Travel Day - No Harm. No Foul. No Carnage.

 

Parking at the hotel next door last night (Delta Ridge RV Park – see yesterday’s post) could only be described as organized chaos.  Glad our site was down a ways from this.

Serenity at our site

Maggie wasn’t bothered

We made a nice start around 10:15 this morning, headed east on I-40.  I tell ya what. 

I-40 East is a freakin’ nightmare into Memphis.  The state of the road (if one can really call it that) is deplorable.  After uttering about 30 minutes of #$)_#$& and ^%)!, I put us over into the left lane for a while, following the lead of the “big dogs.”  Visions of cabinets popping open, items jumping out of cabinets, rivets popping loose on the frame, etc. danced through my head.

I had backed off from our usual 65 MPH and was going slower just because of all the rough spots.  Right outside Memphis during one of my mirror scans (sides and rearview), I noticed the sewer hose bag flapping in the truck.  “Hmmm.  That’s different.  Dave had stowed it in a big ice chest we use as storage now.” were my thoughts.

“We’ve got a bag flapping,” I remarked (I thought, rather matter-of-factly).  Dave turned around to look and . . .

Yoinks!  One half of the ice chest top was raised and about to disengage itself from the box.  Hazard lights on.  Passed a sheriff parked on the shoulder and eased the rig over onto the shoulder a bit in front of the sheriff’s vehicle.  Figured if an emergent situation developed, there was an LEO nearby.  With traffic whizzing by us, Dave climbed into the bed of the truck and secured the bag and ice chest with bungee cords.  After doing so, he made it safely back into the truck.

No harm, no foul, no carnage.  We weren’t injured.  Our rig wasn’t damaged.  Our stuff didn’t fly off/out and kill someone.  Freakin’ road popped open our ice chest.

Have I mentioned that I-40 is mostly traveled by 18-wheelers?  More of those than personal vehicles.  Lots and lots of 18-wheelers.  I’m sure in the last two days we have seen thousands if you count the ones in both the oncoming lanes and the ones we passed or who passed us on the eastbound side.

So, after that wee bit of excitement, next up was . . . road construction!  This was on the outskirts of Memphis and through it.

Never was so happy to see the turnoff for I-55 South, cruising on into Mississippi and gliding into the Welcome Center/Rest Area.

Dave headed back to the rig after scoring coffee in the Welcome Center

 

The rest of today’s trip was uneventful and relaxing.  The quality of I-55 South is good and it was a pretty drive.  We stopped once for fuel today and ended our travel at Frog Hollow Campground in Grenada, MS. 

Once again, I can see the interstate through trees and foliage; however, the park is quiet despite the easy off/easy on access this park provides to the highway.

Office floor entrance

Ladies restrooms and showers.  The men’s is blue and not so frilly.

Dave chillin’

Awesome rec room!  Jigsaw puzzles adorn the walls and ceilings, the first ones being mounted in 2008.  Very well-equipped for any craft you might want to explore.  There’s a kitchen area in the rear of this photo.

Pretty cool and just stinkin’ cute! In between the jigsaw puzzles are signatures and messages from guests written on the walls.

Notes about this place:

• Sites are spacious, fairly level and gravel with concrete patio and picnic table.
• WiFi free and works (so far).
• No cable TV, but can pick up a few stations with our batwing antenna.
• Clean and mowed.
• Utilities are good.
• On-site owner/manager Larry is friendly and escorts to site.
• Price is under $30. 
• Restrooms and showers, but no laundry.
• Awesome rec room.
• East access to I-55.
• Propane sold on site.
• Not sure where stores are in area, but don’t need them for an overnight.
• We would definitely return.

Site #36

View towards back of campground from our site

There is a nice breeze and, although one could say it is hot out, it is not a debilitating heat.  That will come in South Carolina, so I’m enjoying a Summer feeling so far.

Today’s leg was only 138 miles.  I really like our short days, as we arrive at our destination with plenty of time to set up, relax, get something to eat and then rest up for the next day.  Tomorrow will be a bit over 200 miles, but we’ll be staying for several days in Marion, MS.

I’m grateful for a  safe journey today!

Thanks for stopping by!

Delta Ridge RV Park in Forrest City, AR

Site #19

Than you all for your words of support and encouragement from last night’s post.  I really do appreciate you all!

Rolling out of Ivy’s Cove this morning around 10:30, we have landed for the night at Delta Ridge RV Park in Forrest City, AR.  Located behind the Ole Sawmill Café, this is definitely a no-frills park.  There are no facilities (no restrooms, laundry, picnic tables at site, cable TV, etc.) here,  but there is WiFi.  The wee office is not attended, at least not so far since we arrived this afternoon.

