We were on the road again before 8AM this morning. After spending the night only 30 or so miles south of Chattanooga, I was dreading the morning traffic. What a relief it was to just blow right through the city on both I-24 and I-75 without a hiccup. The same was true of Knoxville and the tri-cities area.
Our destination for today was Stony Fork Campground. A nfs campground a few miles off I-81, near Wytheville, VA. Stony Fork creek winds it way through the campground, crossing under the campground road numerous times. It was running bank full and muddy from the recent rains.
The campground itself was very nice, situated in deep forest. Plenty of available sites, both reservable, and first come-first serve.
Lots of blooms of Honeysuckle and berry vines.
We got up this morning with raindrops on the roof. My plan to leave by 7AM to beat the rain hadn't worked out. Regardless, we still pulled out of the driveway at 7:02. Light rain for the first 50 miles or do, but we outran it by the first stop at a Hardee's for country ham biscuits and coffee. An uneventful day as we made our way through Meridian, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham. Always dark clouds in the rear view mirror.
We had reservations at a Harvest Host location just north of Gadsden, AL for the night. After reading the latest comments from recent visitors about getting stuck after rain, we contacted the host and cancelled. Now we had to find another spot for the night.
Cloudland Canyon, a Georgia state park was only a couple hours more driving. I called and got lucky, reserving a wonderful site for the night. $38.00 W/E. We arrived before 4PM Eastern time, and are enjoying a quiet evening after a busy day.
When we lost Sally in September of 2021, we both agreed that we would never have another dog. There could not be another one as attentive, loving, travel wise, etc; and we would be disappointed in her replacement. That train of thought lasted about six months. We realized we missed having a dog. We had been married 55 years, and had always had one, two, or three under foot.
A friend put us in contact with a veterinarian in Hattiesburg, MS that had a mission of matching special rescues with people looking to adopt a dog. We filled out paperwork describing us, our lifestyle, type of dogs we had in the past, and quite a bit more. Time passed.
The middle of May 2022, we had plans to take the Casita and boat to our daughters camp for three days of fishing. Everything was hooked up and ready to go on Thursday afternoon. We were sitting on the deck when we received a text, and a picture. The text said "I think I've found your dog. Would you like to come visit him tomorrow?"
.jpg)
We did, and we brought him home for the weekend. He was ten years old, male, and housebroken. Milo's first three nights were spent in the Casita with us. Needless to say, a week later we adopted him.
He was the perfect traveler. He got along amazingly with our daughters three dogs. He spent that Summer touring Colorado and Utah. In 2023 he made it to Quartzsite, Alabama Hills, and New England. 2024 found him touring the Pacific Northwest for eight weeks.
.jpg)
He just passed his third anniversary with us. He's looking forward to
hitting the road again soon. He isn't Sally, but we wouldn't trade him
for the world....jc
I swore off blogging back in April of 2021. Came back in October of 21 with the death of Sally. I had no intention of ever posting another blog. Odds are I will be the only one to read it as I've been gone so long. That's OK, I want the record.
We are about to depart on what will be our second longest Casita journey. From Mississippi to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Ten weeks on the road. I have no clue if blogger will accept my photos as before, if I'll find wifi, whatever. We are about to see. At the moment, I can't even figure out how to add a photo....jc
