Southern Florida

So here's what we've been up to lately.  For January and February we were parked at The Great Outdoors in Titusville, FL.  We stayed there a few years ago and met our good friends Nick and Cindy. We returned to spend some time with Nick and Cindy again and to get some repairs and updates done on the RV. We also made some new friends, Phil and Barb, who we hope to see again later this summer in Ohio. We did end up getting new carpet, and we love it, but with the repairs - what's to love?

Anyway, the time at The Great Outdoors seemed to fly by and before we knew it we were on the road again on a mission to explore southern Florida before it got too hot. On our way south the hydraulic pump for our whole leveling and slide system pooped out. Turned out the bushings were shot. We had just pulled into a nice campground at Savannas Recreation Area, but we couldn't open our slides or drop our jacks. In our rig, when the slides are closed, we can't get to anything but the kitchen sink, the refrigerator and the control panel. So we were without a change of clothes, toiletries and or a place to sleep until we could get it fixed.  I won't bore you with all the details, but four costly days later we were back on the road on our way to the Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park.

As we set up our campsite the mosquitos were so thick we had to dig out the unused bug shirts we've been carrying around for over five years. Thank goodness we had them and bug spray or we'd never have made it through that first day.  After that though a strong wind started to blow and kept the mosquitos away for the rest of our week in the southern Everglades. While there we took a boat ride and a great ranger guided paddle through the mangroves. We took a few nice hikes along the main road into the park, but though we saw the crocodiles and alligators that hang around the visitors' center at Flamingo, we were surprised at how little wildlife we saw of any kind. One great sighting was a pair of very vocal and active barred owls on the boardwalk Pa-hay-okee Trail.

Barred owl

Crocodile at Flamingo Marina

The next stop on our southern Florida tour was Chokoloskee, a teeny tiny island (built on an ancient Calusa Indian shell midden) on the west coast, south of all the development, where there is not much more than an RV park, a few blocks of homes, a Cuban restaurant and the historical Smallwood Store.

We stayed at Outdoor Resorts of Chokoloskee, a very unique RV park.  Most of the sites back up to the water and have a deck and a boat launch. Those that don't, have free access to a couple of boat launches on the property.  The park has three beautiful salt water pools and spas, tennis courts, activities and lots of lovely landscaping. It is an ownership park with smallish sites pretty tightly packed together. It does rent a limited number of sites for limited nights, and we got one of those for a week, at an uncomfortably steep price. (This season is turning out to be uncomfortably pricey all around, what with repairs and Florida's high campground prices. Oh well, it happens sometimes. This too shall pass.)

Onward to Arcadia, FL, where we stayed in a truly exemplary park called Riverside RV Resort, right on the Peace River, a favorite among paddlers. It has huge sites, several free boat launches, a wonderful dog park, pool, adult activities, and it's super friendly and clean. We'd highly recommend it. From there we visited Naples (spiffy), The Ford and Edison Winter Estates (interesting), Sanibel and Captiva Islands (too crowded) and Brohard Paw Park.

The. Best. Dog. Beach. (east of California.) 

Happy Honey at Brohard Beach

Next we moved South Bay RV Campground, a county park at the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee. We are so often surprised and pleased at the quality of county parks, and this is one of the best yet. It has nice clean, large sites in an attractive natural setting, at a reasonable cost finally!  We're just here for a couple of days before we go to Jonathan Dickson State Park on the east coast. We'll be in Florida for a few more weeks, then we'll start traveling gradually northward.

Update: We found another great off-leash dog beach in Jupiter, FL. This one is even bigger. It's at the corner of Ocean Blvd. (A1A) and Marcinski Rd. There's plenty of free parking and the beach is free too.

The Alabama Shoals Part One: Alloys Park Campground

We've been parked near Muscle Shoals for a week, at the Colbert County Alloys Park Campground. It's a beautiful and interesting area and I plan on writing more about it, but I just wanted to give a quick, happy shout out to the place that was our home for the week. 

