Now in Gilbert, Arkansas

Yesterday we left the Land Between the Lakes in northern Kentucky and drove - long long drive (414 miles) to Gilbert, Arkansas.  This tiny town - population 33 - sits right inside the Buffalo National River which is a national park run by the park service.  I had never heard of this river before and Dave was looking around to see what we may take in as we traveled west and south for the winter.  He saw this and I found this full-service campground (very cute, very quiet) right in the Ozark Mountains.

Bye-bye Tennessee River

Many places were drying tobacco in barns

Wondered what this was all about - huge amount of antique jeeps 

Add another state - 14 now

And the traffic picked up!

 We had camped near Memphis, Tennessee 10 years ago, the campground we were to stay at was flooded (sits right near Mississippi River) so we ended up at the Fairgrounds and had the serenade of FedEx jets taking off and landing in the wee early hour of the morning.  This time we were just driving through, saw where the Mississippi was quite low.

Hello Memphis

Click - the rain started

My brother-in-law is also called Danny Thomas - maybe this is him??

Neither of us had ever been in the Ozarks, have heard of people that vacation there, my aunt had a summer home in Mountain Home, Arkansas, but we never came this way.  The drive to Gilbert was pretty hard.  Buddy did great, no problem, I can't figure out what triggers him to get sick, but glad he did not this time.  We were driving over 8 hours just to get here, but well worth it.

Now the 15th state this summer

Lots of sand bars - very low

Knowing we had a long drive, we split up the driving time, Dave took us south to Interstate 40 which was about a 2 hour drive south on rural state roads, in and out of towns.  Then I picked up the driving on Interstate 40 westbound, through Memphis, Tennessee and then west of the city we switched back and he took it then on.

Bands of rain with high winds got us for over 6 hours

Many rivers and creeks were muddy

That does not look good - we got stopped on Interstate 40 and crept along

Lake Conway just north of Little Rock

Ozark Mountains ahead

Rut-roh

Buffeted by high winds until we got to Little Rock, and the rain squalls were numerous.  This storm system was Tropical Storm Imelda that hit Houston the previous day, dropping over 30 inches of rain on that city.  The hardest part was the wind, whoosh - pulled us into the inside lane every now and then.  But, no accidents, we did it.

Kudzu taking over in places - what a shame

Once we drove north of Little Rock, we stepped off the Interstate and followed Route 65 north, again in and out of towns.  Then, we started climbing up and over, up and down, through the beginnings of the Ozark Mountains.  They aren't high, just very scenic.

We are located right on the Buffalo National River 

We have arrived after a very long day

Will stay here a week to see the area, obviously seeing the national park.  Oh - and we are awakened in the morning by the resident rooster and his 5 girls.  Cock-a-doodle-doo!

National Quilt Museum, Paducah Kentucky

We made a visit to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky the other day.  We tried to remember when we were last here, not as campers but as hoteliers, sometime 2005 to 2007, and I remember that I was so excited about what I saw, just being new to quilting a couple of years.  I also remember buying stuff, the town is known for having a number of quilt shops.  Back then, being so new - seeing so many quilts on display really fueled my hobby.

I read that William Clark founded the town of Paducah, settling there after his trek across the country 1804-1806.  A statue to commemorate his contribution to the Corp of Discovery sits right outside the museum.

A quilt sculpted out of wood

The museum typically has rotating exhibits, this time it had 2 separate galleries to show off 2 distinctive style of quilting.  One gallery was Victoria Findlay Wolfe, and the other Danny Amazonas from the Philippines. Another gallery were miniature quilts, another was BOM (Block of the Month club quilts) and then some old, some new from different artists.

One of Wolfe's quilts - I liked this one

Another Wolfe's quilts

This time, now that I have over 325 quilts completed, I have to say that I was impressed but not wow'd like last time.  I also knew I was way under the skill and expertise of every quilt I saw, but - I made them and they are a product of my passion for quilting.  The fiber artists (that's what they call them) really used fabric and color to show off quilting.  Danny Amazonas creates quilts that you have to stand way back to understand what he was doing, very impressive.  Good example is his Mona Lisa quilt.  Upclose - can't figure it out but from a distance, wow.

Danny Amazonas' quilt (as well as next pictures)

Stand back to see the Mona Lisa

Just wants you to squeeze these beautiful puppies

Up close - the detail, the different fabrics.  Amazing.

Could you tell I was impressed with Danny's?

After viewing the museum, we did not go shopping like last time - I have enough in my resource center to make probably 8 quilts.  So, I do not need to replenish at this time.

My favorite one

These are tiny quilts!

Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky

We moved from Corbin to a small town called Benton, Kentucky which is located right on the Tennessee River which is part of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreational Area, bordering Kentucky and Ohio.  The ride started out pretty hairy - Buddy decided this was another of his rides that he would get sick, and boy, did he.  Only pulled out of the campground 1 mile and the howling started.  Dave did not get on the Interstate yet, pulled over, I went in back and held his poor head while he vomited all over a rag I was holding under his chin.  Not once, but 3 times.  Poor cat.  Once he got what food he had in his belly out, he settled down or should I say hunker down, in the closet and we did not hear a peep out of him until we stopped about 10 miles from the campground to fill up the RV's gas tank.  Poor guy.  I can't figure out when or why he gets sick, the routine is always the same for us to prep him with drugs before leaving the site.

Add caption very scenic roads, very pleasant to drive

Drought going on, most rivers are almost dried up.  Pretty scary. 

Passed the Corvette museum

Jefferson Davis memorial near Fairview, Kentucky

We thought this was a distillery, it's a tobacco-less (VAPE) factory

This is the real tobacco drying sheds near Hopkinsville

Anyhow, traveled on Parkways westward, we have officially turned west to head for our winter hide out.  Feels good.  No more sun in our eyes.  Roads were absolutely lovely, and pretty empty of traffic.  In and out of small little towns, the Parkway we were on is the future Interstate 66, so most of the exits for small towns had already been built to divert traffic to the business section of the roadway and we did not have to stop for traffic lights.

Nearing bridge over the Cumberland River

Cumberland River, very shallow river (boaters typically don't boat here, only kayaks)

And second bridge over Tennessee River

Lots of water!

And we are here

I did not know that Jefferson Davis was from Kentucky, and also that he was born same year and not far from Abraham Lincoln.  Funny how your path in life can be parallel and yet end up so different in the outcome.

Hah.  Too bad I don't like whiskey.

Passed over the 2 bridges of the Land Between the Lakes, first bridge was over the Cumberland River and then the second over the Tennessee River at which point we headed up north on the western banks of the Tennessee towards the campground.  Cumberland and Tennessee both flow into the Ohio River near Paducah, and then the Ohio flows into the Mississippi near Saint Louis.

We chose to come to this area (Land Between the Lakes) because 49 years ago Dave came here with his 2 year old son, and his brother and 2 sons, plus his brother-in-law and his 2 sons (lots of folks) to camp and see.  He wanted to see if he remembered the area, and to see some of the sights.  All they did was fish and swim, not sight see.

Did a drive around, a haven for fishing/camping/hunting/ORV

Pretty darn hot here.  In mid 90's with humidity percentage in high 90's which makes for a steamy stay.  A/c is only on at night, we tripped the breakers the first day here, the heat on the RV where the breakers sit just could not compensate for the temp.  Once the sun got off the RV (we are in a pretty wooded area right up against the water's edge) the a/c worked and we could get some sleep.

6:45am, 97% humidity.  Ugly.

Will stay only a couple more days then head to Arkansas.