The Motorhomesteaders Update 3

Well, it has been a while since the last update, but with this one the pictures are up as well!

When we last updated you, Ft Stockton was our next stop. We stayed at Hilltop RV just on the west side of Ft Stockton. This is where Nate took the picture of the giant American Flag he posted on Facebook and the staff at the park were extremely friendly and helpful. The weather was still quite chilly at night with the lows in the upper 20’s. While we were there, we had two full days of Jeep driving to see Big Bend National Park one day, the next day was a big trip to Roswell, NM, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and Guadalupe Mountains National Park then back to Ft Stockton. The drive to Roswell was long and dense with oil refineries and pumps, most with their flare stacks on fire burning off the waste gases. The day was overcast in the morning which made the flames stand out even more in the early light. As we were driving toward Roswell, we saw one flare stack being lit or re-lit and that created an enormous fireball. Roswell was a town that, left to the imagination, would be quaint and on the smaller side, however this is not the case with almost 50,000 people in their population. Carlsbad Caverns is an amazing cave system with some very large stalactites and stalagmites structures. Nate and Elya got to take this adventure together, Lindsey stayed at the top and outside of the caves with the dogs. Because of the time of day they took the elevator down just over 750 feet and explored the trails in the dark cave. Elya found that the very deep, dark and very low-lit cavern was quite ominous but she pressed on and was able to enjoy some of the views. We left the caverns and drove to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, almost making it before the visitor’s center closed, this brings our national parks total to 9 on the trip so far. After all that driving, we decided to extend an extra day just to rest a bit because the next trip in the motorhome was the to be the longest pull in one day we had done, Ft Stockton to San Antonio.

San Antonio, Texas, the home of the Alamo. While we were there, we had the opportunity to visit the historic Alamo and learn about the history of the building as well as the battle that took place there. We also went down to the river walk for a bit, the weather was not as good for walking around outside that day, but it was a cool experience recommended by good friends. We also took a day and drove up to Ft Cavasos, formerly Ft Hood, and Nate got to see the headquarters building for III Armored Corp, or 3 Corp, which was who he deployed under. The trip there was so he could get two books signed by the author Vincent Vargas. He was an Army Infantry Ranger that continued his service as a border patrol agent after. He has several businesses that he uses to help veterans and he also is an actor that played Gilly in Mayans MC, the Sons of Anarchy spinoff. Nate said that he really appreciates the way Vargas represents the veterans and their community.

The night before we left San Antonio, Nate was able to find and buy an acoustic guitar which he calls his “Texas Instrument.”

From San Antonio we went to Corpus Christi and stayed on base at the Naval Air Station there. The campground is right on Oso Bay which Lindsey and Elya would take the dogs and walk down to every morning. We were also able to meet up with one of Nate’s army buddies for a couple hours and visit. After Corpus we decided we needed to make up some time and ground so we pushed through to Houston for a night, and Lafayette, but while we were in Houston we were able to go see one of our La Pine American Legion family members at his new Legion home.

To our surprise, while we were setting up in Houston, one of the return springs on the leveling jacks snapped and hit the bottom of the motorhome which was quite loud. This presented us with one of the things that’s been difficult to navigate on the trip is figuring out where to have things shipped and when we’re going to be there. Fortunately, we knew we were going to be seeing Nate’s uncle and his family soon and we were able to have replacements sent there, the only difficulty with that was they were delivered across the street from their house, but they were found and installed with no issues.

We spent the night just south of Lafayette in Broussard at Maxie’s RV Campground. It is a great little family-owned park for three generations, and the owner was on site and very friendly. He recommended a restaurant for us called Fezzo’s for some amazing Cajun food.

