Mississippi River Risin!

We decided to pack up Monday, a day early and move to Memphis, Tennessee due to bad weather coming in the next day or so. I had tried to get us into the Tom Sawyer RV Resort located on the Mississippi River just west of downtown Memphis. But. It's under water! There is a flood warning in effect until further notice because the Mississippi River has risen way above it's flood stage. Shoot, was so looking forward to sitting and watching the tugs and barges move along. Found a campground, actually a fair ground/convention center?, just east of Memphis and we are here now until maybe Friday or Saturday. We are uncertain when we will move more north again -waiting and watching for better weather in Ohio. Found a neat Mississippi River museum to go to while here - and it is closed too due to high water, also. We have been to Memphis before, don't have to go see if Elvis is in the house, he is and we saw him driving down the road in a big motor home! We saw where our brother-in-law's hospital is located - Danny didn't tell us how big his hospital was - St. Jude's Hospital is enormous. No, our Danny Thomas is not the one who founded the hospital, our's is from Pigeon Forge, TN, not Hollywood! Sunday afternoon the weather forecast for Arkadelphia Arkansas was for 30% chance of thunderstorms. We got it big time about 8pm that night. Talk about a little scary - tornado warnings were going on. Unbelievable lightning, not too much rain, and the winds were not there thankfully. We were camped at a location that was quite scenic - looking over a ravine and lots of trees and wildness - but Dave was concerned about heavy rains undermining where we were parked, causing a landslide down into the ravine. My thought was heavy wind would cause a tree or limbs to fall on us and that wouldn't be good either. We learned valuable lessons at this campground: 1. never camp within 1/2 mile of a highway - way too noisy! 2. don't take the premium site even though they say it's beautiful, check it out first; 3. don't park under big trees - park in the open; and 4. we can check off Arkansas on our map and not bother coming back. Sorry Bill and Hilary - Arkansas didn't impress us at all.

Mining for Diamonds

One of the things we wanted to do while here in Arkansas was go to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfeesboro and pan for diamonds. Typical diamonds found (every day) are brown, yellow and white diamonds. There is a video on how to dry pan or wet pan. We opted for dry - less chance for getting as dirty. Having never done anything like this - why not? What a fun thing to do for families! Just bring them all here and let them dig in the dirt all day! There were so many people there at this place, amazing. This diamond field is located on a state park and there is camping here as well as walking trails if you don't want to look for diamonds. If you didn't bring your own tools you could rent them. Not being prepared we rented a bucket, screens (course and fine) and a shovel. We had purchased a small hand shovel and some rubber gloves and a cheat sheet of what gems we could expect to see. All we came up with was some Jasper, calcite, and onyx stones. No diamonds. However, the day before someone found a 5.1 point yellow diamond! Yikes. This picture shows the diamond field which is the 8th largest diamond field in the US. Every so often they plow the field and doesn't matter - they say this diamond field goes 7 miles deep! I don't think you would run out of finding diamonds in your lifetime - only I had 2 hours and I quit - didn't have the stuff, I guess. A little girl not far from where we were digging found a diamond and her father was pretty blase about it - they must come to this often. If we ever come back - I will be prepared to do some major diamond finding. Never the less, we had a good time and I am paying for it today, my butt and legs are so sore from bending over and digging.

