Hi there, welcome back. Our last
chapter concluded on Wednesday, August 19th, when we
arrived in Wapakoneta, Ohio. We are staying at the Wapakoneta KOA
which is just a mile or so from the Neil Armstrong Air and Space
Museum. It seems that this is Armstrong's home town.
Thursday, August 20th, we
left the coach after lunch and went out to do some geocaching and
exploration of Wapakoneta. We finally had a very nice, relatively
cool day, only in the 70's and clear skies. We had a great afternoon
of caching, getting a dozen new finds and no DNFs. We also stopped
at the Neil Armstrong Museum. We went into the gift shop, but not
the museum itself. We also walked around the outdoor exhibits, which
included mockups of both Apollo and Gemini spacecraft. We also spent
some time in the very pretty downtown and walked around a couple of
antique stores before heading back to the coach for cocktails and
dinner. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing with the TV.
Friday, August 21st, another
travel day. We left Wapakoneta about 10:30 and headed south towards
Walton, Kentucky, about 133 miles away. On the way we passed through
both Dayton and Cincinnati, and the big cities, along with the
constant road construction made for a very stressful trip. We got
settled into the Oak Creek Campground outside Walton about 1:30 or
so. We are here to visit another of my niece's, Stephanie, who lives
in nearby Florence, Kentucky with her family. She is the oldest
daughter of my brother David, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
We haven't seen Stephanie since my mother died in 2009.
After we got settled in we drove back
north to the Kentucky and Ohio border town of Newport, Kentucky, so we
could find a specific type of geocache called an Earth Cache. An
Earth Cache is usually a virtual type cache, that is, no container.
You have to go to a site that is remarkable in some geological or
other scientific sense and answer some questions posed by the cache
owner. We wanted to get an Earth Cache as part of an ongoing
challenge underway with Geocaching.com. We have to find five
different types of caches prior to September 2nd in order
to achieve the challenge. The cache we went to was placed at the
confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers. The Ohio serves as the
border between Kentucky and Ohio and downtown Cincinnati is on the
northern side. Newport, Kentucky is on the south. The Licking River
flows north out of Kentucky into the Ohio. We visited the cache
coordinates and took the steps necessary to log the cache, so now we
only have one more cache type to get to meet the challenge. While we
were at the Earth Cache we also got a regular cache near the same
location, netting us two finds for the day. After finding the caches
we headed back to the campground and had cocktails and dinner.
Saturday, August 22nd, we
left the coach after lunch and drove up to Florence, Kentucky, about
ten miles north of the campground, to visit with my niece Stephanie
Hopkins. Stephanie and her husband have lived in the Cincinnati area
for a number of years. We arrived at their place a little after 1:00
and spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with the family in their
condo. They just bought this condo a few months back and it is a
nice place in a very nice neighborhood. Their daughter Makayla is 12
and she is very sweet and entertaining. She spent all afternoon
chatting and performing and just being a great kid.
We have not seen Stephanie or Makayla
since 2009, and have never met her husband Jeremiah. He works for a
law firm in downtown Cincinnati, which is only about 12 miles or so
to the north of where they live. We had a wonderful visit and
Stephanie served a great dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes and
Makayla made some corn muffins that were outstanding. We left about
7:30 or so and headed back south to the campground where we relaxed
the rest of the evening.
Monday, August 24th, was
supposed to be a travel day, but on Saturday we decided to extend our
stay here for one day so we would have some time to go out and
explore the area. We left the coach about 11:00 and went out first
for a quick lunch at the White Castle hamburger place. Neither of us
had ever had this staple of Midwest fast food, so we had to give it a
try. For those not familiar, White Castle, which started in Chicago
in 1921, makes sliders, little mini burgers, rather than the full
size burgers you can get at any other fast food place. The standard
order is four sliders, which is what I had. They had only cheese and
grilled onions on the bun. The meat was a little, tiny slice of
hamburger. I thought they were OK, but they were a little greasy. I
suspect that is part of what makes them popular. Jackie had the
double burgers, where she got two doubles. Their onion bits were
good as were the fries. I don't think I would go out of my way to go
again.
After our White Castle experience we
drove across the river to Cincinnati. We did a few geocaches and
then spent some time driving around the big downtown area. It was a
typical big city, but some of the buildings downtown were very nice.
There was a mix of what appeared to be very old office and industrial
buildings with new office buildings. Both the baseball and football
stadiums were right downtown on the riverfront. After looking around
downtown for a while we drove to the eastern suburbs to visit the
headquarters of the Family Motor Coach Association, or FMCA. Friends
and regular readers will know that we are very active with FMCA at
the Chapter level, belonging to a number of chapters and holding
office in a couple. FMCA has it's headquarters in Cincinnati so we
drove out to see their offices. They have a very nice building in an
upscale semi-rural area of town. One of the women who works there
took us on a tour of the building and we got to see and say hi to a
couple of people we have met at rallies who are employees.
