Mission 037 - Cabin Camping at Oconee State Park

What??? Cabin Camping? Well, short of a tent (...uh, no thank you...), it's the only way to do the State Park-camping thing without an RV, so we got to try something new this time around! Take a look as we visit Oconee State Park in the Appalachian foothills of upstate South Carolina. We spent a couple of nights in one of the original cabins constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 1930s (but updated with most modern comforts you'd expect... and demand!). Of course, we took a long hike through some of the park's densely-wooded trails, and checked out the RV campground for you, since we're still RV'ers at heart!

Mission 034 - Hamburg State Park | GEORGIA STATE PARKS | CSRA Camping

What a lovely, peaceful place!  Take a look at our discovery of Hamburg State Park!  Located between Augusta and Milledgeville, Georgia, this remote park is home to a 28-site campground situated next to a 225-acre lake, where one can fish for bass, crappie and bream (which, of course, we didn’t do…).  The park also features a 1920s-era grist mill, and four different hiking trails.  Watch all the wildlife that walked, flittered and swam past our campsite, and see why this “hidden gem” in Georgia’s roster of parks is now one of our favorites! 

Aiken State Park | CAMPGROUND REVIEW | South Carolina Parks - (Special Report)

New YouTube video! 🎥 "Black Friday" weekend gave us a chance to sleep off our Thanksgiving turkey-overdose over at Aiken State Park!  We spent a beautiful fall Saturday doing a thorough review of one of South Carolina's original state parks, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.  Join us as we show you this lush, wooded remote camping destination that happens to be a stone's throw away from our home! (well, maybe two or three stone-throws away, but close enough...)

 

Mission 029 - Hamilton Branch State Park | Smokey's Birthday Weekend!

South Carolina's Hamilton Branch State Park, located between the small towns of Modoc and Plum Branch, is a park we'd been meaning to visit for quite some time, and Smokey's birthday weekend was the perfect "excuse" to finally spend a three-day weekend there! Of course, as is usual for us, the rain had to put in an appearance... 🌧 Take a look as we show you around this lovely, heavily-forested park on the shores of Lake Thurmond, and you'll see why it's so very popular with Central Savannah River Area campers!

Mission 026 (Pt. 2) - Zip-Lining over DeSoto State Park | mini-CAMPGROUND REVIEW

Our Spring Break 2021 adventure continues!  Nobody would ever call us “adrenaline junkies,” but the thought of zip lining through the trees of DeSoto State Park was just too exciting to ignore!  Take a look as we risk life and limb (well, not really…), and then take you on a little walkabout tour of the campground before wrapping up our week and heading home.  

Mission 024 - Hiking Bartram Trail at Petersburg CoE Campground

Back to Camping… FINALLY!  In our latest YouTube video, you’ll see our first RV outing of the year, a late-winter’s weekend over to Petersburg Corps of Engineers Campground on Lake Thurmond.  We didn’t make time to hike Bartram Trail when we camped here last summer, so doing that was the “main event” of this trip. Watch as we arrive at our lovely lakeside campsite and then take a little-bit-longer-than-expected hike through the woods around the lake... 

A New Year, and Things are Better ALREADY!!!

Happy New Year, fellow Campers!  Jessie here to remind you (as if you didn't already know) that 2020 is OVER... Thank GOD!!!  Yes, yes, it's true that all of our collective woes won't magically vanish now that the calendar has flipped, but our hopes must have a starting point, and a New Year is as good a time as any to make the resolution to work on having a better year (gee, maybe that "resolution" thing could become an annual tradition... or something...).  

In our own little world, things are looking up!  Amongst our many blessings, the two things that stand out the most are 1) my recent surgery went very well, and I'm recovering even quicker than expected, and 2) Smokey has found a new full-time job!  While these two wonderful events will have lots of positive effects on our lives, the thing all of you care about the most is that we can making camping plans again! Woo-Hoo!!  Here's what we have on the agenda so far: 

We'll be headed for Hamilton Branch State Park for the weekend of Valentine's Day next month.  We hear nice things about the park from others here in our area that camp there, and it's nearby, so it'll be a good choice for "dipping our toes" back into camping after the winter layoff.   

In mid-March, we'll FINALLY venture back out into the world outside the Central Savannah River Area, over to Chester State Park.  Chester is one of South Carolina's original sixteen state parks, and is popular with fishermen and disc-golfers... which makes one wonder what we'll do there, since we're neither of those things... Oh, who are we kidding!?  It's camping, so it'll still be great! 

The last thing we have confirmed for the new year will be a long journey... for us, at least!  The first of April will find us dragging the Aluminum Falcon all the way to Desoto State Park over in Forth Payne, Alabama!  Smokey's new employer closes down for the Masters golf tournament every April, and I'm on Spring Break that same time each year, so off we'll go on a week-long adventure! 

That's all so far, but of course, we hope we'll be adding more destinations to our agenda as the year progresses!  Stay tuned!  Oh, how 'bout all of you?  Tell us what's on YOUR agenda for the new year!  Maybe you'll make us jealous!

