Back in the Lone Star State

 

 

After New Orleans on the 10th we decided to take the road less traveled again and headed northwest to Baton Rouge and then down a scenic byway called LA 1 toward Marksville. This was indeed scenic and you get to see rural Louisiana at its finest. This is a huge sugar cane and cotton area and you really get into the Spanish moss and live oak plantation atmosphere along this route.

  

We stuck a pin in the map and arrived at the Paragon Casino and RV Resort in Marksville. Well not much of either here. The park is about 20 years old and while there are a lot of spaces there's basically no reason to be here. We had a decent back-in but most of the sites are either permanent or frequent visitors as I think the majority of the folks here came from within a 50 mile radius of this small casino to spend the weekend or a couple of days.

 

After a quiet night we launched off toward Alexandria and then Shreveport where we caught I-20 to the west toward Dallas. When we started up we noticed a really loud metal grinding noise from the engine room in the Flying Scotsman and stopped a couple of times to try to see what might be causing it.

 

Having a pretty good expressway day we logged about 300 miles, longest so far on this trip, and came to rest at he Bluebonnet Ridge RV park near Terrell Texas. Again a new park for us but very nice and really near I-20 for an enroute stop. It's about 40 miles east of Dallas so we haven't stayed in the past; but were tired. Really nice place with long pull-throughs and super hosts.

 

So on the 12th we arrived after the latest 2100 mile run in the charming place called Sandy Lake park in Carrollton to clean out the bus and move stuff to the apartment. The Sandy Lake park management and personnel are wonderful and will do anything for you but they just have a really crummy park design and infrastructure. Hot and humid.
 

 

So we are here in the Big D and will try to move some stuff back into the burglarized apartment and see what adventure lies ahead for the Flying Scotsman and her crew. As soon as that was accomplished we took the bus some 30 miles south of Dallas to the Freightliner repair place to get the fried alternator replaced where it is still sitting today the 22nd.

Ok what stays in the bus and what do we need at the apartment?

You're Big and We're Easy

New Orleans Part Two

 

 

Actually the saying above is on the t-shirts of the workers at the RV park relating to all the large RVs they can accommodate there.

 

As we were hot and thirsty on our walkabout we went into a place called Muriel's on the northeast corner of Jackson Square. This turned out to be a really neat place for both food and drink.

 

After checking in by the front door and saying we'd want to eat, we were directed to the bar in the back. Our kind of place. Here is the toast of the day with a pumpkin martini for Jo and a splash of Scotch for me.

 

When our table was ready we ordered and received some really great local tastes. Jo is looking at a bowl of grilled pork loin with red beans and rice. And I have their signature stuffed mirliton with shrimp and Andouille sausage in a creole tomato sauce. This ranks as one of our best meals ever for quality, service and atmosphere; and with two wines came to about $60.

Here's another shot of the entry way showing the detail and décor ... beautiful, quiet respite.

And then walking off the lunch some typical porch decoration.

 

 

Then on the walk back to the RV park the blogger needed a bottle of Scotch so we popped into this grocery store ... I think there was a sign to that effect somewhere. Actually a nicely stocked corner store for the locals far from the tourist stuff ... oh yeah, they had a bottle of Dewar's.

The Big Easy

 

 

We arrived on the 8th in New Orleans at the French Quarter RV Resort. As you can see from the pic below this park is new and perfectly located a couple of blocks north of the French Quarter proper. Beautiful park with super maintenance and security ... too good to be true. Just to my back is I-10 so the access is great for both entry and exit.

 

 

Of course our first stop the next morning was to Café du Monde to build up our fortitude for touring.

With a serving of three beignets and two coffees for less than eight bucks ... we were off and hiking.

Down the famous Bourbon Street and many others during the day.

And taking in the beautiful church at the north end of Jackson Square on a really nice, but hot and humid Louisiana morning. Some things have changed here but in the Quarter very little.

And of course I couldn't resist an alligator or so ... especially if we didn't have to eat it for dinner.

Speaking of lunch or dinner I have more on our visit to the Big Easy which is one of our favorite cities in the county if not the world.

Sweet Home Alabama

or so they say

 

After a good night in eastern Tennessee we continued the trek to the southwest. Somewhere near Chattanooga on I-75 we hit a blinding storm front. This was one of the worst in our many travels, with lightening hitting three times near us with the simultaneous explosive crack ... yeow!

 

After that though things cleared out and we came to rest in Gadsden Alabama, home of the Noccalula Falls park. While we don't do the city parks often this one was well reviewed so we thought we would try and it was into another 200+ mile day ... go for it.

The park is right near I-59 and had a really easy access. This is a huge piece of real estate just to the northeast of Gadsden itself. There are water parks, zoos, camping, hiking, and the falls themselves.

The RV park had 5 pull thrus for about $25 a night. This was a 60 foot concrete pad in the trees but with a lot of room for getting in and out. The infrastructure is very old but they continue to make the needed improvements ... not a bad place ... and wish we had more time to explore the entire complex. Oh yeah, you can hear the lions roar nearby when they are fed ... comforting on the nightly walk.

I don't have space here but if interested you should look up the legend of Noccalula and learn why this bronze statue is posed as she is at the top of the falls; neat.

The next morning off to Meridian Mississippi and the Bonita Lakes park. No lakes but a nice quiet enroute park with wide concrete pads and easy hookups for $23.

Next stop New Orleans!!

Beautiful Roads

 

After we left Flatwoods on Sunday the 4th we headed south on highway 19 which is a really great piece of highway. The road is four lane and very new and passes over the New River Gorge Bridge ... spectacular! This is where adventurous folks parachute from to the river 900 feet below.

 

After the gorge and two neat tunnels we hit I-81 and headed east in Tennessee.

