Louisiana To Texas

We left Poverty Point State Park in Louisiana and are part way through Texas at this writing.  We have stayed at Buckhorn Creek (COE park in Jefferson, TX ), Lavonia Park (another COE park located in Lavon, TX) and are currently at Cactus Rose RV Park, a privately owned RV park in Mingus Texas.  This is a nice little park right off of I-20 (lots of road noise) but the place is well maintained and the staff is very friendly. We rarely stay at privately owned RV parks as they are typically more pricey and have much smaller sites but there were not a lot of other options in this part of Texas.  Not much else to report - this route through Texas is pretty flat and unremarkable.  We will be heading north after we pass Abilene, TX  and after short stay in Lamesa, TX will be entering New Mexico from the east near Hobbs, New Mexico.

  

Our site at Lavonia Park on Lake Lavon in Lavon, Texas

View of Dallas skyline from our dashcam on the way to Cactus Rose RV park

Our site at Cactus Rose RV Park

Cactus Rose is set up to look like an old western village - this building houses the rec room, laundry and rest rooms

The sheriff's office is actually a guest cabin

Another Quick Update - North Carolina To Louisiana

We are heading to New Mexico and Arizona for the rest of the winter and so far have made it to Delhi, Louisiana.  Tomorrow we will be in Jefferson, Texas.   We are travelling mostly on I-20 this year (last year we traveled west on I-10 - this year we are taking a more northerly route).  Finally hit some warm weather - it has been mid-seventies while we have been in Louisiana but tomorrow will drop back to the upper 40's for a couple days. 

We have stayed mostly at Army Corps Of Engineer Campgrounds since North Carolina - we have stayed at Mckinney Campground in Ackworth, GA, R. Shaefer Heard Campground in West Point, GA (have stayed here twice before), Gunter Hill Campground in Montgomery, AL, Twiltley Branch Campground in Collinsville, MS, and are currently at Poverty Point Campground in Delhi, LA (stayed here once before also).

The following are just a few random pictures - we haven't been out much due to mostly cold and rainy weather but we will get back on track to get some more interesting pictures soon. 

We are planning on adding videos to the blog in the near future.  We recently purchased a GoPro camera and a better laptop to handle video editing (our laptops are old and don't handle the large video files well).  We wanted to have the video capability for when we go to Alaska - so we will start posting some "practice" videos soon and hopefully will know what we are doing before we leave for Alaska.

Our Route

Alabama Snowman

Gunter Hill Campground

Spanish Moss At Gunter Hill

Twiltley Branch Campground

Walking To The Gatehouse At Twiltley Branch

Our Campsite At Twiltley Branch

Back On The Road Again - Mayberry/Mt. Airy, NC

Since our last post, we left John H. Moss Lake near Charlotte and stayed at Mayberry Campground in Mt. Airy, NC.  From there we went to Harrisonburg, VA over the holidays for about a month (RV was in storage).  We left Harrisonburg and stayed again at Mayberry Campground on the way South.  From there we traveled to Twin Lakes Campground near Clemson, SC (our current location).  

Our overall plan is to travel west through the lower tier of states and spend the rest of the winter in New Mexico and Arizona.  When it starts to warm up we will head north to Montana to be in position to enter Canada on our way to Alaska in early June.

We had stayed at Twin Lakes Campground on a previous trip so I haven't taken any photos but you can view our December 1, 2017 blog for photos.


The following photos are from when we stayed at Mayberry Campground in Mt. Airy, NC on our way north to Virginia.

Much of Mt. Airy's economy is based on being the hometown of Andy Griffith and the inspiration for Mayberry.

The Snappy Lunch has been in business since the 1920's and was the inspiration for the "Snappy Lunch" mentioned in the TV show.

Donna in the recreation of the Mayberry jail.

Bronze statues of Andy & Opie

Quick Update On Our Whereabouts

Since the last post we have covered quite a bit of ground on our way back to Virginia for the Holidays.  We haven't been out and about that much because it has been mostly cold and rainy for much of the past few weeks.  We are currently in Shelby, NC waiting for a winter storm to hit - we are scheduled to leave Monday but may have to stay over an extra day if the roads are not clear. 

Our Route & Campgrounds

 The following are misc. photos from the past few weeks.

Mother snake and her brood

Did I mention we have had a lot of rain - the trees are on an island

This was our favorite site of the past few weeks - South Cove County Park Campground is on an island on Lake Keowee in Seneca, SC (near Clemson, SC).  Our site was at the very tip of the island (this campsite was added recently so it doesn't show up on the satellite view - see next image)

Arkansas Post - Poverty Point, Mississippi World Heritage Site - Gulf Islands National Seashore

We have made several stops since the last post and are currently at the Gulf Islands National Seashore  (Davis Bayou Campground) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  The most notable stops were  Pendleton Bend Campground which is near Arkansas Post - a noted historic site, and Poverty Point State Park which is home to a World Heritage Site (Poverty Point Indian Mounds).

Visitor Center at Arkansas Post National Memorial

Arkansas Post was established as a trading post by the French in 1686 and was the site of battles during the American Revolution and the Civil War.  It was also the original capital of Arkansas.  A lot of history occured at this location but unfortunately very little remains to be seen today.

 Notrebe's  cistern

A reconstructed settlers cabin

Some of the history of Arkansas Post

This plaque is at the Poverty Point Indian Mounds in Epps, Louisiana near Poverty Point State Park.
This is the site of prehistoric earthworks that date back to 1700 BC

From the top of Mound A (our truck in the distance)

Mound A from the South

Artifacts excavated from the area

Some of the guest cabins at Poverty Point State Park Campground

These pics are from the Gulf Islands National Seashore - unfortunately many of the access points to the ocean were closed due to hurricane damage so we didn't get a lot of pictures

This is a picture of the Gulf from the shore in Ocean Springs with the Biloxi skyline in the distance

A tattered flag - recent storm damage - in addition to the hurricane, there was a tornado that went through here (while we were here) that did a lot of damage - it just missed the campground by a couple miles

From near our campsite