Ozark National Scenic River (NSR)-Big Springs 16 July 2013

Big Springs camp ground in the Ozarks National Scenic  River is pretty big with 145 or so sites, but only about 40 of these sites have electrical hookup and water. Showers are also available but they are about a 1/4 mile from the campsite with no path to the site, so you must drive to and from your camp site if you want to take a shower.

  If you are looking to get out of the sun in July or August at this camp site you need to go someplace else. There are a few trees but they are not very big and provide little to no respite from the sun.

  About a mile from the camp site there is a river outfitter who will pick you up from your camp site, rent you a canoe, raft or tube to float the river.  We did check the price to tube and for a large tube it cost $30 and this includes pickup and drop off at the river and camp site. The tube ride is about 5 hours long. Not a bad price for a half day's fun in the water.

Cost for site cost $20 or $10 if you have a National Parks Access card. All things considered we would camp there again as the price is great.

                                                                   Big Springs Lodge

 

 

                                                                         Lodge insdie

                                        
                                                                Our camp site

      
                                                        Current River near camp

 

 

T.O. Fuller SP - TN 15 July 2013

T.O. Fuller State Park outside of Memphis, TN is one of those small state parks but it really packs a big punch. Located just seven miles from the famous Beale Street it is a great base camp to head down into the city to enjoy the great food and music the city has to offer.  The sites are spacious and paved, bathrooms and showers are clean.  The camp hosts were great folks and have been the camp hosts there for several years.

 The camp hosts have been there so long because the husband was an archeologist for the state of TN for 30 years. His job involved working for and preserving a little known site that occupies a corner of this state park, The Chicalissa (Chickasaw for abandoned place) Indian Mounds.

  For $5 you can tour the museum and the mounds. If however you are camping at the state park you get free tickets to the museum. We took full advantage whenever we get free stuff.  The site is maintained by the University of Memphis, TN and is very well preserved and maintained, with efforts to inform and educate the public. For being a very small and little known Native American Museum it packs allot about the story of the Chickasaw people.

 I highly recommend a visit to this museum.  We took about 2 hours out of our day and could have stayed longer but we had to get on the road to out next adventure, the Ozark National Scenic River in Missouri.

 

 

Cedars of Lebanon SP -TN 10 July 2013

One of our favorite restaurants, Demos, is located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We make it a point in our travels though TN to eat dinner at this place as they have really good food and a REALLY good price. It is an Italian & Steak place. On this trip I had a salad, baked potato and a 14 oz sirloin steak for $13.  I have had the steak before and they always cook it to perfection.

 Before dinner we parked Tricera-Pod at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. A very nice park with HUGE pull through spaces. OLD bathrooms and showers but as most state parks very clean.  The park is an old Civilian Conservation Corps park. There is a swimming pool, baseball fields and a conference room.  We did not get to look around much as there was a huge thunder, lighting and rain storm that came though and we had to hunker down for three hours as the rain soaked everything.

 The next morning after eating breakfast I had another adventure. Our camp site had an elevated picnic area and after I had finished eating I slipped on the wooded railroad ties that formed the perimeter of the camp site. I fell flat on my back and  cut my left elbow. The cut was not so bad, but after a week it is still sore.

  Before the big rain storm and dinner we took a ride over to Stone River National Battlefield.  Across the street from General Rosecrans headquarters on public land ( not the  battlefield) the there is a large tailing pile of rocks. In these piles of rocks you can find crinoids and brachiopods fossils. So if you are ever in that area and like to hunt for fossils this is a good place to find these small but ancient animals.

Claytor Lake SP- VA-9 July 2013

  On the road again for our annual trip to the NPTC convention.   All was well for the first couple of hours until I noticed that no one was letting me make lane changes on the highway.  So we pulled over at a rest stop about  12 miles east of Richmond, VA so I could check out  what might be wrong. Big trouble in paradise as the electrical cable from  Tricera-Pod ( our name for our little Forest River Model 177 R-Pod) that hooks up to our truck had been dragging the road for who knows how long. Bottom line all the individual wires had been stripped bare and severed. No wonder I was having trouble making lane changes, none of our turn signals, or lights were working.

