ARKANSAS TRAVELERS RALLY, VIDALIA, LA – Day 3  We toured Frogmore Plantation and Gins today, a surprisingly good tour.  Frogmore Plantation and Gins are located just a few miles west of Ferriday, LA.

The tour was given by the wife of the plantation owner, and she did an excellent job of providing historical facts and figures, and cited her sources.  She has a degree in English, and has apparently studied the history of the Natchez region extensively.  We believed she presented both sides of the slavery issue fairly and objectively.

Original Cotton Gin, Frogmore Plantation

While not all of the buildings of the early to mid-1800s plantation remain, many do, and have been restored.  We toured the original cotton gin, and most of the outbuildings including share-cropper’s cabins which were much better furnished than slave quarters from an earlier period.

Interior of a share-cropper’s cabin, Frogmore Plantation

Slave quarters, Frogmore Plantation

AR TRAVELERS RV RALLY, VIDALIA, LA – Day 2   After a near sleepless night, a strong cup of stove-brewed coffee was an eye opener.  The RV resort at which we’re parked is on the river side of the Mississippi River Levee, across the river from Natchez, MS.  The pre-sunrise morning sky overlooking Natchez was spectacular, as was the sunrise.  The river is about quite a bit above normal since the Mississippi drains about 41 percent of the US and it’s the season for all the melting snow to be making its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Kay and I enjoyed a great walk along the river on Vidalia’s riverfront walkway, about a mile and a half long, working our way upstream to the Visitor’s Center where we picked up information on the area.  We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon touring Natchez.  It was/is much grander than I had imagined, and must have really been an exquisite city in its heyday in the early and mid-1800s. 

We took a horse-drawn carriage ride and saw many of the old houses, hotels, and churches.  We’ll catalog our photos and add them to a web album for viewing.

After the buggy ride, we drove through their cemetery, one of the most spectacular we’ve seen; Natchez is certainly proud of their Southern and Confederate heritage as was evidenced by the number of Confederate flags.  As a side note, my great, great grandfather, John Smith, fought at the battle of Port Hudson, just about an hour south of here.

ARKANSAS TRAVELERS RALLY, VIDALIA, LA – Day 1  We awoke to beautiful skies, then a beautiful sunrise over the Arkansas River.

Kay remarked that we had the same view as the really expensive houses along the river, and we were only paying $12 a night (thanks to her  Golden Access pass).  Maumelle Park, operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, rates as one of our very favorites.

After several cups of coffee, we began the tasks of readying for the day’s trip to Vidalia, LA.  We took US Highway 65 south all the way to Ferriday, LA, and except for the stretch from Little Rock to near Dumas, it was terrible, and was worse than all the paved roads on our trip to Alaska in 2009.  We finally bounced in to River View RV Park in Vidalia at 3:00 PM.  It is a really nice RV park, but once again, because we have a Class C, we were put in the only back-in space among the rally attendees.  Class C motorhomes are definitely discriminated against.  It’s not that we mind, but having a pull-thru when towing a vehicle is sure handy, and allows room to park the toad—oh well, something we have to live with.

We met other members of the Arkansas Travelers RV Club one by one as we parked and completed the set-up process.  We attended the social hour with heavy appetizers (hors d’oeuvers?) and bring your own drink, and met the rest of the folks.  Kay and I managed not to eat anything, and drank iced tea, maintaining our low calorie diet.  Interestingly, 5 people at the rally are from my hometown of Bradford, AR, several couples were from Kay’s old haunt of Jacksonville, AR, and several couples were from near the Twin Lakes Area.  After the food and chit chat, most resorted to playing cards or dominoes while we went back to “Mellie” for our dinner of baked fish, broccoli, and salad.  Tomorrow, Natchez, MS.

After two church services on Easter Sunday, the pleasant weather induced us to wash and wax the motorhome, preparing for this year’s travels.  Kay is so much smaller than me, and volunteered to wash the roof.  She is so thorough, scrubbing all the tiny crevices, moulding, and seams; it didn’t look this good when we bought it.  As she was washing the roof, I washed the rest of the motorhome, and we finished about the same time, and both of us were soaking wet.
Monday found the weather again quite pleasant, and after the dew dried, we embarked on the annual waxing of the motorhome.  Once again, Kay climbed on the roof to wax the top of the cowling over the cab and made short work of it.  This area gets the most sun and the finish fades very easily.  We completed the waxing job about mid-afternoon, and I washed and waxed our toad (aka towed), the Saturn, while Kay did some gardening.  We finished abut the same time, barely dragging our tired bodies into the house.  Recovery was much slower than a few years ago!
Now, all we have left is packing, and hooking up the Saturn.  It’s going to be a great year.