2020 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW | Our Favorite RV Adventures! - (Special Report)

2020 is OVER! Hallelujah! Despite the glut of bad luck and gobs of misfortune that plagued us (and everybody else) this year, we must admit we had some wonderful times out in the “Aluminum Falcon!” Join us over on YouTube as we make a run-down of our five favorite RV excursions of the year, and find out why we singled out these five above all the others. Maybe we’ll convince you to check out one or more of these places for yourself!

 

Mission 022 - Dreher Island State Park in Prosperity, SC (on Lake Murray)

This is the one in which we are finally convinced that a weekend just ain't long enough for a camping trip... 😞  Dreher Island State Park is another little gem in the roster of South Carolina state parks, and was a welcome opportunity to break out of our kinda-sorta local camping "rut" we'd been in for most of the year.  Situated on three small islands in Lake Murray, just above Columbia, SC, the park is a great choice for both RV campers and tent campers.  Come along and see what little bit of fun we were able to find in just a short weekend! 

Mission 020 - Petersburg Corps of Engineers Campground

Our tour of Lake Thurmond’s camping spots continues! Petersburg Campground is our first experience at a Corps of Engineers campground, and how nice it turned out to be! Join us as we spend a weekend discovering how well the Army engineers maintain this facility, and seeing more of Thurmond Dam than we ordinarily do. We also take a lovely boat ride around the lake, soaking up some desperately-needed lake breezes! 

Mopeka LP Tank Check Sensors | PRODUCT REVIEW - (Special Report)

You know how it goes - you're camping and realize the furnace won't blow heat or the stove won't fire up. OMG! You're out of propane! How did THAT happen!?!? How could you possibly have known? Well, if you had the Mopeka LP Tank Check Sensor from AP Products, you COULD have known! In this video, we'll give you a quick run-down of the product, how it works and how much you can trust the data it provides.

Wildwood Park | CAMPGROUND REVIEW | Columbia County, GA - (Special Report)

Our tour of close-to-home camping opportunities continues! Wildwood Park, a county-owned and maintained RV campground, sits on the shores of Clarks Hill Lake (Lake Thurmond) just north of Evans, GA. Join us as we do a full review of the park, showing you the variety of campsites available here, along with some other perks and amenities you might find interesting! 

Mission 017 - Baker Creek State Park | RV CAMPING | Lake Strom Thurmond

Thanks to the COVID-19 scare ruining our (and most everybody's) longer-distance travels this spring, it seems our camping "theme" of 2020 is turning into a tour of they myriad parks and campgrounds in a fifty-mile radius of our house!  In this video, we visit Baker Creek State Park, another of the many RV camping spots up and down the Savannah River. Come along and see what we discovered at this quiet little boating and biking haven on the South Carolina side of Lake Thurmond... not that we had the chance to do either of those things this particular weekend...

Mission 016 - BACK TO CAMPING at Mistletoe State Park, Appling, GA!

Mistletoe State Park was our destination for this long-overdue return to RVing! It's a fairly short ride for us, being just outside of Appling, GA, meaning we spent more time camping and less time driving! Take a look as we show you the beautiful countryside on the way there, the gorgeous waterfront campsites on the shores of Lake Thurmond, and the lush almost-rainforest-like hiking trails that meander through the park. We were so happy to be released from "COVID Clamp-Down" that we'd have enjoyed this trip no matter what the park was like, but so much the better that we found it to be a great place to spend a long weekend with the "Aluminum Falcon!" 

UPDATE! How We're Being Hit by the "COVID Clamp-Down"

Howdy, Happy Campers out there! Jessie here again with an update about what's happening with our travel plans these days.  Let's face it - just about none of us anywhere are camping during these trying times lately, and I imagine that very few of us are happy about it.  One week from today (as I'm writing this), Smokey and I were supposed to be pulling into Fort DeSoto Campground down in St. Petersburg, Florida for our only long trip of the year.  We were oh-so looking forward to taking the new Aluminum Falcon on a lengthy adventure and finding lots of new and exciting things to see and do, and to make lots of video content to show all of you.

Well, so much for that!  You all know that I'm an educator (an elementary school librarian, to be precise), and with schools everywhere shut down for the duration of this health crisis, I've been working extra hard preparing materials and arranging things for our students to engage in some Socially-Distant learning.  Smokey being an administrator in healthcare means he's been working just as hard, if not harder, than usual, with no end in sight.  Even if Florida's governor hadn't closed things down, chances are that neither of us would've been able to justify leaving our jobs in early April to take the trip as planned. 

Certainly, we want everyone everywhere to be healthy and safe, and to not take unnecessary chances.  We're human, though, so we can't help but be disappointed that current circumstances are preventing all of us from living our lives.  Not only do we enjoy the few chances we get to go RV camping, we also enjoy making videos of our experiences to share with you, and we are thrilled beyond description that you seem to enjoy them.  Sadly, there won't be as many of them over the coming weeks, however, and that just kills us!  