 After calling an RV place to find out what it would cost, $100 and hour, to repair I went to work on my own.  A pair of wire cutters, a Swiss Army knife ( courtesy of my wife's who always carries her knife) and lots of electrical tape we were on the road again with all lights workings.

  We made camp at Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia near the TN/VA border. A really nice campground with a huge lake. Camp sites were nice and big with lots of room. Bathrooms and showers are a bit dated but they were clean. Met some really nice folks at this camps site. They were a retired couple from Texas. They taught school all over the world for over 30 years.

 Had a nice pizza for dinner at a local place, MK's Gourmet Pizza's. They severed allot more than pizza's so if anyone decides to stay at this state park check it out. You cannot miss the place as it is only a couple of miles from the entrance to the park. 

 

Chippokes Plantation SP-VA 25-27 Jun 2012

 Took our R-Pod out for a shake down, our first trip in the Pod. Three days at this Virginia state park was great.  While it rained two nights it did not spoil our experience and there was no leaks in the pod, we stayed nice and dry, unlike some of our other camping adventures.
  The park is an a working farm donated to the state in 1969. There are two campgrounds, A & B. We stayed in A which appears to be the older of the two camp sites. Camp A's showers and bathrooms are a bit dated, but very clean. The camp sites are HUGH, there is enough room to park small campers, pop-up and Class B style RV's and  one can put TWO tents on the provided pads. Water and electric (30 amps) is provided.
  Site B is a bit more updated, brick building for shower and bathroom and a laundry room. All the RV sites are paved ( Site A's are gravel) and 50 amp service  is provided.
  There is a  Huge pool, 2 ft to 12 1/2 feet deep and a small camp store located here as well. For sightseeing one can visit the working farm, museum, animals and the old plantation home. If you get bored with that you can go to the visitor center to look at the fossils found along the James River. By the way if you like to hunt for fossil's you can do so along the river, but you can ONLY keep the sharks teeth.
  This time of year ( June) you can leave the park and go pick Blueberries about a two miles down the road at College Run Farm. We have done this for a couple years now. Sandee makes jam from what we pick.
 All in all a great camping trip. OOOO yes, while I was in the Pod one night getting ready for bed around 8pm, Sandee was outside reading at the table when a raccoon decided he/she wanted to take a stroll though our camp. The raccoon came within arms length of Sandee and when she talked to him/her it just kept on walking. The next day I saw wild turkey and deer in the camp site. Plus all sorts of birds, woodpeckers, cardinals etc.
We had a nice time at this campground.

                                               R-Pod hooked up to the truck in camp

                                                             Park entrance
                                  

                                                         Park museum

                                               Donkey's near the museum

 

                                                 James River near visitor center

Bird Song Resort,TN- November 2012

 If you are looking for a twist on camping, this RV/Tent/Marina is it. Birdsong Resort is built on Kentucky Lake centrally located on the Tennessee River, the largest man made lake in the USA. That is pretty neat, but the big deal here is the farm fresh water pearls, the only place in North America that does so.  They give tours of the farm which cost, but there are a couple levels of tours with varying cost, so you can pick the one that suits you. We did not take the boat out on the water to see the pearl farm, but out tent site was so close we had a nice view of the operation. Of course you can buy pearls too at the tourist trap, which we did.
  Our camp site was a wide open area with enough trees that provided great shade. The shower was not all that great but it was good enough to wash off the trail dust. A water facet was near by so we could haul water to the camp. The best thing was we were the only one's there, so it was nice and quiet.
  There is parking for RV's, which provide all the requirements one needs. However, the entire resort is a bit overcrowded.  There are so many permanent summer homes /trailers at the resort one gets the feeling that in the summer time this place would be supper busy.  There is a club house with a pool that is open to everyone.
  Would I drive my RV there? I don't think so, I seem to recall the roads where a bit cramped and what I saw of the RV park/campgrounds that seemed pretty tight as well.  But if you are looking for something different this might be the place.
  If I was going to visit again, I would park my RV at Nathan Bedford Forest State Park, then drive on over to Birdsong just to check out the pearl farm.  The state park has better accommodations in my book.
  Lost all my pictures of Birdsong when I bought my new computer sorry, nothing to share on that front. But you can do a web search for Birdsong and all kinds of stuff comes up.
 