Hot Springs National Park

Thursday we drove into Hot Springs to look over the town and get our bearings. To get there from Arkadelphia was a pretty drive through the country. Hot Springs is a resort town, nestled among a couple of lakes, and these lakes weave in and out of the city. In the historic section of Hot Springs is where the national park is, and during the heydays of the early 1900's, thousands of people would come to the bath houses every day where the natural hot springs would be brought up into the houses for use. Very elaborate production, there is one surviving bath house today - the Buckstaff. You can go through one bath house to see how things were, and during the heyday there were over 40 bath houses lined this street. If we wanted to 'do the bath' at the Buckstaff - and for $65 you could get a steam bath, manicure, pedicure, 20 minute massage and you get to keep your loofa mitt that the attendant used on you! What a deal, not. The picture to the right shows a sitz bath (you sit in it for ailments of the liver, kidney, etc.) and also a steam chamber. I would not be able to do this - don't like to be enclosed in any thing. We did not partake of this activity - didn't interest us. We walked the town, went through the visitor center and from videos experienced what it was like to come for the baths. We both felt that the town was a tidge too commercial, so many shops for trinkets, etc. There are a number of hot fountains where people can fill up jugs of hot spring water for their use - no charge. They have analyzed the water and there is no medicinal benefit of the water other than it is drinkable and hot. While walking around we noticed the headquarters for the National Park Service's Forestry Unit so I went inside to get brochures while Dave stayed outside with the cameras. Cannot go into any federal building with a camera. Dave struck up a conversation with a federal emloyee outside taking a smoke break and turns out that he was President Clinton's boyhood friend. As an adult this man became a state trooper and was assigned to Clinton and Hillary while 'home' in Arkansas. He did not like Hillary - was actually quite hilarious as to the description he gave her. On our way back from Hot Springs we passed DeGray State Park, right down the road from where we are camping. Told ourselves we wanted to go back and explore there another day.

Arkadelphia, Arkansas

We moved from Tyler, Texas to Arkadelphia, Arkansas yesterday getting a tidge closer to home. The drive was good, stayed on country roads for the most part and only entering Interstate 30 in Texarkana, Texas - at the border of Texas and Arkansas. We are camped near I30, pretty noisy, but a lovely place. Today we will go get earplugs to block out the traffic. I suppose a person could get used to this, and at this campground there are a number of extended stay folks, but. Earplugs are a must for our stay here. We are watching the weather up north and snow is still in the forecast so we aren't in a hurry to get back. We need to get back by April 19th - Dave is going to Florida on family business and he needs to have me and the cats secure in a campground. We are now considered full-timers, just have to get back to our 'old' place and clean out and store what was there before we left in December. We need to see if full-timing is for us, and if we don't try it to see - we will never know. If things turn sour and we don't want to full-time in an RV, then we will figure out something else. There are so many possibilities that we have learned - renting for a couple of months at a time a park home - these are small modular homes - in campgrounds. Lots of people opt for this style and maybe some day we will to.

While here in Arkadelphia we plan to go to Hot Springs National Park in Hot Springs and also to go to a diamond mine where you mine for diamonds. People we know said that every time they went there, they found diamonds. How cool is that? Take off towards the north in a week or so, then who knows where we will be next. I like this life - very nomadic. We are already thinking about where we will be next winter - either New Mexico (Deming) or Arizona (Tucson).

Dinner in Gruene, TX

Pronouced GREEN this little community is part of New Branfels which is just north of San Antonio. This past Friday we met up with Phil and Sandy, the couple who talked us into coming to McAllen for the winter months - we had met them at the beginning of January in Kemah - a suburb of Houston. They are work campers meaning that they work for a number of months at a camp ground in exchange for their 'board' and electricity at the place. They get a salary each for the work they do, sometimes Phil does maintanence or security, and Sandy does office work or reservations or such. They have been doing this for many years, being full-timers now for 10 years. We aren't ready for this commitment yet, but we did get a good flavor of what all is involved. Sandy and Phil are working until October in a campground in Fentress which is north of San Antonio and they called to see if we could get together one more time before we headed out. Since our friend Jimmy suggested we go to the GristMill in Gruene and we didn't have that much time left in the area, the four of us drove to Gruene and had a lovely dinner at the place. This grist mill on the Guadalupe River hangs over the river and sometimes you think you just may fall over. Have to have pretty strong legs to be a waiter here - to climb up and down the stairs to serve.

