The Suwannee River State Park at 3631 201st Path, Live Oak Florida is historically enchanting. The original 300 acres purchased in 1936 is now a beautiful 1800 acre lush camp along the humming Suwannee River. With all the amenities that I required there is also great fishing, a fine old boat ramp, comfortable hiking trails, canoe trails to explore and much more.

O’Leno State Park  is situated north of High Springs Florida and northwest of Ocala. My new pup and I practically had this whole beautiful park to ourselves which was perfect for our initial “getting acquainted” period. O’Leno is one of Florida’s first state parks. On the east end of the suspension bridge built in 1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps is where walking trails start. History buffs will love O’Leno State Park.

The River Trail is a short loop around the River Sink where the Santa Fe River begins it’s subterranean journey.

Parener’s Branch loop meanders around sinks which allow glimpses of the Santa Fe River’s underground passage.

A more adventurous hike trails south to the Sweetwater Primitive Camping area.

The trail to The River Rise where the Sante Fe River resurfaces is the longest hike.

We found this park to be peaceful, well kept with clean bathrooms and great playgrounds.

Meet ” Isabelle Blue”. Her momma is  “Southern Belle Hazel” her sire is  “Levi Blue”. Here she is at 8 weeks old on our first day together.  Here we GO!

Not too shabby!

The Mamie S Barrett was built in 1921 by Howard Shipyard of Indiana. The paddle wheeler was 146 feet long and 30 feet wide. Sold to the United States Corp. of Engineers she was moved to to Florence Alabama in 1923. In 1935 The Corp. renamed her “Penniman” when she was put into service as an inspection boat. Franklin D. Roosevelt used the boat as his headquarters on the Mississippi in 1942.

She was sold to Vollmer Brother’s Construction Company in 1947. Sold then to Spencer Merrills in 1949 when she was renamed “Piasa”. “Piasa”  was outfitted as a clubhouse with restaurant for the Harbor Point Yacht Club at Weston Alton, MO.

In 1981 Dick and Cathy Oberle moved her to Eddyville KY where she became a restaurant at a marina on the Cumberland River by Kentucky Lake under the original name “Mamie S Barrett”

John and Mary Houseman next purchased “The Mamie S Barrett” bringing her to Vicksburg MS in 1987 where she was converted to  a showboat with restaurant.

In the early 1990’s “The Mamie S Barrett was again sold to be used as a casino boat but was apparently never used as such.

During “The Great Flood of 1993”, the most damaging flood since 1927, that severely impacted river traffic bridges highways and railroads along the Mississippi the “Mamie S Barrett” was beached in a cut below Natchez MS.

Later moved to Vidalia LA some interest in uses for the boat dwindled away though it is n the list of the National register of Historic Places.

The Mamie S Barrett now rests abandoned high and dry some miles from the Mississippi River in Deerpark LA. where I took photos. She is so fascinating to me, eerily beautiful despite the ravages of time she mysteriously speaks to me of dark romance.

Look at this. sigh. seriously cute. *Gypsy Gene* as I spied her looking up from the lake at Natchez State Park. She’s so pretty! I am still caught in the sway of emotion between “OMG what have I done!” (in purchasing the RV and years of payments) and the excitement of “YEAH Buddy!” accompanied by endless hours of imagining… where next?! WE are gonna have a GOOD time together! So…Camp. Beautiful camp ground here at Natchez. Period. Natchez State Park is not only famous for the largest bass caught in Mississippi some year or other but actual *wild* wildlife. I saw so many deer, does with bambi…yeah…bambi spotted wobbly babies… so precious. And all quickly hustled into the green by the mommas before I could raise a camera. Also wild turkeys equally shy and timber rattle snakes who seemed to prefer to cross warm camp roads after dark! (Did you know timber rattlers only travel about 3 miles max from their birth den?) There are cabins and a more primitive camp loop, a lovely lake and hiking trails from where you can identify various trees mushrooms spiders and flora if you are into that. I am. Campfires in the pits are allowed and there is plenty of deadfall & fat pine fire starters to be found along the hiking trails. Each site in the B loop has a lovely pad, picnic table and grill, electric and water (no dump although there is one near the exit), many have a direct path to the lake as seen above. Totally enjoyed a few days here, the park was fairly empty the last week of August, shhhhh just the music of frogs and katydids, the flashing of lightning bugs made me feel like a wonder eyed kid again. Speaking of kids, there is a nice kid’s play area near the office. Enjoy! Cheers!

I flew to Ohio to pick up the Airstream that had my preferred floor plan and the best price. I left Troy Ohio headed towards Gulf Shores Alabama and stopped at my favorite rest stop near Huntsville for a break.

Here we go folks! Wanderlust has struck again. The road beckons. This time around I’ll be traveling solo in a beautiful new tiny home on wheels. I will be sharing all kinds of experiences during my journeys across The Americas. Wish me luck!