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Our next stop. Atlanta State Park, Texas.  We decided to stay here for a couple of days. When we arrived we were to only campers in the section other than the Campsite Host – Sam. Sam welcomed us with opened arms. This State Park was great! The only “challenge” was the night bugs. We don’t know what they were called, but they got everywhere at night. We had to vacuum them up each night before we went to sleep. Our day trips brought us geocaching to Oklahoma and Louisiana.

This was an excellent find. We stopped just because it looked cool and we wanted to check out the Bass Pro. WOW is all I can say. This is a Bass Pro Superstore. It’s quite large and even has a hotel in it. The Big Cypress Lodge – $275 a night, but it looks like it might be worth it. The tallest free standing elevator in America takes visitors to The Lookout at the Pyramid at the apex of the building, where they can take in the view on an indoor and outdoor observation deck or get a bite to eat at the “Sky High Catfish Cabin”; a restaurant, bar, and aquarium at the top of the building.

Wikipedia – The Memphis Pyramid, initially known as the Great American Pyramid, formerly referred to as the Pyramid Arena and locally referred to as The Pyramid, was originally built as a 20,142-seat arena located in down town Memphis at the banks of the Mississippi River. The facility was built in 1991 and was originally owned and operated jointly by the city of Memphis and Shelby County; Shelby County sold its share to Memphis in April 2009. Its structure plays on the city’s namesake in Egypt, known for its ancient pyramids. It is 321 feet (98m, about 32 stories) tall and has base sides of 591 ft; it is by some measures the tenth tallest pyramid in the world. The Memphis Pyramid has not been regularly used as a sports or entertainment venue since 2004. In 2015, the Pyramid re-opened as a Bass Pro Shops “mega-store”, which includes shopping, a hotel, restaurants, a bowling alley, and an archery range with an outdoor observation deck at its apex.

Just across the Mississippi River was Memphis Tennessee, home of the King. Although Stephanie and I are not really Elvis fans we decided it was going to be an interesting place to visit. And it was. Elvis was a great contributor to the Rock and Roll scene. Graceland, his home was awesome.

We stayed at the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. Just across the river from Memphis, Tennessee. The park was nice. It had very clean but very interesting bathrooms. If you had to sit on the toilet, you couldn’t touch the floor. The park has be prone to floods from the Mississippi River in the past and everything has to be placed higher than normal. The area also had what they called Woolly Aphids. They look like tiny snowflakes floating in the air. They seem innocent, BUT they excrete small amounts of a waxy substance that gets everywhere. The substance is very sticky which means everything else sticks to it….The camper and van were a mess.

The rain subsided enough fo us to do a little touring in the area. Stephanie and I are really not into country music, but the history can be interesting. So a trip to the Grand Ole Opry was in order. A very elegant place with a very large treed courtyard to host pre events.

We toured around the downtown area and watched everyone getting ready for the NFL game. Thousands and thousands of people descending on the area. Tailgating everywhere!

We returned to the campsite in the afternoon to relax and enjoy the first bit of sun. This year Nashville is where we got to see the lunar eclipse.

We left Dayton Ohio and continued heading south.  South West actually. As I mentioned earlier as much as this trip was our vacation it was also about our hobby Geocaching. We crossed the border for Indiana to get a cache before heading to Kentucky. We passed by the Louisville Slugger factory and stopped to watch some horses race at Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Yogi Bear park in Nashville, Tennessee was our final destination. A nice place, but it was right beside the highway.

Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby.

John in front of Churchill Downs

The Horse “Ambulance”

“SRathier” scoring a geocache on the Kentucky Derby grounds

“Sausage Egg McMuffins” at Yogi Bear Park in Memphis, Tennessee

We were both very excited to start our holidays. We had breakfast with most of our award recipients then started to head NORTH?? I found it odd that we had to travel north to get into the United States.

Stephanie found the Windsor/Detroit tunnel on the map and away we went. When we arrived at customs on the US side we had a very “odd” experience. His questions were all over the place and he really seemed focused on the trailer. He never asked about alcohol, firearms or tobacco. And wouldn’t you know it we did have some alcohol to declare.

Part of this years trip is to get some Geocaching done in some of the States we have not visited before. The first of course was Michigan. So a couple of geocaches, some bike re adjustments, and one flat tire, we decided that Dayton, Ohio would be our first stop. We stayed at the Holiday Inn…..second last room available…..we were lucky.

Stephanie and I were honored to witness this years Governor General’s Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal recipients and the McNally Bravery Award recipients at the ceremony in Windsor Ontario. Held in the Caesar’s Windsor Ballroom, we celebrated with all 150 award winners. The Ottawa McNally Award recipients received a standing ovation from the crowd for their part in the October 22, 2014 incident in Ottawa. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that.

This was only the second time I’ve been to Windsor. The first was 10 years ago for the same reason. We did not stay at the Caesar’s Windsor, but we did visit it and I won $47. I was not as lucky this time.

I had to make 4 trips to the Windsor Airport today. I was initially worried about collecting my travelers. Asking myself how will I find them, how can I meet them. Then I actually saw the size of the airport….Our garage at Headquarters is larger and everyone comes through gate 4. Ten minutes before the first group arrived a bank of fog descended into the area closing the airport for over 2 hours. The flight was diverted to Hamilton. I had to return later in the morning. I was lucky that there was enough time to transport the first group back to the hotel before the second group arrived. Finally I had to pick up Stephanie. She flew in because we decided that after the ceremony we would start our vacation from here. That way we could go through some states we have never been too before.

The fog getting really thick….

I’m sure the larger passengers don’t appreciate checking in at the Windsor Aiport……