We then drove about five miles to the
other FMCA building which is now used for storage. Until recently
FMCA had their own mail forwarding service for members and it was
housed in this second building. They have since outsourced the mail
forwarding and now use the second building for storage. This
building also has a large RV park which is available to members. Any
member can stay for two nights free, if space is available, and then
up to five more nights for only $20 a night. They are nice, paved
full hookup sites.
After we visited the FMCA buildings we
drove back across the river and did a few more geocaches on the
Kentucky side of the river. We ended up with eight new finds for the
day, with no DNFs. We then drove to the Florence, Kentucky Elks
Lodge. This is an old lodge, number 314, with a very unusual setup.
They operate a regular public bar upstairs and the downstairs is the
Elks Lodge, also with a bar for members only. In all our visits with
Elks lodges we have never seen this type of setup before. We had a
couple of drinks and visited with a number of members, all of whom
were very friendly. Although the bar didn't have any lodge pins, the
Secretary came in while we there and was able to get us one from the
office. About 6:00 we left the lodge and drove back to the
campground, stopping at the KFC along the way to pick up dinner. We
spent the rest of the evening in the coach.
Tuesday, August 25th,
another travel day. We left the campground about 10:00 and started a
166 mile trip south and west to Cave City, Kentucky. Along the trip
we passed through Louisville, Kentucky, but we didn't stop since we
were there just a few years ago on our last trip to this part of the
country. We arrived at the Singing Hills RV Park in Cave City about
1:00 local time, having gained an hour back by passing back into the
Central Time Zone. Cave City is so named because it is just outside
the entrance to Mammoth Cave National Park. We are going to be here
for two nights and will visit the park tomorrow. After we got set up
we relaxed for the rest of the day.
Wednesday, August 26th, we
left the coach after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. Our
first stop was the visitor's center for the Mammoth Cave National
Park, which is only a few miles from the campground. We spent a half
hour or so walking around the visitor's center, looking at the
exhibits and photos. We elected not to do any of the cave tours. We
have been in Carlsbad Caverns and we didn't feel like doing all the
walking required for most of the tours. We drove around the park and
did a couple of virtual geocaches. The Park Service does not allow
actual container caches to be hidden in a National Park, but people
did “place” virtuals back at the time they were allowed by
Groundspeak, the caching headquarters.
Thursday, August 27th, was
another travel day. We left Cave City around 10:00 and drove just
under 200 miles to the Parker's Crossroads RV park, near Yuma,
Tennessee. It was a very nice park, but we are only here overnight.
We didn't even unhook the car. Once we got settled in we rested,
trying to get over the colds we have developed.
Friday, August 28th, we were
packed up and on the road by 10:00. We headed southwest on a 145
mile trip to the Hernando Point Corps of Engineers campground,
located on the shore of Lake Arkabutla. I think the Arkabutla is an
old Indian word for “middle of nowhere” because it's about 12
miles of two lane, country road through the woods to get to the
campground. We have a very nice site just across the road from the
lake with a killer view out the front. We will be here for five
days. The lake was created when Arkabutla Dam was completed in 1943,
blocking the flow of the Coldwater River. To create the lake the
Corps of Engineers had to relocated the town of Coldwater and it's
700 residents several miles to the south of the dam site.
After we got settled in we cooled down
from the 90 plus temperature before getting in the car and driving to
the town of Horn Lake, Mississippi, just south of the Tennessee
border. We went up there to attend a geocaching event which we had
spotted on the website. We needed to attend an event prior to
September 2nd in order to complete our “Geocaching Road
Trip” challenge. It was the last of five types of caches we needed
to find. It was a small event, with only about six or seven cachers,
but they were very friendly and we had a great time visiting with
them. The event went about 45 minutes and then we had dinner in the
BBQ restaurant where the event had been held.
It was Tom's Original BBQ and we
discovered after we went in that it was a Diner's, Drive-in's and
Dives location. We saw the poster of Guy Fieri in the entryway and
when we asked the owner, who was working the counter, he said that
Guy had been here twice. They had a very extensive menu and I ended
up with the beef brisket sandwich and Jackie had the baby back ribs.
It was excellent food, some of the best brisket I have ever had. The
place was full of local cops when we went in and when I had to show
the owner my ID for my credit card he saw my badge and gave the
police discount. It's been a long time since I had one of those!
They have a location in Horn Lake and another in Memphis, so if you
are in the area and want outstanding BBQ, look up Tom's Original BBQ.
After dinner we drove back to the campground and watched TV for the
rest of the night.
