The Tom Sawyer in me.

We are staying at Toad Suck Park, a C.O.E. park on the Arkansas River just out of Conway, Arkansas. We will be here over the Memorial Day weekend.

                                                                                                                    
 As with all (Army) Corps of Engineers parks we have visited, this one is spotless and we have a spot on the corner that gives us even more space between spots. The  C.O.E. parks usually offer more room than state parks or private parks as they do not have to maximize their spots for profits.

This is our view of the river from our covered picnic table. We have 50amp service and water and with our senior discount pay $10 a night (sweet). This is a "dock and dam" on the Arkansas River and you can see the lower end of the 'lock" through the tree. You are looking at the lower side of the river.

This tug and its barges (the white you see in the photo) entered the lock on the rivers high side.

This photo shows the tug being lowered as the water in the lock is being evacuated.

This is the tug and barges after exiting the lock and headed down  on the river.

This is a closer shot of the tug. The whole process took about 30 minutes. Pure enjoyment as I sat at the picnic table taking all of this in.

Poker with Luther Van Dam

    Luther Van Dam, does that name sound familiar? It's the character Jerry Van Dyke played on "Coach". Jerry lives around here is at Oaklawn often.

    I was playing Texas Hold'em and he took the seat next to mine. Can't say I won any of his money but he didn't get any on mine. We just didn't get playable hands at the same time.

    I played a little over an hour and called it a day with just a small profit. If I play any longer I seem to get bored and stay in hands that I know I should fold.

    We are moving back to Little Rock tomorrow for nine days and who knows where we will be over the holiday weekend.

Good and Bad

The Good = I recieve a senior discount.

The Bad = I don't even have to ask for it anymore.

Ouch!!

We are back at Hot Springs after spending just over $2000 on a new refrigerator with a four year warranty. Ouch!!

Moving

We are moving to Maumelle Park in Little Rock later today because we need to be at Camping World by 8 am. Friday to have our fridge replaced.

We will move back here to finish out our eleven days we still have on our monthly spot. We are really starting to get "hitch-itch" but need to be around until the first of June before we can hit the road again.

Hell of a week

Tuesday the wife's computer (been sick for awhile) decided to not start up. A quick trip to Best Buy and a nice but reasonably priced laptop was purchased to replace the dying or dead former laptop.

Things were still not joyful in Mudville as we have a funeral to attend on Thursday. Upon returning after a long day we just wanted to relax before bedtime. Into the fridge to retrieve a Coke Zero and it was cool but a few degrees warmer than it should be. I changed the setting from a/c to propane hoping the a/c heating element had burned out. No  such luck as I soon started to smell ammonia, the sure sign that the refrigerator had indeed crapped out.

I pull the large ice chest from its hiding place in the bed of the truck nicely out of sight under the tonneau cover. We unload the fridge and I head to the Shell convenience store two block away where I purchased a large bag of ice to be picked up outside from the ice machine. I place the ice in gallon freezer bags and also throw in two blue freezer packs from our small chest freezer.

I decide to run to Wal-Mart to purchase more freezer packs to but in the freezer so they could freeze over night and I would just swap them out and would thus eliminate having to buy more ice.

As the clerk is checking the items, I reach for my wallet and calmly say "never mind I have lost my wallet". Not so calmly I call home as ask if my wallet is on the floor. I got the answer I knew I would get do I headed to the Shell, knowing full well I had my wallet when I left the inside of the store because I remember putting the change from a $10 bill in it after paying for my ice.

I walk in Shell and the lady that checked me out had left for the night. The new guy didn't know about my wallet but looked in the cabinet where lost items are placed and there was my wallet. A relief comes over me until I see the cash is missing. Not an inconsequential amount but at least all my cards were there.

Given what had transpired, I would rather have my wallet than my cash. So goes another week in the life of a fulltime rver.

Addicted

Yes, I have an addiction. I can't stop reading blogs as it seems I am a voyeur in the since I want to read about others.

As a rver I read and follow several rv blogs and have noticed a trend where new rvers think their mental health will instantly improve if they can only "hit the road".

Peace with yourself comes from within. If you are not happy with yourself, no amount of traveling will over come that.

I know of no bigger self centered a**hole than myself but I have learned to live with the fact that I will never change and can at time show a decent side albeit briefly.

Come on people "grow a set" and get on with your life. Ain't nobody responsibly for your life but you.

I will now get off my soapbox and return to my own miserable existence.

50/50

No, 50/50 is not my chances of surviving. Actually we all have 0% of surviving. Everyone is going to die sooner or later.

I have two 50% blockages and one 40% blockage. 70% blockage is the thresh hold at which they will even consider a stent.

My heart rate is in the mid 40's. I guess it will last longer if I the the rpm's low, just like a automobile engine.

Life Goes On

We are back in Little Rock taking care of the things that can only be done in person.

One thing was rescheduling the appointment with my heart doctor I missed back in November. Heck, I was having too much fun in California recovering from a heat attack.

Well after my visit last week, I am scheduled for an Angiogram in the morning. No big deal, he just wants to check me out as my heart surgeon in California said I might need another stent. Is that like your mechanic saying, "Hey, your radiator is clogged but I think your engine will be ok"?

Why the hell didn't he do everything at the time. Guess he was spreading MY money around.

Seems my doctor is a little pissed that I was in California letting another doctor have some of my money. Damn doc, use some of your windfall on bedside manner lessons!!

LBJ Ranch

Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States of America, is buried in his family's cemetery on the LBJ Ranch.

