Almost Heaven South & Mobile Photos

Kathy and her three daughters are here from Texas for their annual visit and she decided to take some photos to show her friends back home where she goes every year, so I decided to put them on here as well.

This first shot is while she is laying in bed in the downstairs sun room which is the bottom left of the second shot.

Than she walked around the yard and got some of the house and plant life.

She went up on the neighbors hill and shot this one of the whole place then the second one through the trees at the road.

One of the things she wanted the Texans to see was what real trees look like - of course the folks from California Redwood Country might say the same thing about ours.

This shot is of the Mobile Almost Heaven South - it's being prepped for our upcoming trip.  So far it has gotten a power surge protector, an upgraded fan in the bathroom and several little odds and ends items fixed on the coach and the front end was aligned.  What remains is having the chassis and generator serviced this week then start packing up.

As you can see by the tracks in the rocks, the driveway is not quite wide enough.

And finally, she got this shot of our cove and wished she had a ski boat to tackle the glassy water.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

6/28/15 event date

2015 Western Trip Planning

One of the places in the country I've been to but never spent much tourist time is the Pacific Northwest and so it is on the docket for this years RV journey - this may be my dream trip.  The plan I've put together involves angling from home up into the area with a few stops along the way then coming home as we see fit at the time - if we do my full plan as laid out, it will be 10 weeks.

One of the hard parts of living in the East and going west is just getting out of this area and into where we want to go and that will take us several days with the only multi-day stop in North Platte, NE so this rail fan can visit the giant Union Pacific rail yard.

From there we will continue toward the northwest with 4-7 day stops in the following places:

1. Cody, WY - to see the town, the scenic mountain drives and the east side of Yellowstone,
2. Coeur D'Alene, ID - to see the town, the surrounding area, Spokane, WA
3. Ellensberg, WA - to see wine country, Bonneville dam, Lake Chelan, Leavenworth
4. Anacortes, WA - to see Seattle and the area north of it.
5. Shelton, WA - to see the Olympic Peninsula area and Mt Ranier
6. McMinnville. OR - to see wine country, the OR coast, the Columbia River gorge, and Portland
7. Bend OR - to the the local towns, the mountains, Crater Lake

We will leave Bend on day 53 and from there we will start back home and make it quick or slower depending on our desires but including a few days in Denver at a minimum.

Several of my NW blogger buddies have already given me many suggestions and I read several blogs of folks who spend time there, but I would still appreciate any advice that anyone has to offer.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Larry

RV Trip Leg Two – Charleston, SC

I had previously posted about our first stop on this trip at Anchor Down RV Resort and from there we made a return trip to the KOA in Mt. Pleasant, SC, where we hosted a rally last year.  This re-visit was made because we enjoyed the area but mostly because SIL, Pat, couldn’t go last year.

We decided to stay in the same place as we liked being on the Mt. Pleasant side of Charleston and the things that area had to offer without going into or thru downtown Charleston.  There are some other nice campgrounds around but the nicer ones are south of town.

This is our site facing the nice boomerang shaped lake.

We ate two meals at one of our favorite places – Page’s Okra Grill – and these are shots of our breakfast meals.

Pat had the Raspberry Waffle ($5.25) which she thought was just okay.

Bev had TJ’s Hot Mess (a split biscuit with southern fried chicken breast topped with scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese and sausage gravy all for $6) and she had a side of pimento cheese smothered home fries ($3).

I got an even better shot of hers last year.

I had the Shem’s Creek Omelet (three eggs with scallops, shrimp, and pepper jack cheese) with pimento cheese grits ($9.60).

Both of our meals were very good, just as last year, and we all think their fried chicken may be the best we’ve eaten.  While the food was the same, after a couple of big time write-ups, they were much busier.  I can't say I ate seafood for every meal but counting leftovers for some lunch and breakfast meals, I was well over 50%.

While I relaxed and dog sat, the girls visited two farmers markets, spent one day shopping in Mt. Pleasant, and two days shopping in downtown Charleston – I’d rather take a flogging.

We also got to spend a very pleasant evening with old college friends Doug and Marty, during which I showed them how I make grilled Oysters Rockefeller and they showed us how to make their delicious no-filler crab cakes.

We did drive over to check out the Oak Plantation Campground, which we thought was very nice then drove down to Kiawah Island, which I had always wanted to see, only to discover that the entire town is a gated community.  At least it was a nice little drive through the Live Oaks and pines.

We made the trip back home in one nine hour drive and while I was tired, I’m happy to report that we had no engine failures this time.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/24 - 5/4/2015 event dates

On The Road Again To Dandridge, TN - Anchor Down RV Resort

After a three months layoff to finish up winter and do the outdoor spring chores, we’re back on the road again with a single trip to two destinations.  The second leg is a return trip to the Charleston, SC area and the first was to attend an RV rally at Anchor Down RV Resort near Dandridge, TN, which will be the subject of this post.

