A little of winter

March 2022 

Winter in south has a strange feeling. It's cold but not cold enough to stop the nature; so you see the nature is slowed down but not fully stopped. I was missing snowy days, even a little white in the air could make me happy; so you can imagine I decided to hit the road as soon as I saw there is a chance of snow storm north AL, MS and south of TN. My apartment was a mess when I started packing. Twyla knew I am up to something but I don't think she had any idea about the adventure we were heading to; neither did I, to be honest.

I drove whole afternoon and when I arrived at my campsite, there were few other people camping with big RVs. I found a quiet corner and soon I was ready for a supper and a nice sleep. There was no sign of any snow yet but it turned very cold after sunset.

These modification on camper have worked very well. It was not a lot work but it was very efficient to lift everything up so there is more space on the floor and we can stretch out and be much more comfortable.

The new curtains are lovely, I just paid a dollar for scrap fabric in thrift store and I saw them all in less than an hour.

I had my eyes on the weather forecast all time. The weather forecast looked promising! It was very cold soon after the sunset.

I fell in sleep very fast. It was cosy and comfortable inside my camper and I didn't open my eyes, even once, until the morning. Twyla was making it much warmer and fluffy comfortable. We may have pushed each other to gain more space every now and then but we get along well. Twyla's surprised eyes was an early indicator of the snow outside, even before I get up and look outside myself. By the way aren't those curtains cute? anyway... 

We crawled out of the bed and there it was. Nice thick layer of snow, perhaps ~ 2 inches, everywhere. It was cold before sunrise so we kept inside the bed as long as we could resist the intimidation of getting out and playing with the snow.

I couldn't be happier! I think Twyla was happy and surprised at the same time, but she enjoyed running around in her DIY fleece.

It was getting noisy as people in the camp were waking up and some started running their generator to combat the cold. We went down by the creek for a refreshing breakfast and coffee. This is a lovely creek and picnic area but it is always surprisingly quiet.

We headed out to the next destination  in Kentucky. It was snowy around that area but it soon started to melt and disappear, as most snows do in the south.

Crossing Tennessee river is exciting, there is mostly bridges with exciting colors.

There was no snow at this campsite but it was colder with the wind. Inside the shell, sun would warm everything up. This wind would become annoying soon.

We packed the next day and moved further north. This was the first time I was visiting Ohio river, much larger than I have imagined. The next campsite was between Kentucky and Indiana. Very nice overview, and much warmer than the previous campsite! I was thinking about this border and the civil war and how north and south were defined.

 

Look who is happy now!

This well maintained campsite was famous for viewing Buzzard roost.

This is a popular spot among the locals. It's free now but they put a notice about possible changes to make it a pay camp. It was nice and clean.

It was time for a nice open fire cooking but using my Sierra stove. It's very efficient and easy to handle and I was craving to saw some wood.

Nice cooking with all fresh veggies I had, before they expire.

We watched the sunset. Nothing can beat watching a sunset with a good friend.

Nest day we hiked down to the shore. It appears this area takes a lot of flood.

It was time to move out. This was an interesting day. I wasn't aware not every road passing over Ohio river has a bridge. Moving back and forth wasn't easy and a few campsites I planned for didn't work well, so I ended up driving at night and getting a warning by a police officer for driving at 25 mph in a zone with 15mph limit! I think he was amused to see a stranger is passing by his lovely little town with an Alabama tag. He had a nice mustache. I had to turn around in some places due to barge not working that late.

Finally I made it to campsite in Kentucky. Not the cleanest campsite I have seen. The location was great but it was heavily abused due to being easily accessible from the road.

And a strange food mix, it wasn't as delicious as I imagined,

The next day I was on a road again. Without any plan I ended up in Red River Gorge, which was on my list for a long time. So many hiking trails and campsites.

The view was breath taking, although the winter vibe wasn't very warm and active, but peaceful!

We continued driving east.

We made to New River national park and an amazing campsite along the river. This was the first time I learned about New River national forest and it was so amazing.

And a hearty breakfast with my Sierra!

We enjoyed hiking the next day.

I spend more time in campsites these days. Usually I stay at least until noon if not for two or three days. We slowly made it to the nest destination and a campsite along a small creek. The weather was rainy; one of those soft rain days. The campsite was next to a road so I didn't think it will worth it, but I was wrong. It was a beautiful and almost quiet campsite, right next to the Appalachian trail in Virginia. The hanging bridge was lovely and we walked back and forth, multiple times!

Exploring around the camp was very delightful, and hiking along the famous Appalachian trail.

Coming back to the camp and cooking! It was nice having a tarp in the rain.

Our next and last stop was in Georgia!

It was long drive back home, so we stopped along the way for food and coffee!