Hello! I promised to try to keep up with my postings on this trip, so here's the second installment. Yesterday, we headed about 175 miles north from Beaver Run RV Park, and wound up here at beautiful Watson Mill Bridge State Park in the little town of Comer, Georgia. This place is SO cool! There are two entrances into the park. The northern entrance is in the town of Comer itself. If you have a large RV that is taller than 9 feet or weighs more than 3 tons, you have to enter from the north. Luckily for us, Dodge and I are both much shorter than 9 feet, and even both of us together don't weigh 3 tons, so we were able to enter from the south. That enabled us to cross over the magnificent Watson Mill Bridge, and that was a real treat. Sometimes it pays to be a little guy like me. Traffic was light, so Gary was able to park me at various places inside the bridge and take pictures. It was a little scary hearing some of those old boards squeak as we rolled over them, but I was too excited to worry very much. Once through the bridge, we stopped at the visitor's center to check in. Inside was a really sweet girl named Lindsey. She was very helpful and answered all of Gary's questions. Once Lindsey got us squared away, we headed back to the campground. It is small with only 22 campsites. Some were taken, but we rolled through twice to check them all out, and ended up in campsite number 11. It is at least 95% shady all through the day. We like that. The temperatures have been mild on this trip, and after the grueling Florida summer we had, this is exactly what we've been looking forward to. It hasn't gotten hotter than 78 degrees so far, and last night it got all the way down to 51 degrees. I don't think Gary moved the entire night, and when he sleeps well, I do too. After Gary got me settled into our campsite, he decided to go for a walk and check out the park. There's a trail within the campground that follows the curves of the river, takes you past the site of an old hydro-electric power house, and eventually you wind up at the covered bridge. From Gary's many pictures, the whole thing looks very picturesque. I wish I could go to all the places that Gary does, but it's easier for me to hang out and watch TV or feed the squirrels. He always takes enough pictures that I get all of the enjoyment without doing any of the work. For a lazy guy like me, that is just plain perfect. You can get down to the briskly flowing river from either end of the bridge. There's a 2-1/2 mile walking and bicycling trail on the side opposite the campground. Picnic areas are abundant, a lot of them with scenic views of the bridge and the water. In a separate area near where we came into the park from the south, there is an equestrian camping area. There are also primitive camping areas (if you're into that kind of thing) near the main campground. Gary says the restrooms are pretty nice. There's a washer and dryer between the men's and women's restroom, and for the big boy campers, the dump station is appropriately located right next to the restroom. There's no TV or internet connection in the campground, but free WiFi is available at the visitor's center 24 hours a day. I sent Gary over there to type this up for me. We are really enjoying being here, and I wish we could stay longer than three nights. Now that we know what an awesome park this is, there is no doubt at all that we will come back here again someday. Georgia has a lot of GREAT state parks, and this is one of the best that we have been to. It's off the beaten path, but well worth a visit. When you get here and check in at the visitor's center, don't forget to tell Lindsey that Toaster sent you. She will know EXACTLY who you're talking about.
On Friday morning, we packed up early and bid farewell to Watson Mill Bridge State Park. One last ride through that beautiful old bridge, and we were off towards another adventure. Our next stop would be in Newport, Tennessee, but not before 198 miles of twisting mountain roads passed under our wheels. Going through those mountains was a lot of fun for me, but not so much for Dodge. He is definitely a flat land vehicle, and not at all geared for climbing hills. He struggled considerably, and I could feel his transmission downshifting into lower gear as he pulled me and Gary and all of our stuff up those inclines. He never complained though. He never does. He just gets us from place to place with little reward for all of his hard work. I hope he knows how much we love him and appreciate him. We finally arrived at the Newport I-40 KOA, and nobody was happier about that than Dodge. We checked in at the office, Gary got me set up in our campsite, then he was off to explore the place. This is your typical KOA. It's pretty well kept, and the campers are all pretty close to each other. There are some nice trees here providing a good amount of shade, though one of the ones hanging over me is obviously dead and more than a little scary. There's a pool here, a large picnic pavilion, a playground, and a recreational area for basketball, volleyball, and horseshoes. One thing that we found funny is the signs for the restrooms, marked as Hillbillys for men, and Hillfillies for women. Gary tells me that the restrooms are nice and clean. There are several little camping cabins here too. This is far from being a picturesque state park, but it's a nice enough place to hang out and relax. One drawback for a lot of people, according to the many online reviews, is the excessive road noise from nearby Interstate 40. It doesn't bother us though. Gary has been hanging out with an old friend of his while we have been here. She knows every inch of Newport and the surrounding areas, and they have spent a lot of time antique shopping and reminiscing about the old days back in St. Petersburg, Florida almost 26 years ago. We have WiFi here at the campsite, and the greatest thing for me has been the many channels of cable TV I've been checking out while Gary and Laurie have been out having fun. As I write this, it is early Sunday morning. We have one more day here. Tomorrow morning, we head west to a state park near Chattanooga, Tennessee. We're taking I-40 to I-75 to get there, and hopefully Dodge will have an easier trip than he had coming up US441 and US74 to get here. He's rested up, and he's ready. I'll write from Chattanooga. Have a great day, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
