THE REST OF THE TRIP

Well, finally I'm getting around to posting the rest of the latest adventure.  No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth, get hit by a hurricane or swept away by floods, but any one of those things could have happened.  So, let's get you caught up.

We continued south following the great Mississippi River, sometimes on the Illinois side or other times on the Missouri side.  Both sides of the river have a marked route, The Great River Road, which is like the scenic route.  At times it’s, not so scenic as there is a lot of industry along the river.  Also, depending on the size of the road, the marked routes is sometimes on the freeway.  We try to stay on the smaller roads, but with the RV in tow it is not always possible.  Poor roads that lack maintenance and are full of potholes tend to rattle the dishes.

THOMPSON CAUSEWAY COE CAMPGROUND

MISSISSIPPI RIVER SUNSET

Keeping with the theme of camping in government campgrounds, we next picked another great one.  Wakonda State Park in Missouri was not on the river but on small three lakes.  With our campsite backed up on one of them, it was time to unload the kayak and take a spin around the lake.  It’s about time too, as I have dragged the kayak for just about 5000 miles and never put it in the water.  There was always some old man excuse not to use it.  It’s raining, it’s too cold, the water is too swift.  The swift excuse was a good one as many of the rivers in the mid-west were at flood stage.  So in the early morning fog I hopped in and did a circumnavigation of the lake.  I spied a few birds, but no great wild creatures or man eating fish, arriving safely back at camp after a couple of hours.

We picked Wakonda because of it’s vicinity to Hannibal, Mo, of Mark Twain fame.  We were somewhat disappointed as most of the stuff about Mr. Twain was pretty hooky.  We skipped most of it and instead took a tour of an old mansion, now a B&B.  Rockcliffe Mansion was built in 1898 by lumber baron John Cruikshank on a hill overlooking the town and the Mississippi.  It has to be a labor of love for the current owners Juan and Warren, as the outside is in need of major repairs.  The inside is a different story.  We were met by Juan and given a personal tour of the interior which had many of the original furnishings.  The plumbing was also original and Juan told me that he has to make his own washers for the faucets when they start dripping.

VIEW FROM LOVERS LEAP

HUCK AND TOM

As we slowly headed south, we were able to stay in some pretty nice campgrounds.  Not always on the River, but close.  A couple that really stood out were  Arkabutla Lake and Grand Gulf Military State Park.  Both campgrounds are in Mississippi, the first being a Army Corps of Engineers campground and the latter a Mississippi State Park.  Arkabutla Lake is just south of Memphis and is a pretty large lake with 5 or so campgrounds around it.  Most have electrical, but there is one with full hookup.  You can't beat a COE campground for being in a great location in a beautiful setting.  We have yet to stay in one that wasn't well maintained with plenty of space between campsites.  Grand Gulf was a gem.  Situated a stones throw from the Mississippi, it, as the name suggest has something to do the with military.

ARKABUTLA LAKE COE CAMP

SUNRISE AT ARKABUTLA LAKE

Actually it is on a Civil War Battlefield.  All around the park there are information signs about the battle of Grand Gulf in addition to a museum.  With a view overlooking the town of Grand Gulf and the Mississippi, the Confederates had an advantage over and Union ships that came up the river.  But in order to take Vicksburg, General Grant had to take Grand Gulf.  With seven ironclad riverboats the Union armada began shelling the forts around the town while transport boats ran the gauntlet up river.  In the end, the Confederate forces never lost the advantage of higher ground but Grant and his army just went around Grand Gulf to Vicksburg where the Confederate army suffered a major loss leading to their eventual surrender at Appomattox.  Today, the town of Grand Gulf has disappeared, overtaken by the River.

CHAPEL AT GRAND GULF PARK

Near Grand Gulf are the Windsor Ruins, whats left of a plantation house built in 1861.  It survived the civil war, but burned to the ground in 1890.

With Vicksburg just a few miles north, we spent on day touring the battlefield there.  Vicksburg National Military Park is a must see if you are in Mississippi.  One can tour the battlefield in their car with a running narration of the battle on CD or on your phone.  Hundreds of  monuments to the fallen and to the many armed units who fought there.

VICKSBURG

GENERAL GRANT

It was about this time in the trip that we began having more issues with the RV.  This time the jacks that lift the trailer up for disconnecting from the truck started acting up.  We went ahead to New Orleans where the problem with the jacks didn't get any better.  We also learned that our next planned stop on Galveston Island was out of the cards due to flooding in the campground.

With some difficulty, I was able to get the truck hooked back up to the trailer.  Not wanting to push our luck  unhooking and hooking up any more, we decided to keep the trailer hooked up and head for the barn.  New Orleans would have to wait for another time.

As it turns out, if we had stayed in New Orleans and spent time in Texas as originally planned we would have encountered the flooding that occurred in and around Austin.  So after a six day drive (we go slow) we arrived home two weeks ahead of our original plans.

I've had several people ask me, how we find such beautiful places to camp.  Before the Internet we would look at a map for the little tent symbol in a place we wanted to go.  Also tour books from AAA were used.  But now I use two primary sources to find places to camp.  First is an app called Ultimate Campgrounds which on an interactive map lists all the government run campgrounds.  Federal, state, county and little bitty city parks which dot our country. With links to the camps website I can usually make an informed choice.  Once I have picked a potential spot, I then use RV Park Reviews to see what others have said about the campground I want to go to.  Seem to work out pretty well as we almost always luck out with a great spot to stay.

THE LAST SUNSET, YUMA, AZ