After getting home from Sarah and Jacob’s, Kim had some busy work days. She was trying to finish things off in order for us to get away earlier this year. On Sunday the 17th we had an early Christmas with Josh and Tammy and the boys. I think the boys thought it was great getting early Christmas presents. And of course we had our traditional turkey dinner. The week leading up to our departure we tried to tidy up loose ends and Kim finished up work on Wednesday. Thursday was appointment day for Kim and Friday we began packing the motorhome. Josh and boys came over Friday for supper.

Saturday morning we finished packing up the motorhome. As we were getting the car on the dolly our neighbour Bill came out to see us off. We were on the road a little later than planned but it was a nice sunny start to our journey.

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When we arrived at the border crossing into Port Huron there was a fairly long line ahead of us at customs. There were 2 other Motorhomes in the line beside us . As it turned out, we picked the wrong line. The border patrol officer in our lane was taking forever to clear vehicles. It took us about an hour from the time we got in line to finally clear customs and be on our way. The other 2 RV’s were long gone by the time we got through.

We made our way south on I-94 through Detroit and continued out past the airport to I-275 and went south. This seems to us to be a better way to get to I-75 as it misses a lot of bad road south of Detroit. Our sunny day soon became a cloudy day but the drive was pretty good once we got south of Toledo. Our intention was to get as far as Lima, Ohio and then stop for the night at the Walmart. South of Findlay it began to snow big flakes with a little rain in the mix. We pulled into a Flying J to fuel up in Beaverdam, Ohio. It was nasty out. Rain/snow, windy and cold. It had become slippery as well and we decided that we would just spend the night in the RV parking area of the Flying J. Another fellow RV’er in a motorhome decided to do the same.

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It was a cold first night with temps below freezing and the motorhome was c c cold in the morning. I put the furnace on and it took a good hour to warm up the motorhome. We managed to get on the road in good time and drove down I-75 to Cincinnati and then went west toward Louisville, Kentucky. The temp was starting to rise and we stopped at a rest area south of Louisville for lunch. We drove on down through Bowling Green, Kentucky and into Tennessee. We skirted around the outside of Nashville and headed west on I-40 and stopped for the night at a Walmart in Dickson, Tennessee. It was a nice mild 13ºC (55F) when I stepped out of the MH and sunny. Since this was our first Walmart stop we did a little grocery shopping and picked up a deal on a rotisserie chicken and some mac and cheese to have for supper. This was a big Walmart and had plenty of parking around the outside of the parking lot for RV’s and trucks to park. We were the only RV but there was another truck stopped for the night.

The temperature didn’t drop as much overnight but it was still chilly in the MH in the morning. I was up early and turned on the furnace. Kim got up a little while later and while she was having her breakfast she noticed some guys outside trying to load a pickup truck on a trailer. She watched as this truck shot up on the trailer and seemed to go sideways and up on 2 wheels before coming to rest on the trailer. I looked out and saw the pickup had overshot the trailer and into the back of the truck pulling the trailer. This was all happening just a few feet from the front of the motorhome. I went outside to have a look . The pickup they were trying to load had indeed overshot the trailer and crumpled in the tailgate of the towing pickup The front end was hung up in front of the trailer with the front wheels hanging above the ground. Well that was going to be a situation. I chatted with the guys with the trucks and it turns out they thought the pickup they were loading had a clutch problem. They had it idling out of gear behind the trailer and all at once it took off and loaded itself and kept going. Luckily for these guys no one got hurt. We chatted for a bit.. They were very friendly. We thought we would get out of their way so we got things packed up and set off down the road.

We continued west on I-40 and stopped for a break at a rest stop just down the road a ways to call and make a reservation at a campground in Little Rock. We needed a place to fill our water tank and de-winterize so that we could begin to use our own water. We passed through Memphis, across the Mississippi and into Arkansas. The temperature was starting to get quite nice.

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We arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas about 3 PM on Monday afternoon. It was very nice outside, about 20ºC (68ºF). We are staying at Downtown Riverside RV Park. It’s on the north side of the Arkansas River that separates North Little Rock and Little Rock. It’s a nice spot for us. We have a massive pull through lot with a cement pad and full hookups. We found out about this park from reading Paul Whistlecraft’s facebook posts. We know Paul and his wife Judy from Rock Glen. Paul had posted they would be here for a few days so we thought we might see them. Turns out that they are parked in the row behind us. They didn’t seem to be at home when we arrived. Shortly after we arrived and got hooked up, 2 motorhomes pulled in next to us with Ontario plates. These were the 2 MHs we saw at the border crossing at Port Huron on Saturday. Once they got set up we chatted. We actually chatted for quite a while. Both couples are on their way to Arizona as well. While we were chatting Paul strolled by and was surprised to see us. We chatted with Paul for a bit and it was soon time for supper. Our original plan was to just stop here overnight but we thought we might stay and extra night and see the sights.

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Today (Tuesday) we awoke to cloudy skies and rain was in the forecast. We decided rather than stay another night we would head off late morning. We did take the car off the dolly for a couple hours and drove to the local Camping World. Then we decided to do a little sight seeing. We drove to the Bill Clinton Presidential Museum and took a few pictures outside. We then toured past Little Rock Central High School. If you remember your history this was the location of the 1957 desegregation incident in which 9 black students were denied entry to attend the school. A showdown occurred between the Arkansas Governor and President Eisenhower. The President ordered the 101st airborne division to escort the students and federalized the Arkansas National Guard. There’s more to the story but that’s the real short version.

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Next we drove to the Governor’s Mansion and got out and took some pictures and also of some of the homes in the area.

When we got back to the campground we put the car back on the dolly and prepared the motorhome to leave. Our neighbour Al stopped by to say goodbye and Paul and Judy came over to wish us a safe trip. We were on the road a little after 11:00AM and drove on down I-30. Not far outside of Little Rock our GPS started warning us of delays up ahead. We had stopped for fuel shortly after leaving Little Rock and later stopped for lunch at a rest area. Just down road from the rest area, traffic came to a complete standstill and eventually began to crawl along. We were probably delayed about an hour. Traffic on I-30 was very heavy and lots of transports. We eventually passed through Texarkana and in to Texas. Did you know that Texarkana is on the border of Texas and Arkansas? Half the city is in Texas and half in Arkansas. Hence the name. Just a short while later we pulled into the Walmart in New Boston, Texas. There is 1 other motorhome here tonight. A couple from Kentucky on their way to Yuma, Arizona. They are staying at an RV park just down the way from Pilot Knob RV resort where we are headed to in the middle of December.

Well that brings you up to date. Tomorrow we will arrive at my cousin Wes’s place and we’ll be spending some time with him.