Land of the Hawks

While making a rather long drive from Memphis, Tennessee to Rockford, Illinois, we attempted to count motorhomes, an old game of ours to help pass the time. We were not finding too many this time of the year or on the roads were driving. We have counted other interesting things before like pronghorns in Wyoming and pick-up trucks in central Illinois.

This time however we soon began to notice all the hawks that were everywhere along the side of the road. They were perched on barren trees, fence posts, telephone wires and even on the ground. We saw them flying several times and we spotted them on lonely two-lane county roads and big, busy Interstate 55.

We spied the hawks in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois. Most of them were red-tailed hawks, but we know we saw some sparrow hawks as well as Cooper hawks, red-shouldered hawks and Swainsons hawks. Patsy tried to catch a few with the camera, but this is not an easy feet while driving down the road! Overall we saw well over a 100 hawks on our northward trek. Fall is a great time to spot them, as they are searching the plowed under fields for mice and moles and the leafless trees do not hide their presence as well.

Campground Review - Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park

We found a unique little RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas called Tom Sawyer's Mississippi River RV Park. Just getting to watch the barges float down the Mighty Mississippi makes this park a special place!

Staff - 9 - Three different staff members assisted us in getting checked in and settled in our spot. the guy who drove us to our site even shone his lights for us while we hooked up.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Very close to Memphis, Tennessee. You can see the city's lights across the river and down aways.

Natural surroundings - 9 - Right on the river with some great views. Trees are scattered around the park and surround the park.

Value - 7 - We paid $32 a night for a pull-in gravel site with full-hook ups with a discount from Escapees.

Bathrooms - 6 - They were smaller and cold this time of the year, but clean.

Roominess - 8 - Bigger than average-sized sites.

Facility fun - 6 - On river, fishing and boating are options.

Cleanliness - 9 - Clean park despite recently being flooded out.

Facility usefulness - 9 -  FREE Laundry, free wifi, small exchange library.

Overall - 9 - The river and free laundry made this a very pleasant stay for us!

Oh the Things You will See

By Patsy

Settling into our campground here in Arkansas, I am watching a tug boat push a barge down the Mississippi River out our front window. The campground is named after Tom Sawyer and the setting here really does bring to mind the wonderful stories of Mark Twain. The vine covered trees growing along the banks of the river as it winds its way slowly down stream. It makes me want to whitewash a fence somewhere. But as I look out at the unusual view, I am struck by how many things I have seen in the state of Arkansas that make me step back and say, “Well, you don’t see that every day.”

I have seen the famous bathhouses lined up along the main streets in Hot Springs, Arkansas where the wealthy would come for natural hot springs baths and massages by the hundreds. These patrons would sit in groups with towels wrapped around them basking in the knowledge that soon a perfect stranger would be washing them down with loofa sponges. You just don’t see people waiting in line to take baths with total strangers every day, but I guess you used to be able to see it quite regularly.

We have seen a woman lying on the ground under a tree in the middle of Hot Springs National Park at 10:00 a.m. Needless to say a woman lying in a fetal position in the middle of a wooded area in a National Park is cause to stop and ponder. After we made sure she was just asleep and not a victim of a crime or someone in need of a better place to sleep, we traveled on our way and shook our heads stating, “Well, you don’t see that every day.”

I have seen bill boards posted along the highway praising the coach of the Razorbacks and letting the world know that this is one rather appreciated man. I’m guessing that the Razorbacks are either doing very well right now, or this place really loves their team. Either way, this type of coach appreciation is not really something you see every day.

I have seen a small farmhouse with an industrial sized, public playground complete with climbing tubes, slides of different sizes and swaying bridges sitting in the farm’s front yard. This in itself would be worthy of notice, but I found it even more interesting to note that right next to this mammoth play structure were several very sharp, very dangerous pieces of farm equipment, including sharp plowing discs and rusted metal. Not a combination you happen to see every day on a child’s playground.

We have passed the car dealership of Josh Duggar, of 19 Kids and Counting fame. Not wanting to be prosecuted for stalking, we decided not to stop and demand autographs, but we did take a picture as we motored past. Again, a semi-celebrity selling used cars is not something you see every day, but there is a pretty good possibility that we will be making a return trip for a newer vehicle once we are done with our travels.

