Smokey Mountains & Shenandoah National Parks

We have always wanted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway in Smokey Mountains National Park and the the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park so this fall we decided to do it.  We left Dallas on Sept 17th and drove to Greenville, MS for the night.  The next day we picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway near Mathiston, MS and stayed the night at the campground on Davis Lake.  On Sept 19th we drove the rest of the Natchez Trace to the Nashville end where we picked up I40 heading east.  We stayed the night at the Nashville Welcome Center.  Continuing on I40 we spent the next night at the Knoxville Sams Club.

On Monday, Sept 21st, we drove through Smokey Mountain National Park to our campsite in the  park at Smokemont.

Campsite at Smokemont in Smokey Mts NP

We spent 2 days in Smokey Mountains NP.  On the first day we took a hike to an overlook near our campground and drove the scooter for a ways down the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The second day I took the scooter to Cades Cove at the other end of the Park.  I came back to pick up Liz and we went together to Clingmans Dome to get an amazing view of the Smokey Mountains.

Hike from Smokemont campground

Clingmans Dome overlook

View from the top

On Sept 24th we left Smokey Mountains and drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Julian Price campground.  We stayed there for 3 nights making trips up and down the Parkway on the scooter each day.  On Sept 26 we went to Linville Falls and hiked to the falls and cascades on the river.

Upper Linville falls

Linville falls gorge

Lower Linville falls

Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway overlook

On Sunday we left Julian campground and headed to Roanoke,VA where we spent to night at Sam's Club.  On Sept 29th we went back on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Peaks of Otter Campground.  When we got to the campground we knew a storm was coming so we quickly unloaded the scooter and took a ride down the  parkway that afternoon.  On the way back the storm caught up with us and we arrived back at the campsite in a rainstorm thoroughly drenched.  We warmed ourselves up in the motorhome and rode out the storm which lasted the entire next day.

On Sept 30th we left Peaks of Otter and headed to Big Meadows campground on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.  On our way we stopped at a laundromat to do our laundry.  At Big Meadows we met up with our good friends the Graves who drove over from their house in Williamsburg, VA.  We stayed at Big Meadows 4 nights doing day trips to see the local sights and taking the local hikes.  The first day Robert, Liz and I hiked the Dark Hallow Falls loop trail.  It was about a 5 mile round trip along some beautiful cascading streams.

Dark Hallow Falls Trail

Skyline Drive overlook with out friends the Graves

Me with my "bandana" for quick masking

Liz shopping at a local produce stand

On Sunday Oct 4th the Graves left and we headed for home.  We spent the first night in Charleston, WV Sams Club, the second night north of Nashville at the welcome center.  After Nashville we picked up the Natchez Trace and spent the next two nights at Davis Lake, MS campground where we explored the area and the Trace on the scooter.  On Thursday we resumed our trip home, staying that night at the Texas Welcome Center in Texarkana (a really nice place to stay with separate RV overnight parking).  We arrived home on Friday, Oct 9th with great memories of the beautiful eastern parkways and of wonderful times with our best friends.

Lake Powell and California

 This year the Covid pandemic affected all of our travel and vacation decisions.  The biggest risk for exposure was at family gatherings and reunions where many people from different households would be together for periods of time.  Both Liz and I had planned to attend family reunions this year, one for her family at Warm River in Idaho and one at our house for my siblings.  We ended up canceling the sibling reunion and skipping the Idaho reunion.  However, we decided that we would do our annual trip to Lake Powell and co-quarantine on the houseboat with the Kathryn Keetons and the d Daytons.  

We left Dallas in the motorhome on June 24th and stayed the night at the Sams Club in Amarillo.  The next day we drove to Colorado Springs.  We spent the next day in the Colorado Springs area.  First we went to the Garden of the Gods, an area where beautiful red sandstone formations jut out of the landscape.  We drove the scooter around the garden area and did a few short hikes....the scenery was amazing.

Walking toward the spires in Garden of the Gods

Scenic hike...facemasks required for Covid 19

In the afternoon we made an appointment to have the RV generator serviced.  It would run for about 20 minutes and then die.  When we took it to the service place it ran perfectly for about two hours so they found nothing wrong.  That night we camped near the service place and once again it stopped after about 20 min.  In addition, that night a major hail storm hit us and made us worried that we'd get a broken window or have some roof damage.  Luckily, the only damage was to the two skylights in the roof.  They were both cracked so we repaired them with some awning tape.  

