Fordyce, Arkansas

Thanks Amtrak for another great train trip. We enjoyed seeing the Texas countryside as we hurtled along from San Antonio, Texas to Little Rock, Arkansas, overtaking cars speeding along on the highway. Sandy and Joe Bill were there to meet us just before midnight at the Little Rock train station. Joe Bill skilfully avoided hitting the many deer we saw in the headlights on the way home, but Murray and I weren't skilful enough to get out of the radio interview that Joe Bill had arranged for us the next morning! Ha ha. But Paul and Saxon are great radio staff, so it was good to catch up with them again and have a second live to air interview.

It was so nice to wake up on the first morning and look out the bedroom window to see the view captured in the photo below. So peaceful. Look familiar Ret and AD?

View from bedroom window

One of my favourite pastimes is to sit on the back patio and watch the antics of the birds - didn't see any hummingbirds (but we did see them at Randy and Wanda's so that is ok) but we watched a Blue Jay take a bath and shake his tail feathers, and saw mum and dad bluebirds playing around their house. I only saw a few red cardinals, and didn't get time to get a zoom going to take a better photo. After dinner Murray and I went for a walk past the horse corral, and saw the first fireflies of this trip - nothing so magical if you ask me. I wish I could take them back to my patio garden in Ballina!

Red Cardinal

Blue Jay

Blue Birds at home

We only had one day in Fordyce this visit, but that gave us time to catch up with our hosts' families. We called in on Joe Bill's mother who is now 102 and still drives herself to the community centre each day and plays the piano at church on Sundays. Sandy's mother has moved to a smaller and much more convenient home and it was great to get a chance to visit her and see her new abode. Joe Bill's brother Hugh Connor was home and we saw him, but his other brother John Benton was out of town but his wife Betsy gave us her usual warm welcome. It is like coming home when we visit Fordyce...

Joe Bill with his 102 year old mother and Murray (note gun rack behind them)

Joe Bill, Sandy's mum, Sandy and me

Lovely view from patio - well it was until Joe Bill bought out his shotgun!

Murray and Joe Bill head to town to pick up some feed for the horses

Murray drives our RV out from the cave

Checking out Former President Truman's  home in Independence, Missouri

Kansas City Library - see how trees now obscure the unique facade

Our initial plan had been to take the train from Little Rock to Kansas City to pick up our motorhome, but Joe Bill had other plans for us - he often does! The four of us ended up driving to Kansas City, and we had two nights in a motel which gave us ample time to check out a few local sights. We were driving in the middle of downtown Kansas City at 5pm and couldn't believe how few cars there were - we almost had the roads to ourselves. We are guessing they heard that Joe Bill was in town...Our research had told us that The Three Little Pigs was the best place for BBQ in Kansas City, so we headed there for an early dinner. We didn't quite agree with the research outcomes, but it was good. I had also heard about the unique facade of the Kansas City Public Library designed to look like a book shelf of books, and I convinced Joe Bill to drive past so that we could check it out. Can you believe there are large trees obscuring the frontage. We took a photo but were disappointed with the trees - although I must admit they were lovely trees. I think Joe Bill is going to write to the council and suggest they rectify the problem to enhance the tourist's experience! Earlier in the afternoon we spent 1.5 hours at a museum which shows the story of a steamboat that had sunk in the Missouri River just north of Kansas City in 1856 and was later found and recovered. An amazing story that deserves a blog to itself. Meanwhile, we have collected the RV from the cave where it lives while we are back in Australia, taken it to Ford to have a regular service, and it is now ready for pickup. Once again, the engine started up first time! Another RV trip begins...