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.

With another beautiful day in paradise, we continued our quest to dewinterize the motorhome.  After reinstalling the drain plug on the hot water heater and filling the freshwater tank with chlorinated water, the lines and tank were evacuated to remove antifreeze—the pump worked and no leaks!  Since it had been a couple of months since the motorhome had been exercised, we opted to to kill two birds at once by exercising the motorhome and in doing so, allowing the chlorinated water to slosh around in the tank killing any bacteria and mold that might have developed over the winter.  Regrettably, the chassis battery was dead, forcing us to use the coach batteries for backup starting.  Driving did recharge the chassis battery, but some sulfate probably collected on the plates, so to maintain its longevity, it’s being desulfated.  While driving, we noted the driver’s side brake light and turn signal was not working, so we made that repair as well.  We also exercised the on-board generator.  After about 4 hours, the water tank was drained, fresh water was added, and faucets opened to evacuate the heavily chlorinated water.  (The latest issue of the Family Motor Coach Association magazine has a really good article on the whole process of dewinterization.)  Now, it time to pack for the RVing season.

Our record cold winter weather is finally abating, and we’re getting a bit itchy to begin another year of RVing.  This year, 2010,   promises to be exciting.  We opted to stay home for the winter, and with the weather in the Rio Grande Valley, it appears to have been the right decision, though we had record cold here at home in the Twin Lakes area of Arkansas.  Short, close-to-home RV trips are in the plans for the coming spring, including joining the Arkansas Travelers RV rally in Vidalia, LA, April 11-17 for sightseeing and touring in Natchez, MS.  In May, we will fly to Hawaii for a island-to-island cruise to celebrate our 10^th anniversary.  Colorado in on the calendar for July to do some western dry fly fishing.  In August, we’ll return to Quetico Wilderness in Ontario, Canada, for canoeing, camping, and fly fishing for smallmouth bass; this will be our first time to go late in the season.  In the fall, plans include driving the Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Natchez Trace Parkway as one continuous trip.  Finally, we will join the Arkansas Travelers for a November rally.

If these plans are going to come to fruition, we have to dewinterize the motorhome.  Consequently, today, we bought two new Group 27 deep cycle batteries to replace our old, mismatched pair, and with friend and neighbor Wayne’s help, the batteries got installed and are working great.  We had intended to sanitize the tanks, but will get to that later.  Also, in the coming days we’ll inflate the tires, exercise the generator, and take a short drive.  Our first official trip is a month away, but we are both wanting to go to Branson for a couple of days.

Traveling North to the Yukon and Alaska in the Summer of 2009 was truly a trip of a lifetime. We departed home in northern Arkansas on June 25, 2009, returning September 13, 2009, 9,813 miles and 81 days later.
There were too many highlights to adequately summarize here, but Denali National Park and Mount McKinley were definitely our favorites. The bus ride on Denali’s Interior Road was the best part of the trip. Fish Creek at Hyder was a distant second. Obviously, wildlife viewing was one of our favorite activities. We also enjoyed the Kenai Peninsula. Whitehorse and Valdez were among our favorite cities, and though somewhat remote, Dawson City was a favorite of mine. Fairbanks was our least favorite, largely because of the unbearable smoke from 600,000 acres of forest fires. Two memorable restaurants were Ernesto’s in Valdez and the Seafood Express (affectionately known as the bus restaurant) in Hyder. Our favorite drives were the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper, the Cassiar Highway, and Tok to Skagway via Destruction Bay.
The caravan experience was a very good one—it was well planned and organized, was an excellent value dollar wise, and was all encompassing. It included many activities that we would not have done solo, but are so glad we did in retrospect. Both the wagon master and tail gunner were outstanding. We met many new friends and acquaintances; only one person participating in the caravan was obnoxious and overbearing.
Campgrounds ran the gamut from outstanding to barely adequate, though most were quite sufficient. We would opt to “dry camp” more, particularly in Alaska, on any future trips.
We would do it again in a heartbeat—and can’t wait till next time!

