May 11 - 19, 2023 -- Eufaula, AL to Pine Mountain, GA

May 11 - 19, 2023 -- Eufaula, AL to Pine Mountain, GA

We left White Oak Creek on Saturday, May 13 and went directly to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.  They have 10 RV parking spaces there.

In 1939 the Civilian Pilot Training Program located a facility in Tuskegee, the first opportunity for African Americans to receive flight training from the government.  In 1941 Tuskegee became the training base for the all African American 99th Pursuit Squadron. Pre-flight training began at the nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field until Moton Field was completed later that year.  It was the only military primary flight training facility for African Americans throughout World War II.  In 1942 the first class of pilots graduated from Tuskegee Army Air Field and were commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the Army Air Corps.  There weren't just pilots, but also all the support staff, such as mechanics, cooks, etc.  No matter what your position, if you didn't do a good job you washed out.  Several years ago when I had braces my orthodontist had a painting of his pilot uncle, Wiley Selden, hanging in his office.  Ever since then I've wanted to visit the site.  It was very well done and I would recommend going.

After we left there we to Chewacla State Park.  We really enjoyed this campground.  I sat outside and read and watched the birds, squirrels and chipmunks.  It was really quiet, even on a Saturday, and got quieter on Sunday afternoon.  Absolutely beautiful campground; wish we could have stayed longer.  There's a Buc-ee's nearby, and we went to Outback Steakhouse for Mother's Day.

Site #14

On Tuesday, May 16 we drove to Ft. Richards and stayed at Branching Pines RV Park.  This was more like a trailer park with mostly permanent units.  The manager lady was really nice and said that a new company bought this campground and one up the road and are working on making improvements.  They have some work ahead of them.  I would not recommend this place to stay.  It's not the worst place we stayed, but it was close.  It was full hookups, which was nice, and the people were friendly, but the 'patio' was cracked and coming up, and the traffic on the highway was noisy except in the wee hours.  I wish them well.

While we were there we went to the National Infantry Museum and the National Civil War Naval Museum.  Both were excellent and I would highly recommend going if you're in the area.  

Here are pictures from the National Infantry Museum.

John was in the Army 25th Infantry Division

I have some china from my maternal grandmother that says Made in Occupied Japan.  I never knew when that was until now.

Here are pictures from the National Civil War Naval Museum.

The CSS Jackson ironclad warship was launched on December 22, 1864. Though virtually finished by Spring 1865 it still had no crew when General James A. Wilson's Union raiders captured it on April 16, 1865.  The following day the nearly completed ship was set ablaze and cut loose by her captors.  After drifting downstream some 30 miles she grounded on a sandbar, burned to the waterline, and sank.  In 1960 the wreck was located and there were efforts to recover her.  It was raised in two large pieces, the 106' stern raised in 1962, and the 74' bow in 1963.  The white framing above the ship shows where the top section would have been.

Here are some pictures from ground level.  The timbers they built it with are huge.

I thought these bank notes were interesting as we used to live in St. Marys.

Notice the difference between how the sailors lived and how the officers and captains lived.

Friday, May 19 we drove to Pine Mountain, GA and are at the F.D. Roosevelt State Park.  Our site is beautiful and I'll show pictures next time.  Tomorrow we go to Callaway Gardens.

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

May 3 - 10, 2023 -- Titusville, FL - Eufaula, AL

 May 3 - 10, 2023 -- Titusville, FL - Eufaula, AL

On Wednesday we left Titusville and headed northwest to Juniper Springs Campground, near Silver Springs, FL.  This was a National Forest campground and there were no hookups.  It was a little warm in the afternoon but I sat outside and enjoyed God's creation.

Site #1

Most of the sites were on the smaller side and not really made for big rigs, and the campground road was really tight, so we would probably not return.

Thursday morning we went to Silver Springs State Park and took the glass bottom boat tour.  This is something I've wanted to do for a long time and now I can check it off my bucket list. The tour was 30 minutes long.  They have a 90 minute tour but it only runs on the weekends. John said he thought 30 minutes was long enough because they just have a long hard wood bench to sit on. There are also lots of trails, kayak rentals, and gardens. The water is so clear and it's a beautiful place.

I didn't realize it before the tour but this is where all the episodes of Sea Hunt were filmed.  A few movies filmed here were Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean, Distant Drums with Gary Cooper, the James Bond movie Moonraker, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and six Tarzan flicks.

