May 14, 2010 - Family Visit in Hattiesburg

Dear Friends and Family, We traveled from Perry, FL, and arrived in Mississippi on Friday, May 14. Since Friday, we stayed at Paul B. Johnson State Park in Hattiesburg. Dad's sister June and brother-in-law A.C. were there in their motor home, too. Family came Saturday for supper, and everyone brought something. It was really great to see Uncle Johnny and his wife Linda. A big surprise was that Hardy and Ricky also came (our nephews -- same ages as you, Rob and Ken). We haven't seen them in sooooo long. There were about 25 of us all...

Apr 7, 2010 - Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Today we left our winter home RV park, Anchors Aweigh RV Resort in Foley, AL and started our trip north toward South Dakota. So that we could see that everything was working right we decided to make our maiden voyage with our new motor-home a short one and our first destination was Hattiesburg, Mississippi just 140 miles from Foley, AL. The campground we picked in Hattiesburg is the Shady Cove RV Park. It is conveniently located right along highway 49. The park is kind of rustic compared to Anchors Aweigh but it will serve the purpose for...

Mar 18, 2010 - Hattiesburg, MS

Time to leave the state park. I was sure the tree at the left corner of the site would cause huge problems but as usual I was wrong. Keith simply hooked up on the other side of the tree and pulled right out. Piece of cake. Ronnie Gibson agreed to let us stay at the airport for the night. We parked inside the fence, flew for about an hour and a half, then loaded the trike. We had a nice dinner at Crescent City Grill. Routing: 16 miles

Nov 26, 2009 - A Surprising Thanksgiving

Last year we had the good fortune to be in Milwaukee during Thanksgiving, spending the holiday with our family. We hadn't done that since 2005 before we went on the road. That was very nice, but pretty impractical for us now, since Milwaukee at the end of November is not someplace we look forward to being. So in our usual travel style, we looked for someplace quiet to spend this Thanksgiving. While we've become 1000% more social since we first started fulltiming, and have made lots of really great friends all over the country, we still...

May 27, 2009 - Thur a few states

Last night was a long wet night in our tent. It rained from 2 am till 8 am. Everything was soaked. We finally got everything packed and on the road by 1 pm. The first stop was in Texarkana, AR and Texarkana, TX. One on side of the street is Texas and on the other is Arkansas. This is the only town that was built on any state boarder. We drove thur Ar, TX, LA, and then MS today. We were only in Texas for 20 minutes before we drove into Louisiana, we did not stop - it was rainy. We did stop in Vicksburg, MS. This is one of the battle fields...

May 21, 2009 - Hattiesburg, Ms

We left Destin this morning and headed for Hattiesburg, Ms. We got onto I-10 and got to enjoy driving on a very straight road for a number of miles. The terrain along I-10 is very similar to North Carolina and not at all like Florida. We crossed into Alabama and got to drive through and I do mean though Mobil. Interesting port city. The battleship USS Alabama is there as well as several old southern mansions. Some very nice areas, but also a lot of poverty. It is also the home of the University of South Alabama and there were some large...

May 9, 2009 - Hattiesburg, Ms.

Saturday, May 9, After what seemed like a long drive to me, but actually was not, we arrived at Paul B Johnson State Park, via I-20 and Hwy 49. There we found a really nice camp spot right on the lake. Everyone was skiing, or tubing or fishing. Reminded me of the good ole days at Lake Tapps. They had a frisbee golf course there, and all the kids were playing, in the heat no less. The manager of the campground told John about a place down the road with really good food, so we drove over there and the attached pic is John enjoying his dinner....

Dec 11, 2008 - SNOW in Hattiesburg, MS

We stayed in Hattiesburg, MS the evening of Dec. 11. It was cold and raining when we arrived there. Dogs got to go out in the rain. That is NOT their favorite. When we woke up, it was snowing hard. I had set up the satellite the night before. In just a few minutes after getting up, the signal began to break up which usually means a storm is coming. This time it meant it was snowing so hard and building up on the dish. I woke Pat up and said, "Let's get out of here NOW!" We got things packed away quickly and hit the road. Roads were wet but...

Jun 21, 2008 - Hattiesburg, Mississippi

We drove through the hardest rain we have encountered yet on our way back to Mississippi for the Hatton family reunion. We were trying to get to our campground early in order to make it to a pre-reunion dinner at Wentzels Oyster House. We were about an hour late! We are camping at Mimosa Landing in Columbia, Mississippi. It is a pretty campground on the Pearl River. My mother was born in a little town near Hattiesburg called Bassfield. She is one of 10 children and an identical twin. Only my mother, her twin, Jane and a brother Boyd are...

Jan 6, 2008 - We Hit the Road Pulling This Sucker - Finally!

Sunday January 6, 2008, our day of preparing to truly begin the great adventure. We were both excited and, certainly, a bit anxious. After all, Bob has only pulled the fifth wheel for 50 miles from the dealer to our campground in Gadsden. He has no experience backing up or maneuvering in tight spaces. Although we have lived in our new home for nearly two months and gotten comfortable driving our Super Duty diesel truck, we have been within a relatively short distance of Chattanooga, our home for five years, friends and family, and perhaps...

Oct 13, 2007 - Making miles

We drove across Louisiana and entered Mississippi at Vicksburg and on to Jackson on I-20. In Jackson we left the interstate and drove on to Hattiesburg where we had reservations at Shady Cove RV Park. We managed to get set up and the tv on before the first quarter of the Georgia/Vanderbilt game ended. Once again, the Dawgs managed to almost lose, but pulled through at the last moment. We saw many huge bales of cotton that had been harvested and were sitting ready to be picked up and taken away. Cotton is obviously the money crop in this...

Apr 1, 2007 - Mississippi and Alabama

After New Orleans we went backwards a bit to follow the Mississippi river up to a place called Natchez.(the oldest settlement on the river) When we got there I was excited to find out that what they call "the Spring Pilgrimage" was on. No it's not a religous thing, it is a week all the big old privately owned planters mansions are open to the public. I visited 4 whilst John just came to 1 and then did some work and drank a few beers in the van. All the houses are attended by the owners and families dressed in period costume, they take you...