On Thursday, May 14, it was time to point our nose southeast, at least for a couple of weeks. Thank God that Lori and I talk fairly often, or we’d have been in a pickle sure enough! A few months ago when discussing our upcoming visit to Paducah, she noted that they would be heading out to Texas to celebrate their grandson’s graduation shortly after. (They actually ended up on an alternate plan that included taking the graduate to a Nascar race.) Well, her oldest grandson and our oldest Booger are the same age! OMGosh!!! I forgot to plan for Brennan’s graduation!!! Mr. Wonderful (MW) had just finished making reservations for the first half of our trip, but he jumped on moving stuff around to get us back to Georgia for Booger Butt’s big day.

We hit the road around 8 AM heading east on I-24, then turned south on The Trace through Land Between the Lakes (LBL). It is a scenic route, and you can see bison along the way, but we didn’t go on the preserve drive where we would also have seen elk. (We drove through there before and had other things to see today.) At the southern end after crossing into Tennessee, we made our first stop of the day. I decided to sit this one out and parked myself under a tree to do a little writing while MW explored.

Established in 1928, Fort Donelson National Battlefield is just west of Dover, Tennessee, and was the site of a pivotal win for the North in, as Granny would say, the War of Northern Aggression. (That last part has to be said with a Scarlett O’Hara accent.) The Union army had been having a devil of a time finding a spot to break the western Confederate defensive line, which ran all the way from Missouri to the Appalachian Mountains. Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote determined that the two most vulnerable options were Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River. After a successful campaign to secure Henry, Grant’s troops started the march towards Donelson. For their part, the Confederates at Donelson were hard at work strengthening their position, but there was little hope of holding the Fort without naval support and reinforcements. Despite about 2,500 soldiers fleeing there from Fort Henry and relating the action, those in command kept their troops in place as they were being surrounded. Prior to the gap closing, they attacked to the south, creating an opening for escape. Rather than take it, however, confusion and indecision among those in charge resulted in orders to return to the entrenchments. Then, to add insult to injury for the soldiers, General John B. Floyd turned command over to General Gideon J. Pillow and snuck up river to Nashville with about 2,000 troops. Pillow quickly followed suit, turning command over to Brigadier General Simon B. Buckner. Other soldiers managed to get out by following Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forest (who was a thorn in the side of the Union until the war ended) across flooded Lick Creek. Buckner, a West Point classmate of General Grant, was left holding the bag, so to speak, and had no choice but to surrender unconditionally to his fellow alumnus. Following the surrender, General Grant famously said “Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked in Capitals on the maps of our United Country…”. (I checked…it is not.) Today you can check out the Visitor Center, take an auto tour through the property, and walk the remains of the Civil War fort and the Fort Donelson National Cemetery. The Dover Hotel, the site of the Confederate surrender, is nearby, too. MW said not to miss the movie at the Visitor Center.

SIDE NOTE: The Visitor Center at the park has been under remodel for SIX YEARS!! Apparently there have been three different contractors…one went bankrupt, another went out of business, and the third hasn’t gotten on the ball. I’m a retired Federal employee and MW spent 9-1/2 years in the USMC, so we know about the government’s habit of choosing from the bottom of the list, which invites such issues. Someone should be held accountable for the bad selections. Wouldn’t you think they’d check to see if a company is solvent at least? The current staff is housed in a portable trailer, and MW did not get the impression that things will change any time soon.

Our next stop was a quick drive over to Dover where we had lunch at Lance’s Pizza and Subs. Then it was US-79 through Clarksville to Springfield, and TN-25 further west to just past Gallatin. There we pulled into Bledsoe Creek State Park by mid-afternoon. It had been a beautiful day for riding, but we were ready to relax a bit after setting up.

Friday MW worked on some maintenance chores while I used the park laundry to take care of my weekly job. After that, I headed out to Gallatin, Tennessee, and Chick-fil-A to park and write a bit. After several hours of getting things done, I headed back to the park with some Panda Express deliciousness for MW.

Saturday morning started with a herd of deer passing by just up the road. There seems to be a large population in this park, and they aren’t overly skittish. MW and I headed out for a nice walk around the park, then came back for me to get cleaned up. Later we ran some errands in Gallatin and popped in at Whataburger so MW could get a fix. (Y’all know by now he is a Whatajunkie! LOL). In the afternoon I managed to get a little more writing done, too.

