9th Stop - Bama Bison (AL) and Coca-Cola Space Science Center (GA) - plus Parenting Ponderings

Blog Post #16 - Written June 7, 2025

Stay: May 21-22, 2025

We found this fun little Harvet Host stay between Crestview and Atlanta that fit perfectly into our itinerary. It's called Bama Bison and it's owned by a single lady who basically manages it all herself. It's a huge ranch/farm, with 11 bison, tons of acreage and a little RV campground to boot! Pretty impressive for a solo operator.

We enjoyed camping here quite a bit, we saw frogs, toads, bats, lots of stars, free-range chickens, bison (of course!), and it was also the first time we had neighbor campers with kids that Z and Q could play with! The dad was Army and when they transferred to the Columbus, GA army post, there were no family barracks available, so after staying in a hotel a while, they decided to buy a travel trailer and live in it here full-time. They've liked it so much that when the Army finally had room for them, they said "no thanks" and stayed in their trailer. They even plan to upgrade to a bigger trailer as their kids grow and then a nice 5th wheel after their boys leave the nest. It was interesting to hear how their circumstances had pushed them from never even thinking about an RV/trailer, to now planning to live in one for the rest of their lives haha. Anyhow, the kids had a blast playing together and we were grateful to have little playmates nearby again.

We also visited the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, in nearby Columbus, GA.  [Side note: Columbus, GA is in a different time zone than our campground, which threw us off a bit haha. I can't imagine living and working in different time zones like the Army dad mentioned above, that would throw me for a real loop!]   Also kind of a side note: When we lived in Cleveland, we bought a Family MAX annual membership for the Great Lakes Science Center for $180. It has probably been our best investment to date. Not only did we go a ton when we lived in CLE, it's part of a 'reciprocity' program with 350+ science centers and museums around the country. So far we've used it in OH, CA, FL, GA, and KY. These science centers are really, really cool and also really expensive, so it would normally be about $120 per visit for our family. So we've saved over $750 already (not counting all the visits we did in CLE, which was a lot).  Sorry, I'll stop with the side tangents, I'm just really 'value' and getting a good deal ;)

Back to the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, this was by far the smallest science center we've been too, but we didn't mind as it gaves us time / forced us to actually read all of the placards/signs and learn about the space program history. It was really neat and they had a lot of artifacts from the actual space shuttles. Plus, all of their flight simulators and space shuttle simulators were free (normally like $20 a pop other places), and again, I'm a value hunter.

Video of Z in the flight simulator

Video of Q in the flight simulator

Too cute! D feeding the monsters (suction / air flow exhibit)

Inside the Space Shuttle simulator

Green Screen fun

Since I shared a restaurant recommendation in my last post, I'll share in this one that we ate dinner at 13th Street BBQ of Ladonia on our way back.  I tried their famous pork chop sandwich and wasn't too impressed (chop was took think and dry), but their Chipped Pork sandwich was delicious, and only $2.50!

I didn't get any pics of the BBQ, but I did find more Persian Silk Trees in their parking lot haha. Took some close ups for you so you can see how pretty they are  :)

To end this post, I'd like to share some thoughts on parenting. While our kids were out playing with the other kids at the campground, someone came over and asked/told us to be out there with our kids. Not in a mean or judgmental way or anything, and it was totally fair. But it got me thinking a lot about why we had let our kids run around unsupervised and if it was okay or negligent. I decided we're not negligent parents and here's why:

1. We've raised our kids to be pretty independent and aware of their surroundings. It was a must, since we lived on a busy main road before.
2. Kids are playful and curious, and we don't want to stifle that by helicoptering over them all the time.
3. Safety Third. Read these thoughts from Mike Rowe and an Army Captain on the subject. I don't believe my job as a parent is to bring my children into adulthood unscathed, without a scratch on them. I believe my job is to raise them to be strong, successful, independent yet reliant on God, kind, mindful people. And that starts from the very beginning, when they are little people.
4. I choose to trust in the good of most people. I know someone we've only just met could be a pedophile or kidnapper, but the reality is, they probably aren't. And I'm not going to live my life enslaved to the fear and anxiety of thinking the worst of people. Especially the people at a beautiful campground. Everyone we've so far has been so kind and happy and content with life in the great outdoors.

So yeah, our kids will continue to run around our campgrounds, exploring and getting dirty and meeting new people. And to the casual passerby, they will probably look like feral children without parents. But, assuming they survive to adulthood 😉, my hope is they will thrive, not just survive.