Arkansas | FabGrandma

Monday Mingle Vlog Hop

October 24, 2011 By Fab Grandma 10 Comments

Sunset over the MIssissippi River

Here I am again, with a vlog playing along with Jennifer from Eighty MPH Mom in her Monday Mingle. She asked these three questions:

1. Have your kids brought home any colds/flus from school yet to share with the family? If you don’t have kids, have you been sick recently?
2. What is something that you are obsessive about at home (cleaning, order, etc.)?
3. What is the best Halloween costume YOU have ever worn?

I tried to stay on target with my answers this week, even writing down the questions before I started. I really hope you enjoy this week’s hop, and join in if you want! If you have never done a vlog before, it is not that hard! I only had to start over six times!

Filed Under: Arkansas, Fun Stuff, General

Gathering Up Some Southern To Take To Arizona

April 12, 2011 By Fab Grandma 5 Comments

Today was a little more laid back than the last few days for us. We slept in, then piddled around the house for a couple of hours before setting out to look for a place to get some breakfast. We wound up back at the Cracker Barrel, where we always know we’ll get a good meal.

After breakfast we went over and picked up the new tire for the trailer, went to the post office to mail off a couple of packages, then the car wash to spray that Mississippi River mud off of the truck. The last stop was the local independent grocery store.

I picked up a 15 pound box of catfish fillets, 2 bags of frozen okra, 2 bags of frozen butter peas, 1 bag of frozen field peas, and 2 bags of a fish fry breading made of corn meal and some spices. My tiny RV freezer is crammed full of good southern food!

My freezer is stuffed with southern goodness!

Because you know they don’t sell okra or catfish in Utah.

Filed Under: Arkansas, Fun Stuff, Life on the road

Seeing The Sights In West Memphis

April 11, 2011 By Fab Grandma 10 Comments

So if you’ve ever been to West Memphis, Arkansas, you know there isn’t much there. Today, we left home around 10:00 A.M. and were gone all day long, though. The first stop was the tire store, to order a new tire for the trailer. We have to pick it up tomorrow. Next was breakfast at Cracker Barrel. While we were eating, I got on the Map app on my Droid to find the closest Ford dealer. It just happened to be less than half a mile away.

Yesterday after we stopped for breakfast and fuel for the truck, the Check Engine light came on. Since it is a “new to us” truck, we weren’t sure what to think of that. I looked in the owners manual and found that it could be caused by poor quality fuel or by not replacing the gas cap correctly, among other things. But, to be on the safe side, we decided to have the truck looked at by the guys at the Ford service department.

Sunset on Beale Street

Yes, it was Monday, and just like going to a doctor without an appointment on a Monday morning, going to the auto dealership for service on a Monday without an appointment meant a long wait. They did work us in, but we wound up being there until after 3:00 p.m. The service tech told us it could be that there was trash in the fuel, it could be that the gas cap was not replaced correctly, it could be ” a forced power shutdown due to a turbo malfunction. However, he could not duplicate the complaint”. We decided to continue with our trip, and if the light comes on again, to take it to the next dealer down the road. If it does turn out to be a turbo malfunction, it IS covered under the extended warranty that we purchased, but the service tech didn’t really think it was that.

By the time we got home, we were hungry again. We had already made plans to go to The Kings Palace in Memphis for dinner, so we cleaned up a bit and took off to Beale Street. Dinner was delicious. We had crab cakes and gumbo as appetizers. The crab cakes did have bread crumbs in them, but I ate them anyway. Sometimes I just take the responsibility of that choice, knowing that it is going to make me feel like crap the next day. Those crab cakes were worth it to me.

After dinner, we strolled along Beale Street, stopping in at several clubs to listen to different bands. It was fun to hear all the sounds, see all the sights, and people watch. There were people of all ages, from the elderly woman with a walker to a little boy who looked about 3 years old. Everyone was enjoying the music. I loved seeing all the neon signs. I didn’t have my camera with me, just the Droid, so the pictures here are not that good.

Inside Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street

Tomorrow we are going to just rest and relax. Yeah, really. Right after we go get the new tire, go to the post office and the grocery store. Really.

Filed Under: Arkansas, Life on the road, Tennessee Tagged With: beale street, blues, memphis

Road Trip Time Again

April 10, 2011 By Fab Grandma 10 Comments

As you may or may not know, Fabgrandpa and I live full time in an RV and work at the Grand Canyon during the season. It is time again for us to make our migration west for the job. We hooked up the trailer to our new truck for the first time today, and set out with a destination of Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. It is right across the river from Memphis, Tennessee. We’ll be staying three nights here so that we can go down and do Beale Street again.

We LOVE the blues, and live blues is the best ever! Our first date way back in 1991 was at The Blues Harbor Club in Underground Atlanta. I think I fell in love that night, while having dinner and listening to the blues with my handsome guy.

FabGrandpa had a goal of leaving by 9:00 A.M, and we actually got on the road around 9:20. He is in his own little heaven driving the new truck. It has a computerized diagnostic and information system on the dashboard, that figures the MPG automatically. I know this feature has been in vehicles for a long while now, but we have been driving a 1997 truck since 2001, so this is all new to him. For a guy who loves numbers, he is, well, orgasmic!

computerized diagnostic display panel f0rd f-250

FabGrandpa loves this!

Although we only drive about 55 mph while we are towing our trailer, we were making good time. However, the trailer seemed to be “wiggling” around back there, something it didn’t do when we towed it with the other truck. We pulled over to the side of the highway for a potty stop, and discovered that there had been a blowout on the trailer!

it was blown UP!