Sunday morning we headed over to High Country Cowboy Church in Castilian Springs, Tennessee. On the way in we met an unusual congregant…a dog named Ajax, who was part wolf with a bunch of other stuff mixed in. A huge boy, he was the sweetest thing and ended up hanging out with us in our pew. The service is held in a community center, with music by the High Country Church Cowboy Band, which is very good. This Sunday the Pastor Steve Russell was away, so his spot was filled with a beautiful testimony story from Layman Richard Feltzer. Afterwards we headed over to Logan’s Roadhouse in Gallatin for lunch. In the afternoon MW finished making the last of the campground reservations for this long trip. One of the things we have enjoyed at this park is our site orientation. With the door side facing into the woods, the morning sun came up late on the back side of Priscilla, and the trees blocked the afternoon sun. With a nice breeze that was pretty much constant, we were able to enjoy sitting outside despite the high temps.

Bledsoe Creek State Park was really nice and had a lot packed into its 169 acres. Just a few miles east of Gallatin, Tennessee, and about 25 miles from Nashville, it sits on Old Hickory Lake and is a great location for couples or families. Facilities included an office, store, interpretive displays, pavilions, boat ramps, more than 4 miles of hiking trails, wildlife viewing area, an outdoor classroom, playgrounds, a laundry, and dump station. Fishing, boating, and paddling are all big on Old Hickory Lake. The campground has 68 paved or gravel sites (pull-thru or back-in) with 20-, 30-, or 50-amp electric, water, picnic tables, and grills. There are also 3 primitive, hammock-only sites. The two bathhouses are very nice, have heat and a/c, and are kept clean. The laundry was at the maintenance shed area and had three washer/dryer sets, but one washer was not working when we were there. There were plenty of over-the-air TV stations and cell signals were good for both Verizon and AT&T. Our paved, pull-through site was off level enough to require our extra board, which I find odd. (How hard is it to level concrete?) That said, it faced into the woods, and except for a couple of folks who saw fit to walk between Priscilla and Big Jake to take a shortcut to the trail, we enjoyed it immensely. We would definitely stay here again. For this visit in May 2026 we paid a bit under $41 per night for 4 nights in a 50-amp pull-thru with water.

Monday we hit the road to Georgia at 7:30 AM. Due to a long driving day, we took the most direct route, which would include a lot of interstate. Taking TN-25 further east to US-231 south, we hit I-40 west briefly, then took I-840 south to I-24 south. Just short of Chattanooga we took I-59, exiting at AL-117 through Mentone, then crossed into Georgia where it became GA-48. Next we passed through Cloudland and Menlo and came to a stop at James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park in Summerville. The drive was pretty boring, so I worked on a bit of writing. Oh, and it was HOT…92 for setup! Ugh!! Although the site was paved, it was significantly off level side-to-side, requiring the use of our board ramp. (That’s two in a row!) When we finally got Petunia all nestled in, we cooled off, then headed over to Mom and Dad2’s place, then Firehouse Subs for late lunch/early supper. We visited for a bit after that before we took our tired butts back to Priscilla to relax before bedtime.

We spent the next couple of days visiting. On Tuesday Mom’s hairdresser was able to give me the perm that I didn’t get before leaving Tennessee. Then, Mom and I did a little shopping and had a long lunch with Aunt Pat at Chick-fil-A in Rockmart. The boys checked out the new Whopper at Burger King, which they said was really good. We’ll see how long that lasts! We took care of pedis on Wednesday, her belated Mother’s Day gift, then Larry was in the mood for breakfast, so we headed over to Huddle House. As always, the visit was too short, but we’ll be back as soon as we come back east.

James H (Sloppy) Floyd State Park sits on 561 acres in Summerville, Georgia, just about 30 minutes north of Rome. Facilities include two lakes, picnic pavilions, a boardwalk over the lake, boat ramps, fishing pier, playgrounds, concessions, and over 5 miles of hiking trails. Activities include boating (electric motors only, plus the park rents kayaks, canoes, and pedal boats), fishing, geocaching, and hiking. Lodging options include four cottages, a backcountry camping area, and the regular campground nestled in the woods. The latter includes 25 graveled sites, some back-in and some pull-through, with 30-/50-amp electric. There is a campground-specific playground, bathhouse, laundry, and dump station. The facilities are well-maintained and very clean, too. Although many sites will accommodate up to 50′ lengths, the roads are narrow with some raised sides and close trees, requiring care with longer trailers. Our 33′ was only a few inches from one tree trunk on the right without dropping Big Jake’s front tire off of the pavement. We really enjoyed this campground, though, and it is now our go-to when visiting my parents. For this visit in May 2026, we paid just under $45 per night for 3 nights in a 30-amp pull-thru site with water. The cost includes a park entrance fee.

