2023Southeast

Our first stop was Madison Golf and RV Resort near Madison, FL. This is a family owned golf course that when the son took over he added a RV park to vacant land they owned adjacent to the golf course.

A unique feature of the park is that from the main entrance you cross a golf fairway to get to the RV section. There are signs warning to look right or left and the golfers all know to pause when a slow moving RV is crossing

Although the campground is just east of Tallahassee, the owner, Brian, provided a gator in the lake behind our campsite.

The main purpose of this stop was the spring meeting of our Leisure Travel Van Florida group, The Flamingles. This is not only a social activity but an opportunity to learn about our RVs. From visiting other units to see what changes they have made to a zoom session with the factory in Winkler Canada to discuss technical topics with the staff of LTV.

Reed Bingham State Park is our favorite stop along I-75 in South Georgia. Sites are not on the lake but adjacent to some nice woods with several short and long trails.

Before this trip Bobbi purchased a cast iron single pizza oven for the grill. It worked great but we are still working on the proper size to make it large enough to be worth the time while being small enough to slide in the front opening.

Nothing can beat bacon and eggs cooked outside on the grill.

Shaefer Heard is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campground on West Point Lake just south of LaGrange, GA.

A fine breakfast outside by the lake

and later a beautiful sunset.

Hard Labor Creek State Park is a 1934 CCC project near Rutledge, GA. There are several versions of how the creek became known as Hard Labor. Some say it was because of the work done along the creek and others say it is the English version of the Native American's name for the creek.

No matter how it received its name it is one of our favorite camp grounds near Atlanta with a variety of trails.

The last time we were here, Hiro and Yoshi came out and we played mini-golf and celebrated a late Christmas since they were in Japan at Christmas. We also returned Jasmine to them. (Micah was deployed at the time) This time Micah drove over and we had a nice lunch in Rutledge at the Caboose Diner.

Located near Clemson, SC, Twin Lakes is another nice USACOE campground. It is on Lake Hartwell and we have camped on other nearby USACOE campgrounds but this was the first time at Twin Lakes.

As with all USACOE campgrounds there were great sunsets.

Evidently there are plenty of fish in the lake and we watched herons eating their catch.

Several friends from elementary through Manatee High live in the area so we had a mini-High School Reunion.

Bobbi's cousin Dike Spencer and his wife Rhonda live on the other side of the lake and they gave us a grand tour of the lake in their pontoon boat.

We think this was the first time Luna had been on the water and she enjoyed the winds and sights.

"Death Valley", the Clemson University football field, is actually below the water level in the lake. If the dike fails then the field would be flooded, so even though the Corps built the dike, Clemson University is responsible for its maintenance.

Black Rock Mountain State Park Campground located near Clayton, GA is a real gem, especially if you have a small 25’ RV that can make the drive up to the campground. It is the highest State Park in Georgia, 3,640', which means the entrance road is very steep including a lot of switch backs.

Even the interior roads are steep and narrow.

Our campsite was level and somewhat shaded.

The hike to the Visitor Center at the top was, like everything else in the park, steep but well worth it. There is a paved road from further down the mountain.

While we were at the Visitor Center's mountain top viewing area, it was Prom Night and a number of youth and parents were taking prom pictures with the view as a backdrop.

Luna wanted her picture in case someone asked her to a prom.

Rhododendrons are all over the campground.

In 1966 a High School English teacher gave a class the project of going into their communities to learn more about their culture. They interviewed neighbors and relatives and created a magazine. They called it "Foxfire" for the glow-in-the-dark fungus found in the mountains. In 1972 the magazines were published as a book and sold 9 million copies.

In 1974 profits from the book were used to purchase over 150 acres adjacent to the park. Over the years more than 20 log structures have been saved and moved to or reconstructed at the site.

