Land Between the Lakes

On my phone, I can only post one-picture blog entries.  Now that I'm where I can use my computer to do it, I can put the pictures with this one and post it.

My friend Norajean told me I should go to Land Between The Lakes on the KY/TN border, and since it was about 200 miles from Memphis, I did.
I stopped at the South Welcome Center on June 12th, and bought a basis/dispersed camping permit good for 3 days for $7.  There was no cell signal, so I went back to town for ice and enough internet to let my kids know where I was. It was a hot sunny day so when I got to the area I would camp in I was glad to find a shady spot by the lake shore. It was beautiful.

I set up my privacy tent and hung my hammock and sorted out some things that needed sorting out, and read some more of the series I've been reading.and started to hear thunder.

It was very distant and not in the direction the wind was coming from, so I didn't really think it would come to where I was. Just in case, I fixed dinner and that was done just in time.

It rained. Off and on all night and into Wednesday morning.

I was reminded of things I already knew but had failed to practice. Assume it WILL rain. Don't put the totes on the ground; they'll get muddy. Don't let stuff block the sliding side door of the van. Don't park on a place where all the water goes. Especially, check the weather report before you go to a campsite with no internet access.

I spent a lot of Wednesday drying stuff that shouldn't have gotten wet.

My original plan had been to camp at that southern camp one night, then explore and camp at one in the central part of LBL on Wednesday night, then explore again and camp at one of the northernmost camps Thursday night. I felt torn, because that first site was so beautiful and I wanted to stay. As it turned out, I couldn't actually drive out of there until Thursday anyway due to the rain and mud, so I spent 2 nights there.

On my way up the trace, I stopped to say hello to the bison herd at the southern bison range.

They had calves, and obligingly came to me so I could take pictures. Then they ran off, only to all come back and watch me do a K-turn with my trailer.


I checked out the exhibit and film and gift shop at the Golden Pond Visitor's Center, and filled up my water containers. Three was 4G Verizon signal there so I caught up with some internet stuff and a raccoon investigated my trailer hoping for goodies.

Then I moseyed down the road, got a shower (available at the campgrounds with more amenities and nightly fees, for $2), found the Twin Lakes campground and took a nice but unspectacular site on solid ground. With 4G Verizon signal. That last enabled me to connect with who I needed to to plan my next stop.

Besides lots of camping, hiking, boating, etc., there is a planetarium, a living history farm, a nature center, the bison and elk prairie... I'll leave those things for another time when I can get the annual pass and spend more time here.

Did you notice, in one of those last pictures, that the hood was up?

DuPuis Management Area

In January, before I went to the Alafia, I camped at DuPuis Management Area's family campground.  I posted when I got camp set up and promised more later.  Later has arrived.

The campground loop goes around a good-sized pond, and is quite pretty.  I met up with several friends from one of my Facebook groups there.  If I were camping alone, there's a neat campsite on a spit of land that juts into the pond that I would want to grab!  I understand there's also an alligator - well, of course there is, it's Florida - but I did not see one.
This was the first time I used my new Connect-tent with my 10 x 10 canopy.  It made a nice stand-up-in-it space.

Osceola National Forest

Since I usually try to post about where I've just left, rather than where I am, I kind of didn't post for a month because I stayed put for two weeks and it's a newly resurrected habit so I forgot.

Anyway - On my way to the Osceola National Forest, I had a bit of excitement. A light turned red, I hit the brake, and nothing happened. I leaned on my horn and hoped no one was going through the green light! One "house-call" by the mobile mechanic later, the offending brake line is repaired and once again Maxine stops when I tell her to.

On my way south, I stopped at Cobb Camp in the Osceola National Forest overnight, but this time I stayed two weeks, camped with old friends, met some new ones. I got to sleep in the hammock and enjoy the 10x10 canopy with the connect-tent. It was a lovely, relaxing time and furthermore the weather was great. OK, it did get cold toward the end, but that's ok. Didn't have to shovel it.

Trish and I walked every day and I usually hit my step goals.