Thursday was another early start day heading south out of Summerville, then catching GA-140 east through Adairsville to Waleska. Then it was GA-108 to GA-53 through Gainesville and GA-52 down to Commerce. There it was time for a break. We parked the rig next to a lovely park in town and walked to the Friends Commerce Grill, which was pretty good. Afterwards we checked out the small park, then continued east taking Ila Road through Ila and Danielsville to Comer. Then the Athens Highway took us to Elberton followed by the Calhoun Falls Highway to…you guessed it…Calhoun Falls. The last leg was SC-81 down to McCormick and US-378 south to Hickory Knob Resort Park, our home for the next few days. Once again, it was HOT!! We passed our son, Ryan, working on a project near the office, and he popped in as we checked in. Getting Petunia into the site was a bit of a booger. I had given Ryan the wrong site number, so he didn’t scope out this one for us like he usually does. Our actual site had trees fairly close on either side, plus required us to maneuver towards the driver’s side as we backed in to avoid the steps folding out into a washed out area with no gravel. It was also very un-level, requiring us to pull out the board ramp again. That’s three now!! Ryan popped in a bit later for a visit before he headed home, then we relaxed for the evening.

Friday morning I headed out first thing to take care of the laundry at Peanuts Laundry in Lincolnton. Everything went smoothly there, and I was able to meet most of my Bailey crew plus friend Scotty at The Chicken House for lunch. By the time I made it back to Priscilla, the rain had begun. We got everything put away and relaxed a little bit. The evening plan was Brennan’s graduation ceremony, and wouldn’t you know it, just in time to leave it started raining buckets!! Thankfully, the school had already moved the activities from the football stadium to the gym with satellite seating in the cafeteria. MW and I arrived early and found seats for our whole crew in what would become a packed gym. The ceremony finally started just before 8 PM, and it was awesome to see our first Booger finish his high school years. It was even more special since he graduated from the same high school as my Dad. We hung out for a little bit afterwards, taking pics and visiting with my ex and his wife, then made it back to the campground about 9:45. NOTE: In general our group felt that it is ridiculous to hold a graduation ceremony that late. Many family members have a long drive or just come in for the night, leaving no time to really celebrate after the big event.

Saturday we mostly relaxed at Priscilla. We had tickets for the whole group to head down to Augusta in the afternoon and take in a Greenjackets baseball game, but the probability of rain-out was very high and the game from Friday night was now part of a double-header starting at 4PM. Since it is an hour drive down, MW made the executive decision to skip it, so we all went out for Mexican food at Mi Rancho in Evans, Georgia, instead and spent a couple of hours visiting.

Sunday MW and I checked out church at Lincolnton Baptist Church where we heard a terrific sermon by Pastor Tripp Goodwin on our obligation and debt to love our neighbors, which includes EVERYONE. On our way back to the park we stopped in at the River Grille at the Savannah Lakes golf club (good food, but very slow service). In the afternoon our newly minted graduate paid us a visit to pick up his graduation present. That boy is one of the sweetest you could ever meet! Admittedly, I might be a little prejudiced, though.

Once again on Monday our original plans…a cookout at the campground…were thwarted by the rain or rather the muddy mess left by three days of it. Instead Ryan and Alene cooked up a bunch of ribs and fixins at their house, which were delicious. We also took over some pickles for my step-mother, Satilla, which she says are like eating candy. (They do have a LOT of sugar!! LOL) It is always hard to say goodbye to the kids and boogers, but we will be seeing one of them again REALLY soon, so stay tuned.