In Gainesville, GA we met Micah and Yoshi for dinner and took Jasmine back with us. Micah, Hiro & Yoshi are going to Japan the end of May so we are babysitting Jasmine. She'll continue with us in the RV until we return to Ormond Beach and is delivered back to her family sometime around July 1st.

Natural Tunnel State Park in southeast Virginia has a campground with level, spacious sites.

The park's name comes from a massive naturally formed cave that is so large that, starting in 1890, it was used as a 1,100 foot railroad tunnel. There is a chair lift down the tracks.

Bobbi reluctantly agreed to ride the chair lift and even forced a smile for the camera.

A boardwalk along the track allows a close up observation of the track.

The track is still in use today with Norfolk Southern coal trains.

At the top of the mountain above the tunnel is Lovers Leap. As the story goes, the son of a settler fell in love with the Pootatuck Indian Chief’s daughter. The only way they could be together was to leap off the top of the mountain. After hiking the rather difficult trail 1,200 feet to the top, Bobbi and I decided they jumped so they would not have to climb back down.

The State Park has miles of trails of varying difficulties. From nice boardwalks and bridges over creeks to more difficult and vertical surfaces.

Inside the State Park is the home of Mosby Carter that was constructed in 1784. It is amazing that, left alone in the wild for 2.5 centuries; the house is in remarkable condition.

There are many high grass fields where the beagles could run and pretend they were chasing rabbits in the wild. After a hard day of hunting, Luna liked to roll in the grass and Jasmine barked.

And if camping isn't your style, there are 2 and 3 bedroom cabins available.

Mash Fork is one of several campgrounds in the nearly 6,000 acre Camp Creek State Forest. Surrounded by lush green hills, it is a very peaceful and relaxing place.

Our site was located directly on the creek.

With the cool temperatures we were able to sleep with the windows open and the sounds of the slow flowing creek.

A quarter mile upstream from our camp site are the Marsh Fork Falls.

Near the campground is the town of Hinton. In the first half of the 20th century it had a population of over 8,000 with most employed in some aspect with the C&O Railroad. Today the population is less than 2,000. In addition to being a terminal and crew facility for coal and passenger trains, Hinton was also a major maintenance yard for the steam trains. My Grandfather was an Engineer for C&O and I remember stories about him driving his steam locomotive to Hinton for service.

In the 1930s Babcock State Park was formed from two CCC camps, Camp Beaver and Camp Lee. It is near Fayetteville WV, and has 4,127 acres of stunning scenery, but it is best known for the fully functional Glade Creek Grist Mill.

Unique among state and federal parks, it allows responsible drone operation from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM daily.

In the Visitor Center there are several hands-on interactive displays about the sandstone geology of the basin. One very interesting 3-D display was a container of sand with different colors representing the soil conditions and resulting water flow. As you moved the sand around, creating valleys and hills, the colors change to show the exposed layers of solid and the blue water flow.

From the Visitor Center there is a series of boardwalks leading to the river's edge.

Along the way there are several deer and one dear.

And a good view of the wide falls of the river.

Coopers Rock near Morgantown, WV is a small yet beautiful State Park

with a tremendous overlook.

My sunshine trying to capture a setting sun ray.

Pictures really don't do the view justice.

Built around an abandoned municipal water reservoir from the 1940s, the West Virginia Botanic Garden is an 85-acre site with four miles of trails and boardwalks that connect forests, gardens, and wetlands.

Art work is scattered about the trail.

And a hammock for relaxing after the trail hike.

Blackwater Falls Campground is built around 2 falls, Blackwater and Elekala.

212 steps led to a viewing area and with two dogs pulling, we made it up with no problems.

It was worth the effort.

The view from across the river was also interesting. Blackwater Falls State Park lies just west of the "Allegheny Front" that is a divide between the Ohio and Potomac River systems. So this water eventually flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

We noticed that this skinny tree was keeping the bolder from rolling down the hill.

How does this tree grow out of a rock when I can't get grass to grow on flat topsoil?

