Harrison Bay State Park - Harrison, Tennessee (October 2022)

Why not head north to the Tennessee mountains in Rosie, our Airstream trailer, during October to enjoy the beauty of the leaves changing colors? That question started a conversation about taking another trip to the Smokies and we called the campground we stayed in the previous year to book a site. Yes, they had some open sites, but their rates shot up to more than $140 per night. 

Wow! That price tag convinced us to look at other campground possibilities during that time span. There were several Tennessee State Parks that we wanted to visit and this was an opportunity to explore them. We made our reservations, loaded Rosie and started out on a new adventure. 

Harrison Bay State Park wasn’t on our list of “must visit “ parks. It was simply a convenient stop on our way to our top choices.  Having said that, the park was a pleasant surprise. 

Sign at the entrance of the park

We noticed a sign that said this was Tennessee's first state park and was created with the help of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal agency created during the Great Depression to put people to work on public projects) in 1937.  That helped to explain some of the “issues” with this park. 

The CCC was involved in building this park

For example, the roads were surprisingly narrow there. Well, no one had huge trucks and fifth wheel trailers back in the 1930s. 

Rosie in our site

View from Rosie's window

Another point we noticed was that most campsites in the B and C loops would make KOAs envious at how many RVs were packed into a small area. That probably made sense in the 1930s as people mostly used tents back then, which require less space than the big rigs of today. 

Selfie near our site

Rosie from across the lake

Then there is the layout of this park. Perhaps the best way to describe it is “unique.” It appeared to me that the CCC was stronger on doing things than creating an overall plan before starting this project. The paths of some roads and the locations of some things defy logic and scream that this park wasn’t designed with trailers and motorhomes in mind. 

I don’t want to give the impression that this is a park to avoid. We were fortunate in that our site was on the lake and had great water and sunset views. Plus, the quirkiness of this park made it interesting to explore on our bicycles.  

We haven't seen a sign like this at other campgrounds

Speaking of bicycles, we didn’t find any designated bike trails, but the roads around the park were great for bike rides. 

We were amazed at the number of deer spotted in multiple locations in this park. Some of our neighbors talked about raccoons, but we didn’t see any. 

Deer in the park

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground. Some loops appeared to us to have better camping sites than others
• Our site was a back in
• Our site could be classified as "full sun" as we had a waterfront site
• Some sites had some space on both sides while others were very close. Our site had sufficient space on one side of Rosie and close to our neighbors on the other side 
• Our site was paved with asphalt and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie. There were several sites in the B and C loops that I felt it would be impossible to level both side-to-side and front-to-back
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection 
• There were several dump stations in this park. The dump site closest to Rosie was poorly located because the sewer connection was on the wrong side. If you followed the “one way” road signs, you would have to run your sewer hose underneath your RV to dump. That prompted most people to ignore the traffic signs in the park
• There were several trash dumpsters located in the camping loops. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were multiple bathhouses in the campground 
• The park did provide WiFi service. We measured 1.05 mb down and 1.3 mb upload speeds. The park’s network authentication system required you to log back in multiple times a day
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Bounce, Charge, Comet, Court-TV, Dabl, Get, Grit, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, MY-T, TBD and THiS
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

This appeared to be a campground that local people really enjoy and support. We camped there during the local area’s public school's Fall Break and enjoyed seeing children play in the campground. 

Fort Pickens Campground- Pensacola, Florida (September 2022)

There is always an element of chance when making reservations for the campground at Fort Pickens National Seashore. While it is hard to get reservations there, keeping them is harder. 

Our previous trip to Fort Pickens is a good example. The ranger on duty at the check-in station was turning everyone away because the road to the campgrounds was flooded. What was frustrating to us was that the park closed three days earlier, but no one bothered to inform those traveling there. That wasn’t the first time we were surprised as were arrived at Fort Pickens. 

Signs for Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens (its the much smaller sign!)

We breathed a sigh of relief when we made it thru the first ranger’s station and were told to proceed to the campground check-in office. We did and were surprised to find that office was closed for lunch. Well, chalk up another first for Fort Pickens. 

We checked in after lunch and, as usual, were told the major rules of that campground. You could sum up the rules at most campgrounds as “Don’t do anything stupid.” 

The final rule was that we had to wait until 2 p.m. before we could back into our site. That translated into waiting in a parking lot for 75 minutes on a day that the weather people on local radio said was breaking heat records for that day. We were told that the forced delay was to allow the volunteers time to blow any leaves off the site and to mow. We were glad when we were able to park Rosie, our Airstream trailer, in our site.

We were also glad our site had 50 amp power. We needed to run both of Rosie's air conditioners several times while camping at Fort Pickens. 

A cannon at the Fort

Enjoying the Gulf

The lighthouse in the distance

Sunset in the park

This is a park that we always try to bring our bikes with us. The campground roads tend to be busy, so we tend to ride on the hiking/biking trails. It appeared that the park skipped a few cycles of maintenance on its trails as they were overgrown and difficult to navigate. 