We’ve stayed at Hickory Knob State Park Resort twice before (previous review with park info) and enjoy its proximity to our son’s family and other relatives in Lincolnton, Georgia. It is also pretty convenient because our son, Ryan, works there, and my family’s 18th century home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is on the grounds. However, it is pretty clear that the state of South Carolina doesn’t really give a darned about the campground despite this being their only “resort” park. The road is in abysmal shape and should have been repaved years ago. The sites are a mix of dirt and gravel, and many are terribly un-level. The bathhouse is old, but okay, and had a/c, but it wasn’t on. It was HOT! Our site was a back-in between two large trees. It wasn’t that difficult except that we had to sweep it in to the left in order for our steps not to drop into mud. Then we had to put the back side up on our planks and still work hard to get her level. This campground is ripe for a total remodel, and the state MUST be aware of it, because they have their annual meetings at the lodge there. Sadly, we probably won’t stay here again until they make some changes. We are looking forward to the re-opening of Baker Creek down the road as an option for our next visit. For this stay in May 2026, we paid just under $32 per night for 5 nights in a rough, 30-amp back-in with water. (Sadly, partly due to extensive rain, but also because I forgot, I don’t have pics.)

Tuesday we had to hit the road at 7 AM for the long drive to Alabama. Heading south we crossed back into Georgia, passing through Lincolnton and on to Thomson. There we hit I-20 and booked it all the way across the state. At Bremen we popped into Zaxby’s for a quick lunch, then continued west on I-20 crossing into Alabama. Just short of Oxford we turned north on US-431, then turned northeast on I-59 up to AL-68. That took us through Crossville and Albertville to Guntersville where we turned north on AL-79. The last leg was US-431 north, then zig-zagging on small roads over to just south of Huntsville where we finally stopped at Ditto Landing Marina and RV Park. Thankfully, the sun was shining again, but we had another really HOT setup. After cooling off and relaxing for a bit, we headed over to Peg and Colin’s place for supper…beef stroganoff…YUM!!

Wednesday we relaxed in the morning, then went to Dallas Mill Deli to meet Peg & Colin for lunch. Dallas Mill, once Alabama’s largest cotton mill, began operations in 1892 and closed after 57 years. The property then became Genesco Shoe Company’s distribution center. In 1991, the Huntsville landmark caught on fire and burned for 3 days. Housed in one of the surviving Dallas Mill Village properties, the Deli pays homage to the mill with the written history and lots of photos. Oh, and the food was really good, too! Stuffed, we said our temporary goodbyes and took care of some errands, which just might have included picking up some Almond Pillow Cookies from Fresh Market. Honestly, if you like almond and have never tried them, you are missing out!! In the afternoon Scott & Michelle came out to take a gander at Priscilla, then we followed them over to Campus No. 805 to meet Caleb and Molly for supper. This is a pretty cool venue. From 1949 to 2009, it served as a University of Alabama extension, S. R. Butler High School, and finally, Roy L. Stone Middle School…hence the name Campus No. 805. Purchased in 2014, the property gained a new life and now houses two breweries, restaurants, retail spaces, and entertainment venues. On this trip we chose Straight to Ale Brewery, where I had some Crispy Ribs that were unique and pretty awesome. Afterwards we walked over to Yellowhammer Brewery and hung out for a bit longer visiting.

Since Friday was going to be our travel day, Thursday started with laundry. I headed out about 9:30 AM and made quick work of the chore. After putting everything away back at Priscilla and having a bit of lunch, we met at Peg and Colin’s place to go check out the Burritt Mansion. It’s over on Monte Sano mountain where MW and I hosted our USNA alumni gathering in 2024, and although we didn’t have time then, we added it to our list of things to see. Peg needed to renew her membership, so that gave us a perfect opportunity to give it a look. It was pretty cool.

