Departure Day Today is departure day. It has been a great trip, and we really like Petit Jean State Park. So far, everything has worked except the gauges for the water and gray holding tanks. We had a leisurely breakfast, a short walk, and began preparing for our return home. The awnings were still wet from last night’s rain, but we rolled them up anyway. Hooking up the dinghy was easy today compared to last week; guess it is the experience! We departed the campground at 10:00 AM, filled up with gasoline at Clinton, and made it home at 1:30 PM; total distance from there to home is 130 miles. We had many “crooked and steep” roads, slow “oil and gas field” traffic, and much highway work. Now, it’s catch-up on laundry and returning to life as usual. This trip is another one in the books! A week’s rest and reorganization and we’re off for the Southwest and a ‘bucket list’ trip to the Grand Canyon!! Howdy, partner!!

A Morning Stroll We’re back to a normal routine with cappuccino and French press, followed by our morning cereal. Nothing is planned today. After reading email, updating this journal, and Kay doing homework, we took a long stroll through the park, stopping by the Visitor Center/Interpretive Center. We met an interesting old couple from Ontario who tent camped several sites from us last evening. They were on a several month trip, having been to Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and southwest, and were headed east to visit some Stonewall Jackson civil war sites, then back to Ottawa. We had an interesting conversation, needless to say. Kay was amazed that they appeared to be doing all of this traveling from their car and a tent in the back seat! She admits she could never ‘pare down’ that low! hehehe!

Petit Jean State Park The park has an interesting history, being Arkansas’ first state park with heavy influence by Mather, founder of what is now the National Park Service. After a brief lunch of salad and smoked turkey gumbo, we spent additional time on the computers. We drove to Cedar Falls Overlook, and it was magnificent; neither of us had been to the overlook, so we believe it is new or at least new to us. There is a handicap accessible ramp/walkway to the viewing area, and the falls was flowing full after the heavy rains last week. We also stopped to peer inside Mather Lodge and it is much the same as always.

Monday Night Football After returning to the campground, Kay did homework, and I watched Monday Night Football. We grilled hot dogs and they were delicious. Then, it began to rain. Though short lived, it was enough to drive us inside where I watched more football; Oakland and Darren McFadden are going to have a tough year, and Kay continued homework!

I now see why she was/is a much better student than I. She has already studied more on this computer class than I would have studied the whole semester. Oh well, somebody’s got to do it! Oh, yes, why is she taking a computer class? Her teaching certificate is up for renewal this year and since she hasn’t taught in the last 5 years, she must take two college courses that would be related to one or more of her fields to renew her license. Technology courses are approved also as they relate to almost any teaching field. Kay is taking an Internet-only Introduction to Computers 2009, and it is certainly taking more time and more work than I think she anticipated!! She does say she’s learning a lot. She doesn’t seem interested in going back to work in education but she claims it took her a long time, hard work, and money to earn those degrees and license and she just isn’t ready to let them ‘lapse’. C’est la vive!

Visiting Morrilton This was another day of reminiscing for Kay. After our morning cappuccino and French press coffees, reading the Sunday newspaper, and a walk around the campground, we drove into Morrilton for Kay to “visit” her old neighborhoods and houses. On the way, we searched out the Corps of Engineers Sequoya Campground. It was near the lock and dam, with only 2 occupants, one of which was the campground host. Some of the sites had been sparingly mowed while all were in a significant state of disrepair. This park should be closed with some savings in our taxes.

Old Neighborhoods After this disappointment, we drove the final leg into Morrilton. It must have been weird for Kay to return "home" with all the memories from childhood and early adulthood flooding back. The houses she lived in are still there, but the old high school is gone with nothing but a vacant field left. Her churches are there as well, and dismissing before 12 o’clock noon! She pointed out former friends’ and teachers’ houses as we drove about town. We drove to the Lauxes to say hello, and both looked young to be 87. The Lauxes are the parents of Kay’s sister’s husband, and my good friend, George.

