WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

Saturday, October 7 – We had an uneventful trip today from just south of Louisville, KY, to a little west of Little Rock, AR.

MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

We are staying at JB's RV Park in Benton, AR. We've stayed here several times in the past and always enjoyed our stay. It is located a little over a mile off I-40. It is in the woods, so getting satellite reception can be a challenge but we've always managed. The streets are gravel as well as the huge sites. Spacing between the sites is good but some sites are laid out front to back with the neighbor so you are sharing patio space, which we don't necessarily care for. There are FHU sites and some water and electric only sites. All sites have 50 amp service. It is a nice park to sit out under the trees and relax. It has always been quiet and peaceful when we've been here. They have filled up nearly every night we've been here, so call ahead and reserve a site. We called the day before and was able to get the last site. The cost is $27/night for W&E or $30 for FHU.

Looking right.

Looking left.

 

Sunday, October 8 - Another uneventful travel day. How nice that sounds.....I hope I don't jinx us! We stopped for the night, or should I say afternoon before lunch time. We are at the House of Prayer RV Park in Tenaha, TX. We are just off TX-59 (future I-69) about 45 miles north of Nacogdoches, TX. We considered pushing on to Escapees Headquarters at Rainbow’s  End in Livingston, TX, but decided to make a short day of it. We want to get everything (meaning satellite) all ready for the Indians vs Yankees baseball game tonight. The Indians are ahead 2-0 in the five game series.

Looking left.

Looking right.

Lots of friends to keep Bella company.

A little bit about the House of Prayer taken from the Internet: Through the years we have had many faithful campers and snowbirds come through our park. We cater more to senior citizens and disabled and allow no drugs, drunks, and whatever other deviant behavior that may be unpleasant for a retirement community. We also have 22 nice 1 & 2 Bedroom cottages with bills paid available to be rented monthly. Very nice for a widow or older couple looking for a quite place to live away from the bustle of the city.

House of Prayer RV Park has eight overnight sites ($10/night). They are laid out very nicely with plenty of space between very long sites. FHU sites with all the utilities located nicely, mid-way on each site. No trees but for some reason we had difficulty hooking up the satellite. The one negative is that the sites are on grass, so one must be alert for red ants!

Speaking of insects....are you fighting the dang stinkbug infestation? They are all over the country. Remind me of the Japanese Beetle infestation of years ago.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention in a recent post concerning the highway conditions. I am frequently critical of the poor highway surfaces in Louisiana. Well, Ohio I-71 from Columbus to Cincinnati is as bad as I-10 in parts of Louisiana. I just don't understand states letting interstate highways become nearly impassable. It sure isn't very enjoyable to drive an RV on American highways. I don't see how truckers survive. Rant complete! LOL Sounds like I'm in a grouchy mood with the bugs and the rough roads but I'm my usual sweet self....right Marsha! One more short day of travel, and we will be in Houston for awhile.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN….HEADED FOR HOUSTON

Thursday, October 5 – We pulled out of our summer home this morning in Canton, Ohio, with rain drops falling. When will Paul learn not to wash and wax the 5^th wheel and truck before traveling. He swears it rains every time we travel. Within an hour it was pouring. Before we got out of the state of Ohio, we were in a deluge.

It wasn’t till we crossed the Ohio River in Cincinnati that the rain finally stopped. We extended our planned stop because Paul didn't want to set-up in the rain. He, also, wanted to get past Louisville, KY, and tomorrow morning's rush hour just in case we had another day of driving in the rain.

We stayed at Grandma's RV Park just south of Louisville in Shepherdsville, KY. We've stayed here several times in the past. Nothing to write home about. The roads are gravel and the sites are gravel. The sites are very level with full hookups but we are pretty close to our neighbors. They do honor Good Sam discount which lowers the price to $30/night. Last time we stayed here (several years ago) the price was $20. Jeesh!

Looking right.

Looking left.

We hit the road early again on Friday morning. Both days we wanted to get to our destination and set up before the Cleveland Indians game started in the American League Playoff Series.

Day two was a much drier drive and about one hundred miles shorter. We passed into the Central Time Zone (Love it!) and arrived at our destination about lunch time. This is a nice little RV park in Denmark, TN, which is about 50 miles east of Memphis. Joy – O RV Park has about 25 sights with gravel road and level gravel sights. There is a swimming pool, but it is closed this time of year. We wouldn't use it anyway... :-) They do have a laundry room and restrooms. The owners are wonderful helpful people.  The sites are full hook-ups with 50 or 30 amp electric. Price is $27 - $30 per night. We shake our heads and pay the price. When we started RVing in 2009, we tried to stay under $20 per night. Now we've come accustomed to thirty dollar nights but certainly aren't happy about it! And we don't stay at fancy RV parks!

Looking right.

Looking left.

Tomorrow we move into Arkansas and then into Texas on Sunday. We plan on arriving in Houston on Monday. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day. 

LANCASTER, PA

 

Saturday, August 26 – We headed out early this morning for Ephrata, PA, and the Elks campground. There are only three sites here with electric and water. It is a really tight squeeze. When they laid out the campground, they left a huge tree in the middle of the parking area. Paul had to do some very creative driving to get our fifth wheel in the spot. At one point, we were at an angle so severe, that we had to unhook, move the truck and reconnect to finish getting the fifth wheel into the spot. Who would ever leave a huge tree in the middle on the parking area? Crazy.  There are tons of trees. We had no satellite or over-the-air TV.

Looking right.

Looking left. The tree on the right side of the photo is the monster we had to navigate around.

There is a little brook running in back of the fifth wheel. Bella enjoyed the taste of the cool running water.

We headed to Lancaster, PA, this morning to visit Amish Country. We stopped at a neat diner for breakfast. Very good but way to much to eat...LOL

We arrived in Lancaster and headed to the Central Market right in the center of town. The country's oldest farmers' market in the heart of Amish country occupies a beautiful 120 year old red brick building. We walked through the very nice indoor market with displays of local fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. Marsha did buy some mustard powder for the homemade mustard she makes and some very nice looking and tasty peaches but that was the extent of our purchases.

With a name like this place, you know it has to be good.

We then walked around downtown looking at some historic buildings and some churches.

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

The Visitor's Center.

Upon returning to the truck, we noticed a gift from the Lancaster Police Department….a parking ticket. We couldn't believe we failed to see that we had to pay for parking on Saturday. It was the type where we entered our license plate number at a central location that we didn't see. $20.00.....dang!

We then headed to Lititz, but the traffic was so bad due to an air show that we turned around and headed for home. We are actually disappointed with the Lancaster area. Compared to the Amish area in Ohio, this area is over-commercialized and not in the country/farm environment we were expecting. Maybe we didn't find the right area but nevertheless, we decided to move on down the road in the morning.

Since our campground site was so difficult to get into and not wanting to wake the neighbor early tomorrow morning, we decided to move to Site #1 which was vacated this morning. It is a straight shot out the campground road, and we won't need to have neighbors move their trucks in order to get out. Site #1 is the best site in the campground.

That's all for this trip. We are back in Canton, Ohio. We will head to Houston come October.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!