On Saturday we drove into the Rocky Mountains and headed for Eagle, CO.  We stopped along the way at Frolissant Fossil Beds, a National Monument we hadn't seen before.  The area was once a forest with huge trees that have become petrified.

Petrified stump of an ancient tree

As we continued our journey, just outside of Leadville, CO at the top of a canyon we ran into stopped traffic. It turned out that a truck hauling a large backhoe on a trailer had tipped over on a curve spilling the backhoe and diesel fuel all over the 2 lane highway.  We were told it would be several hours before road was cleared and they suggested we choose another route.  Instead, we found a nice little cozy parking area nearby and decided to wait it our or stay overnight if necessary.  It turned out to be an overnight wait because they didn't get the accident cleared until early the next morning.

The next day we went on to Grand Junction, CO where we stayed overnight at the Sam's Club.  We were still having trouble with the generator so decided to see if we could get a new fuel pump to fix the problem.  We were able to find a Cummins dealer and get the part which I put in and fortunately it seemed to fix the problem.  Then we headed up to Saddlehorn campground in Colorado National Monument, another NM we hadn't seen.

Overlook at Colorado National Monument

We stayed a couple of nights exploring the park on the scooter.  On July 1 we drove to our favorite rest area near Moab for the night.  The next day we went to Devil's Canyon campground near Blanding, UT where we stayed for two nights, again exploring the local area on the scooter.

Devil's Canyon campground

On July 4th we drove to Hanksville, UT where we had a reservation at Duke's Slickrock Campground.  There we met d and Zhouyi with their kids Meila and Euan.  That night we all stayed in the motorhome and watched the local Hanksville fireworks display.....a great memory.

On July 5 we arrived at Bullfrog Marina where we met up with the Keeton's for our houseboat week at Lake Powell.  The Keeton's brought their speedboat and we all got settled on the houseboat on that Sunday.  Unfortunately, exec services had failed to gas and dump the houseboat so it was not ready to take down river on Monday morning as we had planned.  After some phone calls and arm twisting, exec services got the houseboat ready and we were underway by Monday afternoon.  

This year we stayed in Ribbon Canyon near Hole in the Rock.  This canyon has a sunken speed boat and the houseboat was anchored directly above it in the water.  Our campsite had great shade, only about 4 hours of sun in the middle of the day, and a usable beach and fire pit.

Nice beach in Escalante side canyon

Liz still slaloms at 70

Me too (but I'm a year younger)

Elynn Keeton

Euan Dayton

Akston Keeton

Melila Dayton

Ryder Keeton

Reayen Keeton

Kathryn & John

d & Zhouyi

Once again we had a wonderful time and Lake Powell.  We left on July 12 and headed for Riverside, CA to stay with d and Zhouyi for a week.  The first night on the journey we stayed in the campground at Cedar Breaks National Monument.  This place is a small version of Bryce Canyon NP.....we love it!  d had to get back to work so he drove his car straight through to get home and we took Zhouyi, Meila and Euan with us in the RV.  The second night we stayed at a rest stop outside of Barstow, CA and on July 14th we arrived at d's house in Riverside.

During our time in Riverside we climbed Mt Rubidoux with d's family, rode the Santa Anna River Trail on our bikes, went to the UC Riverside Botanic Gardens, and took several scooter rides around town.  We thoroughly enjoyed spending some time with d and his family.

On Friday July 24 we left d's house and went to Joshua Tree NP and got a campsite at Black Rock campground in the park.  d's family joined us that night at the campsite.  July 25th was Liz's birthday and we took a trip to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens near Palm Springs.  This is a space that showcases desert animals and plants along with regular zoo animals.

Euan feeding the giraffe at the Living Desert Zoo

On Saturday we said our goodbyes to d's family and headed home.  We stayed overnight near Prescott, AZ in a beautiful turnout off the highway in the forest.  On Sunday we traveled through beautiful country in Prescott, Sedona, and Flagstaff where we picked up I40.  That night we stayed at Meteor Crater rest area in Arizona.  On July 28 we drove through New Mexico staying the night at a rest stop near Moriarty.  Our final night on the road was spent at at rest stop near Quanah, TX and we arrive home on July 30th.  After being locked down under quarantine with Covid 19 for several months, it was great to be on the road once again.

