Back Home to Aus

Like all good things, our second six-month USA RV trip has come to an end. We have stored our RV in Kansas City for the next six months are now in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport en route to our Los Angeles for our 14 hour non-stop flight to Brisbane, Australia. After enjoying stunning weather for the past week, lightning, thunder and torrential rain escorted us to the airport this morning! We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express hotel last night and they provided a free shuttle to the airport and also to any shopping or restaurant within a 5 mile radius. In fact, we were very impressed with the hotel – apart from the free shuttle services, our room had two queen beds, they had free hot breakfast with bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, muffins, toast, yoghurt, fruit, cinnabons and cereals. There was a heated indoor pool and a gym that fortunately had a set of scales so that we could weigh our suitcases and ensure they were each under the 23kg (50lb) limit. We knew American Airlines have started charging $15 for the first checked bag, and $25 for the second, so we had our money ready to pay, but because we were linking in with an international flight, we didn’t have to pay anything which was a pleasant bonus. Not only that, but our bags were checked all the way through to Brisbane, so we don’t see them again until we arrive home. Fantastic. Traversing from Terminal 4 at LAX to the Tom Bradley terminal toting 3 large suitcases, a laptop, a backpack and a carry on bag has been quite a pain in the past – so not having the large suitcases to check in again will be great.

This year we traveled a total of 12,080 miles (19,440 km) compared to our 2007 six month distance of 13,319 miles (21,435 km). Having a lovely 3 weeks stopover in North Dakota kept our miles lower, and given the higher fuel prices, that worked in our favour. On this trip our cheapest fuel was $3.21/gallon and the highest was $4.36/gallon.

During this trip we caught up with many friends from last year and made some special new ones. Murray also got to enjoy some great fishing outings once again, especially in North Dakota and Missouri. The map shows our routes for each trip, red for 2007 and blue for 2008. Next year we plan to cover the north east corner of the US, plus the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia areas of Canada (after Arkansas, North Carolina & Maryland and before we visit North Dakota). We have a rough plot to build in a side trip to Spain and return via San Francisco so we can visit with friends in Sacramento. Time will tell.

Thanks to all of you in USA and Australia who have kept in touch via emails and phone calls during our 6 month travels, and I hope the blog has provided a good synopsis of our travel adventures for those interested. Keep in touch.

Independence, Missouri

Santa Fe Trail - Click photo to get an idea...

Truman House Temple Quilt Display
Vaile Mansion Rod & Nicholas

Huge Margarita
Rod's El Camino

We have just spent 2 days in Independence, Missouri, which is a few miles East of Kansas City, and where we are storing our RV for the next 6 months. We knew it was a historic area as on a previous visit we had stayed in the same RV Park and walked to see the preserved tracks made by wagons of the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails – all three trails began here in Independence. On the first day we went for a walk to see the trails again as it is quite mind boggling to stand there and imagine how things were then, helped by a trail marker that has a painting that captures the scene. We had our walking shoes on, so from there we kept walking north and accidentally came across the historic village square which still has the soda shop where America’s 33rd President, Harry S Truman worked as a teenager. He met his wife here and their home here in Independence was where they lived until their deaths. During his presidency the Truman home became known as the summer ‘White House’. We also saw the log courthouse where he worked when he was a county judge before becoming President. As we walked around we couldn’t help but notice the impressive 300’ spiraling tower of the Community of Christ Temple which was designed in the 1920’s. Did you wonder what the photo of the quilt display was all about? If you double click on the photo you may be able to read the signs that advertise quilting classes - this is just a regular house on the street and outside they had a table and women were sitting there quilting and quilts were hanging up for sale. Today is the first official day of autumn, so their days for sitting outside quilting are numbered...

On our second day in Independence we met the son & grandson of Avalyn & Wes, our North Dakotan friends. Rod & Nicholas picked us up and drove us to see the Truman home & Library, then to another famous landmark, the Vaile Mansion. It is a 30 room mansion built in 1881 and recognized as one of the finest examples of Second Empire Victorian architecture in the US. It even has a 48,000 gallon wine cellar – now that’s a wine cellar Joe Bill!

