September 8, 2012

Last night around 9:45 pm we had a very big windstorm.  It was coming from the west and it had already produced 80-100 mile an hour wind gusts with some damage.  Lots of people in northwest Arkansas were without electricity.  By the time it got to us the winds had died down some but it was still blowing hard.  At 10:30 pm it started to rain and when I checked the rain gauge this morning it had 1 inch in it.  It is also much cooler today, finally.  Around noon we drove to Dumas about 10 miles away and got some groceries and went to the Dollar General.  We also had lunch at Subway.  We went back to camp and I got some wood from a campsite next to us.  We watched the tugs on the river.  I cleaned the bathroom and kitchen while Jim surfed the internet.  After supper we had a nice fire.  There is no one around us and it was nice to sit outside and look at the stars and listen to the owls, crickets and coyotes.  There was no noise from people, music or dogs.  It was a very nice relaxing day.

September 9, 2012

After breakfast and showers we hooked up and left this nice campsite on the Arkansas River.  We drove to Gardner, Louisiana near Alexandria to the Kistachie National Forest – Kincaid Lake Campground.  We have stayed here before and always in site #25.  This is one of only a couple that has a view of the lake.  There are only three other campers here in this loop and the camp host. The other loop only has a camp host in it and no campers.  After setting up Jim paid a bill and I sat outside.  We had leftovers for supper and then took a walk.  We watched the Broncos and Steelers on TV.  

September 10, 2012

I fixed breakfast and we sat outside at the picnic table.  It is finally cool enough to be able to eat outside.  The camp host in our loop left this morning but the other host came by and introduced himself.  We drove into Alexandria and went to Walgreens to fill a prescription for me.  On the way to town we passed a lot of cotton fields. Then we drove to Silver Dollar Pawn Shop that is featured on Cajun Pawn Stars on the History Channel.  We looked around but didn’t buy anything.  They were filming by the gun cases today and I saw Jimmy (the owner of the shop) behind the counter.

We had lunch and then found three geocaches.  In one of them we picked up a Smoothie King punch card that was full of punches and had enough for a free smoothie.  We will use it when we get back home.  We drove downtown to a bar and had an Abita Brewing beer then went to the local American Legion and talked to people there.  The commander of the VFW bought us a beer.  (The VFW is closed on Monday.)  We drove back to Walgreens and picked up my medicine and then headed back to camp.  We stopped for supper a few miles before the turn off to camp at Tunk’s Cypress Inn.  Jim had all you can eat fried catfish and I had the senior grilled chicken with shrimp fettuccini.  I wanted their bread pudding with rum sauce but I was too full.  We will be going to my brother’s house in Dayton tomorrow.  Mom is having some problems with a sore by her ankle that won’t heal and they may have to do a little surgery.  She has two more doctor’s appointments on Thursday and on Monday to decide what to do.

 

September 11, 2012

The camp host is back -- he had a problem with his trailer and went to get it fixed.  We got ready and cleaned out the gray and black water tanks really good and then washed the black love bugs off the front of the Silverado.  We left Louisiana and got to mom’s in Liberty, Texas at 2:00 PM.  My brother Elton, Jim and I walked across the street to have a consultation with her doctor about the operation that is to be done on mother’s ankle.  We took the Casita to Elton’s house and then set it up there.  Martha was going to Porter to finish cleaning out her mother’s trailer and she came by Elton’s for a while and talked.  Allen came by after he got off work and then Jim went with him back to mom’s house to get our Toyota Avalon.  When Jim got back he grilled a couple of steaks and some chicken for Elton and us to eat for dinner.  We will be at my brother’s house at least until Friday and maybe Saturday.

September 12, 2012

We read the paper and drank coffee with my brother this morning.  I cleaned the floors and bathroom in the Casita and then washed the sheets and put them back on.  I helped Jim replace some rivets on the Casita.   After lunch and showers, Elton, Jim and I went to see mom.  Her sister Ina and Ina’s daughter Jan came to see mother today.  They live in Scurry, Texas, not far from Rice and very close to Canton. We had coffee in the dining room at the nursing home and then we all walked to Baytown Seafood and had supper.  On the way over we walked through a parking lot by a grocery store and found a geocache.  We went back to my brother’s house and Jim and I cleaned off the lovebugs again from the front of the Silverado.  Elton had taped three episodes of DDD and I watched them.



September 13, 2012

Jim fixed pancakes for Elton and me this morning and I fixed some bacon to eat with them.  Jim and I went to mom’s house and moved a lot of flat stepping stones to the front of the barn so we would be able to park the Casita on it when we take it there to store it.  We went back to my brother’s house and got cleaned up and then went to get mom for her doctors appointment.  She will be going into the hospital after her Monday doctors appointment to try and get the sore on her leg healed.  She has been dealing with it for about two months.  They will debride the sore and then stitch it up.  They will also shave part of her ankle bone off -- they think the infection might be in the bone around the wound also.  We took her back to the nursing home and played bingo.  Jim and Elton went back to my brother’s house and I cleaned and straightened up my mother’s dresser drawers.  I fixed supper for us while Elton and Jim watched the football game and I washed three loads of mom’s clothes.



September 14, 2012


Jim and I took the Casita to my mom’s house and left it there.  Our trip is over and I will miss all the traveling.  Jim went home with the Silverado and I took mom’s clothes back to her.  I stopped at Jack in the Box and got her some tacos and onion rings for lunch.  I did a few errands for her and then went back to the Casita and spread a bag of fire ant granules around the Casita on the ground.  It is now stored in the country instead of on cement at a storage lot and I don’t want to take a chance of ants taking up residence in our little trailer.

Some statistics for our trip:

Days traveled                                                    113

Miles traveled                                               11,635

Brewpubs/brewpubs visited                                 68

Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives visited                            4

States Visited                                                   13

National Historic Sites/Parks visited                    25

Postcards mailed to mom                                  76

Pictures taken                                              8,947

Average Campground cost per night             $13.56

Total $ spent on gasoline                        $2,930.64

Average miles per gallon                                 14.2

5 presidential sites visited:

     Truman   - library, museum and grave

     Hoover   - library, museum and grave

     Ford        - library, museum and grave

     Lincoln   - library, museum and grave

     Clinton   - library and museum

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