Day 75 –Travel Day - Downtown Riverside RV Park, North Little Rock, Arkansas

It was still overcast and dizzyingly when we left Nevada this morning. Everywhere you looked there was flooding and lots of mud. There was so much rain that the concrete pads in the CG were collapsing.

 

   

                                                           

 

 

The ride /drive was uneventful except for the continuing miserable weather. We had thought we would drive through the front  but no such luck. It was cold, raining, foggy and just icky. After 7 hours and 300 miles ( yes it took a long time to go 300 miles) we secured a site at the  Downtown Riverside RV Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  the The site was only  $24.48 per night but I was told by the manager that if we got there after 5:30 pm we would be charged the full rate of $26.00. OK then we will rush and get there for a less then $2.00 savings! LOL

We were only fifty miles away and arrived at 5 pm. WHEW!!! She was very abrupt and to the point with the rules and regs.  We were looking at brochures of things to do in the area and she briskly informed us that since tomorrow is Sunday most attractions are closed and some do not open until after 1 pm  because it is Sunday and everyone goes to church. I thought about making a joke about the heathens in MA with everything open on Sundays but thought better of it since we are here in the Bible Belt. 

As soon as we drove into the CG  we fell in love and opted to stay two nights. The Clinton Museum and Library opens at 1 pm so we will do that on Sunday. We got a great site overlooking the bridge, Downtown North Little Rock and the Arkansas River.

    

                                                                   

 

Later that evening we noticed that  the city was lit up in green and that some of the people returning from the city were dressed in St Patrick’s Day garb, kilts and all. There must have been some celebrating going on in Little Rock!

Then we looked back at the bridge and it was lit up in green as well. Pretty cool!!

The bridge looked really pretty lit up in green. Happy to be here overlooking the river and watching the barges pass – much like the Cape Cod Canal but without the ice.

Day 74 – Lake Lavon RV Park, Visit with Ginny & Dick, Nevada, Texas

Our plan was to pack up and continue our trek east but the weather turned pretty ugly quickly. Texas has been in a drought situation for the last five years but is now getting hit with torrential rainfalls. The manager at the RV park told us that the lake was down 12 feet but is now almost full. After watching the weather report we decided to hang  for another day.

     

We let Dick & Ginny know that we were staying for another day and would be over later that afternoon. We needed to get two prescriptions filled and to restock our groceries. We drove the ten miles to Wylie to the  Wal Mart there. Not sure if I mentioned this but the back roads are really terrible here with ruts holes and dips that make Massachusetts roads look good.  And, they drive like nuts here. The speed limit on these back roads is 60 mph!!!!!

On our way to the house we have to cross a railroad track but the two crossings were blocked by a train that wasn’t going anywhere. There was a pick-up in front of us (everyone here has a pick-up it seems)  and the driver got out to tell us that he had been held up at this same crossing for over an hour on another day this week. Then he told Ron and I his life story and how he  hated Nevada and wished he had never moved here 26 years ago! Anyway, I called Ginny to let her know we were tied up at the crossing so Dick gave us a different  set of directions to get to his house. The man didn’t like those directions and offered to take us there. Next thing we knew we were following  him or should I say trying to keep up with him. LOL  Although he was very helpful he brought us to the wrong neighborhood. We thanked him and found our way to our friends on our own.

I  brought over a roasted chicken with all the fixings so we had a nice dinner without any fuss. Later we played a game of Millionaire Monopoly and had a great time trying to out do one another.

The rain finally stopped and by 9 pm we were back at the MH for the night. Saturday will be a travel day and we don’t know where we will end up. We had a great time with our friends of over 50 years and hope to see them again in the near future.

 

Day 73–Lake Lavon RV Park–Visit with Ginny & Dick, Dallas Visit

Today we took a ride with Ginny & Dick to take in the Perot  Museum in downtown Dallas. On the way we were caught up in another traffic jam on  I-30. We sat for about 30 minutes  waiting for it to clear. Many cars were driving over the medium strip to the access roads only to find that they weren’t going anywhere either. Driving on the highways here is no fun.

We arrived at the parking area across from the museum only to find that the lots were full. Dick drove around for a time and we were able to get a space that was just being vacated. As we were pulling into the space the woman from the exiting car came over and gave us a parking pass that was good until midnight. Parking was $8.00 so a nice savings.

  

                                                                 

                                 

We walked over to the museum which was no easy feat only to find that we couldn’t get in because they were sold out until 3 pm. It was 1 pm and Ginny and Dick didn’t

want to wait so we opted to try out the Aquarium on the other side of the parking lot. Nope, didn’t do that either. The line waiting to get in was down the street and around the corner.

It dawned on us that this week in Texas is spring break so everyone is out visiting museums and the like. There were bus loads of kids being dropped off and since tickets can be bought in advance - the reason for no tickets available for walk-ups.  Well, we did get to see the outside of the Perot Museum and the Aquarium, got a good walk in and lots of laughs in the process.