Rod & Nick then took us to their favourite eating haunt – a local Mexican restaurant. The food was very tasty and the beers and margarita were whoppers as you can see by the photo. My margarita wasn’t just big in size (I needed two hands to hold it), it was loaded with tequila. Thanks for the headache Rod! Next stop was Rod's home where he couldn’t help but show us his latest work in motion…an El Camino chevvy (coupé ute) he is restoring, so I took a photo for car fans out there. Rod has a great recipe for venison and when we come back next year he has offered to BBQ us a backstrap (fillet taken from either side of spine) of marinated venison which he assures us will melt in our mouths. Now he just has to wait for deer season.

Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

Lake of the Ozarks

Photo courtesy http://www.havaspacervpark.com/

When we left Mike and the trout fishing adventure, we made a beeline to Kansas City, Missouri which is our last stop in the USA before flying to LA and then home to Brisbane. We are no longer in tourist mode but are thinking of all the last minute things we need to do before we put the RV into storage, so Murray didn't check out Dick & Jan's drive book.

Consequently we came across the beautiful area around the Lake of the Ozarks quite by mistake. The Lake is half way between St Louis and Kansas City and south of the main interstate. The reservoir and lake there is massive and at the time it was completed in 1931 it was the largest man-made lake in the world. It is now the Midwest’s premier lake vacation destination and attracts 3 million visitors each year. It boasts world-class boating, golfing, shopping & fishing. The area also has some amazing caves/caverns and also some wineries. When we checked into our Hava Space campground which happened to be close to a marina on the Lake, the managers’ offered to take us on their pontoon and cruise the lake, but we graciously declined as we were on a different agenda now – washing, cleaning and clearing out drawers and cupboards. We had no sooner connected up at our site when the manager, Suzanne, arrived at our door with two slices of freshly baked pie – one slice each of apple and cherry. We had them with a scoop of icecream after our dinner which Suzanne also provided (she had made a huge pot of chicken and pasta casserole and shared it with us) – both delicious. It would be a lovely area to return to on a future trip. I took a photo of the lake as we drove over a bridge, but it was overcast and the photo did not do it justice. The website of the campground we stayed at had a good photo on it, so I have borrowed theirs and included their weblink so hopefully some future travelers will remember this blog entry and visit their campground!

Missouri Trout Fishing

Crossing the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri: St LouisTina Mike Murray & Trish
Trout Fisherman Mike & Murray Flick that Line
Cleaning the Catch

After we said our goodbyes to Andrea and the girls, and Randy rang from Iraq in time to say goodbye, we crossed the Mississippi and parked in Mike (ex-US Army) & Tina’s driveway in St Louis, Missouri. That afternoon we headed to Mike’s dad’s place to celebrate his dad’s birthday and got treated to a delicious BBQ. A cold front had moved down from Canada and so we had a hot, humid day one day, and the next we were wearing winter clothes! We had a photo taken of Mike, Tina, Murray & I to send to friends Mike & I had worked with together back in Australia, but when I saw the photo I was shocked to see how tired Murray & I looked compared to the refreshed look of Mike & Tina – we were the retired ones! Then I remembered our 2am debacle with the fridge the night before, followed too soon by the 6am wake up call from Hurricane Ike!

Next day Tina went off to work, but Mike was very keen to show Murray his favourite trout fishing spot at Montauk State Park, about a three hour drive from their home and SW of St Louis. Mike drove his car and we followed in the RV as we would continue from here to Kansas City. We had got a late start from St Louis, so by the time we reached Montauk SP and got a site backed right onto the Current River (within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways), the chaps only had about an hour to fish but caught no keepers. Mike lit a great campfire while Murray cooked some fish he had caught previously, and we sat out under the stars and the full moon as we ate dinner and sipped on an Aussie red wine. Some of the local animals decided to check if we had left any food scraps, and Murray and I were thrilled to see our first ever skunk and armadillo alive in the wild, not even 30 feet away from us. Both animals seemed large for their species and looked very healthy, so this area must be very kind to them. The skunk had a huge bushy tail which we hadn’t expected but we didn’t get up to get a closer look just in case it sprayed us! The armadillo seemed a lot bigger than those we had seen squished on the roadside in Texas & Missouri. They never used to be this far north when Mike was a lad, so they have extended their territory. We also heard an owl hooting. Mike bought a sleeping bag and slept on our divan which pulls out to a mini-double bed and re-charged his batteries ready to take Murray fishing again at 7am yesterday. The plan was to return at 9am and head to the nearby lodge for a big breakfast. 10am came and there was still no sign of them…

I’m happy to report both guys caught some lovely trout before returning to the RV to pick me up for brunch at 10.30am. We had a big breakfast at the lodge before returning to the RV after which they waded into the river behind us to have another fish before Mike had to head back to St Louis. I baked some blueberry muffins for afternoon tea. Murray & I decided to stay one more night here in the woods without phone, internet or TV, but such a lovely spot. Dinner last night was fresh trout, butterflied a la Mike! Thanks for a great experience.

