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Our travel is not planned out in extensive detail…which results in finding new campgrounds at an acceptable travel distance only a day or two ahead of time. This has worked out pretty well so far. This tactic found us at the Texana Campground near Edna, Texas.

The campground is on Lake Texana, a man-made lake near Edna, TX. The campground was large and very spacious with miles of hiking trails, and plenty of water access for fishing, boating and wildlife observation. An extensive day use area offered picnic tables, boat launch, nature center (with regular programming), and kayak rentals. The lake seemed to be down a few feet during our visit; we assume it is because of the season. The creek/river that feeds the lake seemed to be low as well. But we could see the potential for great camping during more traditional times of year.

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Our minor research indicates that Lake Texana is named for the town whose site was flooded to create the lake. Texana was formed in 1832 and used to be the county seat in the late 1800’s. In 1882 it was a major port. However, Texana turned down the railroad when it came through, and the nearby town of Edna decided to host the railroad. Following that decision Texana rapidly declined and was abandoned by 1884. When authorities made the decision to create a lake for a local powerplant the town was already long-gone. (https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvt22 ) Before the flooding began in 1968, archeologists investigated the area, and all they found were a few cisterns and and footings – nothing of interest or historical significance. The dam was complete in 1980 and the area opened as a state park in 1981. In 2012 and the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority assumed management responsibility.

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We saw a couple of armadillos tromping around on one of our hikes. We had seen armadillos before (while assigned to Fort Hood), but we were not expecting them to move the way they do! They look like large armored field mice and sort of “bounce” much like mice. Though there were many signs warning about alligators, we fortunately did not observe any. Again, likely due to the timing of our visit. We did see lots of water fowl, and the occasional fish. We also had a welcome crew of deer, just grazing in the nearby camp sites.

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Texana Campground appeared to be primarily a “locals” campground; we saw only two other vehicles with out-of-state license plates while we were there. Camp staff and other campers were very friendly, the facilities were clean, with generous size campsites (many with full hook-ups). While we would not go out of our way to return….it was a nice, quiet place to spend the weekend.

Upon leaving Camp Pickens, we traveled through Alabama and Louisiana and on into Texas. We drove about six hours on the 16th and another five hours on the 17th and arrived at Texana Campground near Edna, Texas on the 17th. From Mobile to New Orleans we meandered along on US-90 rather than I-10 in order to enjoy a more scenic drive (totally Donna’s idea, by the way!).

On the 16th, we saw some sights from the motor home, such as the USS Alabama near the Mobile Bay, as well as lots of the Gulf, various bayous, airboats, and whatnot (and we crossed some lloooonnnggg stretches of road built over the water…). We stopped a couple times to stretch our legs. The first stop was at Biloxi, MS. We got out and walked the beach, which was complete with white sand. It was also quite devoid of people. Donna found a couple of cool shells (one with a critter still inside) and a jellyfish or two, but the shells were not nearly as big as the ones we found at Edisto. And there was a disappointing amount of garbage on the beach, which is likely the result of it being a city beach, but still…..pick up your trash, people!!!

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On the 17th, we stopped at the Texas Welcome Center. The welcome center had a very nice boardwalk out into the Blue Elbow Swamp. We didn’t see much wildlife, just one egret and an alligator. The swamp information indicated there may be a variety of wildlife to see, including turtles, alligators, frogs, etc. Most likely our visit being in winter led to the lack of sights? It was a cool stop, nonetheless.

On our way out of Old Town, we tried a National Park Campsite, sticking with the Gulf Shores Theme. We stayed two nights at Fort Pickens Campground near Pensacola, Florida.

Fort Pickens is another former US Army Coastal protection fort. Completed in 1834, It is slightly older than Fort Zachary Taylor. The fort is located on the northwest side of Pensacola Beach.

The campground is located southeast of Fort Pickens between the fort and Battery Langdon. It was very nice, and the staff was friendly. Restrooms and showers were available. The campground had some rustic sites for tent camping and other sites with water and electric. The sites were very clean and roomy.

This campground, as well as the surrounding Fort Pickens area, offered plenty of recreational activities. Hiking and biking trails wound around the numerous battery positions on the island, including Fort Pickens and Batteries Langdon, Worth, Cooper, 234, Pensacola (inside Fort Pickens), Cullum, Sevier, Van Swearington, Payne, and Trueman. We made it to all except Langdon, Cooper and 234. We hiked roughly 7 miles from the campsite to and around the fort and nearby batteries.