We pushed on to New Orleans, just in time for Mardi Gras, which was purely unintentional. We got the last site available at Bayou Segnette (Sen-Yet) State Park, 20min from the ferry at Algiers Point. As we pulled into New Orleans the torrential rains had caused many of the roads to be flooded over. A trip to Costco was in order despite the water and Lindsey and Elya no longer had the doors to the Jeep open for a few seconds and they were instantly soaked. With not enough time to dry off while they were inside, they got drenched again getting back in as well. The way back was mostly through inches of standing water until we made our way to the other side of an overpass where the water was over the bumpers of the Jeep and more like boating that driving. At the bottom of the bridge traffic came to a sudden stop when a car had water going over the hood and stopped. Nate saw an open path, still covered with water and the wrong way of a one-way street. Driving slowly enough to keep water out of the intake but still fast enough not to get stuck we drove up the street where the parked cars had water up to the door handles for about half of a block before the road rose up and we were able to continue the rest of the way towards the state park. We are definitely glad to have a vehicle capable of that type of thing. The next day the sun came out and we were able to meet up with one of Nate’s friends who lives there and he was able to show us around and hang out for the day. The beginning of Mardi Gras is the family friendly time. Similar to Freemont Street in Las Vegas, there was definitely a bewitching hour as the day progressed. We made sure to walk down Bourbon Street during the day and avoid it as the sun set. We stayed in town and got to see what seemed like one unending parade, but it was three parades back-to-back. One of the parades was the Krewe of King Arthur which normally would have had some of our family friends from home in it, however they were not able to participate this year. We also took a day to drive out to some of the filming locations of one of our favorite TV shows call The Secrets of Sulfur Springs, in St Bernard Parrish. On our way back to the Motorhomestead we drove past a brown sign that said “Chalmette Battlefield” so with some time left, we pulled in. The battlefield was that of what is considered the last war of independence, the Battle of New Orleans. The implications of a loss on this front could very well have changed the course of American history and the men that fought in it knew very well what was at stake. Definitely worth the visit, Wikipedia has a great write up about it if you’re interested. After what seemed like a month’s worth of energy and excitement had been expended in just a few days of walking through the French quarter, having beignets at Cafe Du Mont, visiting a voodoo museum, and countless parades, our time in NOLA was over.

Our next stop was Pensacola, where we stayed on the Blue Angel Naval Recreation and RV Campground. While we were there, we were able to see some of Nate’s extended family and visit his uncle and aunt and a couple of his cousins. He also got to address some of the remnants of water fording adventure that had cause the calipers on the Jeep to start binding, which may have been a preexisting issue but that amount of water put it over the top. A little WD-40 and some high temp grease was a quick fix to get the brakes to let go, but because they had been binding calipers and rotors were going to need to be replaced. After we had some more family time and said our goodbyes, we were on our way to the Tampa area.

At this point we started running into vacancy issues at RV parks, which is understandable because the weather has been beautiful and in the 70’s and even when it rains it’s only for a day then it’s gone.

We stayed in a picturesque park right on the banks of the Withlacoochee River between the towns of Bushnell and Floral City just north of Tampa where we were able to get the appropriate parts ordered and picked up to fix the Jeep’s brakes so that would no longer be an issue. While we were there, we met up with one of Lindsey’s childhood friends who had moved down to the area and her family. We met up for some lunch and walked to a nearby park so the kids could play and after we stopped at an ice cream shop for a cool treat to end our visit. After Nate was able to get the brakes situation addressed we drove down to Bradenton to visit with some family friends of ours that moved to Florida whose daughter is a friend of Elya’s from her school. It was nice to see friends and catch up with their lives in Florida, if only for a short time.

We were also able to go by the Dade Battlefield and learn about the Seminole people and some of the history of the area we were visiting.

Our next stop then was Orlando, just a short drive from where we previously were, where we spent the next three days visiting the Universal Studios Orlando theme parks and water park. Those three days were filled with roller coasters and walking and one day at their water park, Volcano Bay. We had a combined total of about 100 miles walked and around 35 flights of stairs. Needless to say, we got our steps in for the week and still weren't able to go on every ride. We decided to extend the Florida trip by a few days and got a spot in Daytona Beach to spend some time on the beach and relaxing.

From Daytona Beach we headed to Valdosta, GA. We got into town early enough and were able to meet up with some good friends who had moved there from Central Oregon for work. We caught up over dinner, and visited at their house for awhile. They recommended we take the drive out to Banks Lake and Okefenokee Swamp Park, which were both amazing locations. The Banks Lake store and information center was closed that day so we walked out on the boardwalk for some pictures, but the next day we drove to the swamp park. We walked around their wildlife viewing area and boardwalk while we waited for our swap boat tour. There we saw several quite large alligators, some turtles and a couple snakes, which we were informed in the visitor’s center were all quite real.

