“ON THE ROAD AGAIN”

  Well, we finally got this Hiker back on the road again…and none too soon!  Things were getting very intense in our elder care, and suffice to say, we are the “bad guys” in this scenario…So, we are heading out and not looking back…nope…it’s all about US right now and we NEED this trip really bad!

We put water on board in the dark that morning and hit the road at 6:30AM…However, this trip didn’t start out all that well…We got about 15 miles down the road and Dennis realized we forgot the TV control..not good.  He immediately filled the inside of the GMC with “blue expletives”, did a quick turn around and drove back to get it…Here is the rub…Turns out we really didn’t need it anyway!..I had this creepy feeling that Murphy was riding shotgun on this trip…

Our first night stop was, as I said, Wally-docking at Blytheville, AR…We drove 480 miles and that big ‘ol parking lot looked darn good about then…..Can’t say much for that WalMart, but I do believe that I would have fit right in if I went inside wearing my nightly “get up”..

I feel this is definitely one of my better  gooder? just OK …..MOST HORRIBLEST photos of “moi”, right?…We only pulled out one slide… our bedroom slide, which had me crawling over the kitchen counter onto our couch and to the back of the Hiker to retrieve my Rum…Trust me, it wasn’t pretty..and there are NO photos of that…As you can see, I did get my Rum and Coke, along with a romantic view of the Blytheville Wally Mart.

The next AM, we walked to the Hardee’s for a couple coffees “to go” , and headed down I-55.  I have to say right here that there are some stretches of that interstate that can really toss the pantry around inside your fiver!

 

 

Man, oh MAN!! That traffic last Sunday was really bad going onto Rt. 40 toward Little Rock, and it continued to be a white knuckle drive all the way to Texarkana.  Luckily that was our destination!..FYI, the post  Thanksgiving traffic is not to be reckoned with unless you are desperate to “get outta town” (which we were!)

 

 

Long story short, we pulled into Clear Springs campground, Wright Patman Lake, Texarkana Texas at about noon.  The GOOD thing about arriving the Sunday after Thanksgiving is that all the weekend campers are pulling OUT, and leaving us our pick of prime real estate for the week!

There are sites with full hook up and 30 amp, and sites with water, electric and 50 amp..The ones on the lake overlook are the W,E, and 50 amp and we chose one of the  prime spots.  There are 3 spots with a nice deck overlooking the lake, 2 of the 3 were vacant…WOO HOO!!!! Normally, this would run $24 a night, but being an army corps park and having an “old fart’s” card, we got the week for $84!!

We got all set up, inside and out…As I said, I had a sneaky feeling Murphy was on this trip..MacGyver could NOT get our Direct TV up and running.  He worked all afternoon and into the evening that day…even pulled the TV out in our living room and checked the hook-up behind it..All to no avail..We did get one channel out of Texarkana/Shreveport on our antennae, so at least we had something.  I told Den to just forget it for the night, have a beer and relax..He DID have that beer, but relax? MacGyver? when something isn’t working????

The next morning after we did our walk, Dennis set about finding why the TV wasn’t working..Sure enough, after only about 15 minutes, he found the problem (or, it found him).  The  TV wasn’t on the correct channel.  Yep, as simple as that…  See what happens when you don’t take that  RV out often enough?? You can’t even remember what the Heck you did on the last (1 year ago) trip!! (Not to mention 2 long days of driving, much stress just before we left, and worrying about “other things” beyond our control)…Well, as they say, it’s not a matter of if, but WHEN things will go sideways!!

I got to enjoy our deck, lounging about and reading a book, with some company at the little feeder of sunflower seeds I put out!

 

 

A pair of little Titmouse (mice?) kept me company in the warm 70  degree sunshine.  I fully intend to reclaim my spot today on that deck, book in hand!!

I even managed to snag a little hanging “chandelier” candle holder before this trip!…Right photo was our sunset from the deck last night..

….and MacGyver is busy gathering wood and getting ready for a week of campfires!!

We have reservations at Buckhorn Creek, Lake O’ The Pines, in Jefferson TX starting this Sunday, Dec. 8th…This place is only 58 miles from here and that is a really good thing because they are talking about some freezing precipitation for our area this weekend!   HOLY SCHLAMOLY, WE GOTTA GET RID OF MURPHY ASAP!!!!

“If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.”

                                                                                           ~unknown