How do you check in?  Well, when I called to make a reservation, I was told to just pick a spot.  I could drop a check or cash in the on-site registration box, or I could stroll next door to check in at the café.  That’s what we did.  The café looks like it might be fine, including serving breakfast, but we have oodles of food and choose to eat at home.  I made hamburgers tonight, as a matter of fact; good road comfort food.  If we were  here for a few nights, I’d check out the café.

Here for just one night, we have stayed hitched up and have hooked up to shore electric only.  We’ll be using water from our fresh tank with plans to refill the tank and dump waste tanks during tomorrow’s overnight stay down the road.

Notes about this park so far:

• Very easy access from I-40.
• Grocery store, dollar stores and lots of other shopping amenities within walking distance.  This is very handy when not unhitching for an overnight stay.  We walked over to the grocery store for a couple of things.
• Again, the restaurant looks like it’s probably good, and it’s just right there.
• WiFi included in your site fee; however, it has knocked Dave offline twice so far,and he’s just basically checking email.  I wouldn’t rely on it.
• The interstate can be seen through tall plants which serve as a sound barrier, but there is no annoying highway noise.
• There are a handful of long-timers here which look like they are working in the area.  Other than that, there have been two other rigs pull in this afternoon.  It’s quiet and peaceful so far.
• The place is clean and mowed.
• Lots of space between sites.
• They do not accept any discount programs.
• Sites are gravel and are reasonably level.

If we are going to be somewhat more mobile instead of sitting for literally years at a time, I’m thinking I want to start a  spreadsheet or something about the places we stay – pros and cons, brief description, prices, etc.  This would be a good reference when traveling and looking for a place to land.  Heck, we will be stopping at one place this trip for the second time and another in South Carolina will be our third visit there.  Right now there aren’t that many places and I can remember whether or not we have been there, but that might not hold true for the future.

I am, you know, getting older.  Haha!

We have another short day tomorrow with an overnight stop.  Friday, however, we  land in Marion,  MS for several nights.  We plan on resting,  I’ll  work my online job, Dave can cycle and we might explore the area a wee bit.  Apparently there are some Civil War roots around there.  Heck, we might just watch movies/TV, eat and sleep.

Sounds like a plan.

Today we traveled a whopping 160.4 miles with sun and then clouds but no rain.  I am grateful those were uneventful miles.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tough Decision

The last two work decisions we have made have turned out to be less than stellar.  We ask tons of questions, do research on the location, get things in writing, etc.; however, one cannot really tell what’s up until one sees it up close.  I have also learned that folks sometimes tend to (selectively?) omit facts and conditions of the position and environment.

Imagine that.

“Friday is chaos day.  Saturday is drunk day.  Sunday is catastrophe day.”  This is what we were told on arrival to the COE park and it turned out to be more spot on than “It’s a quiet park.” Friday booth traffic was nonstop and often bumper-to-bumper in both incoming lanes and constant traffic in the outgoing lanes.  Saturday was almost the same and Sunday not much better.  Sunday evening a young man came to our site (i.e., up to our RV) wanting to return the event shelter key and get a deposit back.  (Even though not officially working yet, I got in touch with a ranger and found out how to handle this.)  Also Sunday evening, the sheriff’s car came blasting through the entrance as fast as safely possible over the two big speed bumps and tearing up the park road with lights flashing.  At least twice.  He’d pulled over a couple of vehicles on Saturday by our site, too.  The day before our arrival, a 14-year-old girl was killed on the lake (apparently struck by a boat).  Traffic passing right by our rig at all hours of the day and night. (The main entrance road is not gated.)  On our one day off, going to the bank and post office to get the week’s deposit of money converted to cashier’s check and mailed.  (That’s not really being off, is it?)  Sewer ground connection at same level as our rig’s connection and on an incline, resulting in manual draining of hose whenever dumping.  With over 100 campsites, day use/swim beach/event shelter, marina and restaurant on the property and being the closest to town, this particular park is the busiest on Beaver Lake.  And I’m guessing quite possibly the rowdiest.

Okay, some of those were minor and totally doable.  One just puts up with “stuff.”  No big deal.  We could have stuck it out.  It was a lovely natural environment, which was a definite big plus.

However, after being contacted by the security company we’ve worked with since 2010 (New Jersey, South Carolina gigs), we did some soul-searching.  The result is . . .

We are headed back to South Carolina for a few months of security work.  Yes, back to the same gig in SC that we left in March.  We feel like we’re going “home” and back to “family” with the security and contracting companies.

After the experiences of the past few months, the SC gig will be Paradise.  Even with the heat, humidity, abundant bugs, howling coyotes, stray dogs, flat tires on patrol trucks, going to the laundromat, etc.