The Texas White House, so named because President Johnson spent about one third of his term at his farm in Stonewall, Texas.

The home is over 8000 sf. but does not look it.

The room on the left was used as "the oval office"

From the rear you can see a better view of the room that now appears on the right.

Any aircraft the president flies on is designated 'Air Force One".

LBJ liked to call this one "Air Force 1/2". The large Air Force One was flown to Austin and this smaller plane was used to reach the ranch.

A grass airstrip was already in place on the ranch and it was paved when LBJ became vice president.

Love him or hate him, LBJ was the president that shaped the nation during my teen years.

Willie, Waylon and the Boys

Lunkenbach, Texas is forever immortalized in the Waylon Jennings song.

We took the very short drive from Fredericksburg to visit the small town (about four building not counting the large dance hall) and this defunct post office being the most famous building.

The building is now a general store and beer bar. Shiner beer, brewed by the oldest brewery in Texas is the crowd favorite.

White Sands

Back in a previous life I was stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas and we often trained at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico but I had never seen the White Sands National Monument and therefor never seen the "white sands".
















The White Sands Missile Range covers 3200 square miles and the White Sands of the National Park is the worlds largest deposit and covers 275 square miles.

The "white sands" are actually gypsum and have a consistency more like talc than sand.

A camel was being used for a photo shoot and looked right at home on the sand dunes.

The road starts as pavement but it is graded sand as one drives deeper into the park.

Being white gypsum (the stuff the sheet rock in your home is made of) the dunes does not attract or hold heat so the dunes can be enjoyed barefoot year round.

New Mexico Rest Area

About mile marker 53 eastbound on Interstate 10 in New Mexico is this little gem of a rest area.

The sign says up to 24 hours stay. The smaller cropped off sign says, "Beware of Rattlesnakes".

There are two roads that lead to the camp spots and each have a large "turn-a-round" at the end. As you can see, we picked a spot over 100 yards from the restrooms. The interstate is about the same distance.

We parked so our slides would extend away from the road.

Each spot has a "lighted" three sided building covering the picnic table. We thought it couldn't get any better,

until we were treated with this magnificent sunset.

All for free........thanks to Johnny and Jenn of http://freecampsites.net/usa/ .

Big Boulders

These large boulders were at a rest area in southwest Arizona on I-10. The large rocks starting appearing a few miles before the rest area and strangely they completely stopped within 1/4 mile after reentering I-10.

The Best Bedder of Women Ever !!

"The Best Bedder of Women Ever" , now that is a bold statement for a man of my advanced age but I have a plaque that proclaims it to be so.

As Paul Harvey would say, "Now the rest of the story".

Seems a couple of the ladies at the RTR were in need of my special knowledge and I indeed "bedded" both of them and I can say they both were totally satisfied when I was finished.

The Rubber Tramp Rendezvous is heavily attended by people that belong to the Vandwellers Yahoo group and two of the ladies wanted platform beds added to their vans and I performed that job for them.

As a token of the work, I was presented with the above plaque on our last night and I will display it proudly.

I stayed busy at the RTR and can say the pleasure was all mine. One can feel a little useless after retiring.

RTR second post

I walked up Dome Mountain part way and took a photo of our tribe. Since a large number of attendees are in vans, some are out sightseeing when this was taken.

Just to the right off screen is Ann's rig. I thought I had her in the frame, sorry Ann (hope I spelled your name right).















Up higher I started seeing these Arizona Barrel Cacti, they are a stark color contrast to the rest of the desert plants.

Stunningly beautiful as I could not take just one picture.

Well worth the hike to see these plants that I had never seen up close.

Rubber Tramp Rendezvous

It is just awesome to be here at the RTR and I can't think of another place I would rather be at this time.

This is a photo of just a few of the many rigs that are attending. We are spread out enough that getting a picture is difficult but close enough that we are a group.

Bob Wells, http://www.cheaprvliving.com/ , on the right is the organizer and Randy, http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/ , on the left are two blogs that I have been following for years.

We gathered for a spaghetti dinner and bull chip session. The food was great and the fellowship heart warming.

So many of these folks have blogs that I visit that I feel I am among long time friends.

A more versified group would be hard to find but we are gathered here enjoying what we have in common.

Almost Quartzsite

We arrived for the RTR a little early and found a spot and settled in. We are a few miles from Quartzsite and the crowds, but close enough to go see what se want to see.

This is the dome mountain that guided us in.

Just about dusk we were treated with a gorgeous full moon. Bright stars and the full moon made walking after dark very easy.

I spent an hour or so standing around a group campfire running my mouth.

Our camp spot taken from just over the ridge.

We picked a spot so the wind would hit the front side of the trailer and the awning over the slides would be protected. This also means any dust from the road will be carried away from us when the wind is blowing.

You can see the trucks on Interstate 10 that is probably over a mile away.

We are so happy to be camping in this beautiful area and getting to meet some of the folks I have followed on the internet for years. Really looking forward to the next few days.

Great Verizon air-card coverage but our AT&T phone coverage is limited.

Laughlin Car Show

About a hundred car attended the car show and I just took a few photos.

Roadsters are always my favorites.

Even "rat rods"

Nice T-Bucket for sale.

I really likes this 1934 Ford three window coupe. It has a fiberglass body and fenders with a metal hood. Very predictable, small block Chevy and turbo 350 transmission.

This 1911 Cadillac was the star of the show.

Read the small sign, "This is NOT a restored auto, It is ALL ORIGINAL".

Outstanding example of early an American engine.

All and all it was a nice little car show.