William Henry Burritt, a Vanderbilt grad and homeopathic physician, was born in Huntsville. After college, he returned to his hometown to practice medicine. There he met and married his first wife, Pearl Budd Johnson. Alas, they were together less than 6 years when the 26-year-old Pearl died tragically from surgical complications. About 18 months later, he married wife number two, Josephine T. Drumond, a wealthy socialite 13 years his senior who reportedly proposed to him. They moved into her home in St. Louis where the good doctor went to work for the Banner Rubber Company and developed nine patents. Sadly, he spent a good portion of the later years of the 3+ decade marriage nursing his ailing wife. Upon her death in 1933, she left the majority of her fortune to her husband, who returned to his hometown. He purchased 167 acres on what was then known as Round Top Mountain and designed a unique home built of wood and stone and shaped like an “X” (or MW would say an X-Wing Fighter) to provide lots of natural light and ventilation. Sadly, when the last of the good doctor’s belongings were being moved in, faulty wiring ignited a fire. Crews rushed to remove as many belongings as possible, then watched as the newly completed structure burned to the ground. Not to be deterred, Burritt rebuilt, but tweaked the design to replace much of the wood with concrete and concrete-fiber-reinforced shingles. Completed in 1938, Dr. Burritt lived there for 6 years with his third wife, Alta Jacks, but that marriage ended in divorce. He spent the rest of his life there as a gentleman farmer growing fruits and vegetables and raising goats. Upon his death in 1955 with no heirs, he left the property to the City of Huntsville to become its first museum. Today you can tour the house and grounds, enjoy the beautiful view, and take a look at his 1949 DeSoto Coupe. The property has been expanded to include a historic living history park, a replica schoolhouse, nature trails, and a gift shop. There is also the Baron Bluff event room for weddings and meetings.

We checked it all out and enjoyed everything except the heat…mid-90s!! Their store is particularly nice. Coincidentally we ran into the Barons, who donated the funds for the event center and are friends of Peg and Colin. They were there early for wedding pics for the nuptials of their grandson later that afternoon. (It was nice to finally meet after years of hearing about them from Peg.) Afterwards we popped into Culver’s for a little refreshment, then went back to the house for a bit. Later the four of us met Scott, Michelle, and Caleb at El Herradura for our final visit of this trip. (Sadly, Molly got stuck at work.)

SIDE NOTE: El Herradura is Scott and Michelle’s go to for Mexican in Huntsville, and the food was very good. It had an atmosphere typical of Mexican restaurants with bright colors and Spanish designs, and the acrylic tabletops had various posters and pics sealed in them. At some point during the meal, Michelle and I noticed that ours was particularly interesting. It was apparently The Last of the Mohicans meets any Harlequin Romance. I’ve never actually eaten a meal off of a native’s butt before, and honestly, it was never on my radar. We checked the tables around us and none of the others were quite as provocative. What do you think?

We’ve stayed at Ditto Landing before and nothing has really changed. The wooded campground area still had a lot of water, even on the road a little, but we prefer it over the newer section, which is a big parking lot. (Original review here.) For this visit in May 2026 we paid a little over $27 per night for a 50-amp back-in with water.

Friday morning we were up and ready to hook Priscilla up and hit the road by 8AM for the long drive to the western edge of Tennessee. BUT…I left my camera in Peg’s car after the museum, so we had to ride back over there and pick it up. Ugh! As MW said, though, maybe there was a reason we weren’t supposed to be on the roads as early as planned. After getting back, hooking her up, and dumping the tanks, we made it out by about 8:45, which I thought was pretty amazing. We zig-zagged a bit taking AL-36 down to Somerville, AL-67 to Decatur, AL-24 to Moulton, and AL-157 to Muscle Shoals. There we hit US-72 northwest. At Iuka, Mississippi, we stopped for lunch at the Farmhouse Restaurant. The food was excellent, but the coolest thing was the owner. He was walking around cleaning tables, delivering food, and generally working his tail off despite having plenty of staff. We talked to him a bit, and he once had three restaurants at the same time, and sold all but this one. It has been open for 13 years or so, but honestly looked new. They do an amazing job of taking care of the place, and his staff was on top of things. Stuffed, we continued northwest on US-72 through Corinth to Walnut where we turned north and passed into Tennessee on what became TN-125. At Bolivar we turned west on TN-15, then hit CR-179 to I-40 west, exiting to skirt the south end of Brownsville. TN-19 then took us to Ripley, followed by US-51 south to Henning and TN-87 over to Fort Pillow State Historic Park. Although our site was a paved pull-through, it was still significantly off level requiring the use of our board…again! How can you pave something and be that far off level???!!! After getting set up, we once again, had to spend a while cooling off! Can you tell I’m really not enjoying the heat!!??

Saturday I spent the entire day in my pajamas paying bills, cleaning out emails, and doing a bit of writing. Blissful!! While we enjoyed all of the family time over the past couple of weeks, it was nice to have nothing much to do for a few days.