I felt like a heel bailing on the COE job.  That’s really not how I operate.  Never have been a job-hopper.  That was Sunday night, and I got about 1.5 hours of sleep wrestling with feelings of . . . guilt and being a low-life for bailing.

But.

Ultimately, one has to take care of oneself and try to do what’s best for one’s circumstances.

Openings for the security work don’t come around that often, the pay is better and there is virtually no stress.  I’ll be able to work my part-time online job to supplement our income and we’ll be able to start putting away some money into savings again every month.  We’ll also be “back in the fold,” as Dave put it – back on the security company’s books – and definitely on the roster for any future work that comes up, which is what we would like to see happen.

In addition, the security work is much better for me health-wise.  I’ll spare you the details. 

We pulled out of Prairie Creek right around 9 AM Monday and have been here at Ivy’s Cove RV Retreat since that afternoon.  Today is a day for rest, trip route planning and laundry.  We’ll hit the road again in the morning.  We have almost two weeks until we go on duty in SC, so we’re leisurely making our way there with short travel days and some layovers to enjoy ourselves and rest.

Dave marveled (and perhaps had a heebie-jeebie moment) at the camber (tilt) of the rig as I turned the corner on the COE park road up to an area where I could turn us around.  It really was intimidating-looking, but actually not too bad just taking it slow and easy.  It is extremely hilly there and not really “big rig friendly.”

Cheers also to the big-rig driver in the lane next to us at the Pilot where we stopped for fuel en route.  The truck in front of us took forever at the pump and then  pulled forward after fueling, albeit not up to “the line.”  After pulling forward, he disappeared and was still nowhere to be seen after we fueled, cleaned our windshield and hung out for a while.  The driver in the next lane knew the guy was inside just . . . well, dawdling.  He offer to spot me so I could back up a bit and then pull forward and through an empty fueling lane.  He was great and, thanks to his help, we were back on our way.

Looks like we’re also dodging Tropical Storm Bill as it slams into Texas and makes it way up into the Ozarks.  We’ve had rain here and may have some for a while tomorrow, but the weather should improve as we travel eastward.  It will be much hotter and more humid as we progress, but we realize that and are prepared to “grin” and bear Summer in SC.  Fortunately, we will be working night shift and can hibernate indoors during the heat of the days.

The past several months have been stressful, but we have kept alive our senses of humor, fun and enjoyment of each other.  The reality is that leaving the South Carolina gig was the worst career move either of us has ever made, and we’ve both been working since our teens.  (“What the $W*#$&@ were we thinking??”) We have, however, learned a lot – about working in a campground (the good, the bad and the ugly) and taking job descriptions with a humongous shaker of salt.

Once we got on the road yesterday, I have felt more relaxed than I have in months, since leaving SC.  I thoroughly enjoyed towing our rig yesterday, slept well last night, have had a good day today and look forward to our journey commencing tomorrow.

I suppose one has to get out there and try different things, so we’ll chalk some of this up as a learning experience.

And an adventure, as always.

Thanks for stopping by!

Arrival at Prairie Creek COE and a Settling In Day

Home for the next few months. (Taken from the road below.)

Friday – Russellville, AR to Prairie Creek COE in Rogers, AR – 150 miles

We rolled out of Ivy’s Cove RV Resort around 11 AM and got back on I-40 West.  From there we hit I-49 North (formerly I-540 North) for the rest of the trip up to Rogers.  Arriving here around 2 PM and being in touch with the rangers en route, they were on alert to stop traffic while our rig was being put in place.

I was prepared to have to back our rig in with some spotting assistance, but I tell ya what.  It’s a darn good thing the volunteer manning the booth has a big 5th wheel and had been a semi driver in previous years.  Otherwise, I could not have managed the maneuver. 

That’s the fee booth right across from our site.  The photo doesn’t show it, but there’s a road to the right and this area is on a decent downhill.  Combine all the obstacles in front of our site with the massive speed bumps and the slope . . . well . . . it would have been a struggle for yours truly.  Thomas right away offered to get us in; even with his experience, he had to use the 4-wheel drive feature on our truck as he had done with his truck and rig.

Once our rig was on the site, it wasn’t really level, so we had to use our leveling blocks.  That took a while and once we thought we were ready to open the slides . . . oops.  The rear stabilizers would not be hitting concrete.  Fine.  More jockeying back and forth and rearranging the leveling blocks.  Okay!  Ready to lower the front landing gear.  That’s when we discovered this . . .

See that brown thing above the orange pad that looks like a dark-brown caterpillar?  That’s a freakin’ iron rod.  The foot in the photo would be landing right on that, resulting in being unstable.  Lovely.

