Driving Day

Monday, October 31, 2011

Today is a designated driving day, so not much to talk about. About the only semi-interesting thing today was stopping in Oklahoma City for an oil change. We had called ahead to find a lube shop that had tall bays. We found one with 12 foot clearance, and still had to be extra cautious. The Rubble mobile went in just fine, but the Flintstone mobile is a couple inches taller. We told the attendant that, but he didn't seem to hear and hardly slowed down going in. Yep, we made it, but the attendant that was in back watching was gasping at how closely we squeaked in.

While waiting for them to service us we talked to two local women about our trip. One of them commented that we had been in more states in the last month than she had in her life.

There was quite a bit of construction around Oklahoma City, and it was good to get out of there, but this part of the trip is fairly "unscenic" and we have had a strong head wind most of the day.

We did approximately 150 miles before crossing into Texas. It is 176 miles across the panhandle of Texas, and the Welcome Center is about half way across so they only had to build one, not one on each side. You can pretty much count on the welcome centers and the restrooms there being clean, unlike some of the rest areas along the way. We continued on across Texas, and stopped at the New Mexico Welcome Center. Fixed haystacks for our supper and ate in because of the wind.

Crossing into Texas

An interesting sight along the way.

Miles and miles of nothing.

Then we crossed into New Mexico.

This is our third state for the day. We are now back in our own time zone, so feel closer to home, although we have a lot of miles still to travel, and a number of planned stops before getting there.

Driving off toward the setting sun, with it glaring into our eyes, we planned to stop at a rest area for the night. The first two we came to were both closed, and they are about 50 miles apart. The third one we came to was open, but quite unlevel to try to stay in, so we drove another 15 miles to a WalMart parking lot. We will try to relax a little and then get some sleep. I guess the good thing is that we are that much closer to our first stop of the day tomorrow.

Good night from the Bedrock Bunch.

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A 45 Year Old Knot

Sunday, October 30, 2011

On this date in the year 1966, Fred and Wilma tied a knot that has held firm for 45 years. We hope it will hold for many more years! Happy Anniversary to us!

The shower house was nice and warm as we started out early this morning, but there was a definite chill in the air. We pulled out of the Crystal Springs campground about 15 miles west of Hot Springs, Arkansas, headed northeast to Little Rock.  We took scenic route 70, and the trees were showing a lot of color. Soon after getting on Interstate 30, we stopped at a Waffle House for a quickie breakfast.

Our destination was Central High School in Little Rock, where in 1957 nine students boldly went forward to attend a previously segregated school.  The school is now a National Historic Site. There is a new VC with a lot of displays, and of course the passport book stamps. They are working on a video presentation, and expect it in about a year. There are numerous displays, including video of some news clips during the riots, an interview with news anchor Mike Wallace, and interviews with some of the original nine students many years later.  It was very interesting to see.

It's a huge school building.

Betty and Wilma and Fred looking at the garden momument.

Gas was only 22 center per gallon then.

We then walked over to the school. It is a very large building, built in 1927, and beautifully done. It is still a working school, and currently has about 2000 students. There is a small garden on the opposite corner of the intersection, with lots of pictures on a couple of portals. The original Mobil gas station is opposite the Visitor Center. The gas station is where the news people hung out while covering the story, and is being preserved in the National Historic Site.

It was then time to hit the road hard. We are now headed west, and will put in a couple of long driving days before getting to central New Mexico where there are stamp locations yet to explore.

We made a grocery stop in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, to pick up a few things we needed, and fixed some sandwiches for our lunch while we were there. Two hours from there we finally came to a rest area that actually had restrooms.  Oklahoma facilities are few and far between.

Against objections from some of us, instead of spending the night at the rest area, we continued on to Oklahoma City, where we found a WalMart and are parked on the fringes of the lot for the night, along with numerous other rigs. We had wanted to get clear out of Oklahoma City, but it gets hard to navigate through construction areas after dark, even with Garmin’s help.

More from our chisel tomorrow.

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Hot Springs, Arkansas

Saturday, October 29, 2011

This began as a clear cool day, and about 10 am we gathered around the picnic table for our brunch. It was just starting to be sunny in among the trees, so we positioned the picnic table for maximum warmth. We even resorted to spreading out blankets on the benches to keep us warmer. The tables and benches are aluminum, and they were quite cool.