Last night in Illinois

Fridge Digital Display

Our last night in Illinois taught us a valuable lesson – don’t block ventilation areas! On Saturday we were watching the weather for effects to our area from Hurricane Ike which had done so much damage to Galveston. You may recall we had been caught in the torrential 8” of rain and accompanying westerly winds courtesy of Hurricane Gustav, and unknown to us at the time, it had forced water through the refrigerator ventilation vents and the water had pooled in a cavity underneath the fridge. So this time when they predicted we were to expect wind and rain at about 6am Sunday, we taped some plastic sheeting over that area as a precautionary measure. Well, the fridge overheated, and at around midnight, we heard a loud muffled pop. Neither of us could work out what it was until I noticed the fridge showed an error on the digital readout. We pulled out the instruction manual and followed the instructions. Apparently we could have one chance to reset the cooling system, otherwise we had to take it to a refrigeration mechanic. So we removed the plastic sheeting off most of the vents and just left a portion at the top to limit water entry, then we turned the fridge off and left it to cool for an hour to maximize our chances. After half an hour we turned it back on and presto, the error light had gone out and the digital readout was back to normal. But we wanted to check there were no lasting effects, so we waited until 2am before settling into bed, very relieved that we did not have to try and find a technician on a Sunday!

Sure enough, at 6am we were rudely awoken by buffeting winds and lashing rain as Ike moved north east towards Chicago. Fortunately the winds didn’t get anywhere near as high as we had been used to, and having the jacks down kept us stable. It was pretty much all over by 10am and this time no water got inside the ventilation area. Could have been a costly mistake to cover those vents!

Meet me in St Louis, Louis

Toasted Ravioli

Photo courtesy www.blueberryhill.com

Ted Drew's Frozen Custard Stand

Last night Andrea drove us to The Hill (Little Italy) precinct of St Louis city where we tried a new appetizer called ‘toasted ravioli’. It is ravioli that is dipped in seasoned breadcrumbs and then lightly fried. It is served with a bolognaise sauce plus or minus a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. It was supposedly created and popularized in St Louis and it really was delicious. After that we drove to try another locally famous eatery, Ted Drew’s frozen custard stand. Murray & I were surprised to people lining up at the four windows and cars coming and going, but it is a very popular dessert here. You can order it as a sundae using frozen vanilla custard (very much like a soft serve only with real milk and eggs) and various toppings, or as a ‘concrete’ which is like a sundae with flavouring and topping and then all squished together like a slurry. Interesting. The locals only have a one more week before summer is officially over, so they are making the most of the balmy nights and treating themselves to this summer delight!

Fortunately we had a beautiful evening for our 30 minute jaunt to St Louis last night as we woke up today to the effects of Hurricane Ike – wind around 25 mph (warning of gusts up to 45 mph) and beating rain. Flood warnings are in effect and as flash floods are common in this area, we are deferring our departure to Mike & Tina’s in St Louis until it settles which should be around noon.

We know it is time to go home as we noticed some trees starting to turn yellow and red, autumn is nearly here. Spring started in Australia 2 weeks ago, so it is almost time to head back and enjoy an Aussie spring and summer once again.

Hurricane Ike

Galveston Seawall 17 Apr 08
Galveston Seawall during Ike
http://www.chron.com/news/photogallery/Hurricane_Ike_approaches.html

Yikes – Ike hit landfall on the US coast at Galveston at 3.10am local time this morning, so yesterday we were regularly checking in on the weather channel to follow it’s progress. Yesterday morning we rang friends of ours who live just west of Austin Texas to see if they needed to evacuate, but they were not even expecting any rain (which they badly need). Ike was headed right for Galveston, an area rich in oil platforms that were subsequently evacuated. This resulted in the price of fuel jumping from around $3.56/gal ($0.94/litre) where we were in Kentucky on Thursday, to over $4/gal ($1.06/litre) by the time we drove out on Friday morning. One place was making a real killing by selling it at $4.99/gal. In news film clips from Galveston we could see water crashing over the road that we drove on earlier this trip (photos above). Ike is supposed to have weather implications as far north as Canada, with heavy rains and possible tornadoes predicted for Sunday in the area we are in here in St Louis. I am glad both friends we are staying with have basements.