Tyler, Texas

We packed up and moved yesterday morning from Bastrop and drove the 5 1/2 hours to Tyler Texas which is in the northeast corner of the state. We are in a place called Whispering Pines RV Resort - and again, we are in a forest of pine trees. Very lovely, but noisy! After the awesome quietness of Colorado River RV resort to this place - so different. It is cheaper a night here, has tons more people, lots more extras like hot tub, library - you give, you take a book, large swimming pool, jacuzzi, grass, a weekend cafe, kids area for play (quite large), a camp store for those items you forgot, and much more. But, we gave up the quietness and the country to be north. Many worker-bees live in the back section and by 6am the diesel trucks have all started up and gone out. So there is quiet for about another hour than most others wake up and are opening doors, walking dogs, not being very quiet to those of us who haven't slept. We will only stay here until tomorrow morning when we pack up and go to Arkadelphia which is about 40 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas. We plan to spend a week there - going to Hot Springs National Park and backtracking a bit to Texarkana where there is a diamond mine that some folks told us that every time they have gone there, they have found diamonds. Not that I need or want any, but we passed up the opportunity to hunt for diamonds two years ago when we stopped in Herkimer, NY right by their diamond mine and didn't do it. Again, we are delaying getting back to Ohio because campgrounds in our area do not open until May 1. We plan to camp just north of Columbus, OH until the campgrounds open in May up north. We should be in by April 17th - at least that's our goal. Weather here is still warm, was 82 when we got in yesterday, should be the same today, evening was about 60. Still very comfortable.

Life in Texas Country

We have discovered a couple things here in Bastrop. Right down the road from where we are camping is Spiderwood Studios which was the main soundstage and 'green screen' used for the remake of the movie True Grit which came out a few months ago. You can tell it's something special - there are many trailers behind the building, it is a very large building in an area that is mostly farms - horses and cattle. And then you see not far down the road on the other side some enormous homes - nestled into the side of a hill with natural spring lake and cattle and horses grazing by. Money. Then you see poverty next to that. About a mile down the road is King Ranch - yes, the same one as Kingsville, TX that we toured - and this King Ranch specializes in turf grass growing. A name that is popular in this area is Bullock and Duff. Hmmm - any relation?

We are anxiously awaiting the bluebonnets to come out - with the drought we may not see them here, but may up north. Every night we hear the coyotes howling, not just once but at least 3 times. You can tell they are in packs - can make out at least 4 different barks. I swear the other night they were right here. We are told that you don't leave out your cats or small dogs at night - they are great food for these coyotes. Some of these campers here have 6 cats which they bring inside at night and another has at least 5. The story of the one with 5 - she catches them, takes them into get neutered, then releases them back out. Chip and Grace are loving it here - they watch these cats all the time. Grace stays up all night protecting us - then she sleeps all day. Chip - he'd rather snuggle into the covers at night, letting Grace guard our place. And he sleeps then all day.

Austin Steam Train

We had booked tickets on the Austin Steam Train which departs from a suburb north of Austin, Cedar Park, and travels about 60 miles northwest into the 'hill country' which we wanted to see to a town called Betram. We had two options - either take the 2pm train to Betram with a 15 minute lay-over or take the 10am train to Betram with a 2 1/2 hour lay-over in Betram and that town does a re-enactment of a shoot-out on Main Street. You have the opportunity to look around the town, shop, eat in a local restaurant. We opted to take the 2pm ride - getting back to Cedar Park by 5pm, with another 45 minute drive then back to Bastrop. Glad we did - the town of Betram is quite desolate. I am sure the shoot-out would have been fun, however we have seen these activities before - in Montana on a previous trip, and in Tucson with the grandkids years ago. We had arrived at the train depot around noon - they said to be there 1 1/2 hours before departure, so we went to Double Dave's Pizza right beside it. Was this good! We hadn't had pizza for a long time and it was buffet style - or order the kind you want and they make and put out for everyone else to eat also.Once on the train we were settled in we noticed that this southeast area of Texas has had a drought and therefore many streams and rivers are dry. We are not sure how things are 'greening' up, but they are. The train was fun, I still want to take a FAST train ride. The picture above shows the car we were in - the Santa Fe - which is restored back to it's original 1930's days. And we had the only car that served beverages and snacks - without an additional charge. On the way up to Betram the engine was in front of us and we could hear the 2 long, 1 short, 1 long blast of the horn as it went through each crossing. On the way back they engineer and conductor plus the brakeman disconnected the engine and swung it to the end and therefore we were the last car. We traveled over the oldest railroad tressel in Texas, over the south fork of the San Gabriel River. Saw some really sad places along the way, saw alot of granite boulders on the side which are there because of train wrecks in the past and these pieces fell off at that time. Convicts quarried the stone from Marble Falls, a town north of Betram to Austin via railroad and this granite was used to make capitol buildings of Austin. Boulders are too heavy to pick back up so they still sit there today. Once we returned to Cedar Park and the train was 'parking' or getting backed into the deport - we had to stop traffic while it was moving back into the station. I don't think I would have been happy sitting in this traffic waiting. For the most part people would wave like crazy from the crossings and there was one gentleman who rode in his car along the route and we saw him taking pictures at most crossings - both going up to Betram and return. A real train buff. Since we have ridden a couple of trains - we can now say, been there done that and not do it anymore. Wasn't cheap to do this either. The train had seven cars - one was strictly a concession car - and it was full of people. Good business for Double Dave's Pizza as well as the train!