And landed in Blountville Tennessee at the Rocky Top Campground. The general store and "country" office were right out of Green Acres and the hosts were extremely helpful and friendly and escorted us to our site.

And the site was a very level 60 footer complete with table and grill. While this is a mostly permanent park the five pull-thrus are great if you need a place to spend the night.

Into the "Mountain State"





As we were already southeast of Pittsburgh we just hit highway 51 near Madison to the south to Uniontown and then on 43 to Morgantown, West Virginia. Again we enjoyed some of the nicest road surfaces we have seen and a really pleasant drive.

 

Out of Morgantown then we reluctantly hit I-79 ... boring interstate, but functional, and ended up after about a 200 mile day in Flatwoods where we stayed a few years ago. For those of you looking at the hotel below, you are saying, "OK why the hotel?"

 

The way into the KOA in Flatwoods brings you to this hotel where the sign tells you register at the desk if you are going into the RV park; really unique.

 



 

 

But once in and you go down a steep hill, you then rise about 200 feet to the upper park shown below. There are about 20 pull-thru spaces up there and the scenery is beautiful. Temp is about 60 during the day and 40 at night. The sites are level gravel and quite long.

 

 



In the morning the sun really highlighted the hills in the distance.

Upon departure you are greeted by this view. Even in a car this slope would be intimidating. The road surface is great and if you just go slow it's not bad, but it was the steepest downhill for about 200 feet that we have ever encountered.

Beautiful park though, well maintained, and extremely quiet. For the hikers there are many trails that originate near the parking spaces. At the exit to the interstate here is a really large fuel stop and many other food and shopping places.

In Search of the Rodent

 

We decided that we couldn't be in this part of Pennsylvania without going through Punxsutawney in search of Phil. We pulled out of the KOA near Bradford, hit the convenient dump station and motored down a very beautiful US 219 southward. This whole day, as well as the day before, were on really great roads with almost new surfaces ... happy Flying Scotsman.

 

The road up through Ridgeway looked intimidating on the map but proved to be nothing but smooth and beautiful with the fall colors. After DuBois and a Walmart provisioning stop we arrived at Punxsutawney and were kind of let down by the town. I mean it is a really nice little town but I guess we were expecting Dollywood or something similar. The banner below is as close to the rodent as we would get.

 

After the Pux we continued our southward leisurely trek on 119 toward Pittsburgh. The weather upon leaving Bradford was about 60 and partly cloudy but it threatened to get worse as we headed south. There had been a massive damaging storm moving across country doing a lot of damage and sometime we had to cross paths.

The rain slowed us down and we decided to pause at the Madison Pittsburgh SE KOA in Madison just to the southeast of the city. Very steep and difficult entry to the park yet with friendly hosts.

Increasing rain as we hooked up the bus in a level gravel pull through. So far haven't had to unhook the HHR. After a week or so it might need to be started up and run, eh. Also we have averaged 8.6 mpg due to the very hilly terrain but still not that bad.

Above is the view out of the dinette window in the morning of the 4th. This was lot #1 just above the lake and we had a nice walk in some light rain. The night before it really rained hard and continued to do so up until breakfast as the pic was taken.

Another 200 mile day and that has become quite comfortable for us. We are usually on the road by 9am, break for lunch (today was Subway at Walmart) and quit when the pilot needs a break from the scenery (today spectacular) usually around 3pm.

Still heading south toward Tennessee and then take a right toward New Orleans this week. The roads and scenery along this route from the north are really great and we highly recommend this route south from Buffalo.

Across the Border to the USA

 

We left our summer campsite in Barrie, Ontario, on Thursday the 2nd and roared off to the south to new roads we haven't motored down.

 

First, of course, we had to get through Toronto traffic (think Dallas) and then toward the crossing at Fort Erie over to Buffalo. This was probably the easiest crossing yet. We drove right up to the gate in an empty lane. The question of the day was, "What's the license number of your tow car?" Always a first. No fresh fruits, guns, booze, or cat food this time ... and I didn't have a clue as we had just gotten new plates this year. Anyhow he politely got out of his booth and went back to check the car ... they usually have a camera but not at Fort Erie I guess.

 

After the crossing into Buffalo we went down to Hamburg, NY, and stopped at the Camping World we had been to before just to get some lunch and think about what the next phase of the trip should be.

 

We settled on taking US 219 to the south out of the Hamburg area and after a pleasant drive down a very nice road through the Allegheny area of New York, we landed in a KOA just south of Bradford PA. Just after we left Hamburg, we stopped for fuel at an Indian reservation and filled the bus up for $3.75 a gallon for 75 gallons; the first since Port Huron. The trip was about 247 miles for the day and it was gorgeous with all the fall colors, small hamlets, mountains, streams and rivers.

 

 

Other than a couple of other permanent trailers there were no other units in sight. It was a very large park and there were more sites located in much deeper woods. We got site number 1 with power and water but no sewer.

 

This had to be one of the prettiest parks we had been in due to the absolute total quiet setting far from any highway and at an altitude of about 1600 feet. The manager couldn't hesitate showing me the pictures of the black bears that he photographed behind the store and a stuffed one in the office shot on the property just last year ... guess Jo-Anne didn't take the garbage to the dumpster that night! Beautiful place in a large hunting, fishing, and touring region.

Headin' South

 

As we pull the international flag off the staff and stow it, it lets us know that the summer here in Canada is over and we are southward bound. Tomorrow morning we fire up the Cummins diesel in the Flying Scotsman and motor down a new road south of Buffalo.

 

 

And lastly here in the north is the blogger on his prayer mat, praying toward Elkhart, the Mecca of RV'ers, that the trip will be fun and uneventful ... let's see which way is Elkhart?

Off tomorrow toward Fort Erie and the road through New York and Pennsylvania ... much more to follow!