Camp #65 Where is my Mississippi Internet??

   You would just crack up if you saw the antics I had to go thru to get our Verizon MIFI to work here in the Mississippi River valley!! I've relocated our device several times to see where it would work best. Under the wipers, up on the roof, on the picnic table, finally on the rear of the trailer roof!! Ya, it works there!! Betcha the neighbors thought they had a weirdo camping here!1 ha ha ha ha !!   Did you know that the Mississippi River runs in it's own valley?? Makes getting an internet or phone signal challenging. 
   The Southbound Great River Road Trip has been very interesting. Lots of history and beautiful roads. It winds thru many old towns and we've been able to poke along without too many pushy vehicles. Been staying at a lot of COE (Corps of Engineers) campgrounds. So nice to be able to use my senior discount at an average $9 per night. ( as you may have noted from past blogs, our nightly average up North had been running about $25/nite most of the summer)
   Does anyone else have a hard time using the COE net site? It's www.recreation.gov and like everything else in the government it's definitely not user friendly. I have found a trick to it though! In your search just type a State Name, USA ..It seems to simplify the search. Now, if they'd just put a real addresses on the parks it would help in locating them.
   We're now in Hernando, Ms. at a COE park. Found this one via Park Reviews.com . The COE map we acquired doesn't show any parks South of Kentucky, even though we know there are more. Hope to stop in at a COE main office in Oxford, Ms. to see if we can score any more useable maps. Our campsite here is right on the river.

 

Really pretty CG. Lots of shade and spotty WIFI & cell, but tolerable. We'll be here 4 days and move to another COE a few miles South as we slowly work our way towards Long Beach, Ms..
   Now that we have our new AC installed, of course the temps got down to normal. After 3 weeks of 90+ we now have 75F. Go figure!!

   Bonfires and cookouts & happy hours

 are the rule of the day along with some leisurely walks and meeting nice neighbors.  Of course, Heather has been bird watching too.

   We've noticed that the leaves are starting to change colors and some trees are starting to shed too! Hmmm!! Can winter be far away.
   REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!  
   Charlie & Heather

  
  

Camp#64 Columbus,Ky State Park

 We left Metropolis, Ill on Friday the 13th at 1100 and poked South along The Great River Road about 60 miles. Did a little shopping enrt and recamped in Columbus, Ky at The Columbus-Belmont State Park at 1400. First impression upon pulling into park was WOW ! Overlooking the mighty Mississippi River and very manicured.
  Once we got hooked up the camp host stopped in, got us registered and oriented. At this park, the host delivers firewood and ice ! He explained the park layout and recommended things to see while here. The park has washers and dryers and spotless bathrooms. That's rare in a state park. The weekend had almost 100% occupancy but was empty by 6PM Sunday night.
  Our new AC that we installed in Ill. has been working perfectly but wouldn't ya know the temps went to 75F and there hasn't been much use for it!
   Verizon signal for our phones and Mi-fi has been weak so I won't try posting any pictures this time and I'll keep this blog short.
   We were going to stay for 2 days but because it's such a nice spot we extended 2 days and found out that Ky. Parks are having a 2 for 1 special  during weekdays which makes our pullout date Wed the 18th.
  Next move should put us in Mississippi cause we're gonna drive right on thru Tennessee.
   REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY!
   Charlie& Heather

Camps 60, 61, 62 & 63 WHEW!!

   Been moving along at a leisurely pace. Doesn't seem like we've been thru 4 campsites since the last blog. Since we've been averaging about 2 nights at each camp it's given us some time to hike around the areas and we've been carefully choosing our sites so we're in the shade as much as possible. (Broken AC, remember?) 
   Camp 60 was Pere Marquette SP in Grafton Ill.

   Camp 61 was Fort Kaskaskia SP in Ellis Grove, Ill.
   Camp 62 was Victory RV Park in Paducha, Ky.
   Camp 63 is Fort Massac SP in Metropolis, Ill. 