Yesterday we left Kentucky, crossed the Ohio River, and entered Illinois. For a short time we were driving parallel and right beside the Mississippi River - but I was driving so no photos! We are staying with friends in a town east of St Louis, but still in Illinois. Tomorrow, Sunday we will drive and visit with friends right in St Louis and stay with them for a few days (we will make sure and check on the weather before we hit the road!). When we stay with friends, we plug into the household power and only run minimal appliances to keep usage low. We sleep and have breakfast in our RV to minimize disruption to the household, and that works well for us.

Lest We Forget

Today is the 7th anniversary of 9/11, a heinous event with immeasurable implications for global security. A sad day in our history....

(Photo courtesy www.heartlight.org)

Driving Through SW Kentucky

Amish Buggy Tracks on Side of Highway

Jefferson Davis Memorial
Tobacco Fields (Note some drying on rack)

After we left Tennessee yesterday, we drove north over the border and into Kentucky. We had visited Lexington & surrounds last year, so this time we headed towards the NW corner. Once I map out our route, Murray then peruses a book Jan & Dick gave us for Christmas last year titled ‘Most Scenic Drives in America’ and if he finds interesting drives or places of interest nearby, we refine our route. We try to get off the major highways and see a bit of the farmland and little towns that often get bypassed by the interstates. On this occasion he read that the Jefferson Davis Memorial and Amish country were in the vicinity, so we adjusted our route to go through Hopkinsville and take route 68 E to Russellville. What a pretty drive it turned out to be. We were on the lookout for the familiar Amish buggies we were used to seeing up in Pennsylvania, but although we saw their tracks and horse droppings, we didn’t actually see any buggies on the road.

The crops we usually see on the roads are corn, soya beans or wheat, so it was interesting to start seeing tobacco fields. Apparently Kentucky has an ideal climate for growing tobacco which is its main crop contributing to 50% of agricultural income. At this time of the year tobacco is being harvested and smoked, so lots of wooden shacks in the field were ‘smoking’. It was overcast, warm, and with high humidity, so the smoke hung in the air contributing to the misty haze in photos of this area.

We did a tour up into the 351 ft high Jefferson Davis Memorial and were thankful they provided an elevator! It is 2/3 the size but otherwise a carbon copy of the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument was created to honour the first US President George Washington, and this monument was to honour the first (and only) Confederate President, Jefferson Davis. Hence the scaled replica! Interestingly, Davis is not listed as a US President as the Confederate States of the Civil War were seceded from the Union at that time. Davis was born and lived in a cabin that is now home to a Baptist Church nearby. Interestingly Abraham Lincoln was born only 100 miles away and while he was President of the United States (Union), Davis was his counterpart in the Confederate States of America, so Kentucky had raised two Presidents who served concurrently!

Ms Meador Finale

The next two videos are here so that Joe Bill & John Benton's wife Betsy can right click and download them to their computers. Their 98 year old mother is simply amazing; spending time with her made me miss my own 90 year old mum. In less than two weeks I will be on a plane winging my way back to see her again. I'm coming mum...put the kettle on.

Ms Meador

Gaylord Opryland Resort

Opryland Indoor Gardens
Wedding Setting

Bride Arriving on River Dick Murray & Jan

Hotel Rooms

Prior to our evening at the Grand Ole Opry, we called in to check out the magnificent Opryland Resort next door. It is a 2881 room Resort & Convention centre with 9 acres of indoor gardens, an indoor river and waterfalls. As we meandered through one area of the indoor gardens we saw an area being prepared for a wedding, then a few minutes later, we saw the bride coming down the indoor river on a flatboat. I tried to capture it for you all to enjoy.