Earlier in the day we had some fog on the lake

But by breakfast it was beautiful

After brunch we loaded into the Rubble mobile and went into the town of Hot Springs. As we got closer in we could see what looked like an observation tower on top of a hill. We could not find a parking spot anywhere near the National Park VC, and wound up turning up a road that led to the tower. It is a switchback road that climbs around sharp curves. Vehicles over 30 foot length are prohibited, but we’re a little shorter than that, so went on up. It is a great area for long walks, and pretty with the falling leaves. We stopped at a turnout just below the tower to see the view of the valley, then we walked on up the hill to the tower. We didn’t want to pay the admission to ride to the top, so just looked around and then headed back down the hill to Bathhouse Row.  

Hot Springs from the top of the hill.

The tower gives an even better view.

We had a map showing some parking areas, but they were too tight for the cave mobile. We turned into a city VC, and found a few RV parking spots. As we got out of the cave mobile, a car pulled up beside us and a lady got out and took two large water bottles over to a kiosk type thing where there are spigots and you can fill your bottles with 143 degree water. They are called “jug fountains”, and there are at least six of them within a few block area, and three cold or cooler fountains. Very interesting, and before leaving, we took a couple of gallon water bottles over to fill them up. By the time we got back to the campground, they were still warm.

We were happy to find out about the free spring water that is available in numerous places around town.

Bathhouse Row was a big attraction about one hundred years ago. People came from all over for the therapeutic baths, massages, and hydrotherapy.

We were far enough away to get only a few of the bathhouses in the picture.

The National Park VC is in the original Fordyce Bathhouse, and contains a lot of the original equipment, with bathtub rooms, dressing rooms, massage rooms, gymnasium, and some roof deck areas where they could sunbathe, plus lots more.  Some of the equipment looked sort of like torture areas!

Can't imagine getting into one of these.

There were many of these bath rooms.

Part of the gym equipment.

There were three floors of the bathhouse rooms, and the basement included some of the mechanical equipment, and one spring still running through.  The elevator is still the old interior, but hopefully updated mechanics! We spent quite a while touring the building, and also watched the video and got our books stamped.

It was a really neat old looking elevator.

Bathhouse Row is still a big attraction for the town – quite a tourist trap. The great weather probably contributed to the masses of people out and about.

We weren't even temped to do this!

We walked around a little bit and took some pictures, then got our water and headed back to the campground. We tend to prefer the quieter National Parks, but they all have something different to offer. Visiting them with great friends makes it even more enjoyable.
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Sardis Lake to Hot Springs

Friday, October 28, 2011

We were up this morning and ready to leave John Kyle State Park, on Sardis Lake, near Sardis, MS at about 8:00 am.   It had been a fairly unusual night.   When we pulled into the park last evening it was clouding up and had started to rain a little.   We had gotten pretty well settled in for the night and it started to rain reasonably hard.   It continued to rain throughout the night, sometimes really hard, and the wind blew.   The trees we were parked under shed acorns and cones/seeds which smacked the roof of the campers and sounded like someone was throwing rocks at us.  This morning, there was water, water everywhere, running between the camp sites and puddles in low spots in the drives.  

The campground was pretty wet in the morning

A small stream to cross on the way to the restrooms

When we checked in we asked about the laundry facility. We were told “it is what it is.” And that was no understatement. After checking it out, we decided to wait. The showers looked okay, but remember looks can be deceiving!  It served us okay, and we’ll have a lot of fun memories from our trip!

We made it out of camp and only had to drive through a few light showers this morning.   Are our angels working overtime, or what?

We headed west on route 315 from Sardis to route 49 and crossed the Arkansas River into Helena, AR.  Mississippi made a lasting impression on us! The last ten miles we drove before crossing the Mississippi River was old concrete, and we really bounced across it. Clack, bounce, clack, bounce at each seam.

Crossing into Arkansas

A large barge on the Arkansas River

We made a stop at the tourist information center in Helena.   We were finally able to escape without Pam and Bill giving us one of everything in the center.   They were very nice and very helpful.   When we told them we had been on the Natchez Trace and that the fall colors were beautiful, Pam said “You ain’t seen nothing yet, wait till you see central Arkansas” and gave us a copy of the Arkansas fall color report.  They mentioned the area around Hot Springs would be really pretty.

We asked about somewhere to get some breakfast, and Ray’s Dairy Maid was the choice. Well, it turns out it was the only choice along our route, and although we did turn in to the parking lot, we left just as quickly. Some of the small town places serve great food, but we just couldn’t accept it.

We continued west on route 49 to Marvell where Wilma and Betty spotted a laundromat, so we pulled in and they did laundry and cooked breakfast/brunch of biscuits, hash browns and salmon, from our last trip to Astoria, OR.