Another Hard-to-Find USACE Campground After the reminiscing, we tried to find the Corps of Engineers Cherokee Campground. After many miles through the back streets of Morrilton, we finally found the gravel road to the campground. Traffic was non-existent, and this is another campground that can be closed. (It wouldn’t do for me to return to work for the Corps armed with the knowledge of being a retiree, user of lakes and tailwaters, and camper the last four years. There are so many ways operations money could be better put to use. I’d recommend closing a lot of the parks, eliminating a bunch of jobs through attrition, and putting the money in parks with actual visitors! Oh well, I better get off this path.)

Sunday Football After a lunch at KFC, it was back to Petit Jean State Park for Sunday afternoon football. After connecting and disconnecting both the satellite and antenna cables numerous times with the screw-type connector, we switched to the fast connectors purchased at Radio Shack. WOW, does it ever speed the switch. But I regress… Between games, we took a long stroll to the park’s boat house and lake spillway (would include photos, but the camera battery is depleted). The weather has warmed considerably to the high 80s, so we worked up a good sweat. Kay worked on homework, and I watched football. We tried to sit outside and eat dinner but the bugs almost carried us away, despite the Thermocell repellent machine. It was another early night.

A Short Hike Wonderful weather! The weather is just perfect for camping with lows in the 60s and highs in the low 80s. For some reason, Kay and I always sleep well in DunnGone. Kay says it’s because it’s so dark. After instant cappuccino (Kay)and strong French press for me, we headed to a trailhead for a ranger-led hike over some unique geologic formations known as turtle back rocks Turtleback Rocks to Rock House Cave  to view ancient Native American pictographs. We learned that pictographs are painted on the surface of the rocks while petrogliphs are carved or scratched into the rock. We also drove on Red Bluff Road to get to the cave and there are two really neat overlooks on this dirt road drive. Kay didn’t remember them but she did remember the cave.
We also drove around Winrock Institute/U of A. This used to be the old Winrock Farms area. The show barns have been converted into a new Visitors Center, The Rock Restaurant and Conference Center. The horse stables are now a lodge. Several other buildings have been converted into lodge/motel types, and even some cottages are available for rent. The grounds are beautiful; the farm is still a working farm with Santa Gertrudis cows; and the lake that our youth group from church came to each summer is still there and the boat house looks very much the same. Several of the Winrock’s private buildings have been opened for the public, but their private home and drive is still private. I think when Win died, they moved Winrock International Headquarters off the mountain and Winrock Farms is now managed by Winrock Trust and is leased to the U of A for meetings, large groups, or individuals to enjoy a respite and/or rest. Kay knew several of the private homes as she had friends she went to high school with her whose parents lived on the compound and worked for the Rockerfellers.
Loved Ones, Gone but not Forgotten After the short hike, we drove to Russellville for lunch at the Old South Restaurant, one of our favorites from college. We both attended Arkansas Tech in Russellville in the 1960s, but at different times. The Old South was a preferred haunt for college students for late night eating and studying (more eating and less studying). Their famous Old South salad dressing is to die for, seemingly made from fresh mayonnaise with a strong garlic flavor. We always have the open face steak or roast beef sandwich with a small salad. Gosh, it was wonderful, and one of the few things in life that remains the same, regardless of how long it’s been since we last visited. After a filling lunch, we stopped for gasoline and a car wash, then searched out the cemetery where Kay’s parents, infant brother, and other family members are buried.

Our culture is changing so much that we don’t often visit cemeteries holding the earthly remains of our loved ones. Memories flooded back to Kay, as this was a sad, but good experience. She clipped grass around headstones and we took photos. She then discovered the headstone of John Franklin Harkey, who had been her last living cousin on her mother’s side. This came as quite a shock because none of the family had been notified. We were unable to find her grandparents tombstones (on her mother’s side: Bryron Charles Fowles and Maggie Baker Darnell Fowles. They are in the same cemetery, Oakland Cemetery, but we will have to search for them another time.
Football Saturday Leaving the cemetery, we were off to Wal-Mart, then back to Petit Jean State Park as this was Football Saturday. We tidied up the camp site, raking and sweeping the debris left over from Gustav’s passing. Apparently there was high wind as several trees were down, and green pine needles were everywhere. Petit Jean State Park has 4 campground loops. Loop “A” is separate from the other three and has recently been updated with several pull-thru sites, 50 amp electrical hookups, and sewer. Loops “B, C, and D” are OK, but lack the neatness and refinement of Loop “A”. We walked all of the campgrounds. Kay spent the remaining afternoon studying for her online “computer” class while I watched football. We both hit the sack early; must be the great outdoors. I watched the last of Florida vs. Miami, and waited for the Razorbacks to pull out another squeaker from a greatly over-matched team; it’s going to be a very long season. Oh, yes, we have a new “Lafuma” lawn chair recliner that is ‘heavenly’ to sit in and recline too! Kay has been busy ‘breaking it in’, just sitting, some reading, some napping, and just enjoying being outside and enjoying the breeze, fresh air, and creatures in the woods.

Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas Today, we’re headed to Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton, AR. Morrilton is Kay’s home town, and we have not been there since her mother passed away in 2004. This is our first experience towing a car behind DunnGone. It’s a whole new world with a completely new vocabulary. We’re towing our “new to us” 2007 Saturn Ion 2; since this is being towed, it is called a “TOAD”. We’re not using a tow dolly where the front two wheels are on a trailer, but instead towing “4 DOWN”, meaning all 4 wheels of the toad are on the ground. We have had to equip with a tow bar which connects DunnGone with the Saturn, an auxiliary brake for the Saturn, and wiring between the two. We departed home about 1:30 pm after hooking up the toad to the tow bar and putting the brake in place. We chose a very hilly and crooked road for our first trip to get a feel for towing, taking AR Highway 5 south of Norfork to Mountain View, then AR Highway 9 thru Shirley, AR to Clinton, AR, then US Highway 65/AR Highway 9 to Choctaw, then AR Highway 9 to Morrilton. We arrived at Petit Jean State Park at 4:45 PM. We are staying in Section A facing the Lake Bailey, and what a gorgeous campground.

It only took an hour and 15 minutes to completely set up our camp.
After a dinner of grilled burgers, baked beans, and chips, we retired for the evening. Jellybean (our cat) was with us per usual. She rode in her cage like a seasoned trooper. I think she loves our motorhome because it’s like a cocoon for her. We can watch TV via the satellite receiver or the antenna to get local stations. Weather is cool and breezy. The campground is quite full for the weekend, I suppose. Looking forward to sleeping in that bed – we always sleep well and late in the RV!

We awoke to coffee, and were just about ready to begin the rigors of packing when Carma called for their morning pick-up. Though the bass tournament had begun at 7 AM this morning, the parking lot was relatively empty. Wonder if it was all the warning tickets the rangers wrote yesterday? After returning Carma and Gerald to their campsite with 8 fish, we began cleaning and packing and pulled out of the campground at 8:53 AM, stopped for gas in Mountain View (9.1 mpg, all in the mountains), and made it home at about 11 AM. We quickly unpacked and had a brunch of biscuits and ham–Kay also had an egg. We noticed the bird feeders had been swiped down again, and another neighbor said she had had one badly broken. THE BEAR IS BACK!

It’s good to be home again, and wonderful to have internet access after 6 days without it. Where will our next adventure take us?

There’s a big bass tournament going on this weekend and the boats and trailers are jammed packed in this little park—lots of activity and noise. Donald talked to ARCADIS this AM and it’s likely that he is going to be working quite a bit on the project he helped initiate in 1982. Whoops, better go the fishers are back.

We cleaned DunnGone this morning with Kay vacuuming and Donald cleaning the bathroom and floor—it now smells sooooo good. We had an early lunch of left over baked beans mixed with left over smoked turkey sausage and browned ground beef. Kay made a salad and our lunch was quite good. We didn’t get the word on the group lunch at 1:00 PM which consisted of chicken spaghetti and salad. Apparently the decision was made after our early departure from the campfire last night. Oh well. The afternoon was somewhat boring to Donald, and Kay napped. Maybe it’s time to go home…tomorrow. After all, this is our 15th day of camping.

Evenings are most always our favorite time–huddled around the campfire with the other campers. After a pot luck lunch, the evening meal generally consists of roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Of course, with the diet, marshmallows are taboo! Here’s Geraldine with a jumbo marshmallow pie.