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville City & LP Field
Murray Jan & Dick in Legends Bar
Cycle Cops

Our 3 day sojourn with Jan & Dick in Nashville started with rain on the first day, but then things improved and we had beautiful summer days from then on. On Saturday night we attended the Grand Ole Opry. We saw Jessica Simpson (yes, Nick Lachey’s ex-wife) and Canada’s Crystal Shawanda make their debut; they each sang a couple of their own songs. Country music veteran Loretta Lynn also belted out a few songs. Most people would know that the Opry is famous for country music and is the number one attraction in Nashville. Although I must admit Dick & Murray got quite animated when we drove past LP Field, the home ground of NFL’s local football team, the ‘Tennessee Titans’. After that we parked downtown and walked along Broadway Ave where hopeful country & western singers play at the various clubs. Most clubs are free to enter, so we popped into Legends for a cold beer and soaked up the atmosphere. On the way home we passed the local cops on their bicycles and I asked one if he would mind if we took his photo – he asked if I wanted to be in it too, so Murray snapped the photo.

On a previous visit here Murray had spent time at the Country Music Hall of Fame and was very keen to go back for a second visit. So after a very pleasant breakfast at Cracker Barrel yesterday morning, we dropped him off and the three of us then headed to the Opry Mills for a bit of retail therapy! Last night we made the most of the beautiful summer evening and had dinner outside. Alas, they caught their flight back to DC today leaving us with pleasant memories and being able to add Nashville to the list of cities we have visited together.

Driving to Nashville

Rice Fields
Memphis on the Mississippi
Nashville
Downtown Nashville with Dick & Jan

After we left Fordyce on Thursday morning we took good advice and avoided the I-40E highway from Little Rock to Memphis as it is chockabloc with large semi-trailers. The alternative route we took along highway 79 E was very scenic and we passed numerous rice fields. Gustav had left a trail of destruction though, and the rice looked flattened in some fields. We stopped and Murray chatted to a local farmer who said so long as the fields got a chance to dry out, they would be able to harvest the crops. Many of the rice crops had already turned yellow and they usually have 10 days after it ripens (turns yellow) to harvest it. I hope they get some dry weather real soon. We drove over the Mississippi River and took the above photo of Memphis but kept going - we had visited Memphis on a previous trip and toured Graceland and checked out Heartbreak Hotel. Plus we were heading to meet up with our long time US friends Jan & Dick from Maryland. They were flying into Nashville to spend the weekend with us. We spent a night in a very basic RV stop in Jackson, Tennessee and then reached Nashville on Friday, not long before Dick & Jan arrived. They had picked up a hire car and we drove into Nashville for dinner. The rain continued though, and our visit to downtown Nashville including dashing in and out of the rain. We had ribs and pulled pork at the renowned Jack's BBQ, and walked past the famous landmarks of the Orchid Lounge and Legends Bar. Tomorrow night we visit the Grand Ole Opry.

Farewell Fordyce, Arkansas

Last Breakfast in Arkansas
Joe Bill & Sandy
Horseshoe for Good Luck

Our 3 days sojourn in Fordyce ended with brekky in our RV. On Thursday morning Joe Bill & Sandy were still without power, so we invited them to have coffee& toast with us before we headed off on the drive to Nashville. We even got Joe Bill to try some vegemite. Betsy & John Benton turned up and took their turn at the vegemite tasting. They didn’t openly gag, but they may have felt like it! Minutes later Joe Bill & John Benton’s brother Hugh Connor drove up and called out his goodbyes. However I daresay the best sight for Sandy & Joe Bill was seeing the county electricity worker appear at our RV door to tell them their power was now back on! Their lives could now return to normal.

Ranger James

Our internet is back at broadband speed, so I have been able to upload some videos. The Mozart piece played by Joe Bill's 98 year old mother has been added to the entry below. Here is Ranger James from Ouachita State Park, Arkansas. He is talking about how the coyote is depicted as the wiley one in American Indian stories. I hope you enjoy the video...

Fordyce, Arkansas

Dinner at the Meador's
That's not a knife Joe Bill!

Joe Bill & Sandy had such big plans for our 3 day stay in their town of Fordyce, population just under 5,000. They live on a property with a lake, 4 horses and a wagon. They were going to take us horse riding and for a ride in their wagon, but unfortunately, Hurricane Gustav had plans of its own and provided a deluge of rain such as this little town has never seen before. Joe Bill has lived on this property for 56 years and the lake has never been as high as it is today. It has rained, and rained and rained. I have been expecting our RV to turn into the Ark and sail out of here! But no, we are still on higher ground than the lake, but there have been numerous power outages, and the house here has had no power for over 24 hrs now and even the phones were out for awhile. We are just watching the news and seeing flood waters in Little Rock and hearing that 100,000 home are without power. The county electricity workers had been deployed to Louisiana to help there with problems associated with Hurricane Gustav, but they are now hot tailing back to Arkansas to help out with the floods and downed electricity poles here.

