Isaiah’s Travel Log

Hot Springs NP!

We are at Hot Springs National Park for a 5-day stay. The main thing we did here was go to the famous bathhouse row where they put you in bath tubs filled with hot spring water.  In the past, it was popular because they thought it healed everything; modern medicine might be better now, but it was still really nice to relax in the tub. My dad and I went because the age limit was 10, so Eli sadly could not go. When we first got there, they told us to change, and we put on our swimsuits and then they took us to the bath where we soaked for 20 minutes in the hot spring water. They took us to the sitz tub where they sprayed hot water down your back. Next was my favorite part, the vapor cabinet.  Where they put you in this box and only your head was sticking out. Inside was hot vapor, and it felt great! Finally, they took us to a soft mat where we laid on a sheet, and they put hot wet towels on you.  We lay there for a couple of minutes; we were like warm burritos! Then we switched out, and my mom got to go by herself. It was really nice and relaxing to be in the hot spring water, and I definitely enjoyed it! 

There were also lots of hiking trails around the park. One started in our campground.  It was a big uphill section to start, but the view from the top was beautiful.  You could see all of the town.  We continued hiking and got to the observation tower.  We went up the elevator to the top and had even better 360-degree views.  They also had a little bit of history about the area.  Like Al Capone, the famous mob boss used to love the bath houses.  Also, Babe Ruth used to play here during spring training. Bill Clinton also graduated from Hot Spring High School. In total, it was about a 4-mile hike and it felt all uphill but overall it was a cool place to see. 

We ate at the brewery in town before we left. It makes its beer from the spring water.  My mom and dad said it was really delicious.  I had a burger, like always, and it was an 8.76/10. The other cool part of the town was that you could fill up your water at local taps of the spring water.  One was hot and the other was cooled down.  It was the best-tasting water! Highly recommend.

Next stop is Murfreesboro, AR and diamond Crater State Park

Current leg: 69

Total miles: 5,456 Miles

We at Lake Chicot for a three day stay. There was not a lot going on in this part in Arkansas so we just stayed at the camper mostly. It is located right on the lake and in the summer it would have been a lot of fun.  

 On one of our walks, we found these really good sticks that we were going to make walking sticks. We started by whittling the sticks until all the bark was off.  Then we used sandpaper to get the whole thing smooth.  Next, we put the stain on and let it dry overnight and finally we put clear coat on it to protect the stain.  Eli and I now have really good walking sticks to use out west 👍. Otherwise we just chilled at the camper and played board games and watched movies.

Current leg: 103 Miles

total miles: 5,239 Miles

Next up was Little Rock, Arkansas

We stayed at the Air Force Base there.  We did family bike ride along river in the city.  We stopped at playgrounds along the way, had good tacos at a local restaurant, and also explored the Clinton presidential library.  My mom took us to the local science museum and we talked to a parrot whose name was Eli!  The museum was my favorite spot because of all the cool exhibits. The tornado simulation was wild—the windows even broke! We were all a bit freaked out, but it was such a unique experience. Another awesome thing was the grip strength test, where you could see how you stacked up against others in your group, like kids, adult men, and women. I did pretty well, just a bit above average. 

Highlight for me was the stop at Davids Burgers.  It is a local Arkansas place.  You order at the counter and find your seat.  They then bring fries and put them in the middle of your table while you wait for your food.   Food there was some of the best of the trip!  Dad said it was a lot like In and Out which we will have to try out west.   

Next up is Hot springs National Park. 

Current leg: 148 miles

Total miles: 5,387 miles 

We are in Vicksburg, MS for a 2 day stay

Not much to say about this place but the big thing we did here was go to the Vicksburg National Military Park, where we took a driving tour to see the battle grounds of the battle of Vicksburg. This was a battle in the Civil War. We drove for around an hour to see all of the marker stones that told us what happened at that spot. Though my favorite party was the U.S.S Cairo a ship that actually sunk twice! The first time they had to pull it out of the river and saved it but the second time it was from a mine and it sunk to the deepest part of the river.  After many years they were able to salvage the boat from the river and restore it.  It is now on display and you can actually walk through the boat!  You can see both old parts and the newer restored parts. 

Then we drove to a local park and playground in Vicksburg and happened to notice that’s there was a parade going that day for Mardi Gras. We stayed and went to the parade. It was fun we got a grand total of 47 bead necklaces! We also got cups, candy, and even rubber ducks! 

Next stop Lake Chicot State Park in Arkansas

Current leg: 209 miles

Total Miles: 5,136 Miles

Gulf Port MS 

We are at Shields RV park for a 4 day stay 

The big thing we did here was taking a day trip to New Orleans. We walked around the French Quarter and went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. The beignets were the best dessert I’ve ever had, it’s like a better version of a funnel cake! It also happened to be Mardi Gras while we were there so there was a lot going on.  While we were eating there was a live band preforming jazz in the front and they were really good. 

We were walking down the street and found a cool museum for pharmacy and medicine through history. It was really cool to see the things they did in the 1800 and early 1900s to cure sickness. My favorite part was the trephination. That is basically a procedure, where they whack some one in the head with a hammer or drill to relieve pressure.  My mom says this is still used today with less prep and more precision .  I can’t believe the things they used to do and use as medicine that they think helped but most of them did not. 

