Miami

Yes we made it to the Keys and I am having a fabulous time!  Playing a little catch-up here on the blog....wanted to share a campground we stayed at in Miami and some photos of the Miami Zoo we visited.  The campground is the Larry and Penny Thompson Memorial Park and Campground.  It is very nice, but not very "big rig" friendly.  Sites are predominately back in and tight.  We have a 4o foot rig and it is "doable" but take it slow and have someone outside your rig making sure you are clear of concrete post and trees!  LOL!

 

The sites are set up in "pods" each pod resembling a wagon wheel with sites being the "spokes"

This is us.....

 

and here is my Dad's site

Our trip to the Miami Zoo was great and I do recommend a visit if you are in the area.  It is large so plan to spend the day.....

 

Here is Bill enjoying his day at the zoo!

Not sure what this guy is trying to accomplish....but hang in there dude!

Gorgeous Toucan!

 

and my favorite a Harpy Eagle.  He (or she) is awesome!

More to come on the Keys and some more photos next time!

 

 

 

 

 

Change of Plans

Originally, I thought we would be in the Keys by now, but turns out I had my Thanksgiving "date" all messed up.  I thought Thanksgiving was this upcoming Thursday....oops....what can I say, ever since we have been fulltiming I seem to have a hard time with the calendar.  Mainly because I never really pay much attention to it.  Not only do I typically not know what day it is, but I also have trouble knowing what city or state I'm waking up in on some days....LOL!  Anywhooo....we will be leaving Tampa tomorrow.  We will be taking the fifth wheel and following my Dad in his motorhome.  It will be the first time Dad and I have "traveled" together with our rigs.  I'm so looking forward to it!  This Thanksgiving will be a special one.  Bill and I usually are "on the road" somewhere celebrating with just us two, I mean four, can't forget the furballs.  Thanksgiving is one of their favorite holidays....they love turkey! 
Glad we were able to work this out so we can spend the holiday with family and friends....and in such a beautiful place!  Once again...so blessed....with this "GoodeLife" on the road!

All Settled in.....for now

We are all "settled in" at my Uncle's marina here in Tampa Florida.  Just love it here!  Last night we headed down to Ybor City with family and friends.....

As you can see....I'm having a really good time!  LOL!  Actually any of you who know me...know I don't drink beer.  I'm a Patron girl, but my cousin ordered this and I couldn't resist the "photo opp"..Ha!  We had such a good time laughing, dancing, singing....and I still managed to be home and in my bed by 10pm (we did start at 3pm)!

Walmart....Shame on you!

Yesterday was a travel day.....kinda a long one for us.  We normally don't like traveling on Sundays, but decided to go ahead and move on down the road.  We are heading straight down I75 South, once through Atlanta decided it was time for a little lunch.  Found a Cracker Barrel and a Walmart almost side by side in McDonough GA.  Now this Walmart had two parking areas...kinda an upper and lower.  We parked in the upper lot....which was empty except for 2 or 3 semis.  Now there were signs...no overnight parking and no truck parking, but we have never had a problem parking for an hour or two to have lunch and YES...we did buy a few groceries.  We popped over to Cracker Barrel for lunch, it was busy so that took about  1 1/2 hrs.  Then we headed back over to Walmart to pick up a few items.  Once back at the fifth wheel, we decided to go ahead and feed the furballs their dinner as it was going on 2pm.  Next thing I know a giant tow truck is pulling up beside us and is telling me that we have to go....Walmart is tired of all of us parking in their parking lot....tearing up their property and such.  I'm like, "what the hell are you talking about....we just bought some groceries here and are taking a little break from the road"  and his response,  "I understand, but you gotta go".  There was another rv that had just pulled in and they got the same message.  Mama is NOT HAPPY and you know the drill....if Mama ain't happy, nobodies happy.  I immediately got on the phone to the store and spoke with a manager.  She seemed to be oblivious to what was going on in her parking lot.  Wanted to know who the tow company was and NO it was not their policy to tow rv'ers especially after they had been shopping at the store.  She did come outside and spoke at length to the tow truck driver.....what was said, I have no idea.  She never came over to talk to me.  Which makes me think, that somebody higher up the food chain had called the tow truck.  We took our time, fed our pups, filled our diesel tanks, and got back out on the road.  So, if you are ever in the vicinity of the Walmart on Willow Ln in McDonough GA.....take my advice and keep on trucking right on down the road!  They are NOT RV friendly!
We landed in Tifton GA for a couple of nights.  Staying at the I75 RV Park.  Nice little place....nothing fancy and not much around to do or see....but a great place for an overnight or two! 

Today the sun is shining and the temps are climbing into the 70's.....yes, indeed....flip flop weather at last!  Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be back on the road to Tampa!

