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Published: June 20th 2018
After a very good...and LONG night’s sleep (went to bed at 8:00 last night!) we were ready to rock and roll this morning, taking our time we were pulling out of camp at 9:05. Our stay in the Nashville KOA was quite nice. The campground itself has been vastly modernized since we stayed here the first time 45 years ago. At that time, we were with our girls, my (Pat’s) parents and Aunt Bess and Uncle Joe. We all met there with our rigs (ours was an Avion Travel Trailer at the time) and took in the old Opryland Amusement park where Opry Mills Mall is now. They have done a great job bringing the park up to 21st century standards.
Here is where I give you what was likely the highlight of our day...it needs to be filed under the “things you have seen and can’t unsee” section of your brain! I would have taken a picture, but John wouldn’t let me. Even if I had, I couldn’t have published it as I am sure the powers that be with TravelBlog would have instantly blackballed me and I would have had to find another blog site to
John under control!
Yes...that is the same shirt seen in several of our blogs. What can I say?publish my blog with. Now that I have built up the suspense, I realize that with no pictures to prove what I saw, I will have to rely on everyone’s honed imaginations to get the full mind picture.
Now is the point where I want all of my grandchildren to stop reading and skip down a few paragraphs...
Ready...As we were pulling out of the park we saw a gentleman (???) dressed in what appeared to be a tight black tank top and matching black underwear. I mean SKIMPY black underwear that was definitely thigh high. He was working with the water hose going into his motorhome I guess. I was so startled at his appearance, I cannot 100% speak to what he was actually doing at the time. Then we got a side view...the high legged black underwear had (I can hardly say it) a...pouch in front. A very PROMINENT pouch in front! I think I may be scarred for life...and I have been married almost 55 years! How sad is I that this proved to be the highlight of our excitement level for the day!
We had a good drive across
Wide load?
Ya think?? These are HUGE tires! Tennessee and into Arkansas. The weather remained hot and humid with periods of rain. The traffic through Nashville was light...we took Briely Parkway around town and were pleasantly surprised at our easy passage. We were also amazed and very pleased at how much better the roads we traveled on were than the last time we drove through there. Tennessee’s roads were back in the shape we remember from several years ago by and large. Memphis is still in need of improvement, and so far the roads in Arkansas (we are in Forrest City) were several levels above what they have been for years and years on I-40W. Coming back east on I-40 the story was different. That side was being worked on and traffic was backed up for miles. Bless their hearts!
We crossed the Mississippi River into Arkansas around 2:00, arriving in our home away from home at 2:50. We got busy getting set up as we could see the rain coming.
Tomorrow we will head to Petit Jean State Park. Below is a little information on the park from their website. It really sounds like it will be a lot of fun.
I seriously doubt that we will have wifi at all there, so don’t get concerned if you don’t hear from us for several days. In fact, we have such weak wifi here at Delta Ridge RV Park, I very likely will not be able to get out of here easily tonight either. If not, we will stop at a McDonald’s (shades of your trips to Alaska, Betty, Ed and Susan) and try to get this one out.
According to legend Petit Jean was actually a young 18th century French woman. When she discovered that her fiancé planned to explore the Louisiana Territory, she cut her hair, disguised herself as a boy and managed to find a position as a cabin boy. She survived the voyage and the expedition began their exploration. Once they had reached the area of the mountain, the young woman became ill, on her deathbed she revealed herself to her fiancé, and was buried on the mountain, not under her own name, but under the name she had been known by on the ship "Little John".
Buildings of log and stone construction built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s are scattered throughout the park giving it a rustic feel. A 24-room historic lodge called Mather Lodge sits on the edge of a bluff of a deep forested canyon. In addition to the lodge there are 32 cabins and 127 campsites available for park visitors.
The canyon and bluffs were created by Cedar Creek, which cascades into the canyon in an impressive 95-foot (29 m) waterfall. Above the falls, Cedar Creek has been dammed to create the 100-acre Lake Bailey which is used for pedal-boating and fishing.
The park also has several geological and archaeological features such as Bear Cave, Rock House Cave, the Grotto, Turtle Rocks, Carpet Rocks, and Natural Bridge. The scenic overlook at Petit Jean's grave provides a view of the Arkansas River Valley.
In 2017, Petit Jean was rated as the best campsite in Arkansas in a 50-state survey conducted by
Msn.com.
We drove 269 miles today. That should be more impressive than our grand total of 27 yesterday!
Thought for the day that we saw on the side of a tractor trailer rig heading west today: Love for all, hatred for none. Amen.
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
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