Town of Bastrop

We went into the town of Bastrop Friday, and it is very quaint and cute. As we came in Dave saw a quilt shop - so of course I had to go and look. While in there they told me to go to the old bank on Main Street - it's a visitor's center. Talked with a nice gentleman inside the bank about the history of the bank, the town, watched a video, etc. Found out that Bastrop is the second oldest settlement in Texas, and - the bank? Anyone know Hailey and Hillary Duff? Seems their father owns this bank (property and building) now, and their grandfather used to be the bank president, and their great-great-grandfather used to be a teller there. Also - since the Duffs still own the bank which is now the visitor's center, the family still has it's own private walk-in vault - and it's still in use.

The planners of the town did a nice job in renovating and keeping the old time flavor in tact. There are over 130 buildings on the national register, and quite a walking tour if you want to do that. The Colorado River (not the one in Colorado - but this one starts somewhere in the northwest corner of Texas and meanders to the Gulf of Mexico) runs through town and we went down to it to see the river walk area. I got trampled on by the ducks and geese there - was quite unsettling. This river - which we are camped on some 10 miles up stream, can be kayaked or canoed for over 300 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. Today there was a large group of people who put in canoes right by our campground - some tour company conducted this.

Today we traveled to Round Rock which is just north of Austin to visit a church that my pastor grew up in as a child. And just like the rest of Texas where everything is BIG, so is this church. Very lovely, and steeped in Swedish history. And of all people to meet there - I talked with a woman who was a childhood friend of Jimmy. Small world.

Moved to Bastrop, TX

We wrapped up the visit to San Antonio this morning and moved to Bastrop which is about 25 miles east of Austin. We did go back into San Antonio on Tuesday to walk the RiverWalk one more time, went to the Texas Rangers Museum - what a disappointment! and the Buckhorn Museum and Saloon. That place was just plain weird! Didn't fit the theme of cowboys and Texas, was very circus-like. Drove back to Mission San Jose to look at books in the National Park's gift store. From there to the Aciquia de Espada which is a dam and waterworks area that the monks and Indians built back in the 1700's to capture run off water and channel it via canals into the Missions. Still working condition today. We are now camped on the Colorado River in Bastrop and it is rustic and lovely here about 75 degrees and sunny. Again, haven't had any rain since we were camping in Sinton way back the beginning of January. We should hear the owls hooting at night again, and there are bald eagles nesting down by the river. I have heard them already, so know they are here. We are going on a steam engine railroad ride this Sunday into the Hill Country and then Monday Dave is getting the truck in for service. We picked up alot of dirt while in McAllen and the brakes are squeaking pretty good. Want to spend some time in Austin looking and sightseeing. Only plan on spending a week here, then start winding our way back to Ohio. We don't want to take the same trip we came down on - will head up to Texarkana on the border of Texas and Arkansas then move north towards St. Louis and then head north east to Cleveland. Haven't a clue when we will be home - want to make sure all that white stuff isn't around before we get there!

Party at the Alamo!