Even walking on the sidewalk is a party here, there are street performers everywhere and the vibe is just great. I think it might be my favorite city I’ve ever been to!

After lots of exploring, we all got hungry and went to Mr. Ed’s seafood bar. I ordered the red snapper and it was delicious.  I think it is my new favorite fish to eat. I was proud of myself because this was like the first time I’ve not ordered a burger and i got something different 😂. It had a lot of flavor so i gave the fish a 7.5/10. 

Current leg: 140

Total miles:  4,927 Miles…so close to 5000 miles!

The Gulf coast of Florida, also known as the Emerald Coast is our next stop.  We will explore Panama City,  Destin, and Pensacola to complete our 2 1/2 months in the state of Florida!  

We only stayed a few days in Panama City and our campsite was right on the bay. It was really cool to see the bridge over the bay light up at night in red, white and blue!   We explored a local kids science museum that was pretty cool. 

Current leg: 135

Total miles: 4,674 Miles

Next up was Destin.  We used to go there a lot when my dad was in the Air Force so we were excited to go back!  It was a supposed to be a week of beach and warm weather but winter weather found us and some days it was in the 20s over night. However, they did have a heated outdoor pool that we definitely took advantage of. 

The coolest part of this spot was that a friend from Vermont happened to be driving through and we got to see him and his family. We met up at their hotel and played at the pool and in the lobby.  Sadly, we could only spend one evening with them but in Texas next month, we will spend a of couple days with them!   It was so nice to see him, and we got pizza and played board games ♟️. 

We also did our first escape room!  This is basically a room that they lock you in (not actually, because of safety reasons) and you get 1 hour to escape by solving a series of puzzles to either find a code out or a key to get out. Ours was themed the lost city and we had travel deep into the temple to find the code by working together. It was difficult but in the end we escaped with 5 minutes to spare. I definitely would like to do more of these rooms!

Current leg: 51

Total miles: 4,725 miles

Next stop was Pensacola where we did the naval air museum and Light house, Gulf Shores NP (the Florida part), and Peg Leg Pete’s, where we ate dinner. 

The naval museum was my favorite thing we did here, because of all the planes.   It was based on the Blue Angels (the stunt team for the Navy) and their training of how they got so good with flying. There were over 300 planes and two stories of exhibits. The lighthouse was next and we got to walk up to the top.  It was 177 steps to the top! The view was amazing.  We could see the naval base including the runway very well and the Gulf shore national park where we check out the following day.  

Next up was Gulf shore NP and fort where we drove down a peninsula where it was just huge sand dunes and at the end was Fort Pickens.   It is a cool fort because of all the small tunnels that we could walk through. The other forts we’ve seen on this trip are at Dry Tortugas and Fort Pulaski in Savannah but this one was my favorite. After the fort,  we went to eat at Peg leg Pete’s oyster bar, where I got chicken tenders and they were great. I also tried grouper nuggets and they were delicious 🤤. 

Current leg: 62

Total miles: 4787 miles

We parked in the grassy field of the parking lot of the Tallahassee Automobile museum for a one night stay.  It is part of a company called Harvest Hosts.  These are businesses around the country that you can stay for free over night but you need to patron the business.  We did this one before back in Maine at the Alpaca farm.  We didn’t have any hook ups but our batteries were enough to last us the day and night.

My dad, brother and I went to the car museum. It was a really cool place that had a little bit of everything they had two stories of cars and a section of typewriters, toys,pinball machines, golf clubs, golf balls, sports cards, knifes, radios, fans, racing boats, outboard engines, model trains, and a whole lot more that i can not remember! My favorite car we saw there was a ford GT in yellow and looked so cool, they also had a whole section of Batmobiles including 1.8 million dollar one with a jet engine in the back! They could only get the model because in the movie they had to crash it as part of the plot. It was cool having a place that we could stay that was made our travel days shorter.

Next stop Panama City, FL.

Current leg: 121 Miles

Total miles: 4,539 Miles

We traveled back to Savannah, GA to visit with my cousin Harper and pick up mom.  After leaving Savannah, we got back on the road and visited High Springs Campground in Fl.  We actually stayed one night there on our way to Savannah.  The campground was nice enough to let us change our dates and come back a week later.  

We were working to get back on track to our original travel plans so we only had 2 days here.  The big adventure was Ginnie Springs.  It is a series of natural springs that our 72 degrees year round!  Even with the cold weather Florida was having the water was still 72!   We read this but didn’t really believe it so we rented kayaks instead of doing tubes.  We kayaks up and down the river and explored these springs.  The Springs were the clearest water I have ever seen.  There are a series of caves here too that if you are SCUBA certified you can dive and explore.  We could actually see the entrance to a cave from the surface of the water in our kayak was that 15 ft deep.   We saw tons of turtles chilling on logs while we were paddling.  After kayaking, we were all pretty wet so Eli and I went swimming anyways!  The water really is 72 and with cold air it felt nice!  Florida has a bunch of these natural springs that are all equally beautiful and are not the typical beaches you think about when you visit Florida. We all thought this was one of our coolest experiences so far on the trip because it was so unique! 

