Staying at Meade City Park

We boondocked at Meade City Park for two days. The park has several gravel spots for RVs, with picnic tables and water spigots. The park was originally created for travelers in the 20's when Highway 54 opened. The park is charming, with large trees and several WPA-era buildings and structures. The town's pool is also located at this park. 

Digression: Meade is named after General Meade, who won the Battle of Gettysburg. Meade was also an engineer, and built several lighthouses!

Address: Off of Highway 54 - eastern side of Meade

Website

Dog Friendly: There is no designated areas for dogs at this park, but there are plenty of places to walk.

Motorcycle Friendly: This park's roads are either gravel or paved, and well maintained. The town, on the other hand, believes in the 'slush and pray' method. There isn't, however, quite enough traffic to actually compress the slush into an adequate road surface.  We would definitely urge caution while driving in Meade!

Cell Service/Wifi: Verizon was 3-4 bars, without a booster.

Amenities: The park has bathrooms, and numerous water spigots. There are no electrical hook ups, but both pavilions do have 110 outlets.  There is also a dump station just past the city pool, at the far end of the park.

Getting There: The park is directly off of I-54.

Local Stuff: The park is less than a mile from the Dalton Gang Hideout and the Meade Historical Museum.  If you need groceries, there is a Walmart about thirty minutes away.

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Texas Is Upgrading Rest Areas! (Free!)

After spending a couple of (free!) days camping at Corpus Christi's La Blonte Park, we headed back up 77, then jumped over to I-10, where we stopped for the night at the Edmund Kuempel Rest Area, near Kingsbury. 

Digression: Edmund Kuempel served for many years in the Texas House of Representatives, and died of a heart attack in 2010.

For a long time, Texas rest areas were sad little places. Generally, a rest area was just than a place to pull off the road, with rickety picnic tables, and a trash can or two. We're happy to report things have changed!

This is one of the new Safety Rest Areas. It has a walking trail, playground, restrooms, and wifi, although the wifi wasn't working when we stayed here.

Click for Map of Upgraded Rest Areas

There is also a new focus on safety, including 24 hour camera surveillance. Texas also now allows people to stay for 24 hours at any state rest area, which they're hoping will encourage travelers to stop for longer breaks when they are tired. As you can tell, this a well-rested and happy husky. Thanks, Texas!

One thing that we found unique at this rest stop was the exhibits. There were several interesting displays about Texas history, as well as a video. We do have one  teeny tiny complaint. The building has concrete floors and stone walls, and the video's sound echoes badly. We'd like to see them turn down the sound a bit and add some subtitles, so everyone can enjoy it.

Hmmm, something tells us we must be in Gonzales County. 

Story of the Gonzales cannon

Yes, there are several large parallel spots designed for RVs.  Even better? Each pavilion at this rest area has an electric outlet. Yeah!

Did we mention the pavillions are huge?

Know before you go: Texas rest stops are heavily used by truckers. Its always best to walk around the rest area and find a place to park away from the semis if possible - unless you want to wake to the sound of a couple of dozen semis idling in the early morning hours!

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Staying at LaBlonte Park - Free Boondock!

We stayed for two days at La Blonte Park in Corpus Christi. La Blonte Park is named after the two Nascar brothers, who were from Corpus Christi. This is a park that's earning it's keep! The park is nestled on the west side of a deep bend in the Nueces river. The river bend harbors an estuary, so the park serves as a park, camping area, local fishing hole, and  a critical green space, which helps keep the estuary healthy.

 Price: Free - if you don't mind a bit of a hassle. Corpus Christi allows people to camp for three nights, but you must have a permit. How do you get the permit? In person, at the Parks Department, which is on the 3rd floor of City Hall, which is a 30 minute drive from the park.  Let's think about this for a moment, shall we? You have to drive an hour to enjoy a park designed to protect a natural resource. Um....

Dog Friendly: We would rate this park as only so-so when it comes to dogs. There is a lot of local traffic, and very little shade. Because this is a local fishing hole, we also would not let our dog into the water. I had to take a fishing hook out of a dog's paw once, and that's not an experience I want to repeat!

Motorcycle Friendly: The park is paved and the pavement was in good condition while we were there. Since this park often floods, we would recommend using caution anyway.

Cell Service/Wifi: Verizon was 4-5 bars, without a booster.

Amenities: There are quite a few picnic tables and benches. The park does have bathrooms, but these are currently closed. We've seen some pretty negative reviews because of the lack of facilities, but we understand the park is downstream from a dam, and has had several significant floods. Add in Hurricane Harvey, and we're sure Corpus Christi has their hands plenty full right now.   

Getting There: Warning! The park is directly off of the highway, but we would strongly recommend taking the southbound exit. If you take the northbound exit, you will have to go under a low clearance area, while making a pretty sharp turn. We also suspect the heights posted may not be accurate, since the road slopes upward under the bridges. Definitely not RV friendly!

Local Stuff: The park is well-known for great fishing, and it's on the outskirts of Corpus Christi, so there is plenty to see and do in the area. There is also a Walmart about 10 minutes away.

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Staying at Old Lock One Park (Free!)

We stayed at Old Lock One Park for 14 days. This is a Army Corps of Engineer park that allows free dispersed camping.  This is a beautiful, rustic little park that sits directly on the Tombigbee River.