After more jockeying back and forth – Dave sure worked hard getting the Lynx levelers arranged just right – we were finally able to open up our home and start settling in.  Needles to say, we were wasted.  I’m surprised my liquefied brain didn’t start oozing out my ears.

The trip itself was uneventful and we traveled 150 leisurely miles.  We even went through a tunnel, something we had not done since 2010 in North Carolina.  Whoohoo!  The scenery really was beautiful.  Our beast of a truck had a nice workout and performed beautifully, getting us here safe and sound.  Have I mentioned I love our truck?

Our boss Ranger Brian came over in the evening to welcome us, bring our caps, vests and procedure book and give us a quickie tour of the booth.  In 24 hours, we have met and been welcomed by about five Rangers.

Saturday – Rest Day

We aren’t on duty until Monday, so we took the opportunity earlier today to run to Walmart for a few things like groceries, citronella candles and new camp chairs.  I also managed to take a few photos.

Part of Prairie Creek Marina – this park has a marina, day use/swim beach/boat launch area and campsites.  There is also a restaurant down at the marina.  The park is the closest to town and stays fairly busy on weekends, including the staging of various events throughout the Summer.  I’ve seen the events sheet for June . . . it’s gonna be  hoppin’ around here!

Our deck

Our hut behind our rig.  Attendants are provided a hut for storage.

View from our deck – that’s a little bit of a hill down to the road

It began raining not too long after our return from shopping and there’s a good chance of rain in the forecast the next several days.  I had wanted to do some walking and exploring the park . . . oh well.  Not today!  At least we’re set up and got supplies in before the heavens opened up.

Currently it is an absolutely delightful 74F out.  Even earlier while out shopping before the rains, we noticed it was not nearly as humid here as in Texas and the temperatures have been running 10-13 degrees cooler than Texas.  I know it will heat up as Summer progresses, but this is a welcome relief.

We haven’t deployed our batwing TV antenna, but are still able to pick up quite a few broadcast TV stations.  Yay!  Our only Internet is supplied by my iPhone, so we won’t be streaming Netflix and will need to be somewhat conservative with our data usage.  There is no cable and we don’t have satellite TV, which is really okay with us.  We enjoyed cable in Texas, but not having it leaves no great void in our lives.

Maggie’s been having a ball checking out the new sights, sounds and smells.  We saw a momma and very young deer cross the road out front yesterday and several deer in the field around the corner last evening.  I heard “something” rustling and walking in the woods behind us last night; I think it was deer. 

Not sure how often I’ll be blogging, as our duty hours are long and six days a week.  Long hours, yes, but not physically draining work in the hot Texas temps, and we are being paid.  Yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

Landed for the Night in Russellville, AR

Site #2 at Ivy’s Cove in Russellville, AR.  It’s a full house here tonight.  When I made our reservation a couple of weeks ago, I snagged the last spot.

We pulled out of Shady Pines RV in Texarkana, TX at our usual 11 AM this morning.  With no alarm clocks, we awaken a bit before 8 AM and steadily but leisurely take our time getting ready to roll.  This seems to put us on the road about 11 AM, which is fine.  We’re in no hurry.

We hopped onto Hwy 59 North, then I-30 East and soon entered Arkansas.  We did cross the Red and Arkansas Rivers today; the latter of which was quite impressive and still well above its usual height.  After fueling up, we opted for the I-430 N loop before Little Rock which allowed us to bypass the center of that city.  From there we caught I-40 West to Russellville, exiting the interstate to easily slide into Ivy’s Cove RV Retreat and a nice pull-through site for our overnight stay.  There’s a Pilot truck stop across the interstate, so we fueled up there for tomorrow’s journey on to Rogers. I don’t like to see our truck’s fuel gauge drop much below the half-way mark.

We did pass through a fairly heavy downpour at one point which dropped our truck’s external thermometer from 96F to 76F; however, it crept back up over the next 30 minutes or so.  I overhead a couple of truck drivers in the Pilot commenting about how hot it is.

We’re set up for the evening, including cable (thanks, Dave for hooking that up!), have had a stroll around this cute wee park and dinner of homemade burgers is done and dusted.  Now we’re chillin’.

This is a very small park but pleasant with some shade.  Our gravel site is fairly level with WiFi and limited cable.  The owners apparently live on-site and there is evidence of new improvements going on.  The sites are a bit close to one another, but I’ve seen tighter spots in lesser-quality parks, so this is definitely not bad.

We traveled 223.2 miles today, and I am grateful for an uneventful trip with some nice scenery.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am a Warrior

The above bracelet is a Toby and Max design