North Georgia Trail Ride

A chilly start to the morning......burrrrrr. Monday I went out for a trail ride and a little backcountry exploring with some folks here in North GA. I put the word out on one of the Off Road Fourms I frequent, that we were here in North GA, till the end of the month, and these guys came through with a great day out.

We met at a Waffle House along I-575, I forgot how good southern grits and hash browns were!!! Here's the line up in the parking lot.

After a good hearty breakfast, we headed into the Chattahoochee National Forest for some exploring.

Short river crossing.

Most of this trail is in a deep washout with lots of woop dee dos, sure made for an interesting drive.

Another shot of the trail.

We then headed out for a mountain trail which was to lead to another interesting trail. Along the way the North GA, scenery was just beautiful, especially with the snow.

We made our way up the mountain via a shelf road. When we arrived at the top, the trail was too snowed in to go any further, so back down it was.

At the bottom, we stopped at this little Church's parking lot to decide on what was next. This was the most pristine white paint job on a church I have ever seen. The church and it's accompanying building were just beautiful. Well the consensus was, dinner and then head back home as it was getting on in time.

Dinner was BBQ at this little local BBQ joint, well into the back roads and had a all the southern charm you could imagine. I had the BBQ Beef and Fried Okra, however I should have listened when everyone else was ordering the BBQ pork. The beef was good but the pork looked really really good, guess being out west for so long, it's hard to find good pulled pork. Ok, I learned my lesson, so from now on it's the BBQ pork here in the south!!!

It was a great day out with new found friends, thanks again to you who put this trip together and for the Expedition Portal Fourm, to allow me to meet such great folks around the country.

A Clara Christmas

This year Christmas was all about spending time with our Grand daughter Clara. Since this is her first Christmas where she can really understand whats going on, that made it even more special. Here she is seeing all the gifts under the tree for the first time, trying to figure it out and take it all in.

Of course like all little ones they catch on pretty fast!!!

The Proud Gam Ma.

The little ATV was a big hit! nothing like being able to take all your other gifts for a ride.....lol

It was great spending time with family, watching the little one open her presents and enjoying Christmas dinner together.

We have been spending a nice quite day today around the trailer, Here in the Atlanta area we had quite the snowfall, first time in 120 years it snowed Christmas day. Today the road are all icy and dangerous, so we decided to just hang out here and have a lazy day, and of course let Claras Mom and Dad recoup!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

This is our first Christmas as Full Time RVers and what a wonderful Christmas it has turned out to be. We want to take this time to wish all of our Family, Friends and Blog Followers a very Merry Christmas. What better time to say Keep Lovin Your Life as we do Ours!!!

Tuckered Little One and Moving Day

It's been great visiting with our little grand baby, we had so much fun the other day she was just plum wore out. According to mom, she doesn't take naps, well I showed her.........lol, she was out for hours!!! It's been great seeing Chris and Kaileigh, and we'll be heading over to their place to cook Christmas dinner for them and of course all the other Christmas festivities.

Moving day again, thankfully not to far this time, just up the hill. The site we had was reserved starting tomorrow, so we moved to a nice site up the hill from the old one. From here, as you can see, we still have a nice view of Lake Altoona from our windows. The sites here are nicely wooded and quiet, not having sewer hook ups is kinda a pain, but hasn't been to bad. It has actually given us a bit of practice in water conservation, for when we really start boondocking.

Not much in the way of sight seeing so far, just enjoying our time with family, we may try and get out next week after Christmas for some exploring. That's it for now and we'll see you next time, thanks for dropping by.

Georgia Finally!!!

Wow, we finally arrived here in Georgia and are staying at the Navy Lake Site at Allatoona. This is located just north of Atlanta. We just arrived and the are in site #1, and as you can tell, not a bad view out our window. We'll only be at this site for 5 days (due to other reservations) and will move to another site within the park. During our travels from Vicksburg we stayed in Meridian, MS. and Birmingham, AL. Both of the parks were pretty nice and both accepted Passport America RV Club discounts. Speaking of Passport America, we Joined the discount Club Last month and they offer 1/2 price at several campground across the U.S. Just staying at these two campground, we have paid for 1/2 the membership already, so not a bad deal, you may want to check them out.
Just a quick update, we'll be here for at least 2 weeks, before heading down to Florida. We'll be posting more as we get out and explore the area, and of course our daughter and grand baby, so stay tuned..................................

Vicksburg, MS and the National Military Park

We made it into Vicksburg, MS. after a nice uneventful drive from Barksdale. We decided to stay here for two nights in order to take in the National Military Park. We are staying at the Ameristar Casino RV Park. The park is well kept and priced right, large pull thru spaces all with wifi and cable. Well worth the stop if passing through the area.

Vicksburg is located right on the Mississippi River and is rich in Civil War History.

So important was the Civil War History, a national Military Park was built. The park takes up a large portion of the area surrounding the city. There is a 16 mile self guided drive through the park, with several plaques, monuments and descriptions of each unit and battle that took place.