Homosassa Springs

Thursday (February 15) Norajean and I decided to go to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. (https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Homosassa-Springs) 

We parked her truck and rode the boat to the springs. (There is also a tram, but the boat tour is more fun to our way of thinking.) What they have here is a rehab facility for rescued wildlife and a home for wildlife that can't be released, such as eagles who have lost part of their wings.
I got to see my first MANATEES, and a couple of big cats, an otter, a (hopefully) breeding pair of red wolves, lots of alligators, snakes, lots and lots of birds.
Another neat thing was the underwater observatory, where you can watch through the windows as fish swim free in the waters of the spring.

Today's Yard, February 16, 2018 - Dade Battlefield SP

Dade Battlefield State Park. This tree is the oldest live oak in the park, and was here 200 years ago for the first battle of the 2nd Seminole War. 

I spent a few days here visiting an RVing friend who's a volunteer working at the park. In between a wonderful potluck dinner and yesterday's trip to Homosassa Springs, I did a major van rearrange and found a number of items that had slipped into the black hole that seems to be standard equipment in residential vans.
Of course, I also watched the film at the visitor's center and checked out the museum. This is a cool place - there's lots going on, from reenactments to craft classes. I wish it had worked out schedule-wise for me to take the pine needle basket weaving class, but they give it monthly and I'll probably be back.

Today's Yard - March 7, 2014

It is always fun to get together with like-minded people.  When your home has wheels, your neighbors change frequently, and you can frequently choose them. Ellen (beyond my motorhome) and Ed (front van) and I have this neighborhood this week, with lots of good conversation, good meals, good ice cream.  Then the kaleidoscope will turn and they will each be somewhere else, having some other adventures, while I wrap things up from the outage and prepare for Peaches to Beaches.  This is truly The Good Life.

York River State Park with Wildlife

I stopped for a post-work hike and light supper at York River State Park Tuesday.

Seeking shade and water, I walked some of the nearer trails.

The park has a network of developed trails, with boardwalks across marshy areas and streams.

In the mud are very tiny crabs.

You have to look closely to see them, but the holes give them away.

Some of the trails will take you to the river's edge, where there are beaches and cliffs where the land has worn or broken away.

I don't want to be there when this tree lets go.

Near the pond, I spooked some deer. They reappeared around the bend and, since I already had my phone/camera out, I got some pictures. They did not care to stay around any time they heard the zipper on my belt pouch, though.

After my walk, I parked myself on a bench for supper. This squirrel was not so shy as the deer. He was barely shy at all, actually.

I was eating, and reading my current eBook (Doc), when I heard what turned out to be this squirrel climbing on the back of the bench on which I was sitting. Then he came up on the seat to see what I was eating. He walked right up to my bag of grapes and asked as politely as a squirrel has ever asked me anything if I would be willing to share.

I know, I know, don't feed the wildlife. Well, someone else already had, he'd already been corrupted, and he was a most personable dinner companion.

So I gave him a grape.

The first couple of grapes I tossed to him on the ground. Then I put some on the bench.

The first couple of grapes he grabbed and ran, stopping to eat them a few feet away.

But then he decided it would be better to eat them right there with me.

When he'd had enough grapes, he took the grape and buried it in the playground for later.

I stopped giving him grapes, then, and after a bit he decided he wasn't full after all and dug up that grape.
Between us, we finished my bag of grapes, and he was SO disappointed.

"Please, Ma'am, I want some more?"

AdVANturing in Staunton VA

So recently I fixed the front end on EVERYTHING. The van got new king pins and brake rotors and stuff. The Motor Home got new ball joints. The motorscooter got its front wheel unstuck. I got new glasses. So any adVANturing I'm doing has a lot to do with being where the work is.

And I got lucky: a few weeks ago, the work was in the Shenandoah Valley. My original intention was to go out Sunday and camp in the national forest somewhat west of Staunton, but when I got to Staunton and found the store, I realized I was very very close to the Frontier Culture Museum. I decided the forest could wait - it had been easily 10 years since I had been to the museum. They'd built a Native American Village and an African village since I was last there. Apparently, I neglected to get pictures of the latter. Here are some other pictures from the museum, though:

This is one of the blacksmiths at work.

The Indian village.

A path through the woods, planted a while back.

This is a staircase I'm glad I don't have to use on a daily basis.