Fort Pickens is enormous. It is a five sided post with (Kevin counted) 88 artillery mounts in the original design. According to the park website, the Fort provided 205 guns to protect the Pensacola Bay, and the nearby Naval Yard (https://www.nps.gov/guis/learn/historyculture/fort-pickens.htm ). Later, an upgrade to more modern coastal rifled guns was added. You can still see the paths in the floor that were used to traverse (swing side to side) the guns. An 1899 fire/explosion blew out one entire corner of the fort, which was not replaced. Looking at the remaining evidence of the blast is pretty sobering.

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The fort was completed in five years (1829-1834). It was named for Brigadier General Andrew Pickens who fought with distinction in the Revolutionary War. CPT William H. Chase, the US Army Corps of Engineers officer in charge of the construction, employed slave labor, paying the wages to the slave owners. He also forced negotiations for low-cost materials for the project. It is amazing that the brick and mortar building of such enormity was completed that quickly.

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Predictably, we took an overabundance of photos. Donna cannot resist the flowers…or buildings…or the cool colors on the aged brickwork….or the birds on the beach…or pretty much any opportunity to take an interesting picture! Feel free to scroll through the various photo galleries on this (and other) blog posts. Or don’t….your choice!

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Langdon Beach (located, predictably, near Battery Langdon) offered access to extensive beach access along the Gulf of Mexico. A very nice covered pavilion and indoor bathrooms make this a really enjoyable beach experience. We enjoyed our foggy (and slightly blustery) stroll along the sand, listening to waves crash, wading in the water, looking at shells, and catching a few other fun sights.

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Despite the haze that clung over our time at Fort Pickens Area National Park, it is definitely a destination that could keep a camper busy for a couple weeks. Lots to do and explore.

While we addressed a LOT of maintenance items (and by “we” I mean Kevin and Chris) during our stop in Old Town….we also managed to visit, play cards and do a little exploring. Well…it was mostly Martha and I that explored… (Martha is my sister, for those of you who don’t know my entire family). Oh – I should probably also mention that Old Town is located in North/Central Florida…not terribly far from Gainesville.

Kevin and I took advantage of a nearby trail that crossed the Suwanee River for our morning runs (Nature Coast State Trail). It was really, really nice to have a convenient place for exercise that also offered some great scenery.

Martha and I visited a cool quilt museum/shop, and a couple of fresh water springs located pretty close to Old Town: Poe Springs and Hart Springs. I had not realized there are SO MANY springs in Florida. We will definitely have to visit more of them next time. Both springs had awesome trails that offered plenty of photo opportunities (and hey, I rarely turn down a photo opportunity!). I was really fascinated with all the bald cypress…which you can clearly see by all the photos I took!! The bald cypress, along with the Spanish Moss hanging everywhere out of live oak trees gave the landscape an amazing otherworldly appearance. Hart Springs also boasts plenty of camping sites and kayak rentals; it looks very nice with many recent renovations and updates. Definitely a place worth checking out for camping with the RV (or rustic camping, if that’s your thing).

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We also had a blast enjoying a little wine & cherry brandy while playing several rounds of euchre with Martha & Chris. Speed (their great dane) is still not sure he likes us; we kept telling him he was missing out on some amazing belly rubs….but he was not buying it. Maybe next time….

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Donna and I stopped in Old Town Florida to see family. We took the opportunity to pull some needed maintenance on the motor home and towed car. Thanks to Chris, Martha and Speed, for the hospitality and technical expertise to help us keep going. (warning – this post is mostly intended for gear-heads).

On the maintenance side of the house, I probably should bring you up to speed on the work we did before we left the Home Office, and then what we’ve done on the road. Before we left, we changed the spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor, changed the gear oil in the differential and changed the transmission filter and fluid. I had some help with the maintenance from Tom (my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law). I also replaced the rear sway bar bushings, which vastly improved the handling. I knew we were going to need tires, and an engine oil change soon, but didn’t get to that before I left Michigan. Still, I felt like we did quite a bit of preventive maintenance on the rig.

In SC we bought new tires, and I changed the engine oil in Florida, just before we got to the Martha and Chris’s house. We decided to take a stab at renovating the cooling system on the motor home after we changed the oil on the car and inspected the car brakes. We changed the oil and the air filter on the car, and did a rear brake job. This ended up eating three days before we got to the motor home.

We changed the hoses (that we could find) and changed the thermostat and coolant on the motor home. During this task, we noticed the air intake wasn’t properly sealed around the filter, and the breather filter at the back of the air cleaner was clogged. So we changed out the breather and made sure the housing properly sealed. Luckily, Chris is most handy and turned an inset for the air cleaner housing to replace one that had fallen off – that helped make the seal more airtight.

