Appalachia: Beautiful and Smells Like Rubber

From Florida to Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and now back into Tennessee, I've been traveling through some beautiful hill country. I've also found some gorgeous places to stay, and I'm realizing I didn't take pictures of most of them.

One of the waterfalls seen from the rim walk at Cloudland Canyon

The Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwest Georgia, just above Chattanooga, was the exception. I arrived late in the afternoon on a cloudy day, so I couldn't really enjoy any view as I drove up the switchbacks to get there. But I knew the next morning was supposed to be sunny again so it seemed worth the trip up. Sure enough, on my walk-around the next day, I saw how beautiful the area was. I especially enjoyed the drive back down a different route from the mountain, catching sight of the gorgeous valley on my way to Chattanooga.

I only spent an afternoon and an evening in Chattanooga, but it really was a nice city, and easy to get around. From there, I stayed a night in the Blue Ridge Mountains, then headed down to Martinsville, Virginia for a NASCAR race.

Although it was early, I got there the day after the trackside campground opened up, hoping to nab a site that was as level as possible on the hilly terrain, at the top of a slope, and close to one of the gravel driveways. Rain was in the forecast, and I saw last year how mud could create a challenge. I heard many stories of people needing to hire someone to tow their RV out of there after a wet week. I didn't do too bad - couldn't find quite level, but close enough. I opted for a longer walk to the track in favor of a low-risk site.

My little motorhome parked high and dry in the center, above the Canadian flag, Monday before the race

By Sunday, the hillside had filled up pretty well. I'm about 1/3 way from the left margin, on the top of the hill.

After the Martinsville race (and an RV repair stop in Greensboro, with a return trip due next week after a part comes in) I went to Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is another city that I really enjoyed. I stayed in an RV park on a hillside just out of town with a great view, and within walking distance of a bus stop (convenient for an afternoon contributing to the craft beer economy--there were plenty to choose from with dog-friendly patios).

When I'm in a city that offers tour trolleys, I often grab one of their flyers to see what locations they go to. That and Trip Advisor's "What to Do In..." help me figure out what places might be worth seeing. In the case of Asheville, one of the locations was the Basilica of St. Lawrence, which is open to the public at most times. It was beautiful, and definitely worth the short walk from the bus station.

A unique feature of this building is that the domed ceiling is constructed with bricks - quite an engineering feat!

Gorgeous stained glass windows all throughout 

I also spent a day at the Biltmore Estate and Gardens, of the Vanderbilt family.

Breakfast in the garden room, anyone?

The enormous dining room included a pipe organ at one end...

...and a triple fireplace at the other end, with a spectacular carving. 

The view from the living area is truly picturesque

Now I'm in Bristol, Tennessee for another NASCAR race. I decided that I'm not likely to be in the eastern states again for some time, so I might as well go to another race. The event isn't for another week, but this is hilly country too, so I wanted to stake out a level spot while I could. I was among the first few RVs to arrive. The campground opening was apparently a major deal. As I was arriving, police traffic control was setting up to stop highway traffic and let the line of RVs across the road to the most lucrative sites near the track. I scored on a level site, it's just a short walk to the gate and the entertainment stage, and a reasonable walk to a craft brewery if I get bored. I lost the campsite lottery on one aspect, though - the guy that set up closest to me has a large open-frame generator that looks like it will really sound annoying. Can't win 'em all, I guess.

Just Livin' the Good Life

Since my last post in late February, I've just been enjoying springtime in state parks throughout western Florida. I stayed at a former religious convent outside of Fort Myers and took the dog kayaking on the Estero River (with the alligator warnings posted, I was quite careful to tether the dog safely into the kayak).

From there, I made a quick trip to Sanibel Island and used my national park pass to drive through the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

Watching beautiful pink roseate spoonbills land and feed in the mudflats.
There were so many different types of birds here, and a few gators on the roadside.

I went to the Punta Gorda FunkFest again this year since I'd had such a great time at last year's festival.

Stayed at the Myakka River State Park. I've never seen as many alligators at once as I saw on the Upper Myakka Lake (safely from a large fanboat tour).  The state park has a neat canopy tower structure. My favorite part of this visit, though, was taking the dog on a walk on one of the "nature trails" early in the morning. Immediately on our walk we saw wild turkeys and deer. Mid-walk, while we were on a wooden boardwalk over a swampy area, an otter came out from underneath us to see what was making all the racket. As soon as it came fully out and saw the dog and me, it made a speedy u-turn back under the boardwalk, not to be spotted again.

This bouncy elevated walk along the treetops reminded me of a bigger version of the
"wooden toys" we used to enjoy as kids at Ike Kinswa State Park on Mayfield Lake

Sunrise view over the treetops from the tree canopy tower

Then I headed back up to the Florida Panhandle to enjoy the white sugar sand beaches again. Charley thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's stop at the Panama City Beach dog beach.

