October 2021 – Coddiwomple Capers

Entry #81 – TENNESSEE – PART #2 – October 20 – 27, 2021

The drive from northern Kentucky to our next stop in southeast Tennessee was easy-peasy. Got on I-40 in less than two miles from the Kentucky campsite, straight down the interstate & then a right on a US highway for less than two miles to the next spot. Couldn’t have been better than that!

The campground host/owner was awesome. When I checked in she asked if we were veterans & gave us a good discount. I nearly always forget to ask about one so it was definitely appreciated. It wasn’t a fancy place (an RV Resort) but it was clean with easy roads throughout & a great staff. This is what we refer to as an upscale trailer hood.

On our first full day I conquered the task of grooming the girls. They were hairy monsters! Here’s pictures of Spice all shaved down while Sugar is still a puffy mess. Then a picture of both shaved (Sugar is once again smaller than her sister). Finally a picture of the two after baths & in their flannel PJs. When you are rendered naked after a haircut & it’s cold out, you have to wear cloths!

We also caught up on laundry in the RV (thanking our lucky stars for an in-house washer/dryer) since we couldn’t wash at the last location – no sewer hook-up on site. Life is hard sometimes & then … it isn’t.

Entry #80 – KENTUCKY – October 15 – 20, 2021

We headed north into Kentucky & a one night stay at a Harvest Host location. Our first choice would have been the Railroad Museum in Bowling Green but the two available parking spots were taken before we called about them. So we settled for a new experience at an Antique Store in the country. It was very easy to find & the proprietor gave me perfect directions on how to find it & where to park the rig. She was off shopping when we arrived but said to pick wherever we wanted in their vast green field. It was lovely!. A very hilly field & I do believe we found the only perfectly level site there. We were the only Harvest Host visitor for the night.

Entry #79 – TENNESSEE – PART #1 – October 5 – 15, 2021

Our stay at Midway RV Park – the FamCamp on the Naval Support base just north of Memphis was a confirmed reservation situation. It wasn’t site specific but all the sites are about the same so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

We found the park with no issues & spoke to the very attentive host as we pulled in. She did let us know the bathhouse was closed indefinitely as the base maintenance people prepared to move the structure out & replace it with a new one. We are self contained but do like to use a camp bathhouse for morning “constitutionals”. Just .. dang it!

The base was all about HR – & very nice.

Entry #78 – ARKANSAS – September 25 – October 5, 2021

Our trip into Arkansas was pretty uneventful in that traffic was easy to negotiate. Our destination was Little Rock Air Force Base FamCamp just north of the big city. No reservations were accepted at the base – it was a first come, first serve thing which we were assured would not be a problem when I talked to the people weeks before about the facilities. GPS directed us into the back gate which would not accommodate a big RV. So we had to turn the rig around (no small feat) & figure out how to get to the main gate. Then we stopped at the Visitor’s Center for a pass – as directed by the guard at the back gate – only to find it wasn’t necessary since we both possessed military IDs. That was over an hour spent just trying to get in the base. We found the campground easy enough but another RV had snagged the last available spot minutes before we got there.

We parked the RV a the entrance to the campground & spent a good hour trying to find alternative accommodations. We ended up going back to the Little Rock perimeter highway to Burns RV Park, a city owned park. It was not full hook-up & the sites were very unlevel so we’d have to see about different accommodations for the next day.

A decent price but not a great park. A bit scruffy with a large amount of trash around the sites & unlevel parking pads. Good for a one night stay but certainly not longer.

Entry #77 – OKLAHOMA – Y2V – September 10 – 25, 2021

We obligated our time to participate on our second A Year 2 Volunteer project in Oklahoma while we were at the Wisconsin project. So off the Route 66 adventure we went on our way southwest. We drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas to a Harvest Host location – Arkansas Air & Military Museum – for one night on our way. We parked, did a quick leveling & bumped out the sides of the RV in short order. Then we took a tour of the very nicely done museum.

Another museum not too far away had closed permanently in early 2020 & it’s displays & artifacts were absorbed into this one. The curator was working on a couple displays while we were there & was excited about her job. The museum was originally all about planes – thus the location at a small airport. The absorbed artifacts consist of loads of military things from WWI & on. An enthusiastic leader (the curator) will make this place awesome in no time! Here’s some pictures …

Entry #76 – ROUTE 66 – ILLINOIS & MISSOURI – August 23 – September 10, 2021

We hit the road going south on Monday morning, headed to the Chicago area to begin our journey on Historic Route 66. We like to drive no more than 300 miles in a day so a stop at a Harvest Host location on the way was necessary. And the one we picked was PERFECT!

Harvest Host is a subscription program we joined when we first started our travels back in March. Several thousand businesses are host sites (wineries, breweries, museums, golf courses, homesteads, etc). We are able to look on the website & see the available places, contact the host by phone or through HH, & arrange to stay for a night. We are most interested in history & have been able to stay at museums. Most sites have no hook-ups (water, electricity or sewer) but we are self contained with a generator & an 80 gallon fresh water tank so it works for us for a day or two – & it’s FREE! We do tour the museums & give a donation &, when we eventually stay at a homestead or the like, we will buy their products or produce, for sure. It’s a wonderful program for both the traveler & host.

Entry #75 – WISCONSIN – Y2V – August 2 – 23, 2021

We left Michigan & returned to Wisconsin in anticipation of two weeks volunteer time with the “A Year 2 Volunteer” project at Raptor Education Group, Inc (REGI) just outside Antigo, Wisconsin. REGI is a 501c3 organization that rescues & rehabilitates birds of prey as well as many other avian species. Marge & her late husband Don founded REGI in 1990 & set about building their lovely log home on several acres of land just outside Antigo, Wisconsin. They added a bird hospital, a huge bird flight rehabilitation building & much more. Marge Gibson is a highly regarded field biologist who participated as team captain in the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup in Alaska back in 1989. One of the injured bald eagles had a broken, unrepairable wing & Marge has provided a home & ongoing care for this bird ever sense. The bird’s name is Qush Quluk & she is thought to be the oldest bald eagle in existence – estimated to be over 20 years old at the time of her rescue makes her over 50 years old now! Qush lives at REGI in a very large fenced enclosure & has become the mascot for the rescue organization since it’s conception.

We arrived in Antigo a week before the volunteer project was to begin & set up camp at the city’s very nice RV park. There were only 13 full hook-up sites & the price of $20 per night was awesome. We explored the town during the first few days & even went out to REGI to see where the RVs would be parked – the group usually stays on the site of the project for convenience. However, the field the RVs were to park in was not adequate in our opinion so we arranged to stay at the city park for the duration of our volunteer time.