   This moving around sure is enjoyable. So many things to see, so little time.
   The amount of history we've been exposed to during this trip down the Great River Road is phenominal!  Way too much to explain in a blog. We do highly recommend that if you ever get a chance to drive this route to do it. There are lots of overlooks and sights you'll never see anywhere else. Most of this road wanders back & forth across the Mississippi River. The river runs in an endless valley with Railroad tracks and little towns all along the way. Some of the towns probably haven't changed much in a hundred years while others have grown around their old downtown districts. Another nice thing about this route is the slow speeds thru much of it. My kinda travelling.
  Another quirky thing we did was a tour of the Superman Museum in Metropolis, Ill.. I never knew there was so much trivia and toys,etc. dedicated and sold regarding the man of steel, Look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane--it's Superman!!! I'll bet a lot of us grew up with this good guy!!

As you can see, the boys are supporters of Superman!

   We also got to go to the museum with Heather's sons, Jon & Josh & wife Angela.  
Haven't seen them in awhile and we got to chat for a few hours too.
  Got a lead on an AC unit that sounds reasonable so tomorrow AM Josh will drive me to the place in Paducha. Hope it works out. Should only take an hour to install. More on that later.
   Next move is just SW of Paducha. Real quick drive in a day or two.
   Hope everyone is enjoying the last few months of good weather.
REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !
Charlie  Heather.

Camp#60 Pere Marquette State Park Grafton, Ill.

    9-4-13, 2 nite stay Wed. & Thurs., at Pere Marquette State Park near Grafton, Ill. Camp # 60 !!
   Very nicely laid out park, we have walking trails and very modern, clean facilities. Site and tree spacing is perfect! The road into this park is a great drive "in" the Mississippi River valley. Very calm drive and no pushy trucks. Gathered up some firewood and had a few fires. Had to give some pesky bugs their "hour" at sunset as usual, but once the sun was good & gone the night was ours. 
   Pulled out at our standard 1000 enrt to ??? Didn't have any plan as there was no internet or phone service to research with...OH WELL !! Southbound somewhere for a few hours. 

  Did I ever tell ya  our " automatic" levelers are great ?? I always worry, like other campers do, about them "sticking" and having to have a service call. But we've figured out a sure way around that headache. All it takes is some careful planning.

 REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY!!
Charlie & Heather

Camp#61..Fort Kaskaskia State Historical Site.

  After a 2 1/2 hour drive and some internet research enrt we were recamped at Fort Kaskaskia State Historical CG near Ellis Grove, Ill. by 3PM.  Damn, Illinois is soooo long !! At least we're in the far South of it. Nice little park and well cared for, so we decided to stay for 2 days. Only basics here (elect) so we'll be headed to a FHU park next move. Gotta get some laundry done soon.
 The River views today were great.

 

 
   Took a few walks and collected firewood and got a feel about the layout of the park. We're on top of a large hill and there are some scenic overlooks. ( after all the mountains we were in this summer I'll always refer to high spots this far East as "hills" !!)
   Got a weekend starting so it's probably wise to standfast Fri & Sat. This park is already filling up fast at 6PM.
   Our phones and internet have good signals and we have sky access for the dish too. Supposed to be in the 90's for a few days and we found a site with good tree shade for the rig. Since our AC is busted it's gonna get clammy, at least the night temps are near the 60's so sleeping is comfortable.  The camp host has been here for years and made us feel very welcome.
   We might head to Metropolis from here..you know what's there, don't ya?? Standby for that story!!! (Look, up in the sky....) 

REMEMBER, LIVE YOUR DREAMS AS TIME GOES BY QUICKLY !!
Charlie & Heather

Camp#59 Nauvoo State Park, Illinois

   9-3-13, 1 night stay in Nauvoo, Ill. State Park. This park in smack dab in the middle of town. Very tight roads and in need of some TLC. I'm really glad we aren't in a longer rig as the roads in the park musta been made for a Model T !! Hada GFI on the 30 amp circuit and it was weak, tripped a few times. on the road in the AM after a great breakfast in town. They make their own sausage and it's probably the best I've ever eaten! Coulda made 2 meals out of the serving.
   South again down the Great River Road at 10AM on Wed 9-4-13.