Sunday morning we headed just up the road to Faith Community Church. Man, what a welcoming place!! Before the service even began, quite a few people came and talked to us and Trish invited us to lunch at Ann’s house. Ann, sitting a couple of pews up, seconded the invite. Pastor John Meaders gave a good sermon about living with BOLD faith. After being invited by some more folks to Ann’s house, we felt it was something not to miss. Turns out, that was right. Every Sunday this lady cooks up a storm for an always unknown number of people and hosts lunch after church. This Sunday the crowd was smaller than typical, because several folks had gone down to the creek to see a young man get baptized. Still there were 10 or 12 of us enjoying great food and fellowship. It was a blessing. We thanked everyone for the hospitality and promised to return when we are back in the area.

After a change of clothes back at Priscilla, we drove around the park and checked out the Fort Pillow Visitor Center, which had a museum about the area and a movie that was really well done. Named for Gideon J. Pillow who hailed from Maury County (and you might remember as one of the guys who fled Fort Donelson leaving the third in command in charge), the fort was a strategic location during the Civil War thanks to steep bluffs that overlooked the Mississippi River. Built in 1861 by southern troops, its primary goal was to prevent the deep penetration into the South of Union forces. Just a year after completion, it was abandoned the next year as Union ships moved up the river. Its most significant battle came after Union troops occupied the fort in 1864. The fort was manned by a mix of Union soldiers include United States Colored Troops under the command of Major Lionel Booth. In April, General Nathan Bedford Forrest of the south began the assault, destroying the Contraband Camp in front of the fort. With Union forces pushed to the center, Forrest saw his chance and cut off the garrison’s escape routes. Then he requested surrender from Booth, who unbeknownst to him had already been killed. Less experienced Major William Bradford, the new guy in charge, requested time to consider Forrest’s surrender demand, signing the message with the former commander’s name. Feeling they were stalling for the arrival of reinforcements, Forrest denied the request, Bradford declined to surrender, and the final push began. Many Union soldiers headed for the river, throwing down their arms along the way. Forrest’s soldiers had a decisive win and the Confederates took the fort, but accusations of a massacre of surrendering Union soldiers, many of which were African Americans, made headlines all over the country. A congressional investigation ensued, and the historical debate on the events of the day still continues. Soldiers from both sides wrote of Union soldiers, both black and white, being killed during the surrender process. Later accounts by Confederate veterans said the surrender was thought to be a feint by the defenders. Based on troops stationed at the fort, there was a much greater percentage of black soldiers dead in the end than white. The press called foul, blaming it on the Confederates “getting back” at slaves who fled north and fought. Another option might be in a quote by Tom J. Jackson, Lt. Col. Comdg Regiment. He said “…As I understand the formation of the defenses there is two forts, or bastions, the colored troops occupied one, and the 13th Tenn. Calvary the other, at the commencement of the engagement, the white troops fled from their post, which commanded the other, leaving the work to be done by the colored men.” However it happened, the end result for the Union was cries of “Remember Fort Pillow”, which rallied US Colored Troops for the rest of the war.

Fort Pillow State Historic Park is located just east of the Mississippi River near Henning, Tennessee, and about 40 miles north of Memphis. The 1,642-acre park was home to Fort Pillow, named for General Gideon J. Pillow, and was a strategic location during the Civil War. Facilities include an office, gift shop, picnic pavilions, playgrounds, a museum, approximately 20 miles of hiking trails, a 25-acre fishing pond, boat ramp, and fishing pier. Activities include boating (private boats and canoe and kayak rentals), fishing, hiking and camping in the new, wooded campground. There are 6 RV sites with 20/30/50-amp electric and water, 15 sites with 20-amp electric and water, and 9 primitive sites with water nearby. All sites include a grill/campfire pad, picnic table, and lantern holder. There are 2 bathhouses, which were very clean, and a dump station. There is also a back country site and a group camping area. There were plenty of over-the-air TV stations, and the Verizon signal was strong. Oddly, our concrete site (#11) was un-level. (That’s two. Seriously, how hard can it be?) We also didn’t care for the pull-through that has the door facing the road. That said, we really did like this park and would definitely stay again. For this visit in June 2026, we paid a little over $28 per night for 3 nights in a 50-amp pull-thru with water.

Well, that gets us to the Mississippi River. Next up…Back in the Saddle: West of the Mississippi, Salt Water (Really!), and Preparing for Exhaustion! See you on the path!!

Talisa

Sources: Wikipedia, campground websites, Visitor Center information, and MW.

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