Just love to see those ears flapping in the breeze as he runs!

Now it's decision time. I've got tickets to a race in Martinsville, VA in a couple weeks. Do I just go the most direct route? Or do I add a bunch of miles heading eastward again and go up the coastline of the Carolinas? Long, boring interstate drives really aren't my thing. So I'll do a little research about what's to see along each potential route and make a decision in a couple days when my string of camping reservations in Florida comes to an end.

Hollywood Beach

North end was beautiful and mostly vacant

As much as I enjoy being out close to nature, relative quiet, seeing the moon and stars clearly at night, and wildlife sightings, I can also appreciate going in to the city, with its different sights and sounds.

I spent the last four nights at a nice county park in Hollywood, between Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Yesterday I took a bus to a park at the beach and took a long walk down the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk (yes, this spelling is correct).

This wide pedestrian and non-motorized vehicle path alongside the beach is lined with parks, bungalows, apartments, hotels, beach shops and eating/drinking establishments. Its only flaw is that it's not dog friendly. It made for great exercise and people-watching, with liquid rewards on the return trip. A great way to spend a sunny afternoon!

Margarita Time!

Wild and Scenic Loxahatchee

Yesterday I think I dropped the best-spent $16 of my trip so far. I rented a kayak for a couple hours here at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and went up the Loxahatchee River and Kitching Creek. I wish I had photos to share, but I won't take my phone/camera out where I'm concerned I can't keep it dry. It was a beautiful 75 degree day, and Kitching Creek is too shallow for motorized vessels, so it was calm and peaceful.

I ended up taking basically the same route at the same pace as two other kayaks and two canoes, and the nine of us had a fun rapport going up and down the creek, testing out the best pathways thru the vegetation and pointing out the wildlife as we spotted it. There were manatees, an alligator sunning itself within what was certainly and thrillingly striking distance of the narrow creek, turtles, several raccoons that had come down to the water's edge to forage (how can they be so adorable out in the wild, yet such a menace too close to the house?), and countless birds of many varieties. The further up the creek, the swifter the water, and it was fun to play around up and down with the current. I had asked a ranger about the advisability of using my own inflatable kayak, and they mentioned there were a lot of sticks to be concerned about in places. Good advice--I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun as I did in the rental.

The day before, I had taken a guided boat tour farther up the Loxahatchee to Trapper Nelson's cabin. Trapper Nelson was at first, and in the end, sort of a recluse, but for many years in the 40's and 50's he made a good living and his reputation as a legend charging a fee to people who wanted to see how the man lived a subsistence life along the river in the wild, selling what he'd trapped and grown, and displaying local exotic animals.

Trapper Nelson's cabin with hurricane log inscripted to the right of the door.

First home the trapper built on the site

The trapper had many display cages, labeled with the types of animals they held.
Sometimes he'd take them out to play and pose for photos with them.

At Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the Hobe Mountain lookout tower
is on the highest elevation point in southern Florida, at 86 feet

How the other half lives.
View from the tower of the InterCoastal Waterway and the Atlantic.

Before going the Jupiter area, I had gone into the Everglades National Park with the intent on a quick stay at the Long Pine Key Campground, which I hadn't been to. However, the campground was full so I made a snap decision to make the long drive down to the Flamingo Campground at the southernmost part of the Florida peninsula. I'd been there last year and it's beautiful and interesting (and horrifically buggy).

Crocodile or gator? This one's a croc, but Flamingo is rare habitat to both.

I don't know why I'm thrilled to see grey blobs in the water,
but a manatee sighting is always great!

Goodbye to the Keys

After four-and-a-half relaxing weeks in the Florida Keys, I'm headed back to the mainland. It's been wonderful. I've kayaked a lot, tried stand-up paddleboarding a couple times, got bit by a fish, and met a lot of people here. Key Largo is a great place to paddle because there are a lot of protected "trails" that are closed to motorized traffic.

You can head out for a short paddle or a long one, but the real interesting view is looking into the water at the fish, because the trails all pretty much look like this, surrounded by the mangrove:

At the campground, I had a lizard friend at my site:

Charley liked the close quarters here, so he could snoop on the neighbors. (I prefer more space and privacy, personally).

All in all, it's been a great stay in paradise!

Relaxing in Conch Country

After leaving Key Largo, my adventure driving the 100+ mile length of the Keys was punctuated by a blustery drive over the Seven Mile Bridge. When I was first dreaming about visiting the Keys, I was intrigued by picturesque blue-sea photos of the bridge like this:

Photo credit Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

Unfortunately, my experience was creeping along in this:

I was lucky it wasn't worse. After I got across the bridge and set up at the next campground, the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for the area I had just been through, indicating that a tornado had been spotted in the Middle Keys. And when I met my campground neighbor, he told me his daughter had left from a visit, drove across the bridge at about the same time I did, and a fisherman's five-gallon bucket blew away from him and got lodged underneath her pickup. She had no choice but to keep driving across the length of the bridge with the bucket dragging along underneath. There's really no good place to stop and there was little visibility that day. It's a two-lane highway with on-coming traffic - the other bridge in the photo is an old, out-of-service railroad bridge. Glad I made it without incident.