On the way back to the house we stopped for lunch at Denny’s. As always the food was good and so was the company.  Back at the house we settled in for an afternoon of  conversation and more laughs reminiscing  about the things we did when we were younger, foolish  and risk takers.

Ginny made a great dinner and dessert then it was more conversation. We had a wonderful day with old friends. Our plan is to leave on Friday, but left it open.

Day 72– Lake Lavon RV Park, Nevada, Texas, Visiting with Ginny & Dick

I did not sleep well last night and was up by 6 am cleaning and getting ready  to get back on the road.  I was changing the sheets on the bed and Jewel was  waiting patiently for me to finish. She gets on the bed in the morning after we get up and lounges. LOL

We left Santo, expecting to get to Nevada by 1 pm. That all changed when we  were 2.8 miles from our exit to  I – 635. All of a sudden the traffic stopped and it took  1.5  hours to travel that 2.8 miles.  There were three of the five lanes closed for construction, that  went down to one lane then there was  a car versus tractor- trailer accident making it even worse. 

Finally we were on our way again and arrived at the CG  at 2:30 pm. We got settled and Ginny and Dick picked us up for our visit with them. It was great to see them since it has been almost two years since we last saw them.

 

Ginny and Dick have been living in Texas for just under one year having moved from  Maine. They got out of Maine just in time before this terrible winter.

We had a great visit catching up and went to  a nice restaurant for dinner. After dessert at their home they brought us back to the MH where we settled in for the night.  Tomorrow we will be going into Dallas with them to the  Meadows Museum.

Day 71–Another Travel Day–Coffee Creek RV Resort, Santo, Texas

Well, we did not get a very good night’s sleep and felt it when we got up in the morning. The traffic and traffic  noise was even worse during the night. As the trucks were barreling down the highway it felt like the ground was in constant motion with all the shaking going on. Ron had thought about moving and going to another rest area but didn’t want to chance there not being one available with an open parking spot.

The fog in the morning was like pea soup and took quite a while to burn off. Ron had researched CG’s and found one about 250 miles from Midland , so we were on our way again. I plugged the CG into our  Garmin NU Vii  and we were back on the road  tired but determined to get some  miles under us.

We got off on exit 380 as directed by our GPS and then were routed down a road that didn’t seem right to Ron.  He had checked the location out on Google Maps and said that the CG should be 1/2 mile off the exit. Well, we went down this country road then were directed down another country road then to what looked like a dirt road. Ron kept saying “this isn’t right!.” When we were directed to take this narrow little road I noticed a sign indicating  a weight restricted bridge so told Ron  with a “high pitched voice”  - don’t go down there. As it turned out we were lucky enough to  stop at a fire station on this remote road so we could unhook the car and turn the MH around.

 

On our way out of this area we saw another MH coming our way and waved them down. They were trying to get to the same CG and their GPS routed them the same way. They also had to go to the fire station to get turned around.

The exit to the CG was  386 not 380 and was 1/2 mile off the exit just as Ron had remembered – except he didn’t remember the exit  number. Of course as the navigator, that was my job. I trusted our GPS too much and both Nu Vii and I failed miserably.

One would think that once we arrived at the CG our problems would be over. Well they kind of were except for the guy in the office going off on a tangent when I told him we were Passport America members. He went on a rant about some guy that caused  $3000.00 worth of damage to a site because he got stuck in the mud up to his frame and had to be towed. This guy wanted the customer to pay for damages and threatened to call the  sheriff while the wife was crying etc, etc , ect.  So then he called Passport America and cancelled his affiliation as of that very morning so we were told we  could either pay the full price or he would help us turn around.

The guy was an A—  but since we were tired and the next closest CG was 90 miles away we opted to stay. The other couple was also standing there listening to this idiot but they stayed too. He continued to rant about Passport  America customers being the cause of all of his issues ( I think he had a LOT of unrelated issues) and that is why he was in a rant about a lot of nothing.

It was unfortunate that we had to run into such a jerk because the  CG is really beautiful and well maintained. We did check out the site that was “destroyed “ by the poor guy that got stuck in the mud. And, by the way, it is the responsibility of the CG to make sure their customers can get in and out without getting into a bad situation.  So the guy in the office was way off base.

They have experienced an unusual amount of rain here saturating  the ground.  This is where the guy got stuck – didn’t  look like $3000.00 worth of  damage to us. Nothing that a shovel and rake couldn’t fix since it was just a pile of mud.

 

   

 

                                           

 

At dinner Ron and I discussed the situation and determined that the guy in the office was very demeaning to both us and the the other couple also Passport America members. I wrote a very negative but accurate review of the situation on YELP and hope that the owner of the CG reads it. Interestingly, all the comments  that are written about this CG are from Passport America customers. So it would appear that dropping their Passport America account will cost them a lot of customers that would stop there for an overnight stay.