Finally, Chris charged up the A/C – which was MOST appreciated on the trip through Alabama and Louisianna. Let’s just say the system was a tad low and leave it at that.

As we headed out, we experienced some power loss issues, which had begun on our way out of Key Largo. On and off loss of power, idling issues, and some backfiring here and there. We ran some gas treatment in the tank, and it seemed to help. We decided to changed the fuel filter, and the problems disappeared. The fuel that came out of the filter was pretty cruddy, and about 5% water. After the filter change, I decided to fill the tank only with gas promoted on the Top Tier Website ( https://toptiergas.com/licensed-brands/ ). Hopefully, that will be the end of our power loss issues.

The machine is running great for now. But I would recommend the following for anyone trying this trip in the future.

Make sure you have a good spare tire. Especially if you have leveling jacks on your motor home. This could save you hundreds of dollars if you blow out a tire. On tires, there is a ‘hot dog’ on each tire manufactured. It is a date stamp near the rim on one sidewall. Tires are good for about eight years (unless of course you wear them out on tread before hand). Once you get close to eight years, the rubber starts to break down, and unless replaced could lead to a blow out. The blow out will do more damage than just the tire. My blow out in Lansing also wiped out the battery and damaged the automatic step control.

Bring extra fuel filters – these are usually easy to change and can definitely help you out in a pinch. Make sure you have any special tool needed to change it. And don’t leave your six quart drain pan at Chris’s, or you will have to improvise and use a frisbee to catch the fuel and inspect.

Bring extra fluids (coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, engine oil, etc.). Bring a set of tools, if you intend to upkeep your maintenance yourself. In that set, you should have a torque wrench, in case your need to torque your lug nuts. Chris was kind enough to make me a T-stand, which allows you to transfer maximum torque to the lugs.

I also recommend keeping an air compressor with you. It will help to keep all your tire pressures at level.

Finally, do as much prep work as you can before you leave. The more you do in a controlled environment, the less you should have to do on the side of the road, or in your camping spot (which leads to more relaxation)! Sorry….no pics for this post. Donna and Martha were busy exploring while maintenance took place……

We stopped at a KOA on Pine Island, FL, just west Fort Meyer, FL and stayed a couple nights after leaving Key Largo. The weather was beautiful, and the campground was nice enough. They seem to get a lot of snowbirds from up north (something about a pot and a kettle…). But it was crowded…lots of concrete pads crammed in close together…and not really a destination for us.

Donna found the Rainbow Springs State Park and campground and made reservations. We arrived on January 4th and were pleasantly surprised. The campsite is enormous (64 feet deep, 20 feet wide, with picnic table, fire ring, a clothes line for towels, and full hook-ups)! And the price is super reasonable! You also get day access to the headsprings area with your parking pass. The staff was friendly, and the sites were all clean. There is a central public restroom and shower facility for every twenty or so spots. There is also a washer and drier at each of these locations. The campground proper has a 3/4 mile hiking area, and is no more than .3 miles from the Rainbow River. You can rent canoes or kayaks, and there is a swimming area as well. The campground is very nice. We would definitely stay here again – and absolutely recommend it to others.

On January 5th, we drove to the headsprings area. There is plenty to do at this portion of the park. A large swimming area is situated right at the top of the river, near the welcome center. About 50 yards down the river is a canoe/kayak rental and launch. The Rainbow Springs water is 72F (22.2C) year-round. Did we mention the water is crystal clear?? It is absolutely beautiful!!

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Around the other side of the river, there is a series of man-made waterfalls, which are quite lovely. And if you follow the waterfalls to the top, they lead you to the remnants of the old Rainbow Springs Attractions. This former commercial attraction included a zoo, an aviary, a butterfly garden, and a rodeo barn. If you continue to follow the path away from the headsprings, and through the butterfly garden (past the rodeo barn footings), you eventually find three hiking trails ranging from 3/4 mile to 2 miles in length.

The hiking trails were well maintained, and it was indeed nice to get out and walk for a bit. We followed the longest trail, and aside from one turtle (that a passer-by’s dogs named Maggie spotted), there was not much wildlife. Which was sort of a relief after seeing the ‘how to react to a bear’ sign…

The zoo, butterfly garden, rodeo barn and aviary were puzzling to Donna and me. It was very interesting, but we didn’t really understand why they were in a State Park, or why they were dilapidated. It turns out that the headsprings was a commercial attraction that operated from the 1930’s into the 1970’s (http://springseternalproject.org/springs/rainbow-springs/history-rainbow-springs/ ). After we walked around it, we checked out the welcome center at the campground and found a fun and interesting display of marketing materials from the old attraction.