Disney World and Corona Virus

Last year Kathryn and John planned a trip to Disney World for early March of 2020.  They invited us to come along and we readily agreed.  As the date of our departure approached we were watching the progress of the Covid 19 pandemic as it spread from China into Europe.  Going to Disney World in the middle of a pandemic was somewhat risky at best and Topher advised us to consider postponing our plans.  However, we decided that we would take plenty of hand sanitizer and wash our hands frequently and accept the risk.  We had arranged lodging in the Caribbean Resort for three nights.  The Keetons were also at the Caribbean Resort and we were able to get connecting rooms.  We decided to travel to Orlando in the motorhome so we left Dallas on March 2 and spent the night at the Sams Club in Monroe, LA.  The next night we stayed at the Big Biloxi Campground near Biloxi, MS.  The third night we spent in Gainesville, FL.

On March 5th we drove from Gainesville to Alexander Springs Campground in the Ocala National Forest just north of Orlando, FL.  This is a  a place we had stayed the year before when we were here with the Graves.  After we set up camp I took the scooter out exploring the area.  There are several forest campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest and I checked out two of them, Clearwater Lake and Lake Dorr.

On March 6 Liz and I took the scooter to Blue Springs State Park where the manatees sometimes come in the winter.  We came here last year with the Graves and saw them.  However, this year the conditions on the day we came were not good and there were no manatees to be seen.  So we headed back home, stopping to shop at Walmart along the way.

The next day I took the scooter up to Salt Springs, a campground/resort at the north end of the Ocala Forest.  This was a very popular campground with full hookups and a marina and you need reservations to get in.  On the way back I stopped at another campground called Juniper Springs.  This site was developed in the 1930's by the CCC.  It had a beautiful turquoise spring that is great for swimming.  It also has a small museum that occupies what used to be a mill with a working paddle wheel.  I was very impressed with this campground and decided we should come here on our way back home.

Juniper Springs

Main springs with beautiful turquoise water

Mill with paddle wheel

On March 8 we drove from our campground at Alexander Springs down to Disney World and checked into our hotel...the Caribbean Beach Resort.  That night the Keeton's checked into the room next door.  We had a great time greeting the grandkids through our connecting doors.

Caribbean Beach Resort....our home while at Disney World

On March 9 we all got up and walked to the new sky ride that goes from our hotel to Hollywood Studios.  The sky ride was a great new addition to the park.  It was so much easier and quicker than taking the bus and it was like being on one of the rides in the park itself.  We spent our first day at Hollywood Studios and had a good time.

Akston with Buzz Lightyear

The Keeton kids hanging out with Joy from Inside Out

The next day we took the bus to Magic Kingdom.  The crowds were huge and the lines were long for every ride, so we did out best with fast passes and a lot of patience.  One particularly cool place was the new Star Wars world.  Unfortunately, we were unable to get on any of the rides because the wait times were impossible without a fast pass which we couldn't get.  By late afternoon Elynn and Ryder were wiped out so Liz and I took them back to the hotel and left John, Kathryn, Akston, and Reayen at the park to catch some rides with shorter lines in the late evening.

Watching a parade at the Magic Kingdom

Star Wars Land in the Magic Kingdom

Various robots in Star Wars Land

Keeton's and Liz in front of the Millennium Falcon

On the third day we took the sky ride from the hotel to EPCOT.  EPCOT is always one of our favorite parks and we had a great time.  A highlight was a wonderful hibachi meal at the restaurant in Japan.  We had purchased the meal plan which covered a dine-in meal for each day.  However, by the third day we had only eaten two dine-in meals, so rather than loose a meal we decided to have our third meal when we got back to the hotel.  We ate at Sebastian's Bistro.  The food was not great and we were already full, but we thoroughly enjoyed having the additional time together with Kathryn and John.

After the late dinner, Liz and I boarded the motorhome and left Disney World.  We found a nice Sam's Club north of Orlando where we spent the night.  On the morning of March 12 we got up and headed to Juniper Springs campground where we enjoyed swimming in the spring and hiking the local trails.  We spent that night at the campground.  By this time the Corona Virus was beginning to seriously spread in the U.S. and some places were beginning to shut down (Disney World closed 4 days after we left).  We had originally planned to spend some additional time in Florida after Disney World but decided to head straight home before we got trapped in closures and quarantines. 