We'll try to do a few things on our YouTube channel in April and May to let you know that we're still out here and still wanting to keep you engaged.  Please don't forget about us while, like you probably are, we're all cooped up at home waiting for this crisis to end, and please keep following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, 'cause we'll still be posting there!  We're hoping that our next scheduled trip, to Baker Creek State Park in mid-May, will still happen, and we can get back to doing some Livin' and Learnin'!  Stay healthy, everybody!

Thinking of Buying an RV? 🤔 | ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS!!! - (Special Report)

It’s definitely a major life-decision - should YOU make the investment in a recreational vehicle? Why wouldn't you??? Well, to be fair, there are some decisions in life that definitely should NOT be “impulse” decisions, and deciding whether to purchase an RV certainly fits into that category. In this video, we share the thought process we followed when we first starting kicking around the idea of getting into the RV lifestyle. Take heed of our experience, fellow “noobs!”

Three "Qwik-and-Easy" RV Kitchen Recipes! (Special Report)

If it rains, you can't grill out (unless you have a big umbrella), and if you know us, then you know rain WILL find us when we're out in our RV! As a result, we've found a few recipes for hearty, rib-stickin' fare than can be easily prepared in even the smallest of RV kitchens. Over on our YouTube channel, you'll find our first "RV Cooking Show," so take a look and you might learn about a few ways you can expand your camping menu. You can find the recipes we demonstrate down below, too!

#1 - Five-Minute Pepperoni Pizza Quesadilla

Ingredients:

1 Light Italian Herb Flatout flatbread

2 tablespoons of your favorite pizza sauce

1/3 cup shredded, reduced-fat Italian cheese blend

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

5 slices turkey pepperoni

additional pizza sauce, if desired, for dipping

Directions:

1. Lay flatbread on work surface and spread pizza sauce evenly over entire flatbread.

2. On one half of flatbread, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons cheese and basil. Lay pepperoni slices evenly on top, and then sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly on top of the pepperoni.

3. Fold quesadilla in half, bringing the sauce-only half of the flatbread on top of the side

with toppings.

4. Preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook quesadilla, covered, for about 3 minutes on the first side, just until toasty golden-brown.

5. Flip quesadilla over and continue cooking on the second side, covered, for about an additional minute, until cheese is melty and the second side of the flatbread is a light, toasty golden-brown.

6. Remove from heat, cut into wedges, and serve with additional pizza sauce for dipping, if desired.

#2 - Crock Pot Roast Beef

Ingredients:

1 beef roast (3 to 4 pounds)

1 envelope au jus gravy mix (1 ounce)

1 envelope onion soup mix (1 ounce)

1 envelope brown or mushroom gravy mix (1 ounce)

3 cups of water

Assorted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, etc)

Directions:

1. Place roast in slow cooker. 

2. Combine envelopes of soup and gravy mixes with water in a large bowl. 

3. Pour mixture over roast, add vegetables, then cover.

4. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours until meat and vegetables are tender.

#3 - Lazy Day Crock Pot Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen cheese ravioli (25 oz)

1 lb. of ground beef, browned

3 cans of crushed tomatoes (14 or 15 oz each)

1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning

4 cups of mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon of Garlic Salt

1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, brown the beef completely and drain off any remaining fat.

2. Stir in all the cans of tomatoes, and seasonings.
3. In a 6-quart Crock Pot, cover the bottom with some of the sauce.
4. Then place a layer of ravioli across the bottom.
5. Then place a layer of the mozzarella cheese.
6. Continue this until all the meat sauce and the ravioli is used (you want to end with the meat sauce on top).
7. Then top with the leftover mozzarella cheese and add the parmesan cheese on top (completely optional).
8. Cook on low for 4 hours.
9. Turn off and let sit for about 15 minutes, then cut and serve with your favorite side salad and crusty garlic bread.

Mission 012 - Seeing Fall's Colors at Watson Mill Bridge State Park

What better way to escape all of Halloween's hub-bub than by running off to northern Georgia to see some Fall colors!? In our latest YouTube video, you'll see that Watson Mill Bridge State Park outside of Comer, GA was where we spent a long weekend for this year's All-Hallow's Eve, enjoying the forest hiking trails, listening to the rolling South Fork River, and of course, seeing the famous covered bridge. Take a look at our stay in this lovely, peaceful little gem of a state park, and then plan your own trip there!

Mission 011 (Part 2) - Kings Mountain National Military Park

Our newest video is up on the YouTube channel! Our long weekend at the Kings Mountain parks continued with our Saturday visit to the National Military Park, the site of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. We lucked into visiting on the weekend before the October 7th anniversary of the battle, so there were lots of goings-on with re-enactors and other demonstrations to see, in addition to the lovely forest hike. Take a look at our jaunt through this historical place and see yet another fine example of the great work the National Park Service does in preserving America's special places!

Ten RV Lifestyle Questions Challenge! (Special Report)

Have you seen the current YouTube Camping craze??? Well, these videos probably aren't as "viral" as those Ice-Bucket-over-Your-Head Challenges from a few years ago, but at least the Ten RV Lifestyle Questions Challenge doesn't require a towel and a change of clothes! In our latest YouTube video, we jump into the fad and provide the answers to the questions that all of you our there have been dying to ask! (Just play along, folks - we have fragile egos...)