A little Chattanooga Sight Seeing....

We did a little sight seeing in Chattanooga...starting right here at the Trav-l-park.  It seems this park was built right on top of a civil war battlefield...located on the campground is a monument marker to the 84th Indiana Infantry.  You can click on the above links for more information and history.

Here is the marker....pretty neat since I am originally from Indiana....born and raised

 

Here is a photo of our site....nice level pull through, full hook ups

 Photo of our row.....it is a popular place.  We didn't make a reservation and got lucky.  Got the last "big rig" friendly site.

Of course, we had to go downtown and check out the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel.  You can read all about what it has to offer by clicking on the link.  Here is a plaque that explains the history of the train above

 

The hotel was interesting, but don't waste your money on the miniature train display....that was pretty sad

Next we decided to take the free trolley down to  the art district.

 

Got to walk across this awesome glass bridge.....don't look down!

And checked out some interesting sculptures on the river walk....

 

This was my absolute favorite.

We had a nice BBQ meal at a place called "Sticky Fingers" and ended our day with a little ice cream from "Clumpies".  They make all their flavors on site....fresh...and oh so good!!  All in all we found Chattanooga an interesting and diverse place.  Will have to stop by again when we have a little more time to explore and a little warmer weather would be nice....you can do a lot of walking in this city!

Chattanooga......

Uneventful travel day.....well, except for taking the wrong exit!  Our garmin has finally bitten the dust.  So...no problem....been using my "smart" phone.  Apparently we are not as smart as it is!  Ha!  We were looking for Exit 1 for our campground.  Suddenly we see signage that I75 goes to the left and I24 goes to the right.  The smart phone is strangely quiet....Billy thinks we may need to go right, I was certain we stayed on 75.  At least I was certain right up to the time Billy started questioning my "certainty".  So, at the last minute I told him to take I24.....WRONG!  Nooooow the "smart" phone has plenty to say!  No biggie as we took the next exit without any issues and got turned back around.  Note to self....."trust your traveling instincts"!  But, of course, there was lots of yelling and confusion for about 30 seconds...LOL!
Pulled into the Chattanooga Trav-l-park safe and sound around 3pm.  Nice pull through and lots of friendly smiling faces.  Busy little park. 
Today we will head into Chattanooga and yes...I'll be packing my camera...to see what interesting sights we can find!

Georgetown photos

We drove around Georgetown and I got a few good photos to share.  It was a beautiful fall day, but a bit chilly and windy for us to do much walking.  I checked out a couple shops on main street and snapped a few photos there.....

It is a very well done downtown with lots of restored storefronts.  Unfortunately, like many small towns there are not a lot of shops to explore....still worth the visit just for the architecture!

Found a bit of spectacular fall color to share and.......

 

I could not resist this colorful guy....just gorgeous...

 

Here is our campsite at Whispering Hills

 

Since the campground was fairly empty, we did have a nice view of the lake!   Friday, we head back down the road....next stop...."Pardon me boys, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo"....You guessed it......Chattanooga Tennessee.  Just so all you southern folks know, we did close the door when we left....but dang that cold air seems to be following us down your way anyway!

Headed South.....at last.....

Wow....we left Lafayette around 2:30pm Tuesday!  Never imagine we would be that late getting out of town, but "it takes what it takes" and things just took longer then expected!  Just glad to be on the road again.  We arrived in Cincinnati that evening and set up in the parking lot of Precision Temp...for the repair of our on demand hot water heater.  We are NOT boondockers....but we managed to survive the night although we did find out that our batteries do need to be replaced.  They are just not holding or charging like they used to do!  Kinda like us....we don't recharge as well as we used to either...LOL!  The Precision folks took great care of us and our hot water heater is working great....back on the road by early afternoon.  Unfortunately the rain caught up with us and we had a very wet travel day.....stopped here in Georgetown, Kentucky at the Whispering Hills Rv Park.  Nice little park....certainly adequate for a night or two.  We decided on two!  Got lucky, as the rain let up just long enough for us to get set up.  After I fed the furballs and got them settled, it was time to go in search of dinner for the two of us.  What a find I found!  A great little restaurant, Wilshire's.  The Wilshires saved the historic home of John Payne, restored as much of as they could and turned it into the restaurant.  We had the most fabulous evening and dinner, with a really sweet waitress who told us all about the history and the resident GHOST....yes, apparently they hear the former owner, Mr Payne walking around the place from time to time.  It is just beautiful!  Tomorrow we will drive into Georgetown and check it out....then maybe a drive into nearby Lexington.  Hoping to get some photos tomorrow to share here on the blog....then it is back on the road to Florida come Friday.  LIFE IS GOODE!