Our multipurpose stop in Mississippi

After the stop we were back on the road headed south on routes 1 and 195 to the Arkansas Post National Historic Site.   This site was an early trading post at the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers.  The post was originally an Indian village then, starting around 1670, it was controlled by the French and Spanish at various times then the United States.    Of course there were a couple of cancellation stamps to be had.

Wilma and Barney at the site

We viewed the video and looked around for a while then struck off for Pine Bluff then on to Hot Springs, AR.

Large bales of cotton recently harvested

After a quick fuel stop in Hot Springs we continued on to Lake Ouachita, where we are now camped at the Army Corps of Engineers Crystal Springs Campground, just out of Crystal Springs, AR.  We plan to hole up in the rolling caves and have a down day tomorrow.  We’ll see how it turns out. According to what we’ve seen so far, the Natchez Trace Parkway wins hands down with the spectacular fall colors.

Catch you later---The Bedrock Bunch.

Leaving the Natchez Trace

Thursday, October 27, 2011

We were up and departed from the Pickwick State Park Campground near Corinth, MS at about 8:30 am and headed back to the Natchez Trace Parkway to continue our journey south toward Tupelo, MS.  We made a stop on the parkway at the Bear Creek Picnic area for brunch.  Eggs, hash browns and pancakes are a little better than subsistence rations like the hardtack biscuits and salt pork that some of the frontiersman has to live on.  You can tell we are suffering!

A short distance down the parkway we stopped at the Pharr Indian Mounds.  A number of Indian burial and ceremonial mounds are located along the trace with accompanying information.  Some of the mounds are reportedly as early as 800 to 1000 BC.  Needless to say a lot of the information on them is conjecture, but it is very interesting.

This is one of many burial mounds we saw.

We also stopped at the ruins of a Chippewa Indian Village and read about how they defended themselves and built dwellings for the summer and winter.   There was also a stop at a sunken spring, where water was dripping into a sinkhole 10 to 15 feet deep, that was accessible from the surface and near the trace. 

Fred going down into the spring 

Barney deep into the cave

We popped off the trace to get a cancellation stamp at Brice’s Crossroads Visitors Center.   A very talkative and energetic 90 year old young lady named Ruth made us welcome, and made the cancellation stamp available.  Then it was back to the trace.

The last stop was at the Natchez Trace Visitors Center near the exit for Tupelo, MS.  There were a bunch of stamps which were acted upon immediately.  There was a short, well done video that was narrated by someone who was obviously a local based on his accent.  It was very good.  The VC also had a good deal of historical information on the trace and the various Indians, frontiersmen, postal service and military uses.  We exited the trace on route 6 got fuel and found a Wendy’s and headed to a state park for the night.  This is the John Kyle State Park on Sardis Lake in Mississippi. We got a geezer discount, so the price wasn’t bad. After getting set up, we see there are Corps of Engineer campgrounds nearby, and we have liked those in previous stops, but this will work for one night.

Our campsites at John Kyle State Park Campground

Check back for more from the Bedrock Bunch chisel.

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Retracing the Trace

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

First of all, we want to welcome our newest follower. Angie, we are happy to have you along for the ride. 

It was a full day we had today! Leaving Davy Crockett State Park about 8:30, we took off for the Natchez Trace Parkway. We wanted to spend as much time as possible on it today. The fall colors are quite stunning and we just ooh and ah all along the way. It is hard to remember that just out of sight are small towns all along the route. The road just meanders down the tree lined corridor, with very little to mar the scenery. There are small signs when coming to a crossroads that leads to a town, but absolutely no advertising signs. It really is beautiful this time of year.  If you stop and walk around a little you have to watch out for the plop, plop of acorns falling. They can really ping off the roof of the cave mobiles, and would make your head slightly uncomfortable if they bounced off it. And with a slight breeze, the leaves fall like snowflakes. So pretty!

We stopped at most of the turn outs along the way, and about 10 we stopped at a picnic area for our breakfast, then continued on over the Alabama border.

Wilma and Betty at the border

We stayed on the Trace Parkway for a few miles in Alabama, then turned off and soon crossed the border into Mississippi. We were headed to the town of Corinth, Mississippi, to visit the Shiloh National Park Interpretive Center.

Control of this major rail crossroads was a key part of the battle between the Union and Confederate armies.

  There were two stamps available at a VC in downtown Corinth, so we stopped and got those before going out to the Interpretive Center. The lady at the downtown VC was pretty much set on giving us one of about every brochure they had, so we came away with quite a bag full of them.  She even told us we ought to go get a slugburger at one of the local drugstores that also still had a real soda fountain. No, they didn’t contain slugs, although the idea made me shudder. Evidently they cost a nickel way back when, and a nickel was called a slug. We decided against making that stop, but we did check out the train crossing just behind the VC, where tracks from two different lines crossed. Control of that crossing was fought for during the Civil War.

