Category: Family Weekend Trips
Moundville Archaeological Park, near Tuscaloosa, AL…
January 31, 2013 by Dana Ticknor · Leave a Comment
We recently spent 2 weeks near Tuscaloosa, AL, volunteering with a Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief build. While we were there, we stayed at the Moundville Archaeological Park, in Moundville, AR; about 20 minutes south of Tuscaloosa. The MAP is a small park, about 26 acres, that consists of a museum, ancient Indian mounds, replica Indian huts, beautiful walking paths, and a small campground. At the entrance to the park is a Orientation building, where you can speak with a park ranger, find park information, and watch a well-done, informative film on the park and surrounding area’s history. We really appreciated the film as we knew nothing about the area before we watched it. We found the staff here to be very informative and education oriented - when they found out that we homeschool, they gave us some information on the park, including some activity sheets for the kids, that made our stay much more interesting! The grounds contain over a dozen Indian mounds, built around... [Read more...]
Camping with Pets
January 25, 2013 by Rex Vogel · 5 Comments
With more and more campgrounds accepting pets and offering on-site pet amenities, more pets than ever are being included on camping trips. Camping with Pets Camping with pets can be a very enjoyable experience for both owners and their animals with a little preparation and planning. While camping can be a very affordable vacation option, being able to bring pets eliminates the need for a boarding facility. Owners and pets can enjoy their vacation together, an experience that isn’t always available on other types of vacations, according to a New Hampshire Campground Owners Association news release. Sylvia Leggett, owner of Roberts Knoll Campground in Alton, New Hampshire, and member of the New Hampshire Campground Owners’ Association Board of Directors, has been camping with her three golden retrievers for many years. Leggett has noticed an increase in the number of campgrounds that allow pets, with many adding pet-friendly services. “That’s why many people camp, so they can be outdoors... [Read more...]
There’s Still More to Love about Texas Food
January 7, 2013 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Texans take their food as seriously as they do their football. Many Winter Texans and other visitors to the Lone Star State have the good sense to agree with them—that Texan food is that of the gods. 1. Po Po Family Restaurant Bright neon letters spell “CHICKEN, STEAKS, SEAFOOD” across the rock exterior of Po Po Family Restaurant. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved Bright neon letters spell “CHICKEN, STEAKS, SEAFOOD” across the rock exterior of Po Po Family Restaurant, just off I-10, 37 miles north of San Antonio at the Welfare exit #533. The neon and the notice tell you what to expect at Po Po’s: a menu that requires no translation, featuring traditional American and Southern fare, cooked to order. Po Po is not just your ordinary restaurant. This eatery has a unique history with a cast of unique characters and circumstances, a matchless plate collection, as well as some of the best food in the Texas Hill County. The warmth and hospitality are hard to beat. If you have ever... [Read more...]
Some Days Are Diamond: Florida Man Finds 1.95 ct. Brown Diamond
December 9, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
The second-largest diamond found so far this year at Crater of Diamonds State Park was certified on the afternoon of November 28. Doug Lay holds his newly found 1.95-carat dark brown diamond. (Credit: Crater of Diamonds State Park) The 1.95-carat dark brown gem is about the size of an English pea, with a round shape and a pitted surface. 40-year-old Doug Lay, a certified nursing assistant from Hernando, Florida, discovered the coffee-colored gem around 1:00 p.m. while wet sifting in the East Drain, a trench along the east side of the park’s 37 ½-acre diamond search area. Lay is no stranger to diamond finds; he has found more than 30 over the past four years, but this is his largest find yet! Lay first learned about Crater of Diamonds State Park from his father, one of the park’s longtime diamond miners. “Dad’s been coming to the Crater of Diamonds off and on for about 17 years. Whenever I’m on vacation, I like coming to Arkansas to spend time with him, and we enjoy searching... [Read more...]
Fall and Winter Warning about Blacklegged Ticks
December 4, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
An earlier post, Top 10 things RVers Should Know about Ticks, stressed the fact that ticks can be active even in the winter. That’s right! Adult stage blacklegged ticks (also known as deer ticks) become active every year after the first frost. They’re not killed by freezing temperatures, and while other ticks enter a feeding diapause as day-lengths get shorter, deer ticks will be active any winter day that the ground is not snow-covered or frozen. This surprises people, especially during a January thaw or early spring day. Remember this fact and hopefully you’ll never be caught off-guard. Campers, hikers, and hunters should take special precautions in the woods during fall and winter to avoid this winter-resilient tick that transmits Lyme disease, according the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). “We are trying to make the hunters aware that there are ticks in some of these areas and asking them to check their deer,” said Lindsay Rist, wildlife communication... [Read more...]