Early morning on Wilson Lake 

It's a small park right on Wilson Lake, with a marina for small boats and docks for fishing.  We spent a good deal of time sitting on the docks watching the fish jump. It felt just as peaceful as it looks.

Alloys Park marina

It was off season for camping so no reservations were needed. There are about 20 full hook-up back-in sites and a manager on site. We only saw a few other people - fisherman and hunters.

Alloys Park Campground

Only the two handicapped sites are paved, the rest are narrow and uneven, but manageable. There are also a few partial hookup and tent sites in the woods. Not every site has a picnic table, but there are some scattered around the park for everyone to use. There are two clean, basic private bathrooms with hot showers. We used the campground free wi-fi and found it pretty good.  No laundry.

Our site at Alloys Campground

And here's something you don't see at campgrounds very often. Ever, I could say, but we actually saw several scattered around the area. The county must have mandated storm shelters in the community.

Storm shelter!

Honey and I were most pleased with the trails that wandered through fields, forest and down into the "holler." They are very relaxed around here about dogs, so we walked off leash most of the time.  That is, I walked and Honey ran. We took nice long walk/runs several times a day.

Walking the trails with Honey

There are very comfy bench swings scattered around the park, along the trails and by the water. Very sweet. The whole place felt sweet.

Walking the trail

Yes, "Sweet Home Alabama."  (Thank you Lynyrd Skynyrd.)

More about The Shoals in a bit...

Warming up to Thanksgiving

In this life there are so many things, great and small, to be grateful for, and the approaching holidays have inspired me to think about them more often. Here are just a few of the things I've found myself feeling grateful for this past week.


The Clinton Presidential Park Bridge in Little Rock.

We stayed at the Downtown Riverside RV Park in North Little Rock, and this was the view from our window.  It was just a hop, skip and a jump to the bridge and across the Arkansas River to the Clinton Presidential Park. It made the city seem so much more accessible and friendly. The light show changed all night.

Dog parks.

Every day I'm grateful for dog parks. We frequented two nice ones in Little Rock: McArthur Park (in town and grassy) and Burns Park (across the river in North Little Rock and woodsy).  Then we discovered a spectacular one in Memphis: Shelby Farms Park, which was the dog park to beat all dog parks. One hundred acres!! On the day we visited that worked out to about 1 acre per dog. About eight ponds for swimming, long grass for rolling in, shade for cooling off and many other happy dogs and people to play with.


Gus's Fried Chicken in Memphis.

I am not a fried chicken person. I can go for years without even thinking about it. But when we hit Memphis, I couldn't help but think of Gus's. That's World Famous Gus's. For good reason. We ate at the original location a few years ago for the first time. This time I tried another location, but got the same great chicken. They are small places, tightly packed, friendly, busy, sometimes a little loud. They only serve chicken with a few sides. The chicken is crispy, perfectly cooked and moist inside, and just a bit spicy, so it has a kick. You gotta try it.


RV parks with walking trails. 

Lately this has become my favorite feature when selecting an RV Park, but it's really hard to discern before you get there. Lots of parks say they have walking trails, but that can mean anything, like saying they have a pet area and it's the size of a 3x5 card. But we've found some parks with serious walking trials, like Tom Sawyer's in West Memphis.  (Honey and I saw a fox last night during our walk on the trails.) It's great when the trails are mowed and pass through a variety of landscapes. A couple of other parks with great walking trails are Catherine's Landing in Hot Springs and The Nugget RV Park in St. Regis Montana.

Catherine's Landing's Trail

Free Radio

Remember when all television and radio used to be free?  Boy it's been a long time since I watched free TV. But I listen to free radio all the time. I love the local stations for the community news and weather (especially fires, flooding and tornadoes), what's happening (rodeos, farmer's markets and football games), what's important (like corn, soy bean and pork belly prices), and what kind of music they like (country, rap or mariachi). Thank you free radio.