We belong to the Tennessee Travelers chapter of the FMCA and really enjoy getting together with this group of nearby RVer’s.  It’s nice to go on these trips where several things are planned for us and all we have to do is show up.

The Anchor Down RV Resort is on beautiful Douglas Lake which is near the Sevierville/ Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg part of Tennessee.  The resort is beginning their second year in operation and I have no problem calling it a RESORT instead of a campground as they have obviously poured the effort and money into it. 

While just a state route with little shoulder, I had no problem driving our coach on the road (TN-139) servicing the resort from Dandridge or Kodak.  This is the entrance to the resort and the office/store.

The resort is basically on a hillside ending at the lake and they have done an excellent job turning it into three fairly level camping areas with nearly level sites – no problem leveling our coach.  All sites are hard surfaced with plain or textured concrete and have a picnic table and fire ring or fireplace.  They have a full range of site types - pull-in, back-in, pull thru, and buddy.

I’ll begin with the upper area and work my way down the hill.  The upper area has 29 sites of varying sizes and types and an outstanding view from the ones facing the lake.

The middle area contains 109 sites of all types and this is the beginning of it - shot above shows much of it.

This is our site (#51) with shots of the view from our back of the lake and the sites up from us.

This is the view from my chair in the front of our rig with a coach in one of the buddy sites and after it departed.

Here are a couple of the other buddy sites, which I had not seen before, and are perfect for two coaches traveling together.

Lastly is the lower level which contains 33 sites, the nice sized pool and pool house, a boat dock, boat ramp, lake swimming area, and play area - the shot from the upper area (above) shows the sites.

This shot is from the pool house back up the hill.

Their rates are from $49 to $69 and include four people, rather than the more normal two.  As I mentioned at the beginning, this is not just a campground, but one of the nicest RV resorts we’ve stayed in and I believe it's only going to get better.

The check-in process was pleasant and efficient and everyone we met was very helpful and friendly.  The owners are hands-on with the wife running the office (she checked me in) and the husband handing the outside.  They are home builders who bought a farm on which to build a sub-division, but elected to build the resort instead.

I have heard only positive comments from the members of our 15 coach rally and if you are looking for a great place for a rally or an individual trip from which to visit the Smokies area and be on the lake, Anchor Down is well worth your consideration.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/20-4/23/2015 event dates

2015 Florida Trip – Day 28 – Our Last Meal In Okeechobee

For our last restaurant meal in Florida, at brunch time, we once again headed up to Uncle Larry’s Rim Ditch Cafe but this time not for the famous Okeeburger

but rather with wings on our mind.  As a non-wing fan, Pat ordered the Reuben Omelet which sounded and tasted very good.

Bev and I ordered 25 wings with hot sauce ($15) and a basket of onion straws – maybe their best ones yet.

We ate all of the onion as it isn’t as good leftover and the wings were later reheated to add to some other leftovers for supper.  It was a delicious way to end our stay in the area.

After eating, we headed over to Ferrell’s Market to get some oranges, fresh squeezed juice, and tomatoes to take home.

 

Alas, it was time to say goodbye to south Florida for this winter.  

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/23/15 event date

2015 Florida Trip – Day 22 – Waters Edge RV Park & We're Home

It took us about two hours to make the 90 mile trip from Riverside RV Park near Port Charlotte to Waters Edge RV Park about ten miles SE of Okeechobee.  We went from a campground with 500 sites to one with 29 and containing the same managers and three rigs that were here last year when we were.

As a refresher of this very nice park, here are a few shots that I took last year.

This year we are one row closer to the lake and oriented such that we have a lot more shade.  This is a shot from the front of our site toward the lake which is behind the dike.  The visible water is the “ditch” that surrounds much of the lake.

I took this shot of a couple enjoying the sunset at a water-view site.

While I don’t like a campground that packs you in like sardines, I find that being closer than we were at Riverside encourages more conversation with your neighbors.  If you are looking for a small laid back and friendly park to spend some winter months or if you want a nice home base for fishing Lake Okeechobee, this may be the place for you.  Since it was built as a Class A only park, there are neither a laundry nor shower facilities at the resort.  It is 10 miles from the town of Okeechobee and a great value for south Florida - likely due to the remote location.

We started home on 1/24 and for the first 9000 miles of travel, it didn't occur to us that Bev could raise the foot rest on her seat while traveling - her she is with her assistants doing their navigator duties.

We got home on 1/25 and woke up to this on 1/27.

While no where near the events in New England, it's still a long way from the Florida shots above and the 80 degree temp the day before we left - easy to understand snowbirds.  I will continue to report on our trip for four more posts.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/17/15 - 1/27/15 event dates