Missing Those Palm Trees and Tradewinds

(Scott AFB, Illinois) 63 degrees, rainy and chilly

We have traveled over 1500 miles from Key West.  What a difference a few miles can make.  Gone are the shorts and flip flops.  Now it is jeans, sneakers, rain coat, and umbrella.  The weather radio got fired up yesterday too. Right now there are hail, high winds,  heavy rains, and flood warnings. Sheesh! 

It seemed like a good morning just to stay put and bake some cinnamon rolls in the oven.  With a few cups of and a serenade from this little bird our new weather pattern did not seem as bad. 

Spotted Towhee

This is our first sighting of a Spotted Towhee. We ended up having to cover the mirrors. He was working himself into a frenzy fighting his reflection. 

We are camping at Scotts Air Force Base in Illinois.  It is very close to St. Louis.  We stopped here for a few days and had dinner with some dear friends who used to live in Indianapolis.  Chet and Chris moved to St. Louis a few years ago and it was so good to see them.  Chris and I used to work together at St. Vincent Carmel. 

We ate at a fantastic Italian restaurant called Favazza's in St. Louis.  Our meal was delicious and it was so nice to catch up with each other's lives and adventures. 

The famcamp at the base is very nice.  There is water and electric and the sites are good size and shaded.  Only downside was we are not able to get a signal with our satellite 



Scott AFB Famcamp



Jimmy is a little sad about his new surroundings.  The weather is not going to be very good and this will prevent much exploring over the next few days.  

Earlier in the week we stayed at two KOA campgrounds.  One was in Forsyth Georgia.  It certainly was not a very level campground (check out our picnic table) but it worked as a good over night stop  One nice perk was warm chocolate chip cookies delivered to our door by one of the workampers.  Yummy!

KOA Forsyth Georgia

Small catch and release fishing pond

Last night we stayed at the Kentucky Lakes/Prizer Point KOA in Cadiz, Kentucky.  This huge campground is not far from the interstate but seemed very much off the beaten path. Most of the sites overlook the  Intercoastal Waterway  How can that be...you ask?  Amazingly this waterway will eventually lead to the Mississippi River.

It is a very pretty setting with lots to offer especially during the summer time.  There are a wide variety of boats to rent (house, pontoon, paddle) and over 150 cabins. Their season is just about to start and we loved seeing the dogwood in bloom streaking across the forest like white lightening. Everything just looks so green and fresh. 

Office and boat center

Kentucky Lake/Prizer Point KOA

We have seen a lot over the past week and plan to take a few days off before heading further west.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Easter!

"On the Road" Living Our Dream

(Berea, KY / Knoxville, TN) We said good bye to the owners for the Indy KOA, Dave and Lori.  We had a nice dinner the night before at our favorite Mexican restaurant El Nopal.  We have enjoyed so much working at this KOA.  It was our first workamping experience and we really had a great time and learned so much.. 





Dave and Lori

Dave up on the roof of the KOA office installing the new WYFI

Dave and Jonathon getting ready to ride the golf cart around the campground.

After much ado, last minute errands and good byes, we left Indianapolis and started our full time dream on December 3rd. We left just in time before a winter storm was supposed to hit the area. We are heading to Raleigh North Carolina to spend the holidays with our daughter, Jen.

Our first night was spend at a Passport America campground in Berea Kentucky.  We arrived much later than we would have liked.  We really do not like negotiating an unfamiliar campground in the dark, but it could not be avoided.  The campground is called Walnut Meadow RV Park and is right off I-75.  It was only $12 for the night and the owner was very friendly and escorted us right to our pull through site.  The next morning we woke up to SNOW!  I guess we did not get out of dodge quick enough.  Good Grief!



Our site at Walnut Meadow RV Park



We waited around until about 12 noon and slowly left to see if we could go a little further.  We were very nervous about driving on the snow covered roads, but once we were on the interstate the roads were pretty good.  However, after about 3 hours John said he'd like to call it a day and settle into the next campground during day light.  One of the campers in Berea told us about a Passport campground called Volunteer Park, near Knoxville Tennessee.  It was very nice, convenient, and reasonable ($19 per night). We would go back again.  The sites are a little close together but for a one or two night stay it's perfect and well run by the friendly owner who looks a lot like Santa Claus. 



Volunteer Park Knoxville Tennessee (site near ours)





Campground office




We did a little grocery shopping and went to see the latest Harry Potter movie.  It was 2 1/2 hours long but it did not seem to be that long.  We thought it was well done and it was the first of a two part conclusion. After that we called it a night.  Roads looks like they may be clear tomorrow.  We hope to arrive in Raleigh tomorrow to see Jen. We can't wait to see her.