What an amazing day yesterday was! We had planned to go into San Antonio to visit the Texas Culture Museum and then walk the RiverWalk, then peek at the Alamo. We parked the truck right by the Culture Museum and it was still closed, so we walked to the San Antonio river which flows through the city. Planners made it into a lovely RiverWalk area, boat rides, restaurants, shops, artist stuff, nice. Didn't do the boat ride - too many people. Walked along the river and got to where the Alamo was above us, and as we landed up at street level - wow the people! People dressed as Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Spanish military, frontiersman and ranchers. Okay, so what? Got in line to go into the Alamo and as we neared the front entrance - caught this sign...yep, yesterday was the 175th aniversary of the Battle of the Alamo. As we entered into the Alamo a guide said it was closing in 10 minutes - for the day! Talk about timing. The Alamo is located right in the heart of SA and if it wasn't for two women in the early 1900's, the Alamo would not be there. One woman actually bought it to save it from being demolished. Since it is run by the Daughters of Republic of Texas, they have final say so as to what is displayed, what the hours are, and have said NO to the National Park Service for them to maintain the Alamo. It is strictly by private donations that the Alamo exists today. Couldn't take pictures inside, it is a shrine to those approximately 200 people who lost their lives defending Texas from the Spaniards. Only 14 women and children survived the attack and tell the story of what happened on March 6, 1836. After touring the Mission we walked around complex, watched some of the program that was going on, then headed back to the RiverWalk and made a loop back to the museum where we parked. As it was getting late in the day we had planned to eat somewhere on the RiverWalk instead we went to the Tower of the Americas (San Antonio hosted the World's Fair in 1968) and this tower is just like the space needle or Seagrams tower in Seattle right near the RiverWalk. At the top we had a great dinner at the Chart House which is solely owned by Tom Landry - did I tell you that he is from Mission, Texas? The restaurant revolves around every hour and 10 minutes and by the time we got finished eating, we were right back where we started. Since nightfall was coming, I asked Dave to drive in front of the Alamo to see it lit up at night, which is the photo above. Talk about meant to be - being at the Alamo 175 years to the day of the battle, getting into the Alamo in time to view it before it closed for the day, walking the RiverWalk before the crowds got there, and then finishing the day with a lovely dinner overlooking all of San Antonio. What memories we have!

National Park's Missions in SA

Friday we decided to go into San Antonio to scope out the town. As we entered SA - we realized after we drove by it - that we missed the Alamo - it's located between two high rises. So, we drove the mission trail to the visitor's center of the National Park Service's Missions of San Antonio. What amazing missions! There are four of them, the Alamo is not part of the Park, Mission Concepcion - pictured on the left here, Mission San Juan, Mission Espada, and Mission San Jose. Each mission is about 2.8 miles from each other, located on the San Antonio River, and were settled by the Fransciscan monks for the Spanish Empire about the 1720's. These missions only lasted about 80 years or so however, the churches in each mission are run by the Catholic Diocese of SA and are active parishes - holding mass every Sunday. What incredible architecture, frescos, iron work, the Spanish influence on all buildings. Our intent was to only visit the visitor center and get info, but we decided to go to the four that day. Our last mission, San Juan - pictured below, we met and talked with a volunteer, Manual Guerra age 70, who found out a year ago that he was a direct decendant of the Tejas Indians (no - he is not a Tejano who are Texans of Mexican descent), but the Tejas Indian tribe who were living in the area of San Antonio hundreds of years prior to the Spanish coming. Manual has records of his great-great-great grandparents being born, marrying, and their death certificates while living inside the mission, and he wants to spread the word of the Tejas's point of view - how they lived, their customs, what it was like from a real Tejas. Why they smelled (Spaniards called them stinking Indians - they wore animal grease to ward off mosquitos) why their teeth were black (they ate a certain tree bark which aided their stomach digestion) and why they ate frijolles - beans - which gave medicinal purposes similar to aspirin. We could have stayed with him all day listening to him, and we will never forget Mauel.

Amazing that so many people who come to see the Alamo don't take the time to see these four missions and learn 'the rest of the story'. We were able to go inside three of the missions, the fourth was under repairs, and the beauty and serenity we felt inside was amazing. To see how they water system they built is still in use today irrigating neighborhoods. Another amazing fact is that when these missions were built, they knew to place a window opposite the sanctuary so that on Easter the sunlight shown directly on the alter. Wow - to know how to do this!

