Another long day, but at least a POOL at the end of it!
kc
20 miles west of Conway, which is 30 miles west of Little Rock, AR
When the day dawns at 6:00 am, and it's already 86*, you know it's gonna be hot. And it was. We hit the road around 7 am (why not, it's not like we had anything ELSE to do but gripe about the poor campground facilities!!) with no definite plan, except to head to Memphis. We had several possibilities after that, each with its own set of pros & cons. Tooooo many choices!! At some rest stop, Dick chatted up a trucker who had an atlas and a couple of opinions of his own. He clued us in - no matter which way we chose, we were gonna have hills. And, *maybe* there was diesel that way. Ummmmm...I dunno about you, but I'm not so confident with a *maybe.* HE can afford to be uncertain. With his fuel tanks, it wouldn't matter. But, me, well, we ran out of gas once. A VERY long time ago. And we couldn't push THAT trailer, and there's no way we could push THIS one. Besides, as I recall, there isn't much for a shoulder on Arkansas backroads. Last time we were here,we had to pull over to wait out a thunder-hail-storm (yeah, go figure) and we were worried we'd be blown right down the hill. So, no, thank you, we'll see what Jim & Sherrell had to say. Along about 9:30 am, we gave them a call. Jim was pretty confident in his recommendation that we just stay on I40 to Little Rock and pick up Rt 65 north, all the way in to Branson. Geez, I really hated to hear that (that's just soooooooo far south first), but, OK, at least we know we'll have ample fuel stops. And sure enough, the road was great. Wide open, even. With plenty of fueling opportunities.
Oh, wait - I got ahead of myself. Lemme tell you about Memphis — there's a sign, says no trucks over 13'6" on I-240. OK, so we're only 13'4", but what if they've paved the road since it was last measured? Theoretically, we'd fit, but, we'd planned to get onto I-55 anywayprior to 240. So, what's that sign for I-240 to Little Rock??? Ignore it, I said. Twice. Guess the first time was just for my own benefit? We got on I-55 as planned, and were trucking along just FINE, even making the exit just before the bridge and 13'0" sign (yeah, we'd have hit that FER SURE, re-paved or not). Up on I-55, making good progress. WHOA jack! THAT's the bridge we gotta cross? They call it the Mighty Mississippi, but the RIVER wasn't the issue, the BRIDGE was.
I got religion real quick. Dick's distraction efforts were futile. There are now teeth marks in Sarah's Midwest Guide book. They're mine. And, if you were to analyze the blotches, you'd likely find them to be my tears. OH, MY GOD. That bridge was high AND decrepit. It is NOT one I wish to cross again. I'm sure I'll remember that when we head back east.
Well, after that, we got on I40 west without issue, and even managed to hit the welcome center. I had the bright idea that Rt 7 would be a better (shorter) ride on snakey roads than Rt 65, but the not-so-welcoming lady informed me that Rt 7 was pretty curvy. So much for my bright idea. I guess that's why no one had mentioned it??
So, here we are, outside Little Rock, and we'll backtrack a bit in the morning, when we and the truck are fresh and it's cool(er). Besides, this is where the POOL is, and we actually spent LESS at the KOA than we did on the field of last night. As an added bonus, we had time for Dick to give the camper a quick squirt with some soap and water. My goodness, what a difference!! It's white again!!
I've been pretty selfish, this past month, and I haven't thought too awful much about work lately, but oh yeah, I don't work anymore! Really, though, I hope you all are faring well and I hope you're not all cussing me out every day (once a week is OK). Hope, too, that you had some qualified candidates and they work at least as hard as I did. Not sure you'll get anyone that can handle 5 customers at once, but never hurts to set your sights high!
K, that's enough Wachovia work now....time for new jobs: dishes wait, but if we get them done quickly, we'll still have an hour or so in the pool. We'll hit Branson tomorrow, hopefully, sometime between 1 & 3 pm, so we're really getting excited now. A new adventure is just ahead.