GPS: N 31° 34.363’ / W 88° 01.913

3800 Old Lock One Rd. 

Jackson, AL 36545

Website: Army Corps of Engineers - Alabama

The park sits on the Tombigbee River. In the late 1800s, a lock system was built on this river, and for many years families lived on the property and operated the locks. We understand the pecan grove at this park was planted by the lock master.

A 1953 tornado destroyed many of the buildings, and the rest of the buildings were demolished in 1960s when a new system bypassed the old lock. Clarke County and the Army Corps of Engineers worked together to upgrade the park in 1999, adding bathrooms, hook ups for a host camper, and a pavilion.

Quick digression: The name of this river is the Anglicized 'itumbi ikbi', which was Choctaw for 'coffin maker'!

Dog Friendly: This is a small country park, with no amenities for dogs. Many locals use the boat launch and the fishing pier, even at night, so we would strongly recommend keeping your dog leashed, even after curfew. Also, the park does have alligators! 

Motorcycle Friendly: The road to the park, as well as the main parking area, is paved. The boat launch area was rutted and in need of repaving when we were there.

Cell Service/Wifi: Verizon is very patchy, with signal ranging for 0-4 bars depending on where you are in the park.

Amenities: The park has bathrooms, but no showers. There is a spigot for water behind the bathrooms. There is also a large pavilion,which has a couple of electric outlets. The primitive tent sites have tables and grills. The park has a boat launch and a fishing pier, but these may or may not be accessible depending on the water level.

Getting There: Turn onto Old Park One Road from Highway 69. The park sits at the very end of Old Lock 1 road, which is approximately 3.5 miles long.

Know Before You Go: As we mentioned earlier, there are alligators at this park. The park is well-used by the locals on the weekends, and also seems to be a very popular destination for people who just want to check the water level of the river. We lost track of the number of conversations that started with "The water's up." or "The water's down".😄

While the locals are very friendly, campers should be aware cell signal is very patchy and there is only a camp host in the winter, generally from September to March. The park is well-lit at night, but we didn't see much of a sheriff presence, and we understand the sheriff does not enforce speed limits at this park. We also suspect this park probably has a mosquito issue in the summer months when the water is lower.

Local Stuff: There is a Walmart about 10 minutes away Jackson, Alabama. We understand there is a Clarke County Historical Museum in Grove Hill.  A full list of local attractions can be found at the county's web page. 

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There Is No 'Alli' in Gator

Hi! We finally have reliable internet again! Yay!

So where have we been? The last week of February turns cold and rainy - and the cell towers become cranky. After a couple of futile attempts to post, we give up on trying to blog and start packing. We leave Rainbow Plantation on March 1st, just as the weather warms up. It's a beautiful Thursday and we're on the road again!

We have plans to be in New Orleans the last week of March. Instead of driving straight through, we turn north. Our plan is to drive through Alabama, grab 64 to cross the state line, and then take 55 down through Mississippi. We stop at a Walmart for the first night, then head to Old Lock One Park, a free Army Corps of Engineers park, where we boondock for 14 days.

We'll post several more catch up posts in the next few days. For now, here's some pictures from Old Lock One - but sadly, no pictures of the 'gators. Thanks to the spring rains, the water is too high for them to stay. A local did tell us around 20 'gators have been seen hanging out further downstream. Maybe next time we'll get to see those 'gators! 

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Staying at Kentucky Artisan Center (Free!)

Our First Boondock!

The Kentucky Artisan Center is both a state visitor center and a market for local artisans and crafts, and is open from 9am to 6pm. There is also a small cafe.

 Price: Free! There are thirteen spots for RVs to park. Overnight parking is allowed, but we needed to register at the front counter.

Dog Friendly: This is an  area marked off for dogs, but it does not have a fence and it is the middle of the parking lot. There is also a lot of green space, including several large mowed areas, as well as a small walking trail, laid out in a loop.

The loop is maintained by volunteers and the path is well kept, but it does pass over several dry creeks, so may not be accessible when it's wet.

 Cell Service/Wifi: Cell Service was poor, with two bars, but this might have been weather related. The center does not have wifi.

Amenities: The center has a cafe, which is laid out cafeteria-style, and bathrooms. The center is open from 9am to 6pm, but the cafe closes at 4pm.

  The cafe's prices were very reasonable . We had heard the catfish and the derby pie was very good, and we can confirm both are excellent. As you can see, we never got a picture of the derby pie - we were too busy demolishing it!

 Getting There: The center is just off northbound I-75 and just south of Lexington. It is not only easy to get to, but it's well laid out so that buses and RVs can maneuver, park, and leave with ease.

Local Stuff: Berea is known for its college, which focuses on artisans and local crafts. There is even a hike and bike trail that can be taken into Berea from the visitor center.

Safety: There was a surprising amount of activity at this center after hours. People parking but leaving the motor running, people just cruising through the parking lot, and several people who seemed to have selected the parking lot to meet other people. While we didn't see anything nefarious, we found the constant flow of traffic through the parking lot at all hours more than a little bit odd. When we registered our vehicle, we had  also been told that the police did drive through patrols at night, but we never saw any marked or unmarked police cars.

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