What were you feeling grateful for this week?

Kayaking the Niobara in Valentine, Nebraska

While some states in the USA are known for their spectacular scenery, Nebraska is not. Most people see Nebraska as they pass through on I-80, and as a result it's thought of as flat cornfields.

But what we've found is that there is something of interest almost anywhere, and Nebraska is no exception.  When planning to pass through the state we did our best to find the most interesting places to visit. We started our Nebraska tour with an overnight in the very small town of Haysprings at the town campground  with full hook-ups for the very reasonable price of $15 ((pay at the town hall).  I circumnavigated the whole town on my bike in about fifteen minutes. Although not the most interesting of locations it was a nice example of very small town life, complete with a beautiful town park, swimming pool and a school with a rousing football game going on. I guess it's common knowledge that Nebraskans are big into football.

"Sunset" (Town) RV Park - Haysprings, NE

Our next destination was Valentine, known as a central location for accessing the Niobrara River.  Valentine is a small agricultural city in the midst of ranchland and hayfields. Not surprising, it has a theme of valentine hearts throughout the town.

On Main St. we found one of the most remarkable murals we've ever seen, on the Security First Bank.  It's actually called a brick relief mural and was created by Lincoln, NE artist Jack Curran. It depicts a longhorn cattle drive in the upper portion and local wildlife and the railroad on the lower. I apologize for the picture - it doesn't begin to do justice to the details of this work of art.

Our goal here was to kayak the Niobrara, so we took a couple of days to get oriented and gather information locally and online. Because parts of the river are closed off to any access at all, researching would prove important. It is very popular for tubing, with at least eight outfitters in town, none of which looked like they were operating now. There is a very helpful Niobrara National Scenic River Information Center right on Rt. 20 in Valentine, where we got advice and an excellent Park Services brochure with a map of the entire river. Basically, its an easy river to navigate, at least in open areas, but shallow at this time of year, thus no tubers now I guess. Because it has been wicked hot we expected some folks to be out on the water to cool off. 

One thing we discovered at the Center was the unique climate, geology and topography of this area, intersected by the 100th Meridian that geographically divides the eastern and western US.  The area is also at the intersection of northern and southern geography, resulting in major biological diversity. This cool diagram explains the characteristics of some of the vegetation along the Niobrara River Valley. "Six major ecosystem types converge in the valley, including northern boreal forest, ponderosa pine forest, eastern deciduous forest, tall grass prairie, mixed-grass prairie and shortgrass prairie" (from the US Park Service webpage.)

Here's how that looks in real life...

That also means that the bird watching could be great, so we took along our binoculars for the paddle.  We decided to put in at the Fort Niobrara launch just below the Cornell Bridge.  We planned to take out at Smith Falls State Park, so parked the truck there, about 10 river miles or 14 road miles from our put in location.  It was going to be another hot day so we set off early, paying the $1 per person launching fee.

Putting in at Fort Niobrara

As mentioned, it is a shallow river now, so we were especially grateful for our inflatable Advanced Elements kayaks. We scraped the bottom occasionally and one of us got caught up on the rocks a few times.

The river has carved out steep cliffs in the sandy hills, so much of the river was shaded early in the day, thank goodness.

We were surprised we didn't see swallows, thinking they'd like these kinds of river banks, but I guess not. What we did see was many bald eagles. At least ten mature and one juvenile. And many belted kingfishers, one of my favorite birds.

This is one of the prettiest places to access the river and use the public restrooms. It's Berry Bridge and Berry Campground is right there.

After four hours on this fast moving river, with the wind at our back much of the time, we pulled into Smith Falls State Park. We saw only one paddler briefly at one location on the whole river.

These kayaks are about the most comfortable and easy to get in and out of that we've ever used. But I still need a little assistance most of the time. 

Nickols Landing is the name of the launch site at the park.