Saturday, August 29th, we
had a stay at home day. I got a number of small chores done around
the coach, little things that I had been putting off because we were
busy. Jackie got several things done as well and it was nice to have
a quiet day to continue to recover from our colds.
Sunday we left the coach after lunch
and headed out to do some geocaching and exploring. We first cached
in the small town of Hernando, the first town north of the
campground. Hernando was founded in 1839 and named after Hernando De
Soto, so it is appropriate that it is also the county seat of DeSoto
County Mississippi. The town has a current population of just over
14,000. We did a half dozen caches in Hernando before moving a
little further north to Horn Lake, the town just south of the border
where we went for the caching event the evening we arrived.
Horn Lake has a population of just over
26,000 and was also founded in the early 1800's. It began to grow
and prosper in the mid-twentieth century as a suburb of Memphis and
light industrial and manufacturing. Elvis Presley owned a ranch here
in the late 60's and it was the place where he and Priscilla went for
their honeymoon. We did some more caching here in Horn Lake, closing
the afternoon with eleven new finds and no DNFs. After caching we
drove back down to Hernando and visited the Walmart, then headed back
to the campground, where we stayed in the rest of the evening.
Monday, August 31st, we left
the coach around 11:00 and headed north to do some sightseeing and
caching in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis is just across the state
line, about 25 miles or so north of Hernando. Memphis was founded in
1819 on one of the high bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.
The city was an important port and center of commerce for the
mid-south. The city's elevation made it virtually flood-free and the
lower surrounding areas had great agricultural potential. Tennessee
seceded from the Union in 1861, but by June 1862 Union forces had
captured and occupied Tennessee, including Memphis, and it remained
under Union control the rest of the war. Because this happened early
in the war the city was spared the damage suffered by other southern
cities. The current population of Memphis is over 650,000, with more
than 1.3 million in the metro area. It is the largest city in
Tennessee, on the Mississippi River, and in the mid-south.
Our first stop after we crossed back
into Tennessee was the UPS Service Center near the airport to pick up
our mail. We didn't get much, but it has been a couple weeks and we
try not to let it go too much beyond two or three weeks. The next
thing we did was go to a neighborhood a mile or so east of downtown
where I had lived at one time. In July 1966 I was in the Marine
Corps and had just gotten out of boot camp, gone back to Phoenix and
married my girlfriend. My first duty station was Millington Naval
Air Station, which was located northeast of Memphis. I was sent
there because at that time all of the Navy and Marine Corps Aviation
Technical Schools were located on the base. After about three months
my wife at the time came out and joined me. We rented an apartment
in a large house in Memphis. We only lived there until I finished my
technical schooling and was transferred to Hawaii in May 1967.
When we were last here in Memphis in
2006 I had tried to find the house where my ex-wife and I used to
live so I could show it to Jackie. I remembered the street it was
on, Harbert, and that the address was 1300 something, but we drove up
and down Harbert street a number of times and nothing clicked, so we
were unable to locate it. We did drive out to what had been
Millington Naval Air Station. There is still a Naval facility there
called the Mid-South Naval Support Activity, but the air base has
been converted to a civilian airport and the south side of the base,
where all the schools were located, has been deactivated completely.
All of the schools were moved to Pensacola, Florida, back in the
early 90's.
During the short period my ex and I
lived there we were befriended by our next door neighbors. We were
young, I was 19, she was 18, poor (only a Private in the Marine
Corps) and alone. No friends, no relatives and no car. I took the
bus back and forth to the base. Our neighbors, one of whom was a
University of Memphis Art Professor, were very nice to us. We went
to dinner at their place from time to time, and they would let us
borrow one of their two Volkswagens on the weekends to go shopping,
go to the park, or just go somewhere. I had no recollection of their
names, only their kindness to a couple of young people on their own
for the first time.
After I determined I had the right
house I took a shot and rang the doorbell of the house where the
couple who became our friends had lived. A youngish guy, maybe late
30's, answered the door and I explained how I had lived next door in
66-67 and briefly explained my interest in his house. As it turns
out, the guy who answered the door bought the house six years ago
from the wife of the college professor, who had died some years ago.
And, he works at the same company with the son of the couple. I
learned that the sculptor's name was Harris Sorrelle, and once he
said that I remembered it. I was flabbergasted. I gave the guy a
card and told him to let his friend know the story and tell him to
call me if he wanted to learn more. Harris Sorrelle has one of his sculptures in a riverside park in Memphis. I have included a photo of the piece.