This monument was amazing.

There is a great display and museum of the USS Cario.

The Gunboat was found and resurrected from the Mississippi River and reconstructed here (Amazing).

There is also a National Military Cemetery containing the graves of 16,000 Union Solders. As we drove thru and explored the park, it is hard to imagine fighting the battles they fought with the weapons of that era. It was very sombering to just stand and look at row upon row of headstones, we paid our repects and graditude and moved on.

The National Park Service has done a great job with this park. Should you have a chance to tour the park, give yourself a good day to do it right, it will take several hours to see it all.

We've had a good time here in Vicksburg, but it's now time to move on, next stop Meridian, MS.

We'll see you then.

Barksdale AFB, LA. East Reservation

Today is our last day at Barksdale and the first day the East Reservation has been open since we have been here due to hunting season. Since it had been 15 or so year I wanted to explore it again. The reservation has over 16,000 acres with several lakes, roads and hiking trails. You begin by obtaining the combo to the access gate, then head out to parts unknown.

Flag Lake is the largest and also home to many White Egrets.

Most of the roads are well grated, but some can be challenging, especially after some rain.

But most take you to some beautiful places.

Covered most of the reservation in just a few hours. It was a great day out in the backwoods, a far cry from open spaces of the west, but still nice to see different country.

In the morning it's off to Mississippi for a couple of days, we'll be checking out the history around Vicksburg, so check back for that. Until then, keep lovin your life as we do ours.

Journey into the Past

As you may remember a post or two ago, I was stationed here some 15 years ago. So we went out to show Sheryl where I had lived in base housing and also the kennels where I worked. The ole homestead is still there, however the neighborhood is empty, looks like they'll be tearing down the old houses pretty soon.

We also stopped by the K-9 section where I was Kennelmaster. I got to talk to some of the dog handlers that were there, my how things have changed, but yet remain the same.

Hunting on base will be over Monday, so we can venture out on the reservation to see the lakes and backroads. So until tomorrow.....................well you know the drill.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today was Sheryl and I's 6 year together and the anniversary of our first date. Since we are here at Barksdale were I spent 6 years, we headed out so I could show her the sights.

My how things have changed after 15 years, the casinos were just going in and Shreveport was just beginning to reap the benefits of them. Now the area has really grown, even on the Bossier city side, we even found the new outdoor shopping area next to the new Bass Pro Shop, it's a great thing that has happened to the area.

After spending the day sight seeing, it was time for our anniversary dinner. Being in Louisiana, we decided on Cajun food and I remember this place "Ralph and Kacoo's" an upscale Cajun restaurant. It is still there so we figured it had to be good to last all these years. Well all I can say is dinner was great!!!

So instead of showing you the food, which pics never do justice, I thought I'd take a different approach and show you just how good the food was, yup cleaned those plates!!! Sheryl had the Shrimp St Charles (Deep fried shrimp stuffed with crab dressing and topped w/hollandise sauce) man it was good. I had the Crawfish Special (fried crawfish and crawfish etouffee over rice). Both dishes were excellent definitely check this place out for great Cajun food!!!

We had a great anniversary here at Barksdale, it was nice to beable to show Sheryl around one of my old haunts. The next couple of day will be more sight seeing and getting ready to head out on Tuesday. We'll have more from Barksdale before we leave, so stay tuned and we'll see you then.

Barksdale AFB, LA. Family Campground

We have arrived here in Louisiana and are staying at the Barksdale AFB Campground. Looks like we'll be here for a week, which is fine, all the more time to check the place out. I was stationed here in the early 90s for 6 years, so it's interesting seeing what has changed.

The campground is really nice, much has changed in the years since I was here. There's an office with clubhouse, shower house and laundry.

The sites are level with more than enough room between them. The campground is located well away from the main base and is very quiet.

Except for these little guys, who seem to fly directly over the campground each day. Each B-52 has 8 engines, which make a very distinctive, yet annoying sound (ahhhhh the sound of freedom), but after a few flyovers you tend to not notice it as much. So, overall a nice campground, and well worth the visit. Barksdale also has a large reservation which I am looking forward to exploring, we'll have that for you in upcoming entries. Ok, take care and keep lovin your life as we do ours!!!

Dinner with the Kids

This was our last night in Dallas with Chris and Kayla. We decided on dinner out at a place we have heard great things about, Babe's Chicken. All we can say is WOW, what a great place!!! food is just fantastic, service was great, and the atmostsphere was very local. The menu is limited to 6 meats and then all the veggies you can eat. The food was some of the best we have ever had, so if you are in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, check this place out, you won't be sorry. Our waiter was kind enough to get a picture of the 4 of us infront of the Christmas Tree.

The front patio is a sample of things to come.

The decor inside is very backroads Texas and with the family style servings, you feel right at home.

Were now in Shreveport LA. at Barksdale AFB Campground for the next week. It was great visiting Chris and Kayla as well as spending Thanksgiving with family and friends. At the same time it is good to be back out on the road again.
So stay tuned for more from Louisiana....................