That tire was not only blown out, it was worn completely off the rim! So, from now on, if that trailer starts wiggling, we’re stopping to see what the problem is! We have talked about getting on of those tire pressure monitoring systems several times, but never acted on it. I think now is the time to just do it.

This is where I am so glad I have that Droid phone that I got back in November. It has the greatest Map app on it that functions as a GPS. It shows us as a little blue arrow on the road, and shows us moving along the road as we drive. When we pulled over and discovered the blowout, I had no idea where we were, except that we were on the entrance ramp to US Hwy 78 near Holly Springs, Mississippi. I looked back up the ramp, and there was an Exxon gas station over there.

I found the Exxon Station on the GPS app.

Instead of walking back up there in 86 degree heat, I opened the GPS app, went to the nearby places tab, touched “gas stations” and there was the name and phone number of that gas station. I touched the phone number, and the phone dialed the number. When someone answered the phone, I told them I was in the RV on the on ramp to Hwy 78 with a flat tire and needed someone to come and change the tire. They gave me the phone number for Ricky’s Towing Service. I called Ricky, and less than 10 minutes later, someone was there changing our tire. Incredible! Even more incredible when you consider that I had no idea where I was!

James from Ricky's Towing Service

James from Ricky’s Towing Service got the job done in just a little bit, charged us only $35, and had us back on the road in about forty minutes. We’re going to have to find a tire store in the morning, but I sure that Map app will find it with no trouble.

We finally got to Tom Sawyer about 4:45 P.M., and got the very last site with a concrete pad! At least that was good luck! There is only a small part of the park open right now, because the river flooded. They are working to get the sites that were flooded cleaned up and repaired.

It was still hot when we got here, so after we got set up, we went inside for some A/C and a cold beer!

New Grist Beer is gluten free and delicious

My gluten free New Grist Beer!

And just because the rig looks so good:

The new truck and the trailer look pretty good together.

Filed Under: Alabama, Arkansas, General, Life on the road Tagged With: Life on the road, rv travel

Going To Alabama IX

November 2, 2010 By Fab Grandma 3 Comments

We may get to Alabama eventually, but for today we just stayed put at Tom Sawyer RV Park. The weather map looked like it was going to rain buckets and we don’t like to travel in weather like that.

I made breakfast at home, but when lunch time rolled around, we decided to go to a place we passed on the way to the campground. Willie Mae’s Rib Haus in West Memphis:

Willie Mae's Rib Haus

For as long as I have known FabGrandpa, when we have traveled, we have eaten at the local places whenever possible. He’ll look at me and say “are you scared” and I’ll reply “no!” This place was by far nowhere near the finest or the cleanest of places we’ve been, but oh! my! gosh! was it ever delicious!

He had a pork shoulder barbecue sandwich–it so big there was no way he could pick it up to eat it. I had a barbecue rib plate. Both of our selections came with two sides–a choice of fries, baked beans, or slaw. We also ordered one fried catfish fillet to share. Needless to say, I’m NOT cooking dinner tonight. Lunch was enough for the rest of the day. The bill came to just under $17. If you ever find yourself in West Memphis, Arkansas, take yourself there for lunch. It’s right on Hwy 70 west of downtown.

Filed Under: Arkansas, Life on the road Tagged With: Arkansas, Life on the road, travel

Going To Alabama VI

October 30, 2010 By Fab Grandma 3 Comments

Leaving Oklahoma

While we were getting ready to leave the KOA in Sallisaw this morning, our neighbor on the next sit struck up a conversation with FabGrandpa. The guy asked where we were headed, and FG said “Memphis.” The neighbor guy told us about a campground right on the river in West Memphis, saying it was a very nice park and he recommended it. So, I called Tom Sawyer RV Park and made a reservation. I was excited about it all day! Imagine having the Mississippi River in your back yard!

The Ozarks in Arkansas

The scenery changed again as we crossed into Arkansas. From the gently rolling hills of Oklahoma, it transitioned into hazy mountains off in the distance.

More trees and vegetation

In some places the vegetation looked more like our home state of Georgia, with oaks and pines along the sides of the highway.

Electric lines coming from the power plant

No more wind farms here–they use steam power to generate their electricity here.

lots of water here

That’s probably because there is a lot more water here than we have seen in days. The farther east you go, the more water there is. We crossed several lakes and rivers today.

I-40 in Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock was nothing like Oklahoma City! This is the extent of the traffic we saw there today.

FabGrandpa

Part of my job in the truck is to keep the driver entertained, comfortable, and happy. Looks like I accomplished that today!

flat again

Once we got past Little Rock, the landscape became mostly flat farm land again. Looks like they grow a lot of corn, soybeans, cotton, and sorghum around here.

messing with the camera

After days in the truck, you do get a little bored from time to time. Here, I was messing with different settings on the camera to come up with this interesting photo of the road ahead.

Those guys have a trailer like ours!

Those people passed up flying! The trailer was swaying side to side like crazy. I know they must have been going about 85 miles an hour. We try to keep it under 65. That trailer is just like ours.

The entrance to Tom Sawyer RV Park

We got off I-40 at exit 271, and took US 70 east to S 8th Street in West Memphis. This is the entrance road to Tom Sawyer RV Park.

our site at Tom Sawyer

out the kitchen window

They aren’t kidding about being right on the river! this is looking out my kitchen window! This is so great!

The sites along the river have level concrete pads–full hook ups and free laundry facilities for $33 per night. We’re staying 3 nights here.They do Good Sam discounts, too.

Night on the river

I took my camera and tri-pod to the river bank and sat on the bench there. This is view of where I-40 crossed over the Mississippi about 12 miles away. While this is not a very clear shot, I think it is pretty dang good for the cheap camera I have.