Stairs: The Hidden Danger In RVs
November 30, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 4 Comments
The day after Thanksgiving, the full day of eating whatever we want; we set out for a fun weekend of camping at the beach. The beach camp spot my aunt reserved this year was at Leo Carrillo State Beach, a scenic stretch of canyon leading to gorgeous coastline, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean. You access it from the Pacific Coast Highway, just south of where we live. My dear aunt was only one day late in reserving our typical spot at Carpinteria State Beach and, lo and behold, there were no spots left! So we settled for second best: Leo Carrillo, where I grew up camping and loving every second of it. Leo Carrillo is just off a narrow, windy stretch of highway along the coast with no bike lane, so bicycling with our kids in tow to the campsite was out of the question (although we did enjoy riding around the campground and over to the beach side)! We packed up our bikes and set off with the RV and a handful of tents for two nights at Leo Carrillo State Beach... [Read more...]
Plowing for Diamonds in Arkansas
November 20, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park. The state park’s policy is finder-keepers. What park visitors find is theirs to keep. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The colors found at the Crater of Diamonds are white, brown, and yellow, in that order. The search area at the Crater of Diamonds State Park is a 37 ½-acre plowed field, the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. Why plow the search field at the diamond mine? The practice of plowing the diamond field goes back to the earliest days of commercial diamond mining, according to Park Interpreter Margi Jenks. In the early 1900s miners used a mule team and farming plow to dig trenches. After tourism began in the 1950s, Millar’s Crater of Diamonds used a road grader to turn over the dirt on what is now the north end of the present diamond search area. Today’s... [Read more...]
Fabulous Fall Camping Activities–Part 4: The Blues Fest
November 18, 2012 by Diane Berry · 1 Comment
I know that Labor Day Weekend is technically not in fall, but for many campers, it marks the end of the summer camping season and time to switch to fall activities. One destination event worth planning for occurs every Labor Day Weekend up at Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico: the Enchanted Circle Festival Labor Day Weekend Blues Fest. Billed as a weekend of music and camping, the event is truly worth attending. The music is free and the camping, Friday through Monday is a mere $25 for the entire festival. Albuquerque’s Taxi Dancer Band performing at Blues Fest Some of the best Blues acts around are booked every year. In 2012, it was the Taxi Dancer Band for Albuquerque, Gulf Coast Blues Legend Bert Wills, Kathy and the Cruisers and Felix y Los Gatos. Clearly the headliner, Wills is known in the Texas music scene as a Texas Blues-Rock legend His music ranges in styles from swamp country and Texas swing to Chicago and Piedmont blues, conjuring up a collection of roots music echoes of everyone... [Read more...]
Camping in Rose Valley
November 17, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 2 Comments
Rose Valley has an incredibly easy, short, and beautiful hike to the bottom of the 300-foot high Rose Valley Falls. Go a few days after rainfall and you will experience the falls more full, complete with rushing water at the lower and hopefully upper falls. Just a mile-long round trip, the hike takes you to the bottom of the lower falls, with options for some more extreme hiking to the bottom of the upper falls. During the hike, you have to cross a stream and may have to boulder-hop if the flow is up. Just 15 miles north of lovely Ojai, off Highway 33, Rose Valley is a spectacular section of the Los Padres National Forest. Go for an afternoon hike or for a weekend-long camping trip. At an elevation of 3,450 feet, the Rose Valley Campground consists of a peaceful 9-site single loop of campground sites, serenely shaded by cottonwood trees. The sites are pretty primitive with just fire pits, BBQ grills, and picnic tables. Three small, stocked lakes are nearby as well as the Ojai... [Read more...]
The Changing Face of Campers
November 16, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 2 Comments
When you go camping, do you go to party? Do you go to see family you haven’t seen in eons? At campgrounds all around, there is a new face of campers who seem to: camp specifically to connect with extended family, encourage the kids of multiple (often related) families to play together, while partying with all the best camping supplies that money can buy. The 2012 American Camping Report “confirms that Hispanic campers are social, using camping as an opportunity to connect with friends, family and extended family.” Being half-Mexican myself, I completely agree with the findings of this report and find them to be true with the Mexican side of my family. I grew up camping with my extended family and it was oftentimes the only time all year that we would see some of the extended family members. Camping was an ideal way to enjoy the great outdoors while bringing our extended family together at the same time. Mexicans are also more likely to go “glamping” (glamorous... [Read more...]