Hungry Mother State Park, VA-November 2012

  I have posted some information from the website, which is easier than me trying to list everything. We stayed here one night in a tent and I have to tell you it was wonderful. Our campsite was really close to the showers and they were clean, clean, clean as was the laundry room.
  Even in November the campground was crowed but everyone was quite and the surroundings were beautiful. We arrived a bit too late to try our the restaurant, but the building was cool, build by the CCC back in the day with stone, got love stone buildings. The visitor center, where you check in has allot of nature stuff to look at.
  All of Virginia state parks have a rubber stamp that you can get an impression to remember your visit. I collect stamps from the National Parks and there is a book you can get to press your stamps into. I use this same book  to collect other stamps like the Virginia state parks stamps.
  Some states, like Tennessee, have their own passport book you can get for free at any state park. It tells you about the park and it provides a place to stamp the parks stamp.
  Anyway, since we live in Virginia we have visited and/or stayed at a few and we have always enjoyed our stay.

 Long a family favorite known for beautiful woodlands and a placid 108-acre lake in the heart of the mountains, Hungry Mother has a sandy beach with bathhouse, boats (fishing, canoe, kayak and paddle) and a boat launch, and a universally accessible fishing pier. Guests also enjoy its campgrounds, cabins, gift shop, visitor center, six-bedroom family lodge that sleeps 15, hiking and biking trails, and restaurant

  Camp Burson Camping (This campground is located before the entrance to Hungry Mother State Park proper.)
Camp Burson guests register at Camp Burson, not at the Discovery Center. The entrance is on the right side of Park Boulevard just before you reach the park's main entrance. Camp Burson guests will need to drive to the park's main gate to gain access to all other amenities at the park - swimming, restaurant, concessions, gift shop, cabins, other campgrounds, Hemlock Haven, etc. All Virginia State Park rules, regulations and policies pertaining to reservations apply to Camp Burson guests.
Site types in Hungry Mother proper
A (Campground A E/W, 11 sites) - Various equipment, electric and water hookups; tents, popup campers and RVs up to 35 feet; back-in sites; accept outlets for 20 and 30 amp current (50-amp current available at Camp Burson only).
B (Campground B E/W, 20 sites) - Various equipment, electric and water hookups; tents, popup campers and RVs up to 35 feet; back-in sites; accept outlets for 20 and 30 amp current (50-amp current available at Camp Burson only).
C (Campground C - 11 TENT sites) - Tents only. Bathhouse. Tent must fit on 20 by 20-foot pad. No hookups.
Burson EWS (30 electric, water and sewer hookup sites in Camp Burson only, and not near other Hungry Mother campgrounds) - Various equipment, electric, water, sewer hookups; tents, pop-ups and RVs up to 35 feet; back-in sites; accept outlets for 20, 30 and 50-amp current. Sites are on gravel; tent campers should bring air mattress. (Carefully read the info above regarding Camp Burson sites; the campground is not in Hungry Mother State Park proper. It's adjacent to the park, and check-in is handled separately during the main camping season.)
Burson E/W (22 electric and water hookup sites, no sewer in Camp Burson only, and not near other Hungry Mother campgrounds) – Various equipment; electric and water, no sewer; tents, pop-ups and RVs up to 35 feet; back-in sites; accept outlets for 20, 30, and 50-amp current. Sites are on gravel; tent campers should bring air mattress. (Carefully read the info above regarding Camp Burson sites. The campground is not in Hungry Mother State Park proper. It's adjacent to the park, and check-in is handled separately during the main camping season.)
Total campsites: 94 total in the park; 52 of which are in Camp Burson