop and unhook the Tahoe so we could turn the RV around. The final cross street went back to town, but it was brick and had a lot of very large dips. We drug our tail end a bit at a couple of rough intersections. The RV has a pair of metal drag bars back there to protect it, so there was no damage that we could find, but it certainly put our knickers in a bind.
The campground sites are all pull-thru with 50 Amps and septic at each site and plenty of space between. The Verizon reception is 3 bars with great LTE download and upload speeds. The free Wi-Fi is basically useless. There aren’t a lot of trees, so we had no issues setting up the satellite.
A large percentage of the campers here are work campers (construction), but the owners don’t let any of them have the code to the bathrooms and showers because they come home work too filthy.
We will be heading for Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas first thing tomorrow.
We left Denver this morning at 10:20 AM EDT and arrived at the Wakeeney, KS KOA at 3:43 PM EDT. The campground here is adjacent to the south side of I-70. The noise from the interstate is acceptable with the camper closed up and the AC running (it was too hot today to spend anytime outside).
The sites are pull-thru with 50 Amps and septic at each site and plenty of space between. The Verizon reception is 5 bars with great LTE download and upload speeds.
Today was our final day in Colorado. We will start our slow trek home tomorrow. I started the day with a shower at the campground facility. I don’t mind our RV shower, but at 6′ 5″ I have to do a lot of bending over in tight quarters to rinse my golden locks. If the campground has decent facilities, I generally take that option. Let me tell ya, the showers here at The Prospect RV Park are incredible. As the shower head peeled off my outer three layers of skin, all I could think of was the Seinfeld episode where Kramer buys the illegal elephant shower head on the black market.
So, as I’m returning to the camper from my glorious shower, I notice a local law enforcement officer talking to the folks in the first site entering the campground. My first thought was that someone had stolen something from them since they were the first site entering the campground. I continued my return to the camper so I could complete the final steps in the daily hair preparation process (timing is critical here). When I turned off the hair dryer I heard Beth talking to someone who sounded official and I heard the words “hazmat” and “evacuate immediately”. The next thing you know, Hurricane Bethany has packed up all the cats and a litter box in the Tahoe and we’re heading for the kids’ apartment.
We invaded the kids and the cats were definitely in stress from the move and having a 2 year old terrorize them. Aaron and I still had to laugh as Beth was chasing one of the cats out of some unauthorized area shouting “out! out! out!” and little Penelope was following along behind her Grandmother shouting “out! out! out!” and pointing just like her leader. It was so cute!!!
Everleigh Observing the Chaos
Once things settled down to a dull roar, we left the apartment and tried a new (to the area) restaurant called Newk’s Eatery. This restaurant was nice and other than having to order your food upon arrival (which is way too much stress for me when I have a 2 year old and a 3 month old in tow) I would recommend it overall. Beth had a French Dip sandwich and I had a very tasty hot Italian Sub sandwich.
From there we walked over to the local Frozen Yogurt store and fed Penelope enough sugar to keep her running at high RPM’s for hours.
Frozen Yogurt Time
When we got back to the kids’ apartment we found some news articles regarding the Hazmat situation and just prior to Aaron leaving for work were allowed to pack up the varmints and return to the campground. They are completely exhausted from their big day out.
Overall we had a great day with the kids and will definitely miss the granddaughters.
We went to Pikes Peak yesterday. It was just over a one hour drive from the kids’ apartment to the entrance. We found out from the park ranger when purchasing our entry tickets that they don’t allow you to take infants under 4 months old to the summit. He said they’ve had to airlift several blue babies off the mountain in the past. He advised that we could go as far as the timberline at the 13 mile marker, but we elected to play it safe and stop at the Halfway Picnic Grounds at 9,930 feet.
Pikes Peak Picnic
Beth packed a cooler with lunch meat and we parked and made sandwiches. The scenery was beautiful and the picnic reminded me of childhood travels with my family when we’d picnic at interstate rest areas and within the parks we visited.
The Kids
On the way back down we stopped at at the Crystal Reservoir Visitor Center and Penelope demonstrated that she can point at just about anything and her Grandmother will procure it for her (this is what Grand-parenting is all about). Penelope does seem to really appreciate her gifts. Beth put the new pink hooded sweatshirt on her and even pulled the hood over her head just prior to leaving the apartment yesterday and when we returned several hours later it was still on (hood and all). Her parents did take it off at nap time, but it was apparently not a popular decision.
Since last night was the only night Aaron will have off while we’re here we went out for dinner at Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom and had an excellent meal. Beth and I each had a calzone, Alysa and Penelope had pizza, and Aaron had Italian Nachos.