Valentine has a few other places of interest, including the Niobrara Wildlife Refuge where Honey and I saw a bison herd, one large male elk and prairie dogs.  This pond is on the Refuge, and the bison corral is behind it. Like many wildlife refuges in the western USA, they do a roundup annually and sell a certain number of their bison.

We took a drive to the Merritt Reservoir in the hopes of taking a dip to cool off a bit. The water was low, with lots of algae, so Honey was the only one dipping and cooling. Because it's in the sandhills, the beaches are all soft fine sand. That was nice.

Valentine also has a beautiful, shady, 40 acre city park, with about a ten "hole" disc golf course through the wooded hills and banks of the creek. Honey and I spent several evenings exploring the trails, spotting lots of deer as we romped.

Minnechaduza Creek in the Valentine City Park

The ranger at the information center also recommended Snake Falls, about 19 miles south of town. It is definitely worth the drive, but ask for directions before you try it. There's a bit of a steep sandy hike down to the falls so be prepared for that. We met people on the trail who had been cooling off under the falls.

While in Valentine we stayed at Fishberry Campground, about 4 miles north of town with nothing but ranchland for miles around. It was quiet, clean and simple, with long pull-throughs that were very close together. But we were often the only ones there, so it felt very spacious. 

So far Nebraska is offering us plenty of color, texture and adventure, challenging its unfortunate reputation as flat and boring.  Next we'll drive south through the beautiful sandhills and end up in Lincoln in a few days. Go Huskers!

Our Montana Summer

Speedy campground internet! A miracle! Quick, quick, get a post out!  This will be a review of the highlights of our summer in Montana. We're not quite done, but I'll share up to where we are now, which is Libby, Montana "where the Cabinet Mountains meet the Kootenai River" says the official City of Libby website.  

But here's the Montana story so far.  We made a quick stop in Billings just to have dinner at Blue's Barbecue with new friends Bobbie and Rich, who are only a schmeer of BBQ sauce away from being full-timers. 

Another quick stop in Bozeman, which we had no idea was such a hip place. We had only one day, so we hit the Museum of the Rockies and saw lots of dinosaur bones. We're planning a return visit very soon on our way east. Not for the bones, but for the Audi dealer - the only one in Montana. : ( 

During our week in Missoula we took a road trip south on Rt. 93 through the Bitterroot Valley. 

Along the way we took a slow meander through the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville and spotted a great blue heron rookery with at least 20 nests visible in the tops of the tall evergreens. Lots of deer too.

Our last stop of that day was Lake Como (yes, named after the one in Italy), with its beautiful beach and views of the Bitterroot Mountains.

Our next parking location was Polson, where we spent a month. Highlights (some of which I have already reported) included the National Bison Range...

the Mission Mountain Rodeo...

many, many fawns (it seems to be a good year for babies here)...

The Miracle of America Museum...

 Wild Horse Island State Park on Flathead Lake...

and a very unique alpenglow sunset (color not enhanced!) on the Mission Range.

The small town of Coram, just west of Glacier National Park, was our next scheduled stop, including a two week visit with our fellow RVing friends Glenn and Lynn.  Just about the time we arrived in Coram, all set to explore Glacier, a wildfire broke out on the east side of the park, resulting in the closing of the Going to the Sun Road from a spot called Big Bend to St. Mary.  Bummer. 

But Glacier is a big place, and we found plenty to do on the west side. We started with a day of kayaking in our AdvancedFrame Sport inflatable kayaks by Advanced Elements at the always spectacular Lake McDonald. We haven't said too much about our new kayaks yet, but we're really happy with them. Lynn and Glenn turned us on to them, so the four of us inflated our four identical kayaks and hit the water.  Honey joined in. (We may need to get her one too.) They are SO much easier to assemble and break down than our old folding models. They ride and track nicely, plus they're soft. I like soft. 