I saw a nice little house with a running refrigerator sitting on the front porch next to the front door. Certainly this would be a handy place to get nice cool refreshment when you are out doing the weekend yard work, but not really something you see every day.

We visited the Old Mill that is featured at the beginning of the movie Gone With the Wind, and were struck by the beauty of the building and its quiet streams and ponds. The mill and the area surrounding it were absolutely breathtaking. It was a photographer’s haven and I kept my camera busy the entire time we were there. It was truly a beautiful setting that you aren’t lucky enough to see every day.

We stopped at the site of the very first Sam Walton Wal-Mart store. Inside we were greeted with some of my favorite candies and toys from my youth. As we walked around and giggled at the sets of wind up chattering teeth and little red radio flyer wagons, I felt that I was transported back into my early childhood. It’s funny, but you just don’t get to see too many stores that still sell candy Wax Lips, Good and Plentys and Slow Pokes anymore.

Oh sure, there are many things in Arkansas that look much like every other state in our great country, but it’s those special little unusual surprises that I really love. It’s the things that you just don’t see every day that makes memories and Arkansas has given me some great ones.

First Walmart and Sam Walton

Sorry, but this post has been deleted because it is a part of our new book called Napkin Dreams!

Sam Walton's 1977 pickup

Sam Walton's office

Campground Review - Downtown Riverside RV Park

We stayed in an "urban RV Park" when we stayed at the Downtown Riverside RV Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is right across the river from downtown Little Rock.

Staff - 7 - We met two different staff members who were both helpful and nice. They did make sure to give us "special instructions" for our kids. I guess it is sort of like the talk you get about keeping cleaned up after your dog.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Right in the middle of Little Rock area.

Natural surroundings - 3 - Not what this is really about, but the park is right on the Arkansas River and the skyline is very pretty at night. Not too loud either, we slept fine.

Value - 10 - We paid $9.90 a night for a pull-in gravel site with water and electric using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - 6 - Converted trailer and shed, they were cold, but the water was hot and the bathroom was clean.

Roominess - 7 - Our site was set far apart from the others, but the others look normal sized.

Facility fun - 4 - Close to urban walking path.

Cleanliness - 9 - Nicely kept up.

Facility usefulness - 6 -  Laundry, free wifi, small exchange library.

Overall - 7 - Fun to stay for an overnight!

Old Mill of Little Rock

There is a beautiful park in North Little Rock, Arkansas where a very old mill is located in a picturesque setting called, oddly enough, the Old Mill Park. This mill has been around for many, many years and was a setting for a few scenes in the movie Gone With The Wind.

There are several strange bridges and rocks to climb on, so we had some fun exploring the place, teaching the boys more about the use of mills in history, and taking some fun fall shots!

Campground Review - Gulpha Gorge

While visiting Hot Springs National Park we stayed at the Gulpha Gorge Campground that is a part of the National Park.

Staff - 7 - Spoke with campground host who helped us with our problem. Check-in is all done on a monitor.

Nearby attractions - 8 - A part of the national park and close to the city of Hot Springs.

Natural surroundings - 10 - Lots of large trees and a pretty stream runs right by the campground. Still close to US 70.

Value - 9 - We paid $14 a night for a back-in blacktop site with full-hook-ups, getting half price with our National Parks Pass.

Bathrooms - 7 - Clean and modern, no soap at sinks and no showers.

Roominess - 8 - Our site had plenty of room on either side if a bit tight in length.

Facility fun - 6- Walking paths and an ampi-theater.

Cleanliness - 10 - Everything was spic n span.

Facility usefulness - 4 -  Picnic table and grill at each site.

Overall - 8 - Nice to stay at a National Park Campground with full hook-ups and a great price!

Hot Springs National Park

This post can now be found as part of our new book Napkin Dreams, which can be purchased on Amazon.com

50 McDonalds - Arkansas

By Patsy

There are some things that should just never happen. You should never put your head inside a hungry lion’s mouth. You should never jump up and down on a precariously balanced rock overlooking a deep ravine. You should never take the remote control away from a man in the middle of a football game. These are no-brainers for most of us. But what about those that dare to walk on the wild side? Those persons who thumb their noses at danger? Well, one of them must have been working at McDonalds today.

