As promised, let me tell you about our trip to Paris. Wow, I didn't know we could go to Paris and return home in just one day. It can be done! Paris,TN!
Even though is wasn't Paris, France, we still had a very nice day. After a nice breakfast and a few photos we were able to locate old friends that moved to Paris around 2006.
We originally met Scott & Patty Seward when we first tried full-time RV living at Rancho Los Coches RV Park, which is located in Lakeside, CA.
We had a very nice visit and look forward to seeing them again in our travels.
After a long day, we decided to stop on our drive back to the RV park and pick up something for supper. What better place to stop than Loretta Lynn's Kitchen! The Kitchen is located in Hurricane Mills, TN and it's a great place to stop for lunch or supper. You can eat in or get a meal to-go. We ordered fried chicken to-go, and then suffered the smell all the way back to the RV park. It was fantastic, but even better was the taste. The best fried chicken we've ever had.
On the Road Again, Next Stop Arkansas:The drive from Tennessee to Little Rock, AR. was about five hours and the weather was good. Our only delay was an over-turned 18 wheeler.
We make it a point to keep our speed between 60-65. There's just no reason to drive any faster. We always add a little extra time, an hour or so, to our planned driving time, just in case we run into something like this.
Our reservations to stay at Downtown Riverside RV Park, was scheduled for two weeks, Nov. 12th to the 26th, so we'd be able to enjoy Thanksgiving with friends.
The RV Park is located on the banks of the Arkansas River and is operated by the City of North Little Rock. We were able to get a pull-in site with a water view ... how nice!
Even better than the view during the day time is the view in the evening. The bridges all light up. The bridges are also referred to as, The Seven Bridges of Little Rock.
The bridge behind our RV is a walking bridge from North Little Rock to Little Rock. If you enjoy biking, there are about seventeen miles of bike routes. Another form of transportation to Little Rock is the Trolley and during November and December, there is no charge to ride.
We highly recommend this park for an over-night or longer stay. There's a little grass area along the river, but the sites themselves are paved. All in all, it's a nice park and the staff we found to be very friendly.
One of the regular outings we enjoy, wherever we go, is visiting Presidential Museums of both political parties. The Clinton Presidential Library is located on the other side of the river, just a short walk across the bridge from the RV park. As Presidential Museums go, we found the Clinton Museum to be very interesting and well laid out.
There's a lot to see and you can easily spend several hours exploring the museum.
There's so much to see and do in Little Rock, we were able to take daily walks and find a lot of good food. I had one of the best burgers ever at David's Burgers over the river from our campground.
We spent Thanksgiving with friends, Char & Roger Feldt'. We met this lovely couple two years ago in Maine. It was their first year spending the summer in Maine, also at Timberland Acres RV Park.When Char & Roger found out we'd be in Arkansas during the Thanksgiving Holiday they invited us to visit them. As we didn't know anyone in the Little Rock area we found ourselves having a lovely holiday meal with good friends. Roger smoked the turkey and Char prepared all the fixings, including a homemade pumpkin pie. What a wonderful couple to be thankful for and in your life.
In addition to an outstanding meal, Char & Roger showed us around Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. The town of Hot Springs is worth your time to visit. There is also a national park with RV camping at Gulpha Gorge Campground.
There's another town worth visiting in Arkansas and that's the town of Fort Smith. There's a lot of history in this little town.
This will be the location for the new National United States Marshals Museum, which is scheduled to open in September of 2019. We were able to go to the site where the building will begin being constructed this next spring. Fort Smith, Arkansas was where Federal Judge Isaac Parker, the "Hanging Judge," would send numerous United States marshals and their deputies into the Oklahoma "Indian" territory, to bring back fugitives to the court for frontier justice. Many marshals and deputies were killed in the line of duty during this era. Many more fugitives were killed trying to best the marshals. One well known deputy U.S. marshal, Bass Reeves, who was one of the first black deputies, was involved in numerous historic fugitive take downs. Deputy Reeves retired and lived to age 72. Fort Smith, Arkansas is a great little town to visit, with a very rich American frontier history.
We will definitely be back to tour the new United States Marshals Museum.
Back on the road, next stop, Texas:
It's time to move on so we can get to New Braunfels, where we'll spend both Christmas and New Years. But first, we have a two week stay in the Lake Texoma area. The campground is Thousand Trails, Lake Texoma RV Campground. We've stayed here before and it's not too bad for a short stay. We have good friends, Jim & Robbie whom we always enjoy visiting. In addition we are able to get our daily walks in and even found a nice kissing station!
You can always find good food in Texas, Pelicans Landing is one of those places. A good place for lunch or supper!
Jim & David when out exploring one morning and came across an abandon Campfire Girls Camp.
David thought it was a little eerie exploring the grounds, yet very interesting as well.
We found time to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
Although David and I are conservative, we love visiting ALL Presidential Library Museums. We were not particularly pleased that on the day of our visit, no photos were allowed within the museum. However, if you click on the link above, you will see that it is a library well worth visiting, in the Dallas metro area. We will be visiting the elder President George H.W. Bush Museum in the College Station, Texas area, in January-February, 2018.
During this visit, Jim & Robbie took us over the border to Tishomingo, Oklahoma. Tishomingo is Blake Shelton's hometown and the location of his bar/restaurant Ole Red. We didn't run into the country singer, but we were told he sometimes just drops in for a drink. Blake did perform at the Grand Opening in September, 2016. In the works for 2018, Blake Shelton and Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. will be opening another Ole Red in the Nashville, TN area.
But, Blake's not the only family member with a business in Tishomingo. His mom, Dorothy Shackleford, is co-owner of, Junk Stars.
After a fantastic lunch at Ole Red, the girls did some shopping. The guys are not too big on shopping, but they do like shooting the breeze.
The town is small, but we enjoyed our time there and the Christmas decorated streets.
New Braunfels, Lazy L&L:Due to Hurricane Harvey, we were forced to change our plans from Corpus Christi to New Braunfels. We were able to make reservations to stay a month at Lazy L&L campground. What a find! The monthly rate of $420, included electric. The campground is family owned and open year round. It is located along the Guadalupe River. In the summer the park fills with all age groups to enjoy tubing on the river.
LBJ Presidential Library:
If you find yourself in the New Braunfels area, a day trip to the LBJ Presidential Library would be worth your time. This is one of the most impressive Presidential Library's we've toured.
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| LBJ Presidential Library |
Lady Bird Johnson loved the wild flowers!
Read My Pins - The Madeleine Albright Collection
At the LBJ Presidential Library was a wonderful temporary exhibit featuring former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's vast collection of brooch pins. As Secretary of State during the William Jefferson Clinton administration, she would wear a different pin to reflect her daily mood, or the "attitude" she wished to convey during her extensive meetings, speeches and State dinners. Her habit of donning a brooch pin for meetings with foreign adversary leaders was the subject of intense scrutiny by their intelligence services. It seems our adversaries wished to know what "mood" the Secretary was in for negotiating. A wonderful exhibit depicting little known USA diplomatic history.
The collection is so large, I can't do it justice. Please take the time to view her entire collection when you visit the LBJ Presidential Library, or when it travels to another museum as a temporary exhibit.
David & I would like to say, Thank You, to the owners and all those who participated in this wonderful and friendly gathering.
As stated above, you can always find good food in Texas! Mamacita's Restaurant Cantina is just the place for good Mexican food. David is always in the hunt for the perfect cheese enchiladas.
The year is coming to an end, but we have 2018 just around the bend. This is our last blog for this year, and we hope you've enjoyed them all. The next issue will be a look back at some of our favorite photos and some of our friends.
From David and I ...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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