Y'all take care!!
20 miles west of Conway, which is 30 miles west of Little Rock, AR
When the day dawns at 6:00 am, and it's already 86*, you know it's gonna be hot. And it was. We hit the road around 7 am (why not, it's not like we had anything ELSE to do but gripe about the poor campground facilities!!) with no definite plan, except to head to Memphis. We had several possibilities after that, each with its own set of pros & cons. Tooooo many choices!! At some rest stop, Dick chatted up a trucker who had an atlas and a couple of opinions of his own. He clued us in - no matter which way we chose, we were gonna have hills. And, *maybe* there was diesel that way. Ummmmm...I dunno about you, but I'm not so confident with a *maybe.* HE can afford to be uncertain. With his fuel tanks, it wouldn't matter. But, me, well, we ran out of gas once. A VERY long time ago. And we couldn't push THAT trailer, and there's no way we could push THIS one. Besides, as I recall, there isn't much for a shoulder on Arkansas backroads. Last time we were here,we had to pull over to wait out a thunder-hail-storm (yeah, go figure) and we were worried we'd be blown right down the hill. So, no, thank you, we'll see what Jim & Sherrell had to say. Along about 9:30 am, we gave them a call. Jim was pretty confident in his recommendation that we just stay on I40 to Little Rock and pick up Rt 65 north, all the way in to Branson. Geez, I really hated to hear that (that's just soooooooo far south first), but, OK, at least we know we'll have ample fuel stops. And sure enough, the road was great. Wide open, even. With plenty of fueling opportunities.
Oh, wait - I got ahead of myself. Lemme tell you about Memphis — there's a sign, says no trucks over 13'6" on I-240. OK, so we're only 13'4", but what if they've paved the road since it was last measured? Theoretically, we'd fit, but, we'd planned to get onto I-55 anywayprior to 240. So, what's that sign for I-240 to Little Rock??? Ignore it, I said. Twice. Guess the first time was just for my own benefit? We got on I-55 as planned, and were trucking along just FINE, even making the exit just before the bridge and 13'0" sign (yeah, we'd have hit that FER SURE, re-paved or not). Up on I-55, making good progress. WHOA jack! THAT's the bridge we gotta cross? They call it the Mighty Mississippi, but the RIVER wasn't the issue, the BRIDGE was.
I got religion real quick. Dick's distraction efforts were futile. There are now teeth marks in Sarah's Midwest Guide book. They're mine. And, if you were to analyze the blotches, you'd likely find them to be my tears. OH, MY GOD. That bridge was high AND decrepit. It is NOT one I wish to cross again. I'm sure I'll remember that when we head back east.
Well, after that, we got on I40 west without issue, and even managed to hit the welcome center. I had the bright idea that Rt 7 would be a better (shorter) ride on snakey roads than Rt 65, but the not-so-welcoming lady informed me that Rt 7 was pretty curvy. So much for my bright idea. I guess that's why no one had mentioned it??
So, here we are, outside Little Rock, and we'll backtrack a bit in the morning, when we and the truck are fresh and it's cool(er). Besides, this is where the POOL is, and we actually spent LESS at the KOA than we did on the field of last night. As an added bonus, we had time for Dick to give the camper a quick squirt with some soap and water. My goodness, what a difference!! It's white again!!
I've been pretty selfish, this past month, and I haven't thought too awful much about work lately, but oh yeah, I don't work anymore! Really, though, I hope you all are faring well and I hope you're not all cussing me out every day (once a week is OK). Hope, too, that you had some qualified candidates and they work at least as hard as I did. Not sure you'll get anyone that can handle 5 customers at once, but never hurts to set your sights high!
K, that's enough Wachovia work now....time for new jobs: dishes wait, but if we get them done quickly, we'll still have an hour or so in the pool. We'll hit Branson tomorrow, hopefully, sometime between 1 & 3 pm, so we're really getting excited now. A new adventure is just ahead.
Y'all take care!!
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