That night we went into the town and got food at a pizza/ Philly cheesesteak place that was really good, I ate 5 slices! We walked around and found a cool ice cream shoppe that we went to and it was great 👍. My overall rating was a 8/10, pretty good ice cream. 

Next stop harvest host boondocking at a car museum in Tallahassee!

Tampa to Savannah- 329 miles

Savannah to High Springs, FL- 193 miles

Total: 4,418 miles

MacDill Air Force base

On our way to the Tampa area, we made a quick 2 day stop at Peace River Campground in Arcadia, FL.  It was a little campground and would be awesome in the summer if we had an ATV.  It was pretty cold.  Eli and I tried the pool but it wasn’t heated and it was freezing!!!! 

We are at Mac Dill Air Force base for a 7 night stay. The big thing we were going to do here was the RV show in Tampa, Fl.  We unfortunately had a family emergency with my cousin Harper, so my mom flew out to Savannah to be with Aunt Lauren. 

When we were at the RV show we also saw over one-hundreds campers, but I’m listing some of our rare ones we saw.

One of our favorite campers was the trail manor that literally transformed!  trailmanor.com. Another one of our favorite was the Mercedes camper-vans where they had many different vans that they modified and turned into  fully-functional living spaces.  They were a little tight on the inside but i thought they were awesome. Though the best one we saw there had to be the new horizons custom camper. It looked so good on the inside, it had three fold out porches, five slides and even a chandelier! We also saw some cool trucks that my dad really wanted to buy. They were modded semi truck fronts (is that what they’re called?) that were the most spacious ones I’ve ever been in.

They had over 40,000 people over the five days of the event. I had a burger at the show and it was good but not worth the price of $20. I’ll give it a 6/10.

One of the days we were at Tampa we went to visit our friends. They are also an Air Force family and were our neighbors when we lived in Ohio.  Luca and I were very close when we were 3-4 years old but haven’t seen each other in many years. He had a really cool loft that was like the one were going to get when we move back to Pennsylvania.  We played video games for most of the time mostly Madden and Minecraft.  We also played football in the front yard.  It was awesome to catch up with him. 

Our original plan was to go to Gainesville, FL and then head to the Gulf coast but instead we are changing our plans to reroute back to Savannah, GA to visit with Harper and pick up mom.  

Current leg:  96 miles to Arcadia, Fl and 93 to miles McDill AFB in Tampa, Fl. 

Total miles: 3,896 miles

Naples, Fl

We are staying at a KOA in Naples Florida for a 5 night stay. 

Our favorite thing was the pool they had. It was heated and it felt like a hot tub! They also had a pond and we were going to go kayaking, but, we did not have the chance to do so. We also met friends that we played football with and it was so fun!

Back at the campground we saw a whole army of crabs, there were probably over 1000! We also looked for alligators but sadly found none. On the last day we decided to go to a Dairy Queen near by, and we all got blizzards that were delicious. My official rating was 10/10 it was perfect.

Our other destination to see while in this area of Florida is Big Cypress National Reserve.  What’s cool is that if you visit and complete junior ranger books at biscayne, Everglades and big cypress and then we get a special patch to show we’ve been to all three along with the normal badges. Unfortunately they didn’t have any more patches so they are going to mail it to us.

Next stop MacDill Air Force base!

Current Leg: 130 Miles

Total Miles: 3707 Miles

Everglades

We stayed at the Everglades for a two night stay, but we were boondocking. Boondocking is where you camp but do not have electricity or water, so we had to live off of our batteries. What’s cool about the place is that we are actually camping inside the national park.  Our first night there, we walked to the amphitheater and got to hear a Park Ranger talk about the park. We talked about preserving the park as best as possible but also protecting it from the outside world and how that is a balancing act. 

The next day we had a boat tour through the backcountry of the Florida bay. We saw so many different animals including one crocodile and lots of different birds. The coolest part was when we got back because there were about 20 manatees in the water at the marina in a sunny spot! We have been waiting for the entire trip to a manatee and finally saw one, actually many! We did some hikes as we drove through the park, each one had a different look to it.

Since we had some time left until dinner, we went to a gator farm where they had airboat tours, gators, and even capybara! Sadly we saw no capybara but we saw over one-hundred gators! We saw a show where the guide went into an enclosure with two big gators. He picked them up and held their jaws open with his chin! We learned at the national park visitors center that this show was how Native American tribes used to do this with alligators.  Then we went on an airboat tour through the mangroves.  We got wet while they were doing tricks and spins and it was so fun! 🤩 

After the farm, we were going to go to the gator restaurant where they served gator meat but sadly they were closed for New Years. Luckily Roberts Fruit stand was open.  We got papaya, ugly fruit, and the best mango any of us had ever tasted. My favorite was the ugly fruit because it tasted like a mix between lime, orange, and lemon it was so good 😊.

Current leg: 140 miles

Total miles: 3577 miles