Month: March 2023

March 30 & 31, 2023: Hidden Falls Adventure Park

karenstark

Thursday we got up and found the weather to be as if we were on the Oregon coast. The air was thick with fog and heavy mist that made everything dripping wet. But it wasn’t raining… just doing that wet misty thing like at the Pacific Ocean beaches. It was soggy-doggy outside. The forecast said it would be cloudy, but only a 20% chance of rain. Well technically, that was correct. It wasn’t raining. We were just smack dab inside the cloud! Well, we got up and moving anyway, loaded Kawi, stopped at the pooper dumper outer, and were on our way before 9:30. It was only a 30 minute drive or so to our next destination.

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March 26-29 2023: Adventures in Texas

karenstark

Sunday we were up and gone by 9:30 to head west away from the nasty weather that was on it’s way to Louisiana. Our destination was Ratcliff Recreation Area in the Davey Crockett National Forest, just 140 miles away. That would leave 225 miles for Monday to get to Inks Lake State Park, west of Austin Texas. By 10:30 we were crossing the Toledo Bend Reservoir bridge. This is a huge body of water.

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March 24 & 25, 2023: Natchitoches Louisiana

karenstark

Friday we had a pretty short drive ahead of us, just 150 miles west to Natchitoches. My friend from Louisiana taught me how to say that many years ago, and it isn’t what you think. It’s “Nach-a-tish”. Yes, really! It kind of comes out more like Nackadish. I need a Louisianan to tell me how to pronounce Worshestershire sauce, because they’re really good at eliminating syllables. I remember working with people in the south, and my name lost a syllable, and I was just “Kar’n. 😉

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March 22 & 23, 2023: Checking out Natchez Mississippi

karenstark

Wednesday we pulled out of our parking lot and headed a bit northwest to Natchez Mississippi. In Washington State, we have a Natchez, and we pronounce it “Na-CHEEZE” and is definitely two syllables.. Here in the south, it rhymes with “matches”, or think “Natch’s”, so there is no “Z” sound at all, and if they could say it all in one syllable, they would. To get there, we followed I-12 west, then turned north on I-55 for awhile, then cut across over to Natchez State Park. It was a nice drive, about 220 miles. We were in Louisiana (Loozyanna) by 10:30.

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March 20, 2023: Westward Departure 2.o

karenstark

Monday morning, I was up at 5:15. 🥱. Our plan was to get to the RV place in Clearwater by 8:00 to get Mr. Nitro and then we’d be on our way. All we needed to do was pack up all the things that we just brought home a few days ago, and turn everything off again so that the homestead is ready to spend the summer without us. We were on the road before 6:30, and long before the sun woke up!
This was the view of Tampa Bay as we drove across the Sunshine Bridge. Beautiful!!

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March 14, 2023: Exploring Tallulah Falls, then back to FL

karenstark

Tuesday morning, Sherry and Alan had to head home, so we were on our own for adventures today. I had a scenic drive in mind, but Sherry had mentioned that Tallulah Falls State Park and Gorge was nice, so I checked that out. It looked like a fun place to see, so I figured we could go there first, then maybe continue our drive. It was pretty chilly and breezy, but clear and beautiful. Being a Pacific Northwest girl, and now Florida girl, I can’t get over how little underbrush there is here in the Georgia forests. I’ve lived in three places in my life: Florida, Western Washington, and Alaska. (Alaska was 40 years ago.). The two most recent places have nearly impenetrable undergrowth!

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March 13, 2023: Camping with friends in Georgia

karenstark

Sunday we helped (a little) with packing up the race paddock. I always associated the word ‘paddock’ with horses, but it is the same for race cars…. where they hang out when they aren’t racing. It was a rainy cold morning, and we really were not a lot of help. Around 3:30, we pulled out and headed to Don Carter State Park, which is on Lake Lanier. It was only about a 40 minute drive from the track, which was really nice. We had reservations there for three nights, and for Sunday & Monday, our good friends Sherry & Alan from our 2018 Great Loop adventure were going to camp there as well! They live just east of Atlanta, so they asked if they could join us for a couple of days. YAY!

“The Chattahoochee River, flowing from the north Georgia Mountains, meets Lake Lanier at Don Carter State Park, creating a unique opportunity for recreation and outdoor appreciation on the northern edge of metro-Atlanta.”

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March 8-12, 2023: SCCA at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

karenstark

Wednesday through Sunday, we spent our days at the Racetrack with Scotty B White and his racing friends. I’ve known Scotty since elementary school, and when he invited us to come be part of his crew again in Atlanta, we gladly accepted! We’ve turned into his “Hospitality and Go-fer” crew. 😄 We fix lunch, keep snacks and hydration available, and run for gas and parts. 😊. And we get to watch some fun racing and be on the ‘inside’. On Wednesday, we drove from Adel up to Braselton, which is just to the northeast of Atlanta.
Along the way, I was amazed at what looks like wild wisteria, with it’s purple pendulum bunches of flowers. It was everywhere! It’s very pretty, but I imagine it’s like ivy and end up choking out the host plants and trees.

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