We ended up having to venture out onto the busy roads to ride our bikes. The day we felt the safest was when a large bicycle club was also on those roads. We found out that this group was in the middle of a 42 mile ride that morning. No, we resisted the desire to join in with them and simply leisurely rode back to Rosie. 

Cannon designed to protect Pensacola Bay

Backside of a cannon

A hallway inside the fort

Inside the fort

U.S. Coast Guard on-duty in the Bay

We also saw a group of divers near the fort performing a service project of cleaning up fishing wire and hooks left by fishermen. It was interesting to watch the divers work.

Most people would name the fort as this campground's primary feature. While it is interesting and deserves being explored, we think the beaches are second to none and are incredible. We took advantage of being able to walk from Rosie to the beach. 

We mentioned earlier that weather has always been a central factor when camping at Fort Pickens. This time wasn’t different. We were watching a hurricane in the Gulf and we were uncomfortable with rising winds in the area. We decided to hitch up and go. The park rangers must have been thinking the same thing because they sent out an email saying they were closing the campground and all 200 sites there must be vacated within three hours. By leaving early, we missed the mad rush to get to one of the only two dump stations in the park and being stuck behind 100 or more trailers going across the bridges connecting the campground with Pensacola. 

Hitching up a few hours before the "Hurricane Evacuation" order was given

Ready to leave before the storm hits

At one of the two dump stations in this campground

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• There were only two dump stations in this park for the 200 campsites. 
• The trash dumpster in our loop was near the bathhouse. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were multiple bathhouses in the campground.  The one in our loop was very hot inside. I imagine it is very cold in the winter 
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 1 bar of 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Circle, Comet, Court-TV, Dabl, Get, Grit, ION, ME-TV and Stadium
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

One of the two bridges leading to or from the campground

 

Gulf State Park - Gulf Shores, Alabama (September 2022)

When we think about memorable trips pulling Rosie, our Airstream trailer, the first thing that comes to mind is the beautiful scenery we have experienced along the way. RV'ers know that half of the enjoyment of camping is enjoying the views heading to the campground. Since our destinations are usually state or federal parks, we also enjoy the memorable sights there. 

Sign at entrance to the campground

This qualified as a memorable trip, but not for its scenic beauty. We were heading to a state park along the Gulf coast during the Fall. There were several storms in the Atlantic and we were concerned about one or more of them strengthening into a hurricane and forcing us to flee from the coast. We were streaming an all-news radio station out of New York hoping to hear the tropical weather forecast. Instead, we heard that the English royal family was being summoned to Queen Elizabeth's side because of her failing health then the station aired a commercial. During the ad, the Associated Press app on our iPhones broke the news that the Queen had died. Immediately after the commercial, the radio station ran a bulletin about the Queen's death then shortly thereafter aired a biography and tribute to the Queen. 

I’m sure some listeners were surprised at how fast that station started airing information about the Queen’s life. I wasn’t. I started thinking about when I served in the military at one of the key American Forces Network radio stations. AFN started creating obituaries and tributes of world leaders once they took office. 

My assignment while at AFN was to create and record a tribute to the then leader of Greece. In addition, I had to update and “freshen” his bio every year. I was relieved when my tour of duty was up and someone else took over that responsibility because I was certain I didn’t know how to pronounce many of the names and places in the script I recorded and I knew my scripts would be re-recorded by the new person responsible for that leader.

We listened to a growing number of stories about the Queen and royal family as we headed to the campground. 

As expected, there were several other RVs parked at the Gulf State Park campground registration office when we arrived. Someone told us to request either a military or senior discount as we checked in. The person at the counter said we qualified for a discount then totaled the bill. We were surprised that the discounted total was more than the one we were given when we made our reservations. We were told that the rates went up since we made our reservation. Needless to say, I was disappointed that reservations secured by a deposit failed to bind the State of Alabama to the agreed on charges. We decided that wasn’t going to spoil our camping adventure there, but the expensive new rates plus the added on resort fees and numerous taxes charged came up several times in our conversations. 

Walking in front of Rosie

Our experiences in this park were enhanced by riding our bikes on the many trails there. It was easy to ride 10 miles a day looking for alligators and new views. We saw at least three gators, a family of deer crossing a bike trail, multiple snakes  and a bunch of rabbits while on our rides.

The boardwalk to the shore

Maybe it will rain today

Selfie while out riding bikes

 

There was a fishing pier at the park. We enjoyed watching the people fishing from the pier. The people fishing there were not amused that sharks were trying to eat their catches. 

The overlook along Alligator Marsh 

The water tower as seen from a bike path

The temperatures were warm while there and we had to turn on the second air conditioner several times. As expected, it was nice and cozy inside Rosie. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops and 600 sites in this campground
• Our site was a back in
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart. We were glad our Airstream trailer had two air conditioners 
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. We have mentioned before how strange it was to have only one trash collection point for this huge campground 
• There were multiple  bathhouses in the campground. The one nearest Rosie was clean, maintained and air conditioned
• The park provided WiFi service over our campsite. We measured our download speed at 40 mbs
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Circle, Comet, Court-TV, Dabl, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, Retro, Stadium and TBD
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

The beach in this park

People enjoying the beach