We then headed to Bishop, GA just outside of Athens for a few nights where we were able to able to see one of Nate’s army buddies and his family that we had not seen in about 12 years. As soon as we got to their house and said our hello’s we began catching up on the last decade and we instantly fell right back into place where we left off as friends all those years ago. While we were there Nate and his buddy got to tattoo each other and Nate also did a small tattoo on their oldest son. Elya was able to hang out with the kids one day while Nate and Lindsey went to the Roswell, GA for a day trip. After we wrapped up in Athens we were headed to Columbia, South Carolina.

Our little dog Angus was having some pain that would come on suddenly and he would let out a cry so we scheduled an appointment there. It turned out to be a strained muscle or tendon in his shoulder so he got some feel-good pills and has now healed up decently. We also went to Congaree National Park which was just down the road from where we stayed. We were only able to walk on a portion of the boardwalk because the Congaree River was flooded but we were still able to walk a couple miles in total and see the vegetation changes along the way.

After Columbia we were headed to Myrtle Beach State Campground, right on the coast, for a week and were able to camp next to some of our friends we met in Central Oregon. They were able to stay right across from us. While we were there, they took us down to the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens. We walked around on the over 9000-acre property through their sculpture garden and wildlife area. One night for dinner we went up to Molly Darcy’s Irish Pub where our friend works and got to meet up with his brother as well. We had some great times visiting with them and seeing the beautiful beach, as is the theme of this trip, it was time to move on.

After Myrtle Beach we drove up to Wilmington, North Carolina. On our way there Nate noticed the over-dive light was flashing on and off then stopped on the motorhome. Being quite close to our park we drove in and got set up then Nate was able to look into it some more. It turned out to be the vehicle speed sensor, which the local Advanced Auto Parts had in stock. It took him about 10 minutes to install the new one and we were ready to enjoy Wilmington. We stayed there for a couple days and got to spend some time on a beach that one of our awesome friends from home recommended. We drove toward one spot on the beach that was close to the campground just to see the ocean, but there was a gate on the road with a guard. We told him what we were wanting to do and he said that this was a private island and beach, but handed us a preprinted flyer that told us how to get to the public beaches. The time on the beach was spent relaxing looking for seashells and avoiding the incoming tide. One observation of the east coast versus the west coast is the size of the waves here is much smaller than the west coast. The waves here are quite peaceful and relaxing to watch where the Pacific Ocean seems angrier and more treacherous, at least this time of year. While we were in the Wilmington area, we got to tour the Historic Bellamy Mansion. We also took a ride on a horse drawn trolly through part of Historic Downtown Wilmington with Springbrook Farms and their awesome tour guide Taylor.

After Wilmington we headed to Charlotte Motor Speedway RV Campground for the night. We didn’t get to see a race but the speedway was something Nate had wanted to see since he was a teenager.

After one night in Charlotte, we headed towards Maggie Valley, NC and got on the road just before a thunderstorm that brought a lot of rain but it was not something we thought we needed to be concerned about. While we were driving though, the motorhome started having an issue that seemed like water in the fuel, or a clogged air filter, because it wasn’t shifting incorrectly but it would hiccup occasionally. Having had to replace a vehicle speed sensor in Wilmington we thought it could likely be a different sensor. Occasionally it got to be more and more frequent so we pulled over at the next exit and found a place to park so Nate could take a look at it. He hooked up his code reader to it and it said the mass air flow sensor was reading high voltage. We happened to stop just 10 minutes from a parts store that had a new one so Nate disconnected the Jeep and went on a parts run. When he got back, he had a new sensor air filter and some injector cleaner, just in case. With the MAF sensor being in the same spot as the air filter he opened the housing and the air filter was soaked with water and dripping water from the top of the filter as well. The sensor looked to be in good shape and with the new air filter installed we were back on the road headed for the Smoky Mountains.

