Bucky's (the cat) Big adventure

[gryphon]

Hiya Airstreamers,

In about 10 days we will be ready to roll. Tom is currently redoing the Dexters. I am washing cleaning and packing. Hopefully we will roll out of the Atlanta area on may 10th.

We plan on heading west the southern route (Interstate 10). Taking our time and enjoying the sights of whatever bits and pieces we can experience of the natural and historic west. Plans are currently to drive maybe 300 miles a day and stay where we are at for 2 or 3 nights before heading on to the next destination.

First stop will be Aliceville Alabama. Does any one know of any campgrounds in that area. We are stopping to see friends that live in that city.

Also I need some advice on places to see in between the already planned stops.
I know we want to see the Alamo, Canyon of the Eagles, Big Bend, Carlesbad, Three Rivers Petrogylphs, Billy the Kid (can't recall the name of the town) then up and across from Taos to Pagosa Springs.

any suggestions on campgrounds and sites would be appreciated.

Also any suggestions on what might slip my mind on stuff we need for the journey and destination. Last summer when i went to colorado --- i forgot to take enough summer clothes. But you know the thing you forgot to take on a extended trip and wish you had.
We will be gone from home until end of september.

and lastly.. we will be staying at the www.Lastresortrv.com campground. Anyone coming out that way stop by and see us. We will be the ones in the airstream

Tom & Betsy

[jaco]

Well who am I to know..? Depends so much on what you like doesn't it?

But I would stay off I-10 and take I-20 to Vicksburg Miss. I'd explore downtown area there, old and trying to make a comeback. National cemetery from Civil war and Battlefields if so inclined. Then I'd take the Natchez Trace down to Natchez and hang around a while before crossing Ol Man River to Louisiana. Go to Fereiday (home of cousins Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilly and jimmy swaggart ) on to Alexandria (I love minor league baseball and would take in an Aces game if in town or still in business ). From there up to Nachitoches (Steel Magnolias) and on over to East Texas across Toledo Bend Resv. and then across Lake Sam Rayburn to Zavalla Airstream Park. There I'd plan on my look at Texas. Lots of decisions.

Glad yall are going to the Alamo. Not much except a hallowed shrine. But very hallowed to many of us. Enjoy it now before <it is torn> down!
Be sure and walk thru the Menger Hotel next door and go thru the mall off the Hotel to the riverwalk. Drink a beer at the Buckhorn Saloon if time permits and eat Bar-B-Que at the downtown Bill Miller's and put pico de gallo on the potato salad.
You'll love the riverwalk I think. skip the Mercado, but see whats goin on at the convention center. Minor league baseball in San Antonio too far out of the Central area.
Be sure to get around in the Hill Country up towards Austin. Lots of Austin area members here to give you the best happenings. I like Wimberley but there is alot of Hill Country. including Canyon of Eagles.
heck at this point you can call off the rest of the trip west. You will have arrived.!!
Course if you just gotta bolt Texas be sure to drop by the rally at Colo Springs on my birthday. I won't be there . I am authorizing Shari to use my likeness in promotional materials, and to dedicate happy hour on that date in my name, I predict a toast to jaco and other absent members to be proposed at that time. Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, Rainbow Falls, Pikes Peak etc.great stuff but yall probl have done all that.
Bring a fly swatter, sketter spray, & snakebite kit......for the rally... just kidding shari, calm yourself.

[InsideOut]

<moderator hat on>
I have edited the "commentary" portions of this thread not having to do with the original topic. Let's not destroy another innocent thread with "non-Airstream" issues and beliefs.
<moderator hat off>

Back to Bucky's Big Adventure...

If you are in the area (Colorado Springs) during the Rocky Mountain VAC Rally, be sure to drop in & visit! The Open House on Saturday, July 31st is open to the public & non-rally attendees...

Shari

[gryphon]

Thanks for the info Jaco, seems to be a good amount of suggestions. I know Tom would love to visit the cemetery at Vicksburg - me too. Don't know about Fereiday butthat is worth a thought especially if we are in the area.
I will print out your message and see what can be included in our plans.
Shari we are looking at coming up to the rally up at Gardens of the Gods. I haven't talked to tom about joining the vac but will later - the brakes are all he can concentrate on currently.
we are getting quite excited and looking forward to spending the next 4 months living in our airstream.
Tom & Betsy and Buckycat

[Pahaska]

A good stop between the Austin area and Big Bend is Seminole Canyon State Historical Area. The campground has about 30 sites. Take a guided hike into the canyon to see some of the oldest pictographs or self-guide down to the Rio Grande and back (7 miles round trip). I have a shorter desert hike that I "invented" that I can describe if you are interested.

From the Austin area, I go west on US290, jog down to Mountain Home and west on Texas 41 to US377, then down to Del Rio. For just a thin line on the map, Texas 41 is a straight 2-lane with wide shoulders and only one stop sign in about 100 miles. From Seminole Canyon, you can go west on US90 to Marathon (pronounced "Mara-thin") and then down to Big Bend

[jaco]

Tom & Betsy I wasn't suggesting that there is anything to see or do in Ferriday La., just that you have to go that way from Natchez heading west. I didn't mean to infer that there was a shrine, birthplace, or even a sign admitting it was home to Jerry Lee. Mickey, and jimmy swaggart. Nor do I know if they were born in a home, hospital, etc. Just remembered as I wrote that they were all from there. All of the three have provided me with lots of entertainment.

I have never seen the Zavalla Airstream Park BTW and don't know whether it is well attended or not. Pahaska has been there and can advise.
It will start getting rather warm and humid toward Memorial Day so ya might try to find a couple or three old fashioned hand fans. A big old parasol and a extra box of dusting powder. Best chain burgers in the state are at Dairy Queen and What-a-burger. Lotto tickets for each wed & sat try are everywhere. Min 3.5 million a drawing.

On the way home in September take the Northern New Mexico route over Raton Pass and check the _?_volcano between Raton and Clayton. Great uncluttered rangeland with fabulous sunsets or rises depending on your orientation. Drop down into the Caprock country of High West Texas and visit Palo Duro Canyon outside Amarillo. Then kick back for a long drive across northwest Texas to Wichita Falls, I'd go down to Ft.Worth and then all the way home on I-20 east.Or from Amarillo take I-40 over to Oklahoma City and on to Memphis & US 64 to Chatanooga then down home to Peach Hill or hotlanta. Personally I'd stop in Little Rock and dump my black tank at the presidential clinton library,a fitting tribute & who'd notice . But everyone pays respects in their own way. So that is very optional.

Very Happy Trails
jaco

Oh and join GoodSam Road Club today. Best 79.00 you can spend. Forget AAA.

[gryphon]

No problem Jaco, I had no clue where Ferriday was and did not know we would be going by there anyway. Isn't elvis another cousin??

Not heard of Zavalla A/S Park but i will look for info on it.
Yeah i am wondering if it might already be a bit hot and humid for even now. No place can be as bad as Georgia for humidity. Maybe we will forego Big Bend. Hopefully we will reach Pagosa Springs by the 25th.

Tried to get to Palo Duro last Spring but it happened to be easter weekend and we had no reservations so we drove n and spent the night in New Mexico. It was a bummer.

I will print out all the info and see what I have and confer with the S/O and see how he wants to do it. I just wanna get on the road.
We join Good Sam the weekend we got the Tradewinds. It has helped alot.

Thanks again


tom & betsy