The morning started off better than the evening ended, with no rain and partly clear skies. After our first cup of coffee, Kay diced the onion, green pepper, and celery while I cooked bacon. After sauteéing the onion, pepper, and celery, we added the triumvirate to the red beans and began the slow cooking process. Carma called for me to pick them up with the truck and trailer. 

They had managed to catch 23 catfish, with two over 13 pounds, and threw back a bass, a carp, and a buffalo. We butchered and cleaned their fish, after which Kay went with Lin and Tom to Wal-Mart in Clinton. I finished cooking the beans, and cooked the rice and smoked sausage. Karen made coleslaw and pan-fried cornbread, and Carma made creamed corn—what a feast! Kay wanted her picture taken with the two ‘bruiser’ 13 lbers so I took one as earrings and then after they were filleted we took another as earring slabs. She is such a ‘ham’.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the red beans and rice lunch. Dean and Geraldine had to go home to get his ‘meds’ so we saved them a plate each for supper. Tom, Lin, and Kay walked the campground for exercise after our large lunch. Then Kay and I read the paper she picked up at Clinton. Kay went out with Carma and Gerald for the afternoon trot line check. She got to watch them ‘take up a line’ and also to ‘put a line out’. They had hooked a real lollapalooza catfish on the last line—it weighed in at 16 lbs. Of course Kay had another picture taken;  so did Gerald this time!  Hehehehhe!
Jack and Betty arrived and set up camp between the Dunns and Davises. We all sat around the campfire and roasted wieners. Then Lin and Betty came out with a surprise—they had bought the group a special treat in Mexico—flavored, magnum (Texas size) marshmallows. We roasted some and Betty and Geraldine had pictures made trying to eat theirs. The weather turned out beautifully most of the afternoon and evening. Got several calls with good news—Dick Todd is doing great and his medication is working miracles, according to his new nephrologist (kidney doctor) in Springfield, MO, with whom he is well pleased; Ronnie Dunn is tolerating his chemo well and feeling much better; and Donald might be going back to work for ARCADIS, part time, (but still able to take off for extended periods of time) on a project he started with the Corps in 1982. We’ve had Ronnie and Dick in our prayers and God is so good to answer those prayers

We awoke to an overcast morning with nothing on the schedule. Kay and I took a walk around the campground after we enjoyed out coffee/cappuccino. By 8:30 AM the real fishers were back with their ‘catch’. I believe the total was 51 fish—nice blues and channel catfish. Karen’s special was served for lunch—homemade chicken and dumplin’s. We supplemented with English peas, salad, green beans and potatoes, and Geraldine produced a great peach cobbler. Donald’s allergies have really been acting up today—runny nose and a lot of sneezing. We also got a call from one of our neighbors that a bear has been in our subdivision at home—pulling down feeders, guzzling sunflower seeds, and making a nuisance of himself. Remember the April 28 journal entry? We suspected then that perhaps a bear had been in the neighborhood and tore down the feeders, and now we’re pretty sure. By the time the neighbors called the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, folks in Salesville were calling because the bear apparently had moved up the hill. We committed to hosting lunch on Thursday with red beans and rice and smoked sausage so we’re staying til then but I suspect we’ll be heading home as soon as we can pack up after lunch. The weather has been overcast and drizzling most of yesterday and today with small, short patches of sunshine. Rain, sometimes heavy, danced on the roof most of the night.

Lin, Tom, Kay and I offered to host a Mexican brunch today, in honor of Cinco de Maya yesterday. After coffee, Lin and Kay shopped for groceries, returning about the same time as the fishers. We cooked sausage, sautéed onions and peppers, and scrambled eggs into the mixture. Lin made salad, heated Mexican cheese, and Kay made fluff. We heated tortillas, and served this brunch combination buffet style. It was very tasty. After the brunch, some of the group retired around the campfire while others of us napped. I put up the tarp over the picnic table and it began to rain. Kay went out with Carma and Gerald to check their lines and bring in some fish. They thought they were going to be ‘shut out’ but the last two lines provided three fish. We enjoyed a quiet, but somewhat boring evening.