Little Rock

Downtown Riverside RV Park
Little Rock, AR

Here we go again, getting from point A to point B.

We had an uneventful trip from El Reno, OK to Little Rock.

As you know, we usually are on our way somewhere,

with not much time to 'stop and smell the roses' so to speak.

I found this great little park on the Good Sam website.

We pulled into our 100'  pull thru site at

Downtown Riverside RV Park this afternoon.

This is a small park, only 61 sites, but it's right on the

Arkansas River, with incredible views of the downtown skyline.

We chose a pull thru site for ease,

but the back in sites have the nicest view.

After we got settled in, we took a leisurely stroll across the

Clinton Pedestrian Bridge.

This bridge used to be the Rock Island bridge,

built in 1899 for the Choctaw and Memphis railroad.

It's a lovely pedestrian/cyclist bridge,

spanning the river, and taking you to the

Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.

We weren't all that interested in going into the library,

but the grounds are lovely.

There are some interesting landmarks in the river itself,

including this small lighthouse structure..

 

We were told when we checked in to the park

that we were in time for the bass fishing tournament.

There were quite a few bass fisherman vying for the title :-)

As we were getting set up, I also noticed another Vilano

pulling into the park.

Of course we went over and introduced ourselves!

We recognized each other's names from the Vilano Facebook group.

I took a picture of both our rigs from the bridge..

David and Debra Fuqua came over and enjoyed a

glass of wine and conversation.

It was nice to meet another proud owner!

Tomorrow we head over to the VanLeigh service center

in Tishomingo, Mississippi.

We'll be there for a few days, time to explore!

Moving along

Lucky Star Casino
Concho, OK

We've moved on from our spot in Amarillo,

settling for the night in the parking lot of the

Lucky Star Casino

in Concho, Oklahoma.

We picked this place because we knew they had full hookups,

and for no charge!

They ask you to sign in inside the casino,

and of course get a players card.

We did, got a $10 voucher each,

which we promptly lost :-)

This casino is in the same area where we were last year

when we did our gate guarding stint.

Our friends, Wes and Marylou met us here this afternoon,

and we went out for an early Chinese dinner with them.

It was nice to see them!

Tomorrow we'll be in Little Rock, Arkansas,

staying at 

Downtown Riverside RV Park.

Looking forward to the view of the river!

A critter in the house!

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

Yesterday morning I was rudely awoken

by George saying, 'Laur, come out here,

there's a squirrel (or mouse, or rat) in here!'

I had heard some noises in the night

but in my haze thought it was sprinkling out.

Turns out there was this rodent in the 

garbage compartment of the RV.

George was having his coffee,

and heard noises coming from that area.

He pulled open the door, saw some trash on the floor,

and pulled the can out..

and two beady eyes and nose were sticking out of

the hole between that compartment

and the fridge.

He put a glue trap and peanut butter in,

and shut the door quickly.

We waited a bit, and sure enough we heard

some rustling around.

George opened the door, 

and with his trusty grabber,

tried to grab the guy before he tried to

escape (with the tray of glue) through the hole!

He got the trap...

...with part of the critter's tail stuck in the glue :-)

(Don't click to enlarge if that's too disgusting for you!)

So now we have a critter somewhere

running between underneath the fridge

and the space between our hutch cabinets.

He can get into the basement through

crawl holes where water and electric lines go.

We went outside and opened the basement doors,

and there he sat looking at us..

daring us to catch him!

I didn't have time to take a picture as he

scrambled back up through the floor :-(

I have to say he did have a cute face!

From the internet (obviously)

George decided it was time to pull out the big guns..
and took a ride to Walmart to pick up some traps.

I still had jammies on, so chose to sit in the recliner,

grabber and broom at my side,

to protect the castle :-)

Once he came back with a bag of  'rat killer' goodies,

he set them..

one in the garbage area, and one in the basement,

loaded with swiss cheese.

(Isn't that the most stereotypical food?)

We decided to go out to lunch to give the critter his privacy.

Both of us hoped that while we were gone the vicious traps

would do their duty.

Lunch was good, but there was a lot of talk about

what kind of critter this actually is.

Of course, does it really matter?

The droppings were pretty big,

the critter itself was bigger than a mouse,

but didn't have the long leathery tail of a rat.

I did a lot of research about what it might be..

darn thing wouldn't sit still enough to ask!

We pulled up after lunch..good Mexican by the way..

and with trepidation opened up the basement door.