However, the rain has not stopped our fun...we have already had two dinner parties - one here where Murray & I cooked aussie sausage rolls and cherry flan for 8 people, and last night at Betsy and John Benton's where we had a delicious meal of chicken & asparagus casserole and lemon tart. As the power is still out, we decided we would drive in for a Sonic tonight - you know in the American movies where they drive up and a girl on roller skates comes out to take their order and delivers it to the car? Well, they have dispensed with the roller skates, but the rest is about the same.

Today we were guests at the local Fordyce Rotary meeting in the locally famous Klappenbach Bakery (http://www.klappenbachbakery.com/) where Lee & Norman Klappenbach create mouthwatering delicacies. The Rotary meeting started with a beautiful lunch of soup, salad, beans, a beef and noodle casserole and a selection of about 6 dessert pies. After that Murray & I gave a 20 minute powerpoint presentation on our US travels and Australia. We then dropped into the local radio station where Carna Coates did an interview with us (check tomorrow and see if the interview made local news: http://www.kbjtkq.com/newsmain.htm). We then came back to Joe Bill's mother's house which is on the same property as his house, and she played a Beethoven recital on the piano - she is 98 years old and played this same recital at the Ouachita University when she was about 19 years of age. Joe Bill is speaking a bit softly, but I hope you can hear him proudly introducing his mother in the video below.

Adventures on Lake Ouachita, Arkansas Day 3 & 4

State Troopers Conduct Random "Aussie Check"
Murray Chris Andrea & Gary in the Pontoon
Shelby Andrea Trish & Murray
Trish & Andrea on the Sea-Doo
View of Lake Ouachita from Chris & Gary's Home

On Saturday morning Andrea, Jessica & Shelby arrived with Randy’s cousin Chris, her husband Gary and their two sons Steve & Joey. Andrea’s husband Randy is a USAF Colonel currently deployed in the Middle East – I have mentioned in a previous blog that Randy was on an Officer course with me in Australia for 12 months so we first met him and his family back in 1999. They now live in Freeburg, Illinois, but Andrea drove the 8 hrs down to visit with her cousin and to catch up with us as it was a long weekend here. They invited us to join them in a visit to a nearby water park, but we declined the offer and had a rare day where we just sat out under our awning and chatted to passers by and watched the local wildlife around us. The same ranger (James) who took us on the stargaze cruise came past our RV while we were sitting out watching the squirrels jump from tree to tree, and observing a red headed woodpecker peck away at a pine tree in front of us. We asked James if he would mind if we videoed him giving a brief story of the coyote. A short video of his story will be uploaded soon.

A chap who was with his family in a tent on the site next to ours stopped for a chat – he is an orthopaedic nurse and described himself as a hillbilly who grew up in the Ozarks in NW Arkansas. He explained the difference between hillbilly and rednecks which was interesting for us. We had no sooner finished dinner and Andrea & Gary arrived to invite us back to their house for cocktails on their deck overlooking the lake. We got there just in time to see the sunset over the lake; it was so beautiful. They live about 2 miles from our campground in a gated area where there are 180 lots, but only 35 houses with none others to be built. Each house is secluded from the next by natural forested areas. Deer and turkey are common.

On Sunday morning Gary, Andrea & the girls picked us up at 8.30am to attend their local church, where Chris and the boys were waiting for us. En route Gary had a surprise for us – the local State Police were doing a random breathalyzer check (it is a long weekend here) and the police were mates of Gary, so he asked if they would pose with us for a photo. They were armed so we behaved ourselves during the photo shoot (mind the pun). After church we headed back to their house, changed into our bathers, packed a picnic lunch and got into their golf buggies and drove the .5 km down to their local marina where they keep their 22’ pontoon boat and sea-doo (jet ski). It was a glorious day to be on the lake, and Murray took the helm and we pulled into a cove and drove the pontoon up on the shale beach and from there we took it in turns to have rides on the sea-doo. I had never been on a jet ski before, so I went as a passenger with Andrea first, then when we got half way, we switched to me being the driver. Another new experience for this retiree….We finished our picnic, then loaded back on the pontoon and went for a cruise to check out the dam wall that separates Lake Ouachita from Lake Hamilton before returning to the house. We said our goodbyes to everyone and returned to our campground.