We stayed at a very nice park on a creek in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in the Appellation Mountains. From there we were able to drive into the Smoky Mountains National Park and up to the Newfound Gap viewpoint. With steep hills and windy roads, we were able to see picturesque views of the mountains and even some of the blue haze as the clouds lifted. On the way down we stopped at a taco stand on the side of the road for some lunch. Some of the best food comes from the street vendors where the locals are standing in and creating a line, and this one did not disappoint. The next day we drove to the Cherokee Indian reservation and went to a few shops. Our favorite was Bearmeat Indian Den where we got to see some amazing handmade native jewelry, knives, and other items, even some antique bead work. The owner of the shop was very friendly and told us about the reservation. If you’re ever in the area we definitely recommend stopping by and seeing it.

At this point we headed to the small town of Buffalo Valley, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee where we stayed at a campground made by the Army Corp of Engineers in the late 1970’s. We stayed for a couple days and drove into Nashville to look around. Cold nights but beautiful views on a peaceful reservoir.

From Buffalo Creek we headed to Nate’s army buddies’ house near Madisonville. We stayed at their house for three nights. It was good to catch up with them and meet their family. Nate was able to use his friend’s shop to do some maintenance and put a new thermostat and temperature sensor in the Jeep. On our last day we were able to drive to the small town of Providence where Lindsey’s grandpa had lived before he passed.

We made our way back to our friends and said our goodbyes and made our way towards Camp Carlson Army Recreational Area just outside Ft Knox.

While we were at Ft Knox, we were able to drive around as see the places Nate went to basic training in 2001. The buildings were all still there but some of them were out of use for training. One of the days we were there we drove down to Mammoth Cave National Park and went through the visitor’s center. It is very impressive that there are over 400 miles of caves that are currently mapped. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go into the caves because of our schedule. We were able to go to Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace in Hodgenville, KY as well as his boyhood home in Knob Creek.

Just outside of Ft Knox is a civil war Union camp called Ft Duffield. It’s located on top of one of the area’s many steep hills which we walked up to see a few recreated buildings and the original dirt ramparts that were built in the early 1860’s.

We also took a trip to the Top Golf in Louisville to have a break and relax a bit as well.

From there we headed to Huntington, West Virginia. There we drove out to New River Gorge National Park. Deep river valleys and many miles of steep mountain roads turns are just a small part of this beautiful park. We drove through a good portion of the park on mostly paved roads. One road on the way back was a quite steep gravel road that took us up Irish Mountain, named for the Irish families that settled there. The road, although it was gravel, was very well maintained and not rough. Driving up the hill the road turned back into pavement and houses started appearing. There were a couple people standing in one of the driveways that didn’t look so happy to see a vehicle they didn’t recognize, but we made it over the hill and back to the interstate unscathed.

Leaving miles of roads undriven and hundreds of views unseen, we headed to Lexington, Virginia. We stayed at the Lexington/Natural Bridge KOA just a couple miles from the Natural Bridge State Park, and a short drive from Shenandoa National Park. The Campground was built into the hills and pretty steep in a couple spots but very pretty, nonetheless. We took our trip to Shenandoa National Park on a rainy day which is not recommended. Cloud covers and fog kept us from seeing the views at any of the viewpoints, but we were able to drive through the hills and imagine what the view would look like. We also took a drive to Roanoke to get some resupplies from the amazon locker and looked around a bit.

From here we were headed to Washington, DC. We stayed at the Ft. Belvior Travel Camp right on Gunston Cove off the Potomac River. Our time there was filled with several days of a lot of walking around DC. We met a couple that were in the site right next to us and they joined us on the day of the eclipse when we walked around the National Mall and Memorial Parks. We walked to most of the memorials and stopped for a while on a grassy spot on the shore of Carp Pond and watched the solar eclipse. It was almost 90% coverage in DC this year. We went to two of the Smithsonian Museums while we were there as well, the Museum of Natural History and the American History Museum.  Both were very impressive. We were able to see the American Flag that Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote the Star Spangled Banner, which was quite amazing. We also went to Ford’s Theater and the Petersen House. The Ford Theater had been gutted and turned into an office building after Lincoln’s assassination but has since been re-done as the theater had looked then. We were able to see the room where Lincoln died across the street from the theater as well.

We will be updating more as we get a chance and when there is good wifi.

Thank you all for following along with us on this exciting adventure. We are still having a great time and look forward to the next places.