The trip continues.......

Time to catch up a bit on the blog.

Last post had us at Whittington Woods Campground in freezing temps.

Sunday and Monday (January 7 & 8) we spent at Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis Arkansas. While the temps had risen a bit it was still cold with rain. Late Monday afternoon we ran out of propane, which was my fault for not keeping a closer eye on the tanks. The campground didn’t have refill facilities and the local Flying J gas station’s facilities were down due to a leak in their system. The handy dandy GPS found a Tractor Supply about 15 miles away so I braved the Memphis rush hour traffic and ran over there. Another lesson learned; check the propane situation more often in cold weather.

Tom Sawyer RV Park is right on the Mississippi river and has had to close on occasions when the river overflows its banks. Fortunately we didn’t run into any of that. They have a couple of interesting cabins for rent as well as an abundance of camping spots with full hook ups.

Carving at the entrance (relative of  Chucky?)

Barge on the Mississippi

Tree house cabin

Tree house cabin

Ronna next to 2011 river crest height. Park had to be under water.

After leaving Arkansas, clipping the edge of Tennessee and crossing Mississippi we spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Birmingham South Campground in Pelham Alabama, which just south of Birmingham. The campground was very close to a Home Depot which worked out well since when we arrived Ronna found one of the pantry shelves had collapsed. I decided to knock out the shelf below the broken one and rebuild / reinforce them both. So much of my time was spent doing some carpentry work. Sorry, only one picture of this stop.

Birmingham South main office

Yesterday we entered the Florida panhandle and stopped at Alliance Hill RV Park which is about an hour west of Tallahassee. This is a newer park with concrete pads on pull through sites with full hookups. It’s a bit off the beaten path being 8 miles south of Interstate 10 but very nice and quiet. They have a beautiful community building with a large screen TV, comfy couches, a small library, laundry facilities, showers and a pool. The temps we a comfortable 67 when we arrived.

Today was a rainy day that started off all wrong. The cat decided to fall off the top of the headboard at 4:30 this morning and landing on Ronna's face, her rear claw cutting Ronna's lower lip. Then around 6:00 AM Ronna broke the little toe on the right foot by stubbing it on the couch leg. But she was a trooper and we made a side trip to Florida Caverns State Park, a short 30 minute drive from the campground. These caverns were prepared by the CCC for public tours between 1933 and 1942 and are the only caverns in Florida accessible to the public. The tour was about 45 minutes and the guide most informative. We even saw a few bats that inhabit the caverns along with salamanders, cave crickets and blind crayfish. Ronna took the following pictures with her cell phone as I never thought about bringing my camera (duh!)

CCC memorial statue

Entrance to caverns 

Trying on hats in the gift shop

Tomorrow we head for Paynes Prairie State Park in Micanopy FL, about a 4 hour drive. We will spend 2 nights there. Hope to get some pictures of the wildlife.