Apr 29, 2013 - Things I learned in Texas

We are leaving Texas today. Gary's daughter is moving and we are trying to get home to help with all the stuff that a father knows best about. So here are the most important things I learned in Texas. Thank goodness I didn't have any cow poo lessons to learn. 1) Do NOT go outside without your shoes on! You would think this old dog was able to learn a new trick but alas 2 months after learning the rule I stepped outside the motorhome just to unlatch the RV door from the side of it and when I got back inside I thought I had at least 100,000...

Apr 18, 2013 - Rain and cold

4/18/2013 Thursday Texarkana, TX Shady Pines RV Park I found out why this RV park was so crowded for the last few days – it was a Good Sam rally and they all cleared out this morning. The weather forecast looked like a band of severe storms would be coming through and everybody was out before the storms hit. Only 21 RV’s are in the park now. The storms came through and brought buckets of rain, strong winds and cold temperatures. The overnight low is expected to be 37 degrees and it was 70 degrees last night. Tomorrow will not be much better...

Apr 16, 2013 - Vintage or old?

4/16/2013 Tuesday Texarkana, TX Shady Pines RV Park When we were in Alabama a couple of weeks ago we were parked next to a half million dollar plus motorhome. Over the course of a few days the owners of that motorhome, or should I say small apartment, visited with us on numerous occasions and we really enjoyed their company. They made complimentary remarks about our motorhome and asked us if we ever had a problem going in to RV parks because of the age of the motorhome. I said after almost four years and over 100 RV parks we had never had a...

Apr 15, 2013 - Texarkana, TX

4/15/2013 Monday Benton, AR to Texarkana, TX 128 miles Shady Pines RV Park The RV park where we were staying in Benton does not take reservations and when we checked in they told us we had to leave at the end of one week. The weather forecast showed clear weather and that was a good thing because we never like to drive in the rain. The weather forecast was wrong! We had rain almost the whole way to Texarkana. Luckily it cleared up 7 miles from the Texas state line when we stopped for diesel ($3.55/gal) and propane ($3.29/gal). We arrived at...

Mar 9, 2013 - Back to home, Sweet Home!

Date: March 9, 2013 Tonight’s Location: Kimberling City, MO Home Mileage: End - 10857 Start - 10509 Total Miles for the day: 348 Weather: bright sunshine, then a few showers this afternoon in KC Temperature: start 55º High 72º Wildlife count: White-tailed deer Year List: 177 Birds: Great Blue Heron, American Crow, European Starling, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Northern Shoveler We left Texarkana, TX at 7am, driving into a delightfully sunny morning – there were a few clouds as we headed east to keep the sun out of our eyes – it was...

Mar 8, 2013 - Shady Pines fun

Date: March 8, 2013 Tonight’s Location: Texarkana, TX Mileage: End - Start - Total Miles for the day: Weather: sunny in am, clouds and a few drops in the afternoon Temperature: start 47º High 62º Wildlife count: Year List: 177, Life list: 338 Birds: Nashville Warbler, Common Snipe, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Ring-necked Ducks, Canada Geese, Dark-eyed Junco, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Purple Martin, American Robin, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Rough-winged Swallow, Mockingbird, American Crow, Great-tailed Grackle, We...

Mar 7, 2013 - Marble Falls to Texarkana

Date: March 7, 2013 Tonight’s Location: Texarkana, Texas Mileage: End - 10509 Start - 10102 Total Miles for the day: 407 Weather: brilliant sunshine Temperature: start 44º High 64º Wildlife count: Year List: 175 Birds: White-winged Dove, Mockingbird, American Crow, Turkey Vulture, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, House Sparrow, Rock Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Snipe, Killdeer We were up early and left the Hofbrau RV Park at 7:09 am. We decided that we would not cut across country, but instead take the interstate up to...

Feb 5, 2013 - Texas

Nothing much has been happening since we have been in the Four States Fair Campgrounds since Sunday. It's a nice place (cheap) but I remarked to Gary when we parked "Maybe we should watch where we step at this place". And indeed there's no actual cow manure on the roads but there is a lot of goose poop. And the place just smells like country so I guess I'm reliving some of my childhood. We have actually gotten down to business with the sign making. Gary has been in the trailer most of two days producing and finishing our orders. I have...

Oct 24, 2012 - Kimberling to Texarkana

Date: October 24, 2012 Tonight’s Location: Texarkana, TX Mileage: End - 2338 Start - 1980 Total Miles for the day: 358 Weather: sunny Temperature: start 64º High 85º Wildlife count: White-tail deer (in our driveway) Birds: Scissortail Flycatcher, Mourning Dove, European Starlings, Turkey Vultures, Crows, Killdeer We prepared the house for the winter and then hooked up the rig, leaving at 8:04am. It was a beautiful drive down US65 through Arkansas, having a quick bite at Clinton. It always seems like 65 takes so long, but then we were...

Sep 2, 2012 - Texarkana, TX

Texarkana, TX Shady Pines RV Park I checked tripadvisor.com this morning and found the number one rated restaurant was Ironwood Grill. Some of the reviews stated it was hard to find but when I put in the address in my phone’s navigation system it looked like an easy to find location. We followed the instructions and found it with no problem. However, I did not check the business hours and the restaurant is closed on Sunday! We were in a nice area, just north of I-30, not too far from the mall, and surrounded by many stores and chain...

Sep 1, 2012 - Mt Vernon, TX to Texarkana, TX

Mt. Vernon, TX to Texarkana, TX 80 miles We had an uneventful drive the short distance to Texarkana. Once again we are in a beautiful RV park, Shady Pines RV Park, with a nice, level, wide, concrete, pull through site. The park is out of the city environment so it’s relatively peaceful and quiet. This will be a good place to stay for the Labor Day weekend. We were lucky to find this place and lucky they had an opening. Almost every park and especially if there’s a lake at the park, is full for the weekend.

Aug 1, 2012 - Did you have your Chikin today?

We stopped in Texarkana, TX today for lunch and decided to eat at a Chik-fil-A. Oh my god was it crowded. They had the police at the entrance directing traffic because cars were lined up at the drive-in all the way around the building. A line of people was out the door so we joined the line. Surprisingly it moved pretty quickly and after about 10 or 15 minutes we were in the door into the air conditioning, but a glance around showed the line went all the way to the front of the restaurant and wrapped to the back and then went back up front...