One evening Luna was really interested in this culvert pipe and kept sticking her nose in it. Later we noticed a really fat beaver go into the culvert.

One of the highlights of our trip was our stay at The Lake Fairfax County campground. With electric only sites, the campground isn't much but the benefit was the proximity to several long time friends from elementary through high school and ever since.

One day we took a historical tour on part of the 184 mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

From 1831 until 1924, its major cargo was coal. Over time it went from Georgetown to Cumberland, never making it to Ohio

Rising and falling over an elevation change of 605 feet, it required the construction of 74 canal locks and 11 aqueducts. We saw one of the aqueducts last year at Hagerstown, MD.

It had been several years since we had visited the Capital and we wanted to see National Statuary Hall and specifically the statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.

We were able to secure a private tour for just the 4 of us with Andrew, a Tour Manager with 21 years of service.

Along the way we saw two great Americans, Eisenhower and Reagan.

In 1864 each state was allowed to place in the Capital a stature of two of their citizens for their "historic renown or for distinguished civic or military service".

In 2018 the Florida legislature voted to replace its statue of Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith with Dr. Bethune. Florida's other statue is Dr. John Gorrie, a Physician who developed refrigeration to cool his feverish patients

The next campground was in the Douthat State Park. Located in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia, the park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed by the CCC in 1933. The park is 4,545 acres making it the second largest state park in Virginia. It has a 50 acre lake that is stocked with trout and 4 campgrounds. We were in the first campground built, White Oak.

The original 1933 bridge is still used to access the campground.

The campsites are large, level and ours backed up to one of the many streams in the park.

The closest town is Clifton Forge and is home to the The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Historical Society. We were lucky to be in town for the annual 2 day C&O Festival. There were many trains on display, C&O memorabilia, model trains and a small train that circled around the complex.

There was a coal fired steam locomotive similar to one my grandfather drove in the 1940s.

In nearby Covington, Virginia is the Humpback Bridge - Virginia's Oldest Covered Bridge. It was part of the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. It was built in 1857 and is the third bridge on the site. The first bridge was built in 1821 and it, and later the 1842 bridge, were both washed away by floods.

Apparently the humpback design is high enough to avoid the floods.

Scattered around Virginia are many LOVEwork structures. While viewing from the bridge, we were trying to figure out what the relation was of the gear and brick seat to the bridge when we finally figured it out.

Even with the slight haze of Canadian fires, the mountains of Virginia are fantastic.

Including some impressive falls.

At Rudds Creek State Park near Boydton,VA Bobbi decided we needed a campfire and set about finding a lot of dead wood on the ground.

Which produced a great fire.

Boydton is also home to the historic 1790 Boyd Tavern.

And the "Last Train in Clarksville" model railroad club is located in the second story of the town offices.

Boydton was the site of the first campus of Randolph-Macon College. After the railroad link to Boydton was destroyed during the Civil War, the college's trustees decided to relocate the school to Ashland in 1868.

As part of the effort to restore the campus, the President's house was raised and installed on a new foundation.

The MacCallum More Museum & Gardens in Chase City, VA began with Lucy Morton Hudgins love of gardens. She was the wife of Edward Wren Hudgins, former Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The gardens were established in 1929 and the name MacCallum More derives from Mrs. Hudgins' Scottish heritage.

Her son, Commander William Henry Hudgins, later expanded the gardens to what members and visitors see today. William served as Personal Aide to President Truman as well as Admiral Carney, the Commander in Chief of NATO. Mr. Hudgins traveled extensively, and sent back treasures from around the world which were incorporated into his garden design. Including anchors "on loan" from the U.S.Navy.

Prestwould is a historic house near Clarksville, Virginia. It is the most intact and best documented plantation surviving in Southside Virginia. The house was built by Sir Peyton Skipwith in 1797.

Photographs were not allowed to be taken inside the house but the 1 hour conducted tour was very informative. 95% of the items in the home, including all the wallpaper are original.