May Showers to Flowers

[wheel interested]

I'm shopping for a trip starting the beginning of May hopefully to catch some great displays of spring flowers or just great areas of natural slendor, or in leu of that, just a nice place to tour or hang. May doesn't seem to be a busy month for forum rallies or WBCCI rallies. I'll be leaving the women's rally the end of April from Ohio. Racking my brain over where to go or what to do next.

What's on your calendar for May? Is there a great place in your area to visit? Any recommendations for that particular time of year? Any impromptu rallies or get togethers I might crash? Do you have a favorite place you camp in May? Do tell. All tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[kamadeca]

Wheel,

Check out the Ontario Canada Unit Spring rally in Almonte, ON the weekend of May 16th to 19th. This is followed by the Region 2 Rally the following weekend. You would be very close to Ottawa which has their annual Tulip Festival ending the weekend of the 19th. There usually is some carryover for a week or so (especially given the weather Ottawa has been having!). It is a spectacular display of tulips.

[wheel interested]

Cool! I'm checking it out now. I've never camped in Canada before but have driven from Glacier Park through Calgary and over to Banif and another time through to the New England area, lovely areas. It is definitely on my list of places to go and spend time. You think that SNOW will be gone by then? I met the Region 2 President, Don Mc Kelvay and his wife at the IBT rally in Georgia last year. Great people!! Thanks for the heads up. Tulips are so beautiful. I think after our long winters we really appeciate them that much more!

[wheel interested]

What's spring time in the Missouri area like? Darn I am just missing Soldiermedics rally.

We went to Mahoney State Park in Nebraska once that was lovely with irises and birds and the conservatory and tower.

Another destination I was considering is the Top of Georgia Airstream Park (again just missing another rally in that area I think.) I know that would be beautiful in fall but has anyone styed there in Spring? The Smokies are another possibility.

If any of you have favorite parks in those areas shoot me a pm please or post them right here. Thanks

[Melody Ranch]

You can do no better than a trip thru the the part of Texas South of Dallas/Ft. Worth at that time of the year. Not just the Blue Bonnets, Mexican Hats and Paintbrush..Stop in and visit the Airstream Gang in Hillsboro, then to the State Parks around Blanco. Then to Boerne, right turn (West) to Tarply and Utopia and on to the Garner State Park....the Frio River around Vanderpool and Lost maples area.....a great park at Concan. From there cut south and see the cactus flowers etc., all the way thru the King Ranch. Tired yet? Hit the Rio Grande Valley for all the tropicals which will be out then. Many parks there......If you like to photograph birds your at the right place.

[wheel interested]

That sounds wonderful! I have seen soo many woodland trilliums in the North, time to see some real splashs of color. I'm going to look up those areas. We've only seen Palo Duro and Caprock Canyonlands in Texas but what a great state! We were very impressed with the land AND the friendly people.

[tslanier]

Highland Haven
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service)

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

What's on your calendar for May? Is there a great place in your area to visit? Any recommendations for that particular time of year? Any impromptu rallies or get togethers I might crash? Do you have a favorite place you camp in May? Do tell. All tips would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You can come out and visit me in Missoula

[wheel interested]

Highland Haven is an Airstream park I did not know about. Thanks for the links. Would I ever love to see those turtles too at Cape Hatteras! All this information is going as a supplement in my Woodalls on our trips. I put a lot of weight in personal recommendations, with so much of the United States to see and traveling at a premium these days, I'd rather not leave destinations to hit or miss entirely. Terrific.

Michelle, we always planned to retire in Montana or Wyoming. I'm coming, keep that raincheck open ended please. In fact if you find two jobs I'll take the other and see you next week.

[tin sista]

Hey Carol,
The Smokies are great this time of year and not crowded. If you stay in the national park you don't need the air conditioning this time of year either so the lack of hook ups isn't that big of a deal. Elkmont Riverside is very nice.

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by wheel interested

Michelle, we always planned to retire in Montana or Wyoming. I'm coming, keep that raincheck open ended please. In fact if you find two jobs I'll take the other and see you next week.

Well I am going to see how things go this summer. I may install a septic system, run electricity, drill a well and get a phone line. Yeah I plan on becoming trailer trash on my own property.

[wheel interested]

Gatlinburg and Pidgeon Forge would be so fun, I could do the Ripleys Believe or Not and Dollywood. That campground looks nice Steph.
Aren't the bears just waking up with their babies? Just read this advisory..."We advise that outdoorsmen wear small bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that aren’t expecting them, and to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter....
It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings. Black bear droppings are smaller and contain lots of berries and fur. Grizzly bear droppings have little bells in it and smell like pepper."

Michelle you would be trailer chic.

[Minnie's Mate]

Why don't you leave a little earlier and go to the Georgia Springstream Rally, then head on down to Calloway Gardens for the Azalea Festival...you really won't believe it. The Cecil B. Day Butterfly House is is also beautiful. There are a ton of things to do there. Callaway Gardens | Georgia Vacation Resort, Family Vacations, Golf & Weekend Getaways

If you go to Calloway, camp at the Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park (right down the road from Calloway and the FDR museum). Just watch out for deer on the surrounding road in the park at dusk! You can visit the FDR museum, Little White House and Warm Springs Hospital where FDR "took the waters" prior to, during, and after, his presidency, and there are also stables at the park where you can do the nature trails on horseback. You may have seen some of these when you went to the Mid-Winter in '07, but you wouldn't have seen the Azaleas.

You can probably work all of this in and attend the rally at Top of Georgia. This WBCCI only park is beautiful and is only a few miles from Helen, GA...a quaint Alpine style village in the N. GA mountains. It is also just a few miles from where the Springstream will be held. We have stayed at ToG and really enjoyed it. They have free WI-Fi and cable, but your cell phone won't work there because they are in a small valley literally surrounded by steep mountains. It is really spectacular in the fall when the leaves turn. The park is a rally park and they really pack them in there during the holiday rallies sometimes so there are no pic-nic tables or other activity amenities like pools or tennis courts, but the people there are super nice.

The spring thaw is in full swing here in Georgia so Ya'll come, ya' hear!

[wheel interested]

Hi Tom! I would love to go to the Georgia Springstream Rally and see you and many of the great Can Opener folks again. That would be lots of fun. I do have a few appointments scheduled in April but I will see if I might be able to rearrange them.

Callaway Gardens looks tremendous. There's an azala watch page here. Callaway Gardens | Azalea Watch I love butterfly houses. Then with a stay at FDR and TOG sounds lovely. Thanks!!

Glad to hear the spring thaw is happening over there. It's a balmy 34 degrees here now (...just when we thought it was finally warming up here.)

Here's a shot from the azala watch page and a couple of butterflies I shot at the house on Macinac Island.

and one from here at home, that we actually watched hatch that took up residence on the side of the garage. That was pretty amazing to watch.

[Minnie's Mate]

Oh how I wish we were able to go to the Springstream Rally, but we already had plans. That weekend is the end of Spring Break for Becki and the boys so we had made plans for the week when the date was decided.

Our Airstream is stored in Florida right now since all of the trips we have planned this year are within an hour of its "vacation home". We leave on 4/4 after work to be reunited with her and then it's off to Ft. Wilderness! Storing her there will save us $100-$150 per trip based on our last trip down in December not to mention some fatigue on the drive.

Hope your rally(ies) are great fun. Look forward to seeing you again at the Can Opener next January (I've already reserved my site!). Safe travels and happy camping.