Blog
Deming, NM
Dates of stay: Jan. 19, 2022
Harvest Host stop!
We had one night in New Mexico, which happened to be at the D. H. Lescombes Winery, which is a Harvest Host location. We arrived around noon, and had our pick of the parking lot - which was huge. Over the afternoon, there were about 6-7 other RVs and vans that pulled into the location and we still had plenty of room.
They have a lovely tasting room, so we took advantage of this Wednesday afternoon to try their wines and grab a bite to eat. We also just happened to run into the only other couple in the place at that time - who were from Minneapolis! A very small world indeed.
Grabbed dinner from a Mexican food truck in town, drove around for a bit, then headed back for a quick overnight stay. Our next destination: Tucson!
Anahuac, TX
Camped at: Frascone Winery - a Harvest Host stop
Dates: Dec. 11, 2021
Crossed the Texas state border mid-morning, and followed our GPS directions to a well-worn, small community where we had reservations at a Harvest Host location to spend the nite. Phil met us in his golf cart once we encountered the “Harvest STOP!!! sign”, and led us to our RV pad for the nite, which has hookups! A rare occurrence for Harvest Host stops, and kind of nice. The Frascone Winery is a very small family operation but they happened to have a saxophone player (Bob) and seafood and sausage gumbo on the house. We bought a bottle of their “Biker’s Blood Red” and took in the music and free gumbo (quite good). We met another couple from Appleton, Wisconsin, who happen to be on their way down to Brownsville, TX for the winter. Turns out the guy’s parents both went to St. Norbert College - another small world experience. We had a nice time swapping stories of the state park experiences, and we made a strong push for Gulf Shores State Park, which they plan to hit on their way home.
The Anahuac Wildlife Preserve is located about 20 minutes from here, so we hopped in the Jeep to head over - not before we put on long pants, turtlenecks and vests - it’s cold here (low 50s with a strong wind). It snowed 18” at home last night, so I’ll still take the weather we’re dealing with now. Owen is missing the snow, and particularly Buck Hill so we’re hoping we can find some skiing in the mountains of Arizona for him.
Lafayette, LA
Camped at: Vermilionville Living History Museum - a Harvest Host stop
Dates: Dec. 10, 2021
We haven’t stayed at a Harvest Host since Bristol, TN so we were looking forward to checking out this place as it is always an experience to pull into one of these places.
LOTS of parking lot parking (nice and level), so no trouble at all finding a spot. This location is known for its Vermilionville Living History Museum. It represents several of the different communities that lived, worked and played in what is known as Acadiana today - the Acadians, the Creoles, the Native Americans and the African descendants of the area. The village has several restored houses and buildings that showcase traditional artifacts and period costume from the years 1765 - 1890. I found it interesting that this was a sugarcane plantation in the 1800s, and 120 individuals were enslaved here.
While we didn’t do the tour itself as we arrived while it was about to close, we did discover the Acadiana mountain bike trails a few miles from us, and took the opportunity to get out on those for awhile. We also were able to check out the gift shop at the museum, which had a number of great items all made by local Artisans. I was happy to find some really great Christmas cards.
As it is Friday - and Friday night is always pizza night - we asked for a recommendation from the Museum Host and she steer us to Deano’s, which was excellent and had a nice outdoor patio. Tom and Owen stuck with a traditional meat pizza (Pepperoni and smoked Louisiana sausage) but I went for the Exterminator - smoked sausage, cajun shrimp and jalapeños - quite good!
We didn’t sleep real well - there were a number of bright lights in the parking lot for security reasons, and being in a different place like this never brings about a great quality of sleep. We left at 8 am, as soon as the gates opened, and headed into Texas.
Harvest Host Bristol Caverns - Bristol, TN
Bristol Caverns was a fun experience. We got to go into the caves and see cool rock formations. If you want to see some pictures click here for my video on Bristol Caverns.
Here’s a few more pictures of Bristol Caverns and our camp spot for the night on Instagram: Instagram
Erie, PA
After a one-night stay at a Harvest Host in Fremont, OH, we headed up to Erie, PA, destined for the Lampe City Campground, near the city marina. Located near Bayfront Park, it was a nice, small and quiet campground by Presque Isle State Park - which should be the main reason anyone comes to visit Erie. Erie is pretty industrial, and as Tom likes to put it “a town with a lot of potential.” Of course, there were a lot of parts that we didn’t have a chance to discover. We liked the campground thought and it was also our first paved site, which we soon realized is quite nice as it greatly minimizes the amount of sand and grass that gets tracked into the camper! Seems we are sweeping that out multiple times a day.
We arrived early afternoon so we took advantage of the rest of the day to drive over to Presque Isle State Park. Originally billed as the “Playground of Pennsylvania” it is an isle that juts out into Lake Superior and served as a safe harbor for American soldiers back in the 1800’s; a fair amount of boat building also happened here during those times. It was turned into a state park in the early 1900s and now has many hiking and biking trails, 11 beaches (at least), a marina, floating houseboats, playgrounds, boat rentals, the Perry Monument (Perry was credited with defeating the British in a battle and keeping his men safe in and around this area), and the Presque Isle lighthouse that Owen and I toured. We also discovered the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, which is a great find. It is located just before the entrance to Presque Isle, is free, has lots of hands-on exhibits for kids and does a great job providing historical and environmental knowledge about Presque Isle. I particularly enjoyed the exhibit that explained Presque Isle decade by decade, starting in the early 1900s. In 1966, a UFO was spotted on the island, which brought about national attention and they even had plaster molds made of the supposed “legs” of the UFO that remained in the sand. Good stuff.
When we were loading up at our previous stop in Fremont, Tom discovered that the left rear tire on the Jeep was losing air and had a nail in it. We attempted to get it fixed in Erie, but no luck and we ended up buying a new tire. Yay for us - not exactly what we had anticipated so soon but hey - it’s going to happen. Thankfully, if Tom hadn’t discovered it before we left Ohio, it could have blown out while we were towing it behind the RV and that could’ve been really bad. So counting our blessings that he caught it when he did.
Short stop here (only 3 days) and we’re off to Niagara Falls next!
Iron Fish Distillery - Thompsonville, MI
Inside Iron Fish Distillery
Outside Iron Fish Distillery
Iron Fish Distillery is in Thompsonville MI. They have really good pizza. we stayed at Iron Fish Distillery as a harvest host spot. On Friday they had live music. They have corn hole, connect four, frisbee, and a game where you throw bean bags at bowling pins. They ran out of pizza because it gets really busy. We were able to get there in time so we still got pizza. We saw a helicopter land and take off at the distillery.