Finally at the Interpretive Center, we got our parks passport books stamped, watched a couple of short videos, and toured the museum and some outside displays. The Interpretive Center is very nicely done, but all of the statistics about the war can get very depressing. So many young lives were snuffed out, but slavery was also an awful thing that needed done away with.

Betty and Wilma stamping

While in town, we stopped at Subway for lunch, and then headed off to Shiloh National Historic Battlefield in Tennessee. Going by a city map the lady at the downtown VC had given us, we took a rather back road scenic route to get there, and a time or two thought we might not be where we should have been, but got there anyway! We do get into some small adventures when we travel.

We were quite surprised at the size of Shiloh NP. The battle there lasted for just two days, but thousands lost their lives there. The park is quite large, and during the driving tour you see field after field of monuments and artillery, and back off the road there are many more. I think you could get lost in there if you hiked around very much. It was late in the day when we arrived, so we couldn’t watch the video, but did get our books stamped at both the VC and the bookstore. Note the picture of Betty dressed up in reproduction garb they have available.

Captain Rubble is ready for battle

One of MANY monuments at the site

Preacher Fred delivering his sermon

Betty trying to stay awake listening

We did part of the driving tour of the park, but cut it short so we could find a campsite before dark. There is a state park about 20 miles away, Pickett Landing State Park, still in Tennessee,  and that is where we are set up for the night. It isn’t as pretty or as nice as the park we stayed in last night, but it will do. We had a quick soup and veggies supper at the picnic table, but had to light some torches in order to see. Good night from the Bedrock Bunch. We will leave Tennessee behind tomorrow, and see more of Mississippi.

The Natchez Trace Parkway

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

What a beautiful day it was today. We did just a little bit of shopping before leaving WalMart this morning, then found our way out of Shelbyville, TN, headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway and in particular, the Meriwether Lewis Monument.  We have greatly enjoyed driving some of the back roads in Kentucky and Tennessee. There are some massive estates here, and some of the classic horse stables featured in movies. It has been interesting to see. 

We weren’t on the Trace Parkway very long before arriving at the Meriwether Lewis Monument, but it was a beautiful drive through the fall colors. We checked the ranger station, but it was closed, so we walked around the grounds a little, checking out the small cemetery, and the gravesite and monument for Meriwether Lewis.  We then drove down to the campground just to see it, and then down to the end of the road at a small creek, and had our brunch at a picnic table there. 

The Fall colors are spectacular.

We ate lunch at this little picnic site.

This small creek ran right by our lunch site.

Heading back up the road, we stopped at the maintenance shed to see if we could find anyone. We did find ranger Josh, and he agreed to go back to the ranger station with us so we could get our passport book stamps. He was very nice and very helpful. We sort of opened the floodgates, and he had to close the station and get out of there before the place was inundated with people.

The rustic building used as the ranger station.

Betty had a brochure that listed a nearby golf course, so we headed over to Hohenwald to check it out. We liked what we saw, and the price was really good, so we played a round. It is a nine-hole course, and was really a lot of fun. We didn’t lose near as many balls as we had at the course we played in Utah.  So now we can check Tennessee off of our golf list. We should have taken the time to play in Kentucky. We’ll just have to come back to this area.

Barney about to power it down the fairway.

Betty is after a birdie.

After golf, the David Crockett State Park was on our radar as a good place to stay tonight. We have been off grid a couple of nights, so wanted power and shower tonight.  It is on route 64 near the town of Lawrenceburg, and is a very nice park and the price is reasonable, so we’re tucked in for the night.

Towards the end of the day in our campsites.

 We are in the middle of Amish country here, so might do a little looking around before getting on down the road.

Someone at the golf course had told us of a different campground, and we started to check it out, but found ourselves at an 11'0" underpass, and we are pretty close to 12'. Check out the picture of that! Anyway, we decided the state park was probably a better bet, so backtracked back under the low clearance underpass, and held up traffic while we paused for the pictures! Off on the shoulder there is a lower track that allows the higher clearance vehicles to get through. But we've heard of several incidents where the driver just forgets, and plows into the obstacle. In fact, we witnessed one such event when leaving the St. Louis Arch this last spring.

The Rubble-mobile coming under the bridge

The Flintstone-mobile on the dirt track

Bedrock Bunch will chisel out more tomorrow.

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