Vicksburg

We left Texas last Thursday, October 12^th, and headed to Vicksburg, Mississippi for a 3-night stay and to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park.

We stopped for lunch on Friday up the road from our campground at The Tomato Place. It got great reviews on Trip Advisor, so we thought we’d give it a try. We had BLTs and they were very good, especially the tomatoes.

After lunch we went to the Vicksburg National Military Park. The Civil War campaign for Vicksburg took place in 1863 and resulted in a Union siege of Vicksburg. The Confederate army surrendered after 47 days, which opened the Mississippi River and severed the Confederacy in half.

We enjoyed dinner at Walnut Hills Restaurant, with good old fashioned southern food. I had their famous fried chicken and Julie enjoyed shrimp and grits.

On Saturday, we went into historic old town Vicksburg, to enjoy dinner and the views of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers from the 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill, the # 1 restaurant in Vicksburg, according to Trip Advisor. It had great views and plenty of outdoor seating.

We enjoyed our stay in Vicksburg and will return another day. We drove to Biloxi yesterday, at times through heavy rain, for a 3-night stay.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Texas – October 2017

We left Lake Powell and Page, AZ on Monday, September 25^th. We overnighted in Cortez, CO and then drove through Shiprock and Farmington, NM for the first time on our way to Albuquerque. We got some warranty work done at La Mesa RV in Albuquerque and were very pleased with their work.

We headed south and overnighted in Las Cruces at Hacienda RV Resort, one of our favorite stops. Our stay was free because they give you the 7^th night free and we had stayed overnight 6 times before. We enjoyed dinner at La Posta de Mesilla just down the road from the RV park.

The drive on I-10 through El Paso went smoothly and across West Texas. We overnighted in Fort Stockton and again in Kerrville. We stopped in Ozona, TX at one of our favorite places for breakfast, Café Next Door, where we can park on a side street.

We arrived in San Antonio on Sunday, October 1^st. We wanted to stay at the Lackland AFB FamCamp but they were full, so we stayed at Admiralty RV Resort, the same place we spent nearly 4 months at in late-2013 and early-2014. We enjoyed our visit with Julie’s Mom, taking in a movie, and having dinner together each night.

We spent a few days with Julie’s sister Cindy and brother-in-law Terry. They are always fun to see. One night we went out for dinner and enjoyed live music at a local country bar.

Last Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at the Sky Lounge with Julie’s Mom and their long-time friends Buzz, Ellen, Peggy and Janet.

On Monday, we headed east on I-10 to Luling, TX to fuel up and grab something for lunch at Buc-ee’s, a favorite fuel stop of ours. Buc-ee’s is a chain of 40 convenience stores located in Texas, each with 80-120 fuel pumps, but no 18-wheelers allowed.

We left Buc-ee’s and headed up the road to Lockhart State Park for a two-night stay and to sample some of the best BBQ in Texas. Lockhart was declared the Barbecue Capital of Texas by the Texas legislature in 1999. We had dinner the first night at Kreuz Market and at Black’s Barbecue the second night.

We left Lockhart this morning and drove through east Texas to Longview. Once we got settled in at the RV park, we headed to Country Tavern, just west of Kilgore, for dinner. We think they serve the best barbecue ribs on the planet! There are no menus and the server asks you if you want 3, 5 or 7 ribs. They also serve barbecue brisket, sausage, and turkey, but the pork baby back ribs are the best.

Best ribs on Planet Earth

Robert Duvall agrees

We’re off to Vicksburg, Mississippi tomorrow for a 3-night stay and to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Steve & Julie Cornelius 

Lake Powell – September 2017

We left Bluff, Utah on Sat, Sept 9^th, and headed for Page, Arizona. We enjoyed driving through famous Monument Valley where numerous westerns were filmed.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks at Lake Powell and had good weather. I was busy getting new tires put on our boat trailer, having the hydraulic pump to raise and lower our stern drive replaced, and installing a new battery. In spite of these routine repairs, our 14-year old boat is in great shape.

I enjoyed my birthday this year at an Italian restaurant with friends and carrot cake back at our campsite after dinner.

I saw this car one day when we went to Safeway to pick up a few groceries.

We played cards most nights with our friends Kris and Jan from Albuquerque. We have enjoyed meeting Kris and Jan at Lake Powell for the past 9 years, the weekend after Labor Day. We missed my sister Marcia and brother-in-law Mike from Virginia this year at Lake Powell as they had to turn back home after suffering a tire blow-out on their motorhome.    

We are now headed towards San Antonio, Texas to visit Julie’s mom, her sister Cindy, and brother-in-law Terry. Then we head towards Florida, with a few planned stops along the way.

Steve & Julie Cornelius 

Littleton & Fruita, Colorado plus Bluff, Utah

We left Colorado Springs on Tues, August 29^th and “moved” to Chatfield State Park in Littleton.

Wednesday afternoon we enjoyed seeing the Colorado Rockies play the Detroit Tigers at Coors Field. The game ended around 4:30, just in time for our drive home in the commuter traffic on I-25.

We decided to go to one of our favorite places for lunch on Friday, Steuben’s Restaurant, in the Uptown Neighborhood of Denver. We enjoyed their legendary deviled eggs and some sandwiches for lunch.  

After lunch, we toured Margaret (Molly) Brown’s House Museum, in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. We had never toured the home before and it was historically very interesting for us. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The last night we were there we went to the Platte River Bar & Grille, on South Santa Fe in Littleton, for dinner. They serve a wide variety of food and I ordered the two sliders entrée off the Happy Hour menu. They were hand-formed cheese burgers and were very good.

We experienced smoke and haze in Denver the whole week we were there, from the wild fires burning out west in Montana, Idaho, Washington and California. You could clearly see the haze as it obstructed our view of the mountains and even the buildings downtown Denver.

We left Chatfield State Park on Wed, Sept 6^th, and drove west through the mountains to Fruita, about 10 miles west of Grand Junction. We spent 3 nights at the James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park-Fruita Section.

While there, we visited the nearby Colorado National Monument for the first time. The 32-square mile area was designated a National Monument in 1911.

We left Fruita this morning, and headed to Bluff, Utah for an overnight stay. We stopped in Moab, Utah for lunch at the Moab Brewery. We were lucky enough to find a place to park along the highway. I especially enjoyed a glass of the locally brewed cream soda and a glass of the root beer with my lunch.    

South of Moab on U.S 191, we stopped to see Wilson Arch. Very impressive and so close to the highway!

We had dinner at Twin Rocks Café, a place we’ve enjoyed several other times we’ve stopped in Bluff.

We head to Page, Arizona tomorrow morning for a 2-week stay at Lake Powell.

Steve & Julie Cornelius