Ohio to Florida

(PART 2)

DAY 4

     Went to sleep with the temperature inside the RV at 77 F and woke up at 48 F, both of us did not want to get out of the bed. But, it was so cold that we had to use the bathroom and it forced us to get up. The campsite was on a pull through lot, but right under 4 different trees so we did not open the awning. However, during the night acorns was falling on the roof and kept waking me up. We stayed on the lot until 11:00 am at check out time. We then headed back to the welcome center. The wife had trouble posting to her blog in the campsite, and the connection was stronger in the welcome center. We pulled out our chairs and small table and ate lunch outside. The front parking lot was full so we had to park in overflow and there was no one, so we parked in the back and took up about 10 parking spots.

     We finally hit the road and put in a few hours. We pulled into a Flying J to get our propane tank full and then drove some more. We had a Pilot and Flying J gas station location and noticed that there was one in Tennessee and that they had RV parking so we set off to try and get there before sunset. When we arrived we are the only RV so far. The parking spot is a little small, but managed to park with only the front about two feet out of the parking line. We thought that this was better then the back of the car out two feet and in the way if someone else tried to park later tonight. We are at Flying J #720 in Fairview, TN off of I-40 & Hwy 96 Exit 182. There is a Denny's located on site and a Dunkin Donuts across the street at another gas station. 

DAY 5

     We departed from Flying J's and continued heading South to Memphis. As we passed by open fields on the highway the wife thought that she saw snow, it was only cotton filed.

         We stopped in Memphis at Graceland and took pictures of Elvis Presley Estate from the street.   

     We were close to the Mississippi boarder so we crossed over to see the casino and try to win some gas money. I showed my retired Military ID and the host who checks to see if you are over 21 shook my hand and thanked me for my service. He also ask what my secret was to look young. I told him I eat Asian food and he and my wife both laughed at the same time. We both started with $20.00. We could not get free play, because we already had a player card when we visited Las Vegas. After about three hours we profited $2.12 total. I won $.52 and the wife $1.60. I earned enough points on my slot card for a free buffet dinner, but the wife did not so I passed on the free meal. instead we ate dinner inside the RV in the casino parking lot. Then, hit the road once again.

We crossed over three state lines in less than one hour (Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas). We are spending the night at the Arkansas Welcome Center rest stop parking lot. I can now add Tennessee and Mississippi to state visited map. Before going to sleep we played UNO and I won 6 of 10 games with a score of 184 to 333. I told you I would win our next game night!

DAY 6

     NFL week 6 came to an end and I saw NO games for the first time all season. I did however make my picks before starting our trip and I did not do well. I was 5-9 and my season total is now 37-38-2.

     Headed West to little Rock, AR with a stop at Little Rock AFB. The base was big, but I was not impressed with the exchange. The commissary was closed on Monday's so was unable to see inside. However, there was lots of planes all over the base in open lots to display their History. we took pictures from the RV hoping not to get pulled over for taking pictures on a Military base.

 We then,headed South to hot Springs National Park. We had to find the parks campsite first. Did not want to drive the RV all over downtown with narrow streets. Pulled into our lot with no hook-up for $10 a night ($5 if over 65 years old). They also have full hook-up for $24 a night ($12 if over 65 years old). There is no staff in the office, but have one on site if you need help checking in. You have to pay for your site by a machine. We took the no hook-up site and will stay 3 days. There is a free dump station and fresh water, so there is no real reason to get full hook-up for only a few days. Besides, we have not watched TV so far and if we got a full hook-up site we might just turn the heater on and stay inside and watch TV all day. We are on the road to see America and a little cold in the morning just makes you get dressed and get out side faster. Our view from the site is mountain and water stream. I even cooked dinner.

DAY 7

     Today, we visited the national Park Welcome Center were I got the National Park stamp and sticker. By luck we arrived a few minutes before a tour started and jumped in line to see a free guided tour of Historical Bath House on Bath House Row. We then drove the car up Ouachita Mountain to Mountain Tower. The tower is 216 feet tall and has a panoramic view of Hot Spring, AR. The coast is $7 Regular, $6 55+years old and $5 special for military. There are coupon all over downtown and in Hot Springs Visitor book for $1 off (except for special rates). We had a few empty jugs so we filled them up with local spring water. We labeled them so we would not get mixed with the spring water we got from Ohio.

DAY 8

     At 7:30 am, received a cell phone wake up call from my mom. She wanted to check in with me to see how things were going. Went outside and noticed something tried to eat our green onion last night. Today is a relax day to update our blogs and take a break from moving all day from sun rise to sun set. We drove up the West mountain to see the view. The view was the same as mountain Tower, but we have time and did it anyways. We ate dinner at McClard's Bar-B-Q. When i first walked in, it looked like a time in the past of stories I only heard of. You seat yourself and the waitress arrives with the menu. The service is great. They greet you when you arrive in the door and always polite. We did not know what something was on the menu and they could not explain what it was, so they gave us a sample. This was not a small sample as in big name dinners, it was a good size. We ordered a pound of ribs and fries with drinks and was under $20. I'm not a big rib fan, but this is one of the best I have tasted. It's fall off the bone meat and sauce was excellent  McClard's is were President Clinton ate when he returned home while visiting from the White House and sometimes ordered to deliver to the the White House. There are pictures and a small library of books on him on display. There are also pictures of other famous people who visited just to taste their Bar-B-Q Rib. Some that I can remember was Aerosmith (Band) and  Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys Owner). There were more but can't remember them all.... SORRY!
I searched the internet and found their homepage: http://www.mcclards.com/