So on March 13 we left Florida and drove to Spanish Fort, AL. The next night we spent in Monroe, LA.  On March 15 we arrived back home and felt grateful for having a comfortable place to shelter while the Covid 19 pandemic swept across the U.S.  We were concerned that we had been exposed to the virus at Disney World so we quarantined ourselves for two weeks and watched for symptoms.  Fortunately we were both symptom free during that time.  As the commercial life around us began to close down in response to the pandemic, we were doubly grateful that we had one last amazing time at Disney World with the Keetons before the world changed.  Who knows when we'll be able to do that again?

2019 Winter Holiday

Every year one of our families takes a turn choosing the location for the Winter Holiday.  This year it was d and Zhouyi's choice.  They wanted to find something in the vicinity of Burlington, VT because they have friends in Montreal and wanted to visit them as part of their trip.  We found a lodge near Lake Placid, NY that was large enough to accommodate our entire family. Fortunately, everyone in the family was able to come.  The group included Topher, My, Denae, Beau,and Croix; d, Zhouyi, Meila, and Euan; John, Kathryn, Akston, Reayen, Elynn, and Ryder; Kevin and Rachael; and Liz and I.

On January 2 we flew from Dallas to Albany, NY, rented a car and stayed at an Airbnb that night.  Next day we got up and went shopping at Walmart where we met up with Rachael and Kevin who had also arrived the night before.  We drove together up to Lake Placid.  Rachael and Kevin drove on to Whiteface Ski Resort to do some cross country skiing and Liz and I drove up to the Lodge we had rented for the Winter Holiday in Au Sable Forks, NY.  That afternoon everyone arrived at the Lodge.

"The Lodge" in Au Sable, NY
Our home for the Winter Holiday

The Lodge had 3 levels and plenty of room for our large party with a bedroom for every couple and a bunk room for the grandkids.

Rachael and Elynn looking over the snacks

Akston doing card tricks

Rachael and Kevin making dinner

Playing video games

Decorated for Christmas

Upstairs to 3rd floor bedrooms

On the morning of Jan 4 we had a photographer come to the Lodge to take family portraits.  Liz found her online and she did a great job of managing the group.  We were very pleased with the results.

Entire Family

Just the Grandkids

Out on the deck of the Lodge

In the afternoon we got out the sleds and put them to use on the hill by the side of the Lodge.  During our portrait session it had started to snow and continued for most of the day, so the sledding hill improved over time.  By the end of the day we had a few new inches of fluffy white snow.

Beau and Topher ready for a ride

Denae with Topher

Climbing back up the hill

John pushing Akston and Reayen

d with Elynn and Meila

Ready to race

Elynn and Meila

Snow Angle

On January 5th we got up to a blanket of new snow.  Topher, d, the Keetons and the McLaughlins all got ready to go skiing at Whiteface Ski Resort (this is where the 1980 Winter Olympics were held).  The adults had arranged ski lessons for Akston, Reayen, Elynn, Denae, and Meila.  Topher rented skis for Beau and worked with him on the bunny slope.  Liz and I stayed behind at the Lodge with My and Zhouyi and we all took care of  Euan, Ryder and Croix.

Elynn skiing 

Elynn making the "pizza"

Beau skiing with Topher

Topher and Beau watching the Grandkids ski class

The Grandkids ski class
Akston, Denae, Meila, Elynn, and Reayen

In the early afternoon the little girls (Meila and Elynn) had enough of skiing so we went to pick them up at the resort.  We also dropped off My and Croix with Topher and their family went on to Lake Placid to do some ice skating.  The rest stayed at Whiteface and skied until closing in the late afternoon.  That night we had a hearty dinner at the Lodge, played games and spent time in the hot tub.

Kathryn and John out for a walk
on a snowy winter's day

Enjoying the woods

On January 6th we had our farewell breakfast at the Lodge and everyone packed and headed for home.  We checked out of the Lodge and drove back down to Albany where we had arranged another night's stay at the Airbnb there.  The next day we caught our flight back home. We were left with the wonderful afterglow of a holiday season with family.  Our only regret was that it wasn't long enough.....so we decided that next year we will make it 4 nights instead of 3.  Can't wait to do it again!