I never did get to the forest, because I got a call from a merchandising company I hadn't worked for previously and had to stay in town after work to do paperwork kinds of things. I spent a lot of time enjoying Gypsy Hill Park, which was a good place to hang out and make dinner. They have a pool. A nice pool, with a $3 admission fee. I, traveling light, had not brought a bathing suit. I made a note to NEVER travel without one again. Having my computer along would have made things much easier too.

Wednesday's work was at Grottoes VA, so I drove up Tuesday afternoon and found Grand Caverns Park. They have a pool too. Being it was so close to the end of the pool day, the manager took pity upon me and let me swim in shorts. Yay. Did I mention the temps were in the high 90s at least?

Wednesday after work I went back to the park and took the cavern tour. I was sure I'd taken pictures, but apparently not. Mea Culpa. It's a very neat cavern, with more than its share of shield formations, and interesting history. They used to hold balls down there - actually, once a year they still do. The room of the cavern where they did that has a rock formation very convenient for use as a table for refreshments.

Then, Thursday's work was up in Luray. They have some neat parks too, and of course Luray Caverns, but I got there too late to explore the parks. I found a little park/pond near the store, had supper, read emails, and then moved to a good sleeping location. And Thursday, after work, I went back to the motorhome to get ready for the next week.

AdVANturing evaluation - I had too much stuff in my kitchen area, which made meal prep unwieldy. 18th Century gear is much more bulky than the backpacking gear I'd be using if I weren't a buckskinner. And a lot of what is in the van has to be there for the rendezvous camp, but does not need to be used, or even accessible, in the 21st century. Whenever I'm at camp, I go through and try to put things "on the blanket" that don't really have to be there. I need to be more ruthless about that. And I took the second cooler out, which let me rearrange so the remaining cooler is accessible with no problem.

And off I go for another week in the van... WITH a bathing suit.

Screens for the Van

I am going to go adVanturing in the National Forest next week. I have work close to the Forest, so I get to go play even though I have to work. It'll be a test of the new loading method.
I prefer to camp alone: no mosquitoes, no flies, no moths... so I've been working on screens.
A few days ago I stopped at Harbor Freight and picked up on sale a screen for a double garage. It's as wide as my RV awning, with a split in the middle. There's a strip with grommets to hold it in place on top, and weights in the bottom to keep it down. It's great if you have a garage. I have a van. I rearranged it.
First, The Rear Door. I started there, because it is the largest space to cover. I cut the garage door screen in half where the split is, and used half of it for the van's rear opening. This was the easy part. It was more than enough screen, and attached nicely to the roof with binder clips.




I left the weights in the bottom, even though the screen is a little long for the van's height, because that's my kitchen and maybe bugs will stay off me while I'm messing with it. And I didn't want to sew new channels.



Hmmm... I wonder if I can close the door with the screens in place? Yep.

The clips aren't totally invisible, but they don't need to be. They're not the weirdest thing about this van.

The next largest opening was the biggest challenge. Time to tackle The Side Door:
This is the first time I've ever wished for the other kind of side doors instead of this sliding one. I like the sliding kind because you can still open it when someone parks too close next to you, but it's lousy for adding screens.
The first thing I did was tuck the top strip into the molding where it meets the headliner. No surgery required.

I ran leather ties through the grommets in the top strip.

They will help it stay tucked in, and hold the screen out of the way when it's not needed.





With just the window open, I can put a magnet to keep the screen close to the door.
I discovered that the magnetic strips I had were only barely magnetic! Although the package says they will hold light items, they will barely hold themselves onto metal. I am annoyed. I have 20 feet of this inadequate stuff.

The screen hangs nicely when the door is open. Magnets will keep it tight.


For that awkward, impossible area where the sliding door comes in, I'll have to hang another bit of screen, with stronger magnets than I've got right now.

So that's a problem for another day.

Next, The Front Windows. If I'm very careful to only have one layer of screen between the strips and the door metal, and if I surround the entire screen with magnet strip, it will hold. Just barely. OK, it's not like I'm going to drive with the doors hanging open.


The best way to make sure it fits right seems to be sewing the magnet strips onto the screen while it is in place on the window.

A little awkward, but it works.



One up, one to go.

The second door was easier.

The window can be open, and the bugs can stay out.
Another thing off the to-do list :)