San Antonio

We closed up the RV yesterday morning with a crowd watching, talking, and I guess, getting their last thoughts in to us. With that said, when you have a routine established and there is disruption or commotion around you, you tend to make mistakes or forget to do things. Dave and I always double check each other in outside, making sure compartments are locked, windows closed, antenna down, etc. So, forgot to lock some things - good thing Dave was checking me. Then inside I forgot to move something inside and when I started the slide in, I busted it. I had Sandy inside talking to me the whole time and I forgot to do some things. Oh well. Once we hooked up and got to the front office to sign out and pay our electric bill, we got on the road by 9:40am. Was a great ride due north for about 130 miles, then we headed west on I37 into San Antonio for another 65 miles. We went from Rio Grande Valley tropical flat hot dry climate to a nice rolling hills and very pretty area. We are now in the Hill Country of Texas. I am anxious to see the famous Blue Bonnets flowers that are everywhere - should be coming up within the next couple of days. Temps are great was in the low 60s last night and should reach 80 today. We may see a thunderstorm tonight - would be the first rain in 7 weeks.

Today we will head into San Antonio - about 5 miles away - and scope out the town. There are 5 missions (Alamo is one) and the famous river walk. I saw many museums and outdoor things to do as well as a steam engine railroad ride into the heart of Hill Country (going west) that we will look into. We love history so need to make sure we can soak up as much as we can before moving on.

The campground we are at - Braunig Lake RV Resort - is a beautiful campground. About 350 sites, they are paved pads, grass! between each site, we have about 5 feet more space between each site. Many many Ontario people here which makes sense - they can drive due north on I35 right into Manitoba and then over to Saskatchewan - our neighbor is from there. Mostly 5th wheels here and I say that tongue in cheek - on each side of us are big monster Class A motor homes and in front of us as well. Slept great last night but I did miss hearing the Chachalakas this morning, the Great Kiskadees, seeing Bubbles do her dance when the man comes to take her for a walk, the hoot owl at night. But did hear coyotes howling in the field behind us. How cool. Plan on staying a week, maybe longer if we don't get everything done. We will be going to north of Austin on our next stop.

Ready to move

We didn't get the RV washed on Monday - it was too windy. Big big disappointment to us. So - after some discussion by Dave and Lupe - the RV washer boss, it was decided that Wednesday afternoon was the best day. We were not sure this was going to happen. However, at 1:30pm today, Lupe and his two assistants came by and in an hour and half the RV shown like brand new. Better than brand new! I stayed inside to clean and put stuff away while Dave supervised the crew. Since we had our windows tinted, the washer guys couldn't see me but I could watch everything they did. Amazing watching the dirt and grime come off. One guy got on top of the roof and spent most of his time there. The other two worked around the sides. We should have ordered this service way ahead and gotten the RV waxed as well. Oh well. The picture on the right is Dave standing in the background and Lupe working on the front side of the camper. I am inside taking the picture through the dining room window. The picture on the left shows one of the assistants hooking up water to another camper's site. You can see how close we are to each other. These RV's you see are considered park models. They are old RVs that no longer move around, have been put up on blocks and have siding put around it. Little sheds are also built onto the back. Some are very lovely, some are, well. are. We walked around the park one last time tonight and I counted 62 permanent sites with RV's or these older park models and some very brand new park models. Out of 140 sites - with 62 permanent - of those 62 - 10 are year-round residents. We found out through Lupe that he is now seeing where people are leaving their RV's at the site they are in in other campgrounds, paying for year round rental space, and driving back and forth with their truck or car. Not hauling the RV anymore. Makes sense. Especially since most of the people, at least in this park, average age is 75.

We are now in the countdown mode to go tomorrow morning. We have walked around and said our goodbyes and some came to us also to say goodbye. We did meet a lovely couple - Ed and Betty - who reside in Norwalk - the next community at home. Small world! We hope that we will be out of here by 10am, have a little over 4 hour drive ahead tomorrow to San Antonio. Weather here has finally cooled down (87 today) and nights are blessed 50's. Yeah, finally getting some sleep. We still have the windows open at night and still hear the hoot owl, the nightbirds, the cats fighting, but still don't want to close the windows. Right now I am listening to a Tejano band playing Santana music from a public park about a mile from here - they sound pretty good. We will miss being here but what an experience. We are glad we have experienced this Winter Texan life. Some day we will come back, probably to rent out a park home (permanent RV type home) and not haul the beast down here. We would try another park just to see what life is like there. But, we sure love McAllen and this Texas Tropical Area. With the bad winter up north, we were so lucky and fortunate to have a warm wonderful time here.