One of the quirky little things that our family has been doing since we started our travels across the United States is to stop at one McDonalds in each state we visit. The reason we picked McDonalds is because they are easy to find in every state, they are not too expensive to feed our family of 7 and it’s one of the few places where each of our sons can find something on the menu that they enjoy. We have been called “McNuts” for this practice, but we have decided to wear that badge proudly.

Sometimes our McDonalds stop has been only for my husband and me to get an iced coffee from the McCafe, and sometimes the boys are overjoyed to find that we are actually stopping for a family meal. Today, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was one such joyous day for our boys’ taste buds. At first, they were a little disappointed to find that there was no play land attached to this McDonalds, but that minor setback was all too willingly overlooked in the face of the toy that awaited each of our three youngest in their Happy Meals. Right now, Puss in Boots was featured in the meals, and though we have yet to see the movie, our little guys are enthralled with commercials. So, they happily began eating their meals.

Now, I don’t know how this works in your family, but in ours, I tend to set out the food for each of our little boys, and then immediately confiscate the toy. Then I keep reminding them that in order to get their toy, they need to show good manners and eat up their food. I know it’s not fair. The toy is technically theirs from the moment they get their meal, and they should be allowed to have control over their own toy, but I don’t necessarily play fair. I play to win. So it was that we found ourselves sitting in McDonalds, eating lunch and bribing our children with the promise of some really cool toy.

Then, I opened the little bag in which I had gathered the toys to take a look. The sight that met my eyes was one which would have felled a lesser mother of sons. Everything in the bag was pink! And not just pink, it all smelled like strawberries. A nasty shiver ran down my back. Did all my sons’ happy meals come with a Strawberry Shortcake toy? Oh, definitely this was one of the things that should be included in the list of things that should never, ever happen. I looked deeper into the bag and found that not only were all the toys Strawberry Shortcake dolls, but they each came with a pink plastic spoon! Was there no justice in this world?

I timidly asked a worker who happened to be walking by if there were any other types of toy they could substitute for us. He looked at the 3 pair of totally male eyes staring back at him and he winced. His reply was that he was just as sorry as he could be, but that was all they had at the moment. Then, he sprinted away as far from our table as humanly possible, never to show his face to my sons again. I turned to the boys and started to explain the situation with fear and trembling, but my youngest son, Chase, threw me a curve ball. “I don’t mind, Mom. I like spoons”, said Chase. He didn’t even seem to mind that the spoon smelled a bit like strawberries.

David and Brendan both gave him a look that clearly stated they were going to tease him unmercifully when they got him out of our hearing. So I decided to give him a little pep-talk before they turn on the abuse. I took him into the bathroom to “go potty” and while we were in there I reminded him that even if someone else made fun of him for liking something, he didn’t have to listen to them. I told him that I thought keeping his spoon was a great idea and if one or two of his brothers thought that was a bad idea, they were wrong. In fact, I told him, if he wanted to play with the Strawberry Shortcake doll, he could even do that. Chase looked up at me from the toilet with big solemn eyes and said, “Mom, you’re kind of creepin’ me out.”  I smile....pink spoons are one thing, but a boy with a Strawberry Shortcake doll is probably still one of those things which should never, ever happen.

Arkansas - our 30th state

We have now visited three-fifths of the states on our Napkin Dreams trip. Arkansas had the distinction of being number thirty. How many will we get to? Forty, forty-nine, maybe even fifty? Time will tell how far we get!

Campground Review - Sterling Crest RV Park

This cheap little park called Sterling Crest in Texarkana was definitely cheap in more ways than one!

Staff - 7 - Owner checked us in and was very friendly and answered our questions.

Nearby attractions - 6 - Close to interstate in Texarkana.

Natural surroundings - 5 - Lots of large trees but very close to an active and loud set of railroad tracks

Value - 6 - We paid $16 a night for a pull-through concrete site with full-hook-ups using Passport America.

Bathrooms - 1 - Don't go near them.

Roominess - 5 - Plenty long enough but pretty tight on the sides.

Facility fun - 2 - Pool was closed down, some porch swings and a common room with a very old pool table.

Cleanliness - 6 - Grounds were cleaner than the bathrooms/

Facility usefulness - 6 -  Laundry, large exchange library.

Overall - 4 - Trains and bathrooms sort of left us with a bad taste in our mouth.