After my little foray into the past we
headed over to get something to eat. Our friend Mike Neighbours had
recommended Gus's Fried Chicken when he heard we were going to be in
Memphis. It was rated very high on Yelp, so we gave it a shot. We
ate at the downtown location, which was one of many. The place was
packed, even though we got there close to 1:00, and there were a lot
of cops. That is usually a good sign. They only serve fried chicken
and the usual sides, so we both had the half chicken. I thought the
chicken was excellent, not too greasy and with just a bit of a kick
in the spices. Jackie thought is was a touch too hot for her taste.
We also had the fried green tomatoes appetizer and they were
outstanding. The fries and mac and cheese sides were also very good.
I could recommend the place to anyone who likes fried chicken.
We then spent a couple of hours driving
around downtown and some of the older neighborhoods, doing some
sightseeing and geocaching. We only got six new finds, and one DNF,
but we did a lot of looking around. Memphis, especially the older,
wealthier sections, is very pretty. After our explorations we headed
back south and got back to the coach in time for cocktails.
Tuesday, September 1st. It
was seventeen years ago today that I left Phoenix and moved to Indio
to start a new life with my wonderful wife Jackie. We also have a
wedding anniversary on February 8th, but September 1st
will always mark a wonderful day. We decided we needed a down day,
so we just stayed in the coach for the day and continued to try and
get over our colds.
Wednesday, September 2nd,
another travel day. We pulled out of the Corps of Engineers park at
10:30 and started towards Little Rock, Arkansas, about 177 miles
southwest. When we left Memphis we crossed the Mississippi River,
putting us west of the Mississippi for the first time since the end
of June. We made a fuel stop and arrived at the North Little Rock RV
park right around 2:00. This is a city owned and operated park which
is right on the banks of the Arkansas River. North of the river is
North Little Rock and Little Rock's downtown is on the south side.
We are right between the Interstate 30 bridge over the river and an
old highway bridge which has been converted to a pedestrian crossing,
leading from North Little Rock to the William Clinton Presidential
Library, which is just across the river from our park. The park is
nothing fancy, basically a parking lot with hookups, but it has full
service, 50 amp parking at a Passport America rate of $12 a night.
That is hard to beat anywhere.
We got set up and decided to stay in
for the rest of the day since it really hot. Not too long after we
got in a series of thunderstorms came through and we got some welcome
rain. No big storms, just an hour or so of rain and noise. We had
dinner and watched TV until bedtime. The view after dark was really
nice as we had all of downtown Little Rock outside our front window.
The pedestrian bridge is lit up it's entire length with colored
lights that continually change. It is really pretty here.
Thursday, September 3rd, we
headed out after lunch and did out laundry. After the laundry was
done we found a Super Cuts and we both got haircuts. We then went to
the grocery store and picked up some supplies. Although it was
really hot and humid, we did stop and get one geocache, our first in
the State of Arkansas. This also fills in our geocaching map for
every state west of the Mississippi, including Hawaii and Alaska.
Yea! We then headed back to the coach and put away the groceries.
As soon as we had all the supplies put
away we drove the North Little Rock Elks Lodge, which was only a half
mile from the RV park. This is Lodge 1004, chartered in 1905 as the
Little Rock Lodge. In 1935 their lodge burned down, so they built a
new one across the river in North Little Rock. It is a very large,
pretty building, very art deco in design in keeping with it's age.
There were only four or five members at the bar when we went in, but
they were very friendly. One of them was a Lodge Trustee and he
bought Jackie one of the Lodge's cookbooks, which looks like it has
some very nice recipes in it. We stayed for about an hour and a
half, had a couple drinks and a great time talking to the members.
We then went home, had dinner and watched TV until bedtime.
Friday, September 4th, we
had another travel day. We left Little Rock around 10:30, as usual,
and started southwest to Texarkana, Texas, about 155 miles away.
Texarkana is a large city, about 67,000 people, which is split right
down the middle north to south, with Texarkana, Arkansas on the east
and Texarkana, Texas on the west. Courtney lives on the Texas side,
so we are staying on the Texas side.
We are headed to Texarkana to visit
with my granddaughter Courtney and her family. Courtney is my oldest
daughter Tye's middle child. She got married about a year ago and
just recently had a baby boy they named Josiah, my fifth
great-grandchild. We arrived at the Shady Pines RV Park, which is
about five miles west of Texarkana around 2:00. I had to make some
repairs to the coach power cord before we could get set up, so we
weren't all set up until after 4:00. We called Courtney and told her
that it was too late today and that we would see them tomorrow.
After that we stayed in the coach and tried to get cool on a very hot
and humid day. We did notice on the local news that the people in
this area refer to it as “The Arklatex” because it lies at the
junction of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.
Our arrival here to be with family
marks a good place to close out this episode and get it published.
This is also more or less the first stop on our travels back to the
west from our summer in the central part of the country. Until the
next time, remember that life is to be enjoyed, not watched. Get out
and have some fun. See ya soon.