Home We departed Nebraska City at 8:30 AM, looking forward to our drive home after traveling almost 10,000 miles and being gone 81 days. Nebraska City is located near the northern Missouri border, so we quickly found ourselves on I-29 in Missouri. Missouri has the best highways of any state we traveled this summer. We made a couple of rest stops, and bade farewell to the Todds just north of Kansas City. We filled up with gasoline at Gainesville, MO, paying $2.199 per gallon, our cheapest fuel of the trip, arriving home at 5:45 PM. We found the house to be in great order, but weeds had taken over our garden beds. After flushing the tanks and unpacking the bare necessities, we savored the wide open spaces of the house, and marveled at the size of the 46-inch HDTV. It’s good to be home.

Kay’s Take It’s amazing how clean a house stays when no one lives there! We cleaned it from top to bottom when we left because we were hoping we would be having several guests, but only one group came during Labor Day. Glad to be home but I can honestly say I haven’t missed the humidity at all! LOL.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 18,760.5
Beginning Time: 8:30 AM Central DST
Ending Mileage: 19,205.1
Ending Time: 5:45 PM Central DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 444.6
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 9,813.0

One More Day We made the short drive from Onawa to Nebraska City without fanfare; however, I-29 is pitiful, with two lane traffic most of the way. As we drove it, we remembered why we have been cutting across Nebraska the last couple of trips out west, rather than go I-29 and I-90. Our future travels will continue across Nebraska! We arrived shortly after noon, and were able to watch college football. Consequently, the guys watched Notre Dame and Michigan, while the girls toured Nebraska City and shopped. Kay prepared a great dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and gravy.

Kay’s Take Mark this spot on your calendar, Ladies! A Pendleton outlet in Nebraska City!!! Can’t believe I’ve camped in this area three times and never noticed this outlet before. It’s in the downtown area and beautiful, current Pendleton pieces and some from last season also. We shopped til we dropped. Carolyn did some Christmas shopping too. I found a great black short trench coat – so cute!

Recommendations Enroute to Nebraska City, NE Regretfully, we have a negative recommendation when traveling in Iowa: avoid their interstate system, and if the interstate system is an indication of their overall road program, avoid the state entirely. Nebraska City is a neat town, and worth spending a few hours seeing the sights. It is where Arbor Day began, has a rich river history, and has an outlet mall.

Campground We have stayed at Victorian Acres RV Park, Nebraska City, NE, many times. Recently, the RV Park changed ownership, and the new owners have done wonders. The already clean restrooms were immaculate, many of the semi-permanent tenants had vacated, and it now feels more like an RV park. The interior roads and sites could use more gravel, but this park has definitely improved, and business was brisk.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 18,653.4
Beginning Time: 10:30 AM Central DST
Ending Mileage: 18,760.5
Ending Time: 12:15 PM Central DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 107.1
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 9,368.4

We’re Getting Warmer Despite rain almost every day, it’s still warmer than that to which we’ve been accustomed in Canada and Alaska; consequently, we’re in shorts and T-shirts most days. We made the turn from I-90 to I-29 and are headed south, inching our way closer to home.
Kay’s Take This RV park has huge cottonwood trees and very nice, level sites. It’s also close to a DQ, gas station/grocery, and a McDonalds and Subway. Very little road noise. The bathrooms are beautiful – great blue tiles floors and walls and huge showers! I washed my hair. Gotta get a ‘color’ as soon as we get home!
Our Recommendations Enroute to Onawa, IA None
Campground On-Ur-Way RV Park, Onawa, IA was a great campground with full amenities. The bathrooms and showers were among the cleanest we’ve seen. There’s a Dairy Queen and McDonald’s close by, but we didn’t “try” either. We’ll definitely stop at this campground again, if it is on our route.
Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 18,495.1
Beginning Time: 10:15 AM Central DST
Ending Mileage: 18,653.4
Ending Time: 1:00 PM Central DST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 158.3
CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 9,261.3