We continued on our trip and spent three nights a Southern Leisure RV Resort in Chiefland, FL.  It's a fairly new large Sun Resorts and Residences park.  Since it is new the trees are still small, but all the sites have cement pads. When we checked in the lady gave me a calendar of activities as well as weekly activities that they have there.  It looked like there were many people that are not just snowbirds, but live there full-time or leave their rigs there and come and go.  It didn't mention it on the website but it is a Passport America park, so our nightly rate was $21.50 for full hookups.  We didn't go anywhere and just relaxed after going and doing in Titusville.  Very nice park and we would return.

Site #320

Street view

Sunday we drove to East Bank Campground (CoE) on Lake Seminole near Bainbridge, GA. The GA/AL state line goes right down the middle of the lake, so we could see Alabama from our site in Georgia.  It's also just over the Florida state line.  Our cell phones got a little confused about what time it was.  It was a beautiful campground and our site was right on the lake.  With the 'old geezer pass' it was $12 a night for water and 50 amp electric.  We conserved water so I was able to get two loads of laundry done and there was room left over in the grey water tank.

Site #5

The weather was really nice and I was able to sit outside in the afternoon.  The sunsets were beautiful too.  We would definitely return.

Tuesday we drove to White Oak Creek Park on Walter F. George Reservoir (CoE) near Eufaula, AL.  When I checked in the gentleman said the lake was down about three feet but there was a beach and I could still wade in it.  I didn't think anything about it because I wasn't planning on going in it.  But when I got out of the truck I was attacked by some kind of fly.  They didn't bite, but they were everywhere.  I tried to guide John in backing into the site, but it was the most animated job I've ever done.  He wasn't sure where he was supposed to go!  I don't know if it's the lake being down or if there's a dairy farm nearby, but it smells bad.  However, with the America the Beautiful Pass it's only $13 a night.  There's water and 50amp electric and I've done one load of laundry.  I think John's going to be toting grey water to the dump station before we leave on Saturday.  This time we are in Alabama and the other side of the lake is Georgia.  Our cell phones are still confused. :-)

Site #94

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

April 28 - May 2, 2023 -- Titusville, FL

 April 28 - May 2, 2023 -- Titusville, FL

We're still in Titusville at Manatee Hammock Campground.  It's a county park and really quite nice.  There's a dock and a great viewing area for the launches at Cape Canavaral.  The large building in the center is the Vehicle Assembly Building where they assemble the NASA shuttles and rockets and then transport them to the launch pads.

On Friday we watched the launch of the SpaceX SES 03b mPOWER mission to medium-Earth orbit. It had a couple of satellites on board that it launched. We were about 10 miles away from the launch pad so it was hard to get pictures.  John took a video and posted it on Facebook that turned out well.  My pictures just look like a white spot on the horizon.  It was really cool to see and hear though.

It was a beautiful evening to wait for the launch.

On Saturday we ran a couple of errands and then stayed in.  We had a lot of rain and bad thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.

Sunday we went to Kennedy Space Center.  I bought the two day tickets, but after going I decided that it really could have been done in one day if we were there the whole day.  We got there about 9:30 and left about 3:00 the first day.

This is what they call the Rocket Garden.

We took the bus tour first, which takes you buy the Vehicle Assembly Building and on to the Appollo/Saturn V Center.  There we watched a couple of movies, one of which had a mock-up of mission control, and then saw the rockets.

This looks like pretty tight quarters.

We took the bus back to the main area and went to the Atlantis building. They had the space shuttle hanging from the ceiling.

They had a ride that I didn't go on and after John described it to me I was glad I didn't.

After some lunch we went to the Imax theatre and watched "The Last Man on the Moon", about Gene Cernan's experience.  It's hard to believe that was in 1972.

My step-sister, Lisa, and her husband, Sid came up for dinner.  We had a really nice time visiting.

Afterwards we went back out to the pier and watched the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch the ViaSat-3 Americas.  It had two satellites to be launched to a geostationary orbit.  Many times they re-use the boosters, but these had been used several times before so they didn't bring them back and we weren't able to see them land on their targets.  Again, from this distance it just looked like a ball of fire.

Monday we returned to Kennedy Space Center about 10:00.  We went to the Heros and Legends building first.  They also had a movie and then things for you to see.

Again, a tight fit.

From there we went to the Gateway building.  Lots more space things to see.  There was a ride in this building that John convinced me to go on.  I wish he hadn't; I didn't care much for it.  Afterwards we went to the Mars Rover building.  They had some replicas of the Mars Rover Vehicles.  It's truly amazing to think that these vehicles are up there on Mars.  By noon we had seen everything we wanted to see so came back home.

The thunderstorms left early Sunday morning and the weather has been sunny and in the mid 80s.  Our campsite has trees and it's really nice.  My brother is coming over for dinner and I'm sure we'll enjoy his visit.

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1