Bahia Honda State Park

As I had been researching where to stay in the Keys last winter, I quickly learned this is the primo spot to stay. Florida State Parks reservations can be made up to 11 months in advance, and this park is generally fully booked immediately when openings come available. Fortunately for people like me who don't plan that well, you can take advantage of cancellations and take what you can get. Last year I wasn't able to stay at Bahia Honda, but this year I got a three-night reservation during the term I'd be in the Keys. Best of all, it was in perfect timing to avoid driving back and forth unnecessarily.

On arrival it was easy to see why the park is so popular. There are several different beaches, several campgrounds (the nicest of which are in low-clearance areas only accessible for tent, hammock and van campers), a marina, watersports tours and rentals, and an old bridge you can walk up and out onto.

Unfortunately, waterfront sites are not available to people traveling with pets. I stayed around the corner.

Low-clearance camping out on the point on the Gulf side

A highlight of my stay at the park was a kayak trip. I put lifejackets on Charley and me, and set out towards the bridge. I hadn't explored much of the park yet, so I was going in and out of all the nooks and crannies. When I got close to the bridge, I realized there were several people fishing off the bulkheads, and to stay out of their way, I was going to have to paddle out farther away from shore than I prefer when alone.  I went out and under the bridge and was watching the fishermen, when all of a sudden a large billfish leaped out of the water, arched, and plunged back in, maybe just 20' away from me in my inflatable kayak. Without thinking, I exclaimed, "Wow!," and one of the fishermen laughed at me, his eyes as wide as mine, and he gestured how large that was. It was thrilling and made me feel extremely vulnerable at the same time, out there in the Atlantic. I went in and rested on the shore awhile before heading back out under the bridge and towards the Gulf side. I'll try to keep the rest of my kayaking to shallower, calmer waters, closer to shore.

Weather wasn't great but I did love the layers of greens, blues and greys

Key West

I spent about a week in Key West. Again, the weather wasn't perfect, but there were a number of good days. And at least in Key West, there's plenty to do even when it's raining.

The day I went to Mallory Square for the sunset celebration was a fortunate one. The weather had been good, but then it looked like the next storm was coming in. The clouds ended up enhancing the sunset nicely, though.






The place I was staying was about five miles from Duval Street, the seaport and downtown areas, so I relied on the city bus. It took some time, but it was better than fighting to find a place to park an RV in such a congested little city, and it allowed me to fully enjoy my trips to town!

What're you doing? Let's go!

One of the smartest purchases I've made in the last couple years has been a collapsible dog carrier that most buses and airlines will allow pets to travel in. Key West is pretty dog friendly, so I took Charley along with me all but one day. One of the nice things is that this carrier folds flat when not in use, and I can just sling it over my shoulder while the dog's walking on a leash. Charley hops right into it, because he knows it means he's not getting left behind.

Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

On my last day in Key West, I drove out to the southwest point of the island to see the old Civil War-era fort and beaches there. What a beautiful, relaxing day.

I wasn't the only one enjoying the beautiful Sunday. This view was from atop the fort.

I got lucky when I went through the fort. A volunteer was giving extensive history to another tourist nearby, and offered to take him back into a powder magazine that was blocked off with a "hazardous area" sign. He looked around and said, "Anyone else want to see an area that few people ever get to access?"

Of course, I did. By the light of our cell phones, the three of us went through a labyrinth that was designed with nooks, crannies, false floors and ventilation to ensure that if there was a blast, the rest of the fort would not be damaged. It was pretty cool!

Curry Hammock State Park

Now, in stark contrast to the private RV park in Key West, where vehicles were shoehorned in close quarters, and even my skinny motorhome had palm trees brushing against both sides when the wind came up, I'm in a quiet state park outside of Marathon in the middle of the Keys. I've got an expansive site, bordered on three sides by enough trees and bushes to obscure view of other campers, but the foilage is low enough that I get plenty of sun. Perfect for the week I'll be here! Looking forward to exploring another place that I haven't seen before now.

Remembering Steve always, but particularly today. 

It's been two years now.

Made It to the Florida Keys Again!

I'm in a happy spot, at Key Largo with a rum and juice drink, relaxing just after sunset. The weather's a little drizzly off and on, but it will improve. Charley has continued to get better and my check of the red tide hotline indicates that I shouldn't need to worry about him at the beach here. I'll have him kayaking before long, with his life vest on, of course. Life is good!

What's a trip to Southern Florida without a stop along the Tamiami Trail for a gator sighting? Didn't stay long enough to get a good pic, so this'll have to do.