South Carolina we are Here!!

our home state for the next 3 months...

I always thought cotton bales were small...

one more load of laundry...

So far the trip has been wonderful.  We learned a lot of history, seen odd animals, great rock formations, beautiful waterfalls,  visited with family, met some great people, ate good ribs and seen a lot of beautiful country.  We are about 100 miles from our final destination.  This will be the last entry until after Dec 1.  21 nights in the RV.. and all is still good.  Think we will be good for 3 more months.  We are dropping off the RV in Francis Marion National Forest then we head for Florida, a little vacation ( 8 nights in hotels!) before we  return to our RV and begin working!  We will visit with friends and family in Florida from Nov 22 through Dec 1.  Thanksgiving at Disney World..

Have a great/safe Thanksgiving holiday where ever you are.

Georgia on my mind

We made it to Georgia without a hitch...  Arrived at AH Stevens State Park in Crawfordville Ga, Stevens was the Vice President of the Confederate States. We took an hour hike in the park and met the campground hosts. A little time to do some bills and blogging.. Dinner at campsite then a great fire. Eric found some red cedar..  very aromatic… I think it smells the best so far, Eric likes birch the best…

Went to AH Stevens home right here at the park.    Beautiful home and furnishings.

Kettle Creek Batttlefield (Revolutionary War).

Seen a “raccoon squirrel”, we thought it was a squirrel with a large nut in its mouth but was a squirrel that had the face and tail of a raccoon. Much larger than an ordinary squirrel.

 

  Wow,  never knew they existed!

Tenessee to Alabama

Left Picwick Landing TN at 7:45, arrived at DeSoto State park in Alabama at 12:15. It was a bit rainy, windy and cloudy most of the way.  This campground is AA class. Water, Electricity, sewer and cable at each site, just like home.    On the way we passed through Decatur Al,  right past the 3M plant, did not stop in but gave the salute…  Desoto State Park is right outside of Fort Payne Alabama. 

DeSoto Park has about 5 waterfalls.  we took a 2 1/2 hour hike around the park to see them all.  We did stop to ID trees and pick up nuts...  will have lots to plant when we get home..   

We were in the mountain area, so lots of up and down roads, the truck and Eric handled it wonderfully.

Shilo Battlefield

Eric seen this place for sale, he is thinking he could move it to NW Wis! need volunteers to help disassemble, move and reassemble...

We headed to Shilo.  Spent about 3 hours there.  Car tour in the rain..  great movie and tour. 4000 acres overlooking the Tennessee River, 151 monuments, 217 cannon and over 450 Historic tablets mark America’s best preserved battle field. Very interesting and worth the time. Too bad it was raining as we would have done more walking around the grounds.  

Then went into Savannah TN for lunch and the Tennessee River Museum. The museum chronicles prehistoric times, life of the Mississippian mound builders , the tragic story of the “Trail of Tears”, the Civil War on the River and the Golden Age of Steamboats.  Very interesting and worth seeing.

More BBQ!!

Rainy day on Saturday.  Spent the day doing laundry, catching up on internet and mapping out our next moves. Also one more BBQ stop.  Neely’s  Bar B Que, this has just taken over 2^nd place.  Eric has Neely’s and JR’s tied but JR’s was a bit too peppery for my taste and the fact that we were already stuffed from breakfast gives them a disadvantage.  But so far the BBQ rankings is 1) Central, 2) Neely’s 3) JR’s.  Not sure if we have any more before we get to South Carolina. 

Headed to Pickwick State Park near Shilo Tn. on Sunday.   The drive was good about 3.5 hours.  After setting up we went to Cornith MS to the Civil War Interpretive Center and drove around the town to see the Civil War Trail.  very interesting...  Dinner was in a local place, great pulled pork, ribs... not so good, dry, chewy and without the sauce had no flavor..  oh well,  we must move on to a different food.  maybe catfish?

Elvis, BBQ, Cemetery, Mississippi, Beale street, Peabody and more BBQ

Graceland Mansion..

Elvis and family grave site

Elvis’ favorite sandwich, Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich..  mmm  good

The mansion was worth seeing, very interesting.  We also seen the two Jets, very nice…  very comfortable and of course first class all the way.  The Automobile museum was also very fun to see.  Lots of cars, motorcycles and even golf carts. 

Central BBQ for lunch, so far our #1 BBQ place.  This might even be better than my own ribs and pulled pork.  Rendezvous in Downtown for dinner.  So far the ranking is:  Central  BBQ, JR’s in KY, Rendezvous, St Louis then McDonalds..

We still have a at least one more to check out here in Memphis before the final ranking is in.

Elmwood Cemetery was established as one of the first rural garden cemeteries in the South. It is a beautiful and dignified final resting place aid towering trees and winding paths and lanes. 70,000 people are buried people here among the ancient Elms, Oaks and magnolias.

We then took a walk along the Mississippi River, its getting muddier at each stop.  Of course this will be our last stop on the Mississippi as we will be heading East.



Beale street was next on the agenda.  Listened to some blues, had a beer and browsed the shops.  The streets were starting to get crowded as we finished off our time there.



Peabody Hotel Ducks.  Of course we waited about an hour to view the duck march at the Peabody.

The Legend of the Ducks:  Back in the 1930’s, the General manager and a friend returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas.  The men had a little too much Tennessee sippin’ whiskey and thought it would be funny to place their live decoy ducks (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were selected as ‘guinea pigs”, and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic.  Thus began a Peabody tradition.  The ducks are marched out every morning at 11:00 am to the fountain and marched back out of the fountain into the elevator at 5:00 pm every evening.

The campground was filled with kids when we finally got back.  very noisy!

Thursday November 11, 2010 Chickasaw State park to Shelby Meeman State Park (Memphis)

Beautiful morning.  Temp about 40 but quickly went to 60.  Actually put shorts on after a little hike in the park.  Old settlement on the grounds, cabin, outhouse and a still!!  Experienced our first mosquito of the trip…  I am sure are more to come..

We headed out at about 10:30 for Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park.  It is a 13,000 acre hardwood bottomland area bordering the mighty Mississippi River 13 miles north of Memphis.  Most of the park is mature Bald Cypress and Tupelo swamp.   We arrived at about 12:30, 85 miles.    Made some lunch, took a ride around the park then settled in for the night. 

Sebree to Lexington TN

Left Sebree at 8:00 and 48 deg f.  After crossing into Tennessee we seen our first cotton field.  Arrived at Chickasaw State Forest in Tennessee . Chickasaw State Park takes name  from the   Chickasaw tribe of historic Native Americans.  They used this area and all of west Tennessee as their hunting grounds up until their removal in 1837.   After we set up we went to visit with niece Missy and family.  It was great to see them, all doing well.