 

 

 

Day 70–Travel Day - Midland Texas, Rest Area

Well the water issue at Western Sky’s has not been resolved. Some of the residents are not happy with the situation and were at the office this morning looking for answers. We saw them starting up a truck that looked like it had been there for years  and later Ron saw it parked by the well drilling. Sounds like they may have run out of water!!

There are several large dairy farms along  the highway with more cows then we have ever seen. Pictures don’t capture the numbers of cows but we estimate probably there are 100,000 cows out here!

 

It was a driving day for us en route to visit our friends in Nevada, Texas. The drive was pretty uneventful until we got closer to the mountains.  The skies in the distance were really black and you could see a storm  with lightening in the black skies. Since we were heading in that general direction we anticipated running into rain. Little did we know we would be driving  into a snow/hail storm.

                                     

 

  

                                              

Although you can’t tell by the pictures the hail was about 6 inches deep and had to be plowed. Quite an interesting event. With the black skies, lightening, and hail we were expecting a tornado to pop up, but thank goodness that didn’t happen.

We planned to stop at a CG for  the night but we drove into a CG void and could not find one available to travelers. We are in oil country and all of the CG’s are for the oil workers and not open to the public.

We tried finding a spot at the usually  RV friendly Flying J’s but no luck at the three we tried so our next option – a rest area.  By the time we pulled into a “picnic “ area it was 7 pm and we were tired.  We settled in for the night but getting a good – or any sleep was out of the question. The picnic area was one lane away from the highway and the noise and traffic  constant and loud. Since there were no other options we were there for the night whether we liked it or not.

It was still light at  7 pm so when we pulled in we were the only one there but that all changed. By 10 pm the entire picnic area was packed with cars and trucks spending the night.  The little patch of dry grass to the left of the MH is the barrier between the highway and where we are parked – literally one lane from the highway. Not sure how Ron got this picture without all the traffic but he did.

Day 69–Western Sky’s RV Park, Las Cruses, NM, Wyler Arial Tramway Sate Park, El Paso, Texas

We opted to stay one additional night so we could go into  El Paso and take in the Arial Tram. We stopped at the office on our way out to pay for our site and the owner’s son asked  if we had experienced any problems with the water to the MH. He then told me that the well pump had no water pressure and it was being repaired.

We had been up, taken our showers so used whatever water was necessary.

The CG  is old and in need of many repairs. We feel bad for the  woman trying to run and maintain the place herself. Looks like she has a big expensive repair job on her hands.

We took a ride to the Arial Tramway State Park via the Scenic Drive overlooking El Paso. The homes along the way were incredible.

 

 

                                      

As were the views -

 

 

                          

We purchased our tickets to the tram and began our 45 minute wait for our ride to the top of Ranger Peak.

 

                           

 

                                   

 

History

Wyler Aerial Tramway fulfills the dream of philanthropist Karl O. Wyler, who strongly believed that the lofty views from atop Ranger Peak should be available to the public. He included this wish in his final will. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department accepted donation of the tramway in 1997 and opened it to the public in 2001 following extensive renovation.

The story begins, however, in 1959 when NBC-affiliate KTSM Radio built the tramway to aid the construction of a transmitter antenna and service platform. A real work­horse in its early days, the tiny tram hauled concrete, water, heavy equipment, workers—even sections of the antenna itself—to the mountain summit. Wyler directed this ambi­tious construction project and, in the process, fell in love with Ranger Peak and its top-of-the-world view.

Privately owned and operated first as El Paso Aerial Tramway, the facility allowed public access from 1960 to 1986. Although it continued to provide access for mainte­nance of telecommunications equipment, high liability insurance costs caused the tramway to close to the public for some 15 years prior to its establishment as a Texas state park.

The tramway operates on a 2,400-foot-long single-span cable system, meaning that there are no support towers along its nearly half-mile length--an engineering feat! From bottom to top, visitors are lifted some 940 vertical feet as they glide high above the rugged terrain below. Swiss-made gondolas carry tramway passengers. A haul rope pulls each gondola on a track rope along its lofty route. These “ropes” are actually the same type of super ­strong cables used in the construction of suspension bridges. To maintain tension, the track cable is anchored at the top of the mountain and tied to a massive 29-ton counterweight at the base station.

 

At the top we had a 360 degree view of a “living map” of some 7000 square miles – an area nearly the size of Massachusetts.. We could see the international border community of El Paso/Ciudad Juarez, where the Rio Grande marks the  boundary between the United States and Mexico.

 

 

                                

As we were heading back down,  clouds began rolling in. In this part of the country you can see several storm fronts at one time and one was heading for us.  On the way back to the CG it rained intermittently but nothing too drastic or even enough to bring much needed rain to the area.

Back at the CG we learned that the water issue had not been resolved and  there will be no water until Monday. No issue for us since we  always have water on board.

After a nice dinner we settled in for the evening. I spoke to our friends who recently moved to Nevada, Texas and we will be stopping to visit them on Wednesday. afternoon.