On January 6th, we rented a canoe and paddled up the river from the campground to the headsprings. The trip was amazing! the water was crystal clear, and we saw so many fish, birds and turtles… and the one alligator that we left quite undisturbed… The birds were fishing, or drying out on riverbank foliage. The turtles were swimming around or sunning themselves on logs. The river bottom ranged from between 6 and 20ft (2m to 6m) deep. There were large swaths of river grass and patches of sandy rock bottom. The sun was out, and it was in the high 60’s as we returned down river from the headsprings. It was a very good day!

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We’ll head out tomorrow. But I am sure we will come back to this beautiful place!

Today Kevin and I left the Keys behind…*sigh*…and drove to a KOA campground near Fort Myers. We will be staying for just a couple nights before heading a little further north to a state campground (and a visit with one of my sisters!). Our scenic route took us through the Big Cypress National Preserve (https://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm ), where we stopped at the visitor center and saw lots of alligators and quite a few new birds! The Big Cypress National Preserve was established in 1974 as the first ever national preserve, and came about in response to a proposed jetport development in the area.

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Donna and I ushered in the new year in the Key Largo Kampground ( https://www.keylargokampground.com/ ). The campground is quite nice. The campsites surround a marina, and are nested in the Tradewinds Hammocks. The lush foliage keeps the heat at bay under the canopy. The campground staff was courteous and the security made rounds every hour or so; they even collected garbage from the sites. The pool was excellent, it was never crowded and was open to the beautiful sun. The campground provides shuffleboard, and a basketball court. They also rent kayaks and paddle boards that you can launch from their beaches. Laundry, located in the center of the park, was economically priced. There were plenty of machines and I only saw one washer out of order. The driers worked noticeably better than at your average laundromat. There are also public restrooms, but they seem to need a little update.

Kevin and I found DELICIOUS key lime pie at the Blond Giraffe Key Lime Pie Factory (www.blondgiraffe.com) . Very cute shop with friendly service….and only 10 or so minutes from the campground. They even have an adorable garden dining area with picnic tables right outside. We also treated ourselves to a seafood meal at a local restaurant & bar. Mmmm….conch fritters and hogfish….

We loved our visit to the keys. This part of Florida is full of history, with loads of amazing places to explore. The frequent sightings of lizards and sea birds was amazing and counterpoint to the numerous unexpected sighting of roosters roaming everywhere. The weather was tremendous! Even when it was raining it was a comfortable 75-80 degrees.

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John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park ( https://pennekamppark.com/ ) sits about a mile or so from Key Largo Kampground. It was the first undersea park in the U.S. For those interested, scuba and snorkeling tours of the coral reef are available…as are kayak and canoe rentals.

Although the glass bottom boat trips were full, Kevin and I still had a wonderful time exploring the beaches (2 in the park) and hiking the trails (in particular, the Tamarind Trail). We watched a HUGE iguana sunning in the mangroves for probably 15 minutes, and saw a strange tiny fish or two while wading in shallow water. The mangrove roots are mesmerizing…. All in all, a lovely way to spend the last day of 2019!

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We drove to Key West on December 30th. The 100 miles took about four hours to traverse because of heavy traffic on the first half of our day’s journey on the Overseas Highway. The drive was beautiful! A couple sections of old, unused highway and railway parallel Highway 1 along the way. One bridge is nearly seven miles long!

The waters of the ocean and gulf were beautiful blue, as was the sky. The occasional Pelican and other seabirds dotted the sky and the power lines and other roosting spots. Likewise, the occasional boat bobbed in the blue waters – either fishing, or just floating peacefully. We even saw a couple of lizards just casually hanging out alongside the road that had to be at least a foot or two long.

When we arrived on Key West, we drove straight to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park ( https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/fort-zachary-taylor-historic-state-park) on the west coast. Key West is the most populated Key, and the real estate is tight. We were elated to be driving our tiny car, as a mid-sized car or SUV would have trouble navigating the narrow streets of the historic district.

The State Park is beautiful and includes a beach, and hiking. We enjoyed walking the rather small beaches (though the beaches are probably quite large for the Keys) and we ate at the concessions on the beach – they were unfortunately out of numerous items by the time we got there, including Key Lime Pie… 🙁

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There are both guided and self-guided tours of Fort Zachary Taylor, a decommissioned US Army Fort on Key West that guarded the bay. We chose the self-guided option. The fort was active from before the Civil War through the Cuban Missile Crisis. It also has the largest collection of Civil War weaponry because the US Army Corps of Engineers ordered the iron guns be buried in the concrete during construction updates to decommission the guns. When the park was established, an excavation company extracted some of the guns. Some of the guns are still visible peeking out from the concrete.

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