We’re continuing our journey west (towards the Quartzsite Annual Truck Camper Rally!) and we’ve decided to make some interesting stops along the way!
WHERE WE STAYED🛻⛺:
Meaher State Park (Spanish Fort, AL)
This was a perfect stop after staying overnight just west of Tallahassee, FL. The park itself was easy to get to, checking in was simple and we met one of the kind hosts from the campground. We (ahem… I….) accidentally booked a tent site (hey, it had water and electric and was cheaper!) but it was good enough for us for the night.
The park had a few short trails but the coolest one was the boardwalk.
There was also a boat launch and a kayak launch which was quite tempting, but we were only staying the night (and it was a bit chilly when we got there).
There were quite a few large rigs and I believe most sites were full hookup. They also had a long L-shaped fishing pier to enjoy (of course) fishing as well as those beautiful sunsets.
One thing to be aware of is that since it is conveniently off the highway, you will inevitably hear a lot of traffic noise at the campground. For us, it wasn’t an issue (though we also don’t mind staying at rest stops with lots of truck noise, so take our opinion with a grain of salt!). And if you’re visiting the USS Alabama, it’s a hop, skip, and a jump from here!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to explore Mobile, AL – perhaps another future trip!
Bass Pro Shop (Pearl, MS)
If you’ve watched our channel much, you’ll find that we regularly stay at Bass Pro / Cabella stores when we travel. While we do also stay at Walmarts, we can never miss a chance to look at all of the items that we “need” for our boat or rv or camping or fishing….. well, you get the idea.
Caddo Lake State Park Campground (Karnack, TX)
While watching TikTok too many late nights, I had seen a video of Mill Pond at Caddo Lake State Park and had immediately bookmarked it for future reference. And lucky for us, our trip was close enough to stay 2 nights and see for ourselves.
We drove into the park in the evening, so we planned the next day to go kayaking (along with a picnic lunch). There are two places to drop in, but I definitely recommend to drop your kayak (or canoe) at Mill Pond. You can also rent canoes there (sorry, didn’t check on fees) and there were plenty when we went there (then again it’s January).
The park itself seemed nice and well-maintained. The one bathhouse we went into was stocked and clean. We stayed on a small “culdesac” of the campsites. Unfortunately, they were pretty close to the road and we heard quite a bit of road noise (engine braking, etc.) throughout both nights. We definitely cranked up our white noise during our stay.
On our way out, we used their dump station. The area to dump was angled heavily which caused us not to be able to fully empty our tanks.
WHERE WE PLAYED:🐟🛶🚴♀️🥾
USS Alabama
While heading out of the park, we drove maybe 10 minutes and hopped into the parking lot to view the USS Alabama.
First off, the parking lot was huge – enough for your Class A rig or your 5th wheel without an issue. If you do have 3 or more axles, there’s a $30 parking fee, but that also includes 1 ticket (so pretty reasonable).
The building where you pay for the tickets has a ton of memorabilia as well as many more planes, jeeps and other vehicles to look at even if it’s not pretty outside. There’s also many aircraft to view outside.
We didn’t realize but they also have a submarine that you can walk through as well, the USS Drum.
Be prepared to do a LOT of walking through this sub, the many areas in the building, and (of course) through the SS Alabama. We were quite surprised at the sheer amount of places they let you see (like the lower engine room, the lower armory areas, etc.) – places we hadn’t seen on other battleship tours. They also did an excellent job of embellishing with memorabilia related to the time and detailed informational plaques to get a little better perspective.
There were 3 main walking tours through the SS Alabama which allowed you to follow a pre-defined path (which i think did help with maintaining some distance from other tour guests – when they followed the paths).
We enjoyed the excursion and learned a little along the way as well!
Mill Pond (Caddo Lake State Park)
This was by far the highlight of our kayaking trip – this small pond with towering cypress trees everywhere.
While we did kayak up the river and back for a few miles, Mill Pond was by far the highlight. The day we kayaked there was a lot of wind, so the reflections were not as clear as the TikTok video I saw, but were still quite pretty.
And while it was January we didn’t have the lovely greenery in the area, but the white of the moss with the sun setting seemed to be more than adequate for us! 😉
If you get to the park early enough, I’d say you could do this in 1 overnight stay. There are some hiking trails here as well, but we chose to focus on the kayaking adventure.
WHERE WE ATE: 🍽️🥩🍹🍺🍽️
We were traveling quite a bit these days, so we have been making meals in the camper, so no fun dining excursions (yet). I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
Other Links
- 🛻⛺🛠 Truck Camper GEAR
- 🛻⛺🛠⬆️Truck Camper UPGRADES
Our Camping Locations
If you’re interested in seeing all of the places we’ve stayed, I’m keeping a (mostly) updated list on Google Maps by Month. Enjoy!
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