Laura Walker State Park was named after a Georgia writer, teacher, civic leader and naturalist who loved trees and worked for their preservation. Originally a National park, it was built by the WPA and CCC and turned over to Georgia in 1941.

It is located near the northern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, loaded with pine trees and even has an 18 hole golf course.

Just up the road is another Georgia State Park, Dames Ferry. It is on Lake Juliette formed by the Ocmulgee River. Also on the lake is the Plant Scherer, the most powerful coal-fired plant in North America. In the late 80's FPL purchased a 75% ownership of Unit #4 and built a 500KV line from Plant Scherer all the way to Dade County in South Florida. The project was called "Coal by Wire". In 2022 Unit #4 will be decommission so FPL will not have any part of a coal plant.

Nothing could compare to the excitement of being near a large power plant, but nearby is the small town of Juliette made famous in the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.”

On the northwest side of Lake Lanier is Army Corps of Engineers campground, Bolding Mill.

We have stayed at many COE campgrounds and Bolding Mill is our certainly favorite,Luna liked rolling in the grass,so far. The roads are wide and smooth, reminding us of a "RV Resort" not an $11.00 a night campground.

Our site included a paved driveway and a wide level concrete pad.

We enjoyed the sounds of a local woodpecker since it wasn't destroying part of our house.

Of course a fantastic sunset on the lake.

There were some wooded trails for Luna to explore.

Micah, Hiro and Yoshi were able to join us for the weekend. It is so good to see Micah and Yoshi fishing together.

Yoshi made friends with the neighbor ducks

We brought our inflatable kayak and the three of them enjoyed cruising Lake Lanier.

It was a special weekend because we were able to celebrate Yoshi's 4th birthday.

He is all boy!

To kill some time before we went back to a campground near Atlanta, we visited Harrison Bay State Park. We wandered through Chattanooga and were amazed at all the construction and changes since we were there just a few years ago.

We went east and south a little to Oconee Point COE, located on Hartwell Lake in western South Carolina.

Our site was right on the lake and Micah & Yoshi were again able to join us for the weekend.

Micah caught a bigger fish than at Bolling Mill

and of course a beautiful sunset. One of these trips we'll get some pictures of sunrises.

We picked our own apples at a nearby orchid

and had some more S'mores.

Micah is getting good at fly casting.

Several high school friends live in the area and we were able to meet for lunch. Bobbi Carrington Ledbetter, Terry Nipper, Ted Nipper, Bill Mullis, Jan Meachen Mullis, Debbie Meachen McGrath, Bobbi and me.

Full moon over the lake.

There are very few Leisure Travel Vans in the Eastern US and we get excited anytime we pass one on the road. At our campsite in Bristol, TN a fellow LTV pulled right in next to us.

I never realized that Bristol is the "Birthplace of Country Music", just like Ormond Beach and not Daytona is the "Birthplace of Speed"

They had the early recordings to prove it.

We enjoyed moving between Tenn. and Va. by crossing the street.

In Nashville we stayed at a RV park that was not spacious but clean. Every night they had live music around a camp fire. Even though the Nashville Symphony is well respected, and very involved in the Nashville community, somehow the camp fire music selections were of one particular genre.

Our site was small but level and we were at the corner of Happy and Howdy.

Downtown is the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. The centerpiece is an 18,000-ton black granite globe floating in a thin veneer of water. If you push hard, it will slowly turn for a long time. There is a bench honoring each of the seven Tennessee recipients of the Medal of Honor

And carillons that play Elvis music.

There are several bike paths in Nashville, but we chose the Stones River Greenway that followed the Cumberland River. It starts at a park near, what we thought, is an abounded railroad trestle.

Wide and smoothly paved it follows along the Cumberland River.

We crossed several small creeks

and the Cumberland River on a very nice suspension bridge.

A tunnel under the highway

and it ended in the biggest dog park we have ever seen. Luna could get lost.

On the way back we passed some deer, remember this is downtown Nashville.

We learned that what we thought was an abounded railroad trestle is actually still in use. Scary!

No visit to Nashville would be complete without eating at the Florida Georgia Line restaurant.

From one music capital to another, we camped at Fuller State Park. Heavily forested and damp from the recent rains.

No visit to Memphis is complete without a trip to Beale Street. When we were there last summer it was too hot to walk around for very long and enjoy, but in October it is fine.

The wall is still standing but it has been that way for many years. I did some research and there doesn't seem to be any desire to do anything.

We wandered into a part of downtown we had not been in before and found a charming street with street cars running

and outside dining for Luna and us. She will eat anywhere she is allowed but we still prefer not to go inside.

LeFleur's Bluff State Park is on the banks of the Pearl River in Jackson. Jackson was originally called LeFleur's Bluff after a French Canadian trader. It still has the worst roads we have ever seen, I think they were last paved when LeFleur was trading off the Natchez Trace.

A must see in Jackson is the Mississippi Petrified Forest, one of only two petrified forests in the eastern US.

There is a nice trail that winds through the forest.

It all goes back to the last ice age when trees that were at least 1,000 years old and over 100’ tall where toppled by the flood waters and pushed south, then buried into the silt of the soil.

Over millions of years the wood fiber is replace with minerals. So petrified wood is incorrect as there is no longer any wood present.

Also in Jackson is the Mississippi's Merci Train car. In 1948 more than 700 box cars of relief goods were sent by individual Americans to French citizens. Showing their appreciation each US state subsequently received a gift laden box car from the French people. The Florida Merci Train car is at Holly Hill's Veteran's Memorial Park, just a few miles south of us.

The Southern Owners group for our RV held its fall rally in Natchez.

It is always interesting to see units similar to ours and hear different experiences and trips.

Weekend evenings along the river in downtown Natchez are normally very festive but in October 2020 the crowds are sparse and spread out. But there was still a great sunset over the Mississippi River.

The weekend was centered on the Natchez Balloon Festival but strong winds prevented any liffoffs, so were just most tethered to the ground

Our last campground was Leon County's Coe Landing on Lake Talquin.

Fellow RVers Tom and Lee Lewis (high school friend) were able to join us at the campground.

The highlight of the weekend was a dinner with Tony Brannon, Warren May, Lee Lewis, Marilyn Dean and John Criswell, my freshman roommate.