Another day we all went rafting on the middle fork of the Flathead River with the Glacier Raft Company. Bold and experienced Glenn and Lynn kayaked in the company's inflatable kayak's, which weren't very comfy, while Rick and I joined a team of about 10 in a raft.  And one final time, we all kayaked the Flathead River for about 6 quiet miles near Columbia Falls.

Kayaking the "Lazy" Flathead River

While the fire was still blazing away on the park's east side we were able to hike the Trail of the Cedars and the Avalanche Lake Trail on the west side. They are very popular trails at the slowest of times, and with the other side of the park closed off, everyone hiked what was available. So it was crowded, but hey...

Rick on the Avalanche Lake Trail

Although St. Mary was closed, Two Medicine, an area in the southeast corner of the park, was open, so we drove over there. What was most amazing about these two weeks, is that we never saw any smoke from the huge fire until the very last day as we prepared to move. Clear blue skies even at Two Medicine.

Two Medicine Lake and Sinopah Mountain

 Finally, the Going to the Sun Road opened up as far as Logan Pass, so we hit the road as far as we could go one evening after supper. No traffic, no crowds. Hallelujah. It was a gorgeous night for a drive and a hike.

Sunset at Logan Pass

Moonrise at Logan Pass

 Alright, Glacier experience done. On to the northwestern corner of Montana, completely new territory for us. McGregor Lakes RV was our first stop for a few days. While there we heard from our nice neighbors that there was a skydiving event nearby, so we checked that out. Another first for us. Hundreds of skydivers were jumping in groups. Very fun to watch. Boy did we learn a lot about a sport of which we previously knew nothing at all. Love doing these different things. No, we didn't try it.

While at McGregor Lake we met our first Montana bear, as reported in my last post. Here's another cute shot of the friendly younster.

Our next move took us to Libby, not a very big place, but it has some interesting features. For one thing, it has a dog park! But it's a very well kept secret. I found it by accident while looking for some trails at the local multi-purpose park. Found the trails, and there was the dog park! So we spent every evening there meeting the locals at J. Neils Memorial Park. We camped at Woodland RV Park, which we liked very much. Lots of tall spruce trees, grass and big sites.

Libby is right on the Kootenai River and we took our new found courage in hand (up until know we've been flat water paddlers) and kayaked the river for about seven miles. It's an easy river at this location. 

Kootenai River

We also took a drive up river to the Libby Dam, Lake Koocanusa and on to the very cute town on Eureka.

Lake Koocanusa just above Libby Dam

Have I mentioned how hot it is here lately? We highly recommend G's Homemade ice cream stand in Eureka. It's a tiny yellow house with brightly colored picnic tables and umbrellas, right on the main street of town. She had ten homemade flavors the day we visited, and we can attest to the excellence of vanilla and butter pecan.

So the ice cream was great, the lakes and rivers are beautiful, but the peak of our stay in this rural corner of Montana has got to be the Kootenai Falls and the Swinging Bridge, hands down. Located just west of Libby on Rt. 2, it's an easy day trip with lots of hiking options right from the parking lot. The Falls are less than a mile from the road and require some hiking to see them. Once there, you are free to scramble among the rocks that contain and form the Falls. They are quite powerful and good judgement must be used because there are no fences restricting access.

Dogs are allowed throughout, but there are several challenges to having them along. First, there is a multi-storied metal stairway with perforated steps and platforms that could creep out most dogs. (Honey would have nothing to do with it. So we came back another day without her.) If your dog gets past the stairs, then there is the challenge of scrambling around on the multilayered rocks precariously close to the rushing, pounding waterfalls. I can only imagine...

Finally, there is the swinging bridge across the raging river. I didn't see any dogs taking on that challenge either. In fact there were quite a few people who declined. It really swings and could give anyone with a mild fear of heights the heeby-jeebies. So without dogs, it's a great place to explore and could easily be a full day experience, with many places ideal for a picnic.

We'll be in Montana for a few more weeks, in St. Regis to ride the Hiawatha Trail, in Missoula, Helena, Bozeman and beyond...