Boy that was fast!

Under George's compressor was the critter.

We knew it was him because of the tell tale

missing tail :-)

We made sure he wasn't moving before carefully 

taking the compressor out of the basement.

Holy c*** he is/was huge!

I didn't feel right taking a picture of his face :-(

I first thought he might be a vole,

because of his tail..

but then found a picture of a pack rat on the internet.

I remember when we've been in dry places that

these guys can get up in your vehicle engine and chew wires.

George will be doing some investigating today of entry places.

We don't think he was in our RV too long, but he sure left

calling cards in several spots.

"They" say 'it's not if but when' you get a critter!

Getting things accomplished

Amarillo Ranch RV Park
Amarillo, TX

We're getting a lot of things accomplished this week.

Since Obamacare came in to being and I'm not quite

the golden age of Medicare,

I have to get any annual checkups here in Texas.

Normally it's no big deal, we are usually somewhere

in Texas once a year.

Last year I picked a doctor in Amarillo as it was

more convenient to our route out to California.

I had a doctor in Livingston, but she bowed out of

the Blue Cross/Blue Shield market,

so I had to change.

But I digress...

Tuesday I had my annual checkup and blood work.

I'm waiting for all the results, but she was quite happy

that my 6 month blood work that I had in CA

 showed drops in all my numbers.

I got my first ever flu shot,

with instructions to get a pneumonia and shingles shot

at any pharmacy (as it would be less expensive).

Yesterday I did just that.

Walmart conveniently administers all those shots,

and my insurance has a $0 copay on all of them!

I'm good to go for another year!

George took the truck for an inspection,

only $7 and no big deal.

We thought we could get the RV inspected as well,

but since we just bought it in April,

it's not due for inspection until next April.

We'll get it done next time we pass through.

Again, no big deal.

We have another week here to get one more appointment in,

then we'll be heading off towards Mississippi 

and the Vanleigh service center.

In the meantime, we're enjoying not working!

George and I have seen most everything in Amarillo

there is to do,

but might be able to find something to do :-)

Albuquerque

American RV Resort
Albuquerque, NM

We've had a great couple days riding through Arizona.

I always love the change in geology.

A pretty cool rainstorm was in the distance too!

We stayed last night at OK RV Park in Holbrook, AZ

 It was a basic pull through, no frills, and with a Good Sam discount.

This morning we got going early heading to Albuquerque.

We are staying one night at American RV Resort,

which is a great park.

It gets pretty full for the balloon festival.

Tomorrow we'll be in Amarillo for 2 weeks.

I'll be getting my doctor appointments out of the way,

and do some sightseeing while we're there.

We're not quite doing the long driving days this time.

George prefers keeping it under 350 miles per day.

I know some of you think even that's too many miles!

One thing we're not doing this trip is boondocking in Walmarts, etc.

With the new residential refrigerator, we thought we'd try it

when it's not so hot outside.

Everything is going great with Harvey 2!

Trekking east

'On the road'
Somewhere on rte 40

We had an uneventful send off yesterday from Yanks.

George and I both promised we would be back in 2 months!

Our first night was at River Run park in Bakersfield.

It's a perfect place to stop on Hwy 58,

which is only a few miles from my Aunt Judy and Uncle Don's house.

We both were invited over for dinner last night,

and she invited my cousins and their families too!

She set up tables in her quilt room,

which worked out perfectly.

My cousin Kelly's granddaughter Layla is such a cutie!

So is Layla's new brother Hudson :-)

We sat and talked for quite a while,

while the grandkids played with gramma Kelly.

I got a little Hudson time myself :-)

Can't forget Penny & Molly!

Molly loves her Daddy (Uncle Don)..

Today we took off by 8:30 am, driving through 108 degree temps

in Needles, CA to our spot in Kingman, AZ for the night.

Fort Beale RV Park is a great little park, and we didn't have to unhook.

Tomorrow we mosey on east, stopping in Holbrook, AZ

Time to hit the road!

Yanks RV Resort
Greenfield, CA

We've wrapped up our last week of work here at Yanks.

This past couple of weeks we've had some pretty hot temps..

We've spent some time at the pool, 

with some nice sunsets..

Time was spent with Mom,

Greg & Connie,

and others here in the park.

George got the RV all ready to go.

The wheels are torqued, bolts tightened, etc.

Tomorrow we hit the road for the first time

in just about a year!