Just as we pulled in, a ranger walked over to advise us that the campground was on notice to receive evacuees from Louisiana escaping the impending Hurricane Gustav. We offered to move earlier if they needed the site, but he seemed to think they would have enough room as the campground was due to clear out in the morning anyway as the long weekend would be over. The ranger told us that the main highway was made one-way, instead of two lanes going north and two lanes south, all lanes were going north to allow people to move out of New Orleans and other areas of Louisiana before the hurricane was due to hit. Sure enough, a father and son soon pulled in from their home in Slidell just north of New Orleans. They got wiped out from Katrina, and as soon as this storm was predicted to hit there, they threw stuff into their campervan and headed north. We offered to cook them dinner, but they were so tired from the long drive they just wanted to sleep. Our hearts go out to them.

Adventures on Lake Ouachita, Arkansas Day 1 & 2

Crawdad Island for Stargazing
Lake Ouachita
"Tea Time" with fellow yachters
Sunset over the Lake
Joe Bill & Sandy out sailing

Our campground for 4 days in Hot Springs, Arkansas was right on Lake Ouachita which is a huge lake of 40,000 acres with a shoreline of 975 miles, as there are so many little coves. When we first checked into the campground we were initially disappointed as it was the first park we have encountered where we couldn’t get phone, internet or TV. Obviously that is how most people like state parks to be as they are camping out and are hoping to get away from it all, but for us, wherever we are in our RV we are ‘at home’ and our location happens to be in a campground! We have been keenly following the hunt for a new US president and right now both candidates are announcing their running partners and holding their big rallys, and we have enjoyed watching the political posturing each evening until now. Plus, Murray’s footy team was playing the last of the elimination games and he wasn’t able to listen to it on our computer – so our timing for having no TV or internet was not too good!

As it turned out, on our first night at the campground the park ran a 2 hr stargazing boat trip at 8pm, so we took advantage of that. The ranger took us and a group of 6 others a few miles up the lake past a finger of land where we saw lots of flickering fireflies. We reached tiny Crawdad island where we got out of the boat, walked a few feet and sat on top of a rise and looked up at the night sky. The ranger had a laser beam with him, and pointed out some of the star constellations which was interesting to us as they are quite different to those we see at home in our night skies – no Southern Cross over here. He started off the evening by recounting an American Indian folklore story explaining how the stars came to be in the sky…He pointed out the north star which is handy if you need to get your bearings at night; he explained that while all the other stars rotate around the sky depending on the time of the year, the north star stays in the same place.. Everyone in the group was friendly and one couple asked if they could drop in on us one evening to share a red wine. A very pleasant evening indeed.

On the next day we were in for a sailing adventure. Joe Bill and Sandy have been outstanding ambassadors for their State and have been keen for us to experience some of its natural wonders. Today they picked us up at lunchtime and drove us to a marina about 20 minutes away where Joe Bill’s brother John Benton and his wife Betsy have a large yacht. We spent a few very pleasant hours under open sail, far away from the maddening crowd. Storm clouds started gathering overhead and biting black flies appeared from nowhere, so we decided that was our signal to return to the marina where the fellow yachters habitually meet for ‘tea’ at 5.15pm. ‘Tea’ in this case consists of everyone bringing their preferred drink and some nibblies to share and they sit in the gangway between all the yachts and socialize. Betsy provided some tasty hors d’oeuvres, and another couple provided BBQ spare ribs they had cooked in a smoker for 6 hours - they were finger lickin’ good. The same couple also bought along freshly cooked corn on the cob for everyone – it was farm fresh and so sweet and tender. The piece de resistance was Sandy’s very popular pound cake. By the time all the regulars turned up, there must have been at least 20 people sitting or standing along the narrow walkway. We were introduced to each one of them, and it was interesting hearing them catching up on each others news and chatting with us. They made us feel very welcome. Our original plan had been to drop into a restaurant on the lake before leaving for home, but by the time we had finished on the dock, we had no need of any restaurant! A video of all aboard the yacht will be uploaded soon.