A brief video of birds and a sunset at Meaher State Park in Alabama.
animals
Meaher State Park
We stayed at Meaher State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A delightful state park with spacious sites and lots of wildlife. The I-10 freeway across the water isn’t ideal, but not too bad.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-12-03
- Check out: 2023-12-17
- 14 nights
Weather:
- Partly cloudy, some rain
- High temps ranging between 57-72°F, lows around 39-59°F
- A little wind, gusts to 28 MPH
Noise:
- Freeway noise across the bay
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise, other than kids on weekends
Site:
- #54, back in, asphalt
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
- Asphalt driveway about 55 feet long by about 12 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 52 feet wide
- Picnic table on asphalt patio about 18 by 14 feet
- No fire pit
- Clean site
- Waterfront, though with the back of our coach facing the water
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 25 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 4-9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- AT&T: 180-395 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 22 ms ping
- Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 9-12 Mbps up, 120 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Waterfront (bay)
- Walking paths
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Gorgeous sunsets, distant hum of I-10
This is a lovely state park along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Gorgeous views of the water, and various shorebirds. I-10 is visible, but the hum is distant and pretty much just background white noise. There are many nice walking trails in the park, including a boardwalk through the wetlands. Sites were large and nicely spread out. We’d definitely stay here again. We camped at Meaher State Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site, backing onto the water:
Utilities:
Shortly before we left, I got out my telescoping ladder to clear off a bunch of large pinecones that had fallen on our coach:
Not too bad, though (a rare look at our roof; I’ve still never been on it, and this was only the second time I’ve used the ladder to clear stuff off it):
Behind our site:
“Do not feed or harass the alligators” — we didn’t see any, but they’re probably all brumating by this time:
We were warned that there were invasive ants in the area, and advised to sprinkle borax around the coach (which we did). We saw some ants, but none near our coach:
Other sites:
Cabins:
Tents:
The entrance station:
Baby turtle crossing:
Fungus:
Bathrooms:
Other bathrooms:
Picnic shelter:
Boat ramp area:
Kayaks etc:
Boat ramps and dock:
Kayak dock:
There were lots of birds in the area:
Some bees:
A small beach, popular for fishing:
A nice delta boardwalk:
A fishing pier:
One evening I went for a walk to the fishing pier shortly before the sun set, and enjoyed watching the sunset and hundreds of birds:
Back to our coach:
Another day, another sunset behind our site:
A very nice state park. We’d definitely stay here again.
Iron Mountain Road
Another very scenic and curvy road is Iron Mountain Road, that connects the Mount Rushmore area and Custer State Park.
An interactive map:
Bison:
There are three narrow tunnels on this road:
One-way road:
Another tunnel:
Pigtail loop road:
Low narrow tunnel:
The third tunnel:
This tunnel has a view of Mount Rushmore:
Pigtail loop road:
One-way roads:
Mount Rushmore view:
A fun drive.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit
We also visited the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.
The South Unit is easier to get to, and thus more popular, but in our opinion not quite as interesting. Still scenic, though. This post is about the South Unit; see yesterday’s post for the North Unit.
Here’s a map:
An interactive map:
Entrance:
Info signs:
Info signs:
Display:
Gift store:
Exhibits:
Jenn and David:
Prairie dog town:
Wild horses:
Bison:
Wild horses:
Hike:
Buffalo Bill Center of the West
We visited the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming — five museums in one, on western topics.
Map in the foyer:
Natural history museum:
Library:
Gallery of gunfighters:
Buffalo Bill museum:
AR:
Plains Indian museum:
Buffalo Bill’s house:
Bald eagle:
Art museum:
Gift store:
Some interesting exhibits.
Yellowstone old west cookout and wagon ride
We did an old west cookout and wagon ride while in Yellowstone.
Horse riders, and wagon riders waiting:
Wagon ride:
Horse riders:
Horses and wagons:
A wagon used for bathroom handwashing:
Cowboy coffee:
Buffet:
More cowboy coffee:
Horses and wagons:
Chuckwagon:
Music:
Wagon ride back:
Taking the horses back:
A fun experience.
Yellowstone Canyon area
The Canyon area of Yellowstone National Park includes a village of shops and lodges, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, and Hayden Valley:
Canyon Visitor Education Center:
We saw these stickers, and (later) bought the Grand Teton and Yellowstone ones for the back of our truck canopy:
Otter Creek picnic area:
We found our initials carved on the table — no, we didn’t do that:
Reversing GIF of a bison having a dust bath:
Chittenden Bridge view of Yellowstone River:
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone:
Bison in Hayden Valley:
Bison on the road:
Mud Volcano area:
Bison on the road:
Check out the video from this area, including some cute otters.
Yellowstone Tower-Roosevelt area
In the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park is the Tower-Roosevelt area, with Tower Fall and Lamar Valley:
Heading up Chittenden Road to the Mount Washburn trailhead:
On to the Tower General Store:
They have ice cream, which we had as a snack:
Tower Fall:
Interesting rocks:
Bison in Lamar Valley:
Crescent City / Redwoods KOA Holiday
We stayed at Crescent City / Redwoods KOA Holiday in Crescent City, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A KOA amongst the redwoods.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-05-10
- Check out: 2023-05-17
- 7 nights
Weather:
- A mix of sunny and cloudy days
- High temps ranging between 60-82°F, lows around 48-57°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- A little highway noise
- No train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise weekdays, more noise on the weekend
- Chainsaws cutting trees during the day
Site:
- #B5, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Fairly level
- Large site: about 77 feet long by about 55 feet wide
- Swing seat, table & chairs, fire pit on concrete patio
- Tall trees; big hedge between sites
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 45 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- AT&T: 8-12 Mbps down, 4-10 Mbps up, 85 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: 75 Mbps down, 1-3 Mbps up, 75 ms ping, a little unreliable
- T-Mobile: 2-5 Mbps down, 3-7 Mbps up, 70 ms ping, unreliable
- Verizon: 13 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Goats and chicken coop
- Package delivery
Our review on Campground Reviews:
The forest is alive with the sound of…chainsaws
We had a pull-through patio site and enjoyed the semi-private space provided by the large hedges between sites. Our site was long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle, which we disconnected and parked behind. The patio had a nice table and chairs, a fire pit, and a swing seat. This was a good campground for heading to various units of Redwood National & State Parks. The main downside was the extensive clearing of some additional land, presumably to expand the campground, so there were chainsaws and construction equipment going all day. There’s not a lot of signage to guide you to the park, and it would be pretty easy to miss it if you weren’t paying attention. We camped at Crescent City / Redwoods KOA Holiday in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Stop by the Redwoods NP info center in Crescent City for info on the best hikes and drives in the area. Check out Grove of Titans, if nothing else. Battery Point Lighthouse was also cool.
Interactive map:
Campground map:
Our site, a large deluxe site:
Amused by Banana Slug Lane:
Patio:
Other sites:
Cabins:
They have lots of tent sites:
Office:
Rec hall, bathrooms, etc:
Dump station:
Kinda sad playground:
Dog park:
Goat:
They have a chicken run, but only one chicken; apparently they used to have more, but something got them. Rather sad — chickens are social animals. They said they’ll get more soon:
They are expanding the campground, cutting lots of trees:
A nice campground; we’d stay here again.
San Diego Zoo
We visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo. It was definitely the nicest and largest zoo we’ve ever been to.
Enjoy the animal pics! Just 15% of the pictures I took; there was a lot to see.
