Going to Graceland Graceland.......

 

Thursday October 29- We got up early to hit the road to Mississippi. We were on the road before 9 a.m. It was going to be a long day for us. We had around 240 miles to go with a lot of that on 2 lane, hilly roads. We are going to Hernando Point Campground. We have been here before about 10 years ago. We had a different camper then. We actually stayed in the same site #50. Jeff planned a few stops on our way. When we stopped Jeff noticed something weird under the compartment where the battery is. Something is leaking, and whatever it is took the paint right off the rig. So we took some time to clean that up and try to stop the leaking. Something we will have to take care off for sure. When we pulled into the campground we had to be careful, it seemed like the roads were missing. There are lots of trees that have lost there leaves on the roads. Some of the branches were a bit low too. After backing into our site, which is right on the water and very private we had something to eat.

 

 

 

 

 



Our site had a water hook up, and 50 amp service. We walked around the park to get our legs stretched out. Jeff then got on the computer to do some research on the surrounding area. Tomorrow we are going to do the tourist thing. We are going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee.

 

 

 

Friday October 30- Busy, busy, day planned for us so we got a early start. First we needed to get fuel. Then we headed to Graceland by way of Krispy Kreme Doughnut Factory...those are for me of course. We got a good parking spot at Graceland that cost $10.00 and headed in. Jeff went to purchase the tickets.....ouch. They really are over charging for this, it cost us $40.00 each to see Graceland, the grounds and a museum with his cars. You get in a van to go across the street. They give everyone an I-pad and headphones. Mine had a short in one side. It was about what we expected it to be. The home was smaller than I thought. You didn't get to go upstairs. We looked through the home, the grounds, and the grave site before heading back across the street. Then we went in and checked out his vehicles they had on display.

 

 

 

It was neat to see but its definitely over priced. We did learn that Elvis was a very giving guy. They showed some of the charity's he worked with. We left the truck there in the parking lot and took a free bus to Sun Records. It was a neat old buildings but instead of going in for another tour we took some pictures and walked down to Beale Street. It was a beautiful day to be outside.






















Before leaving the area Jeff wanted to go look at the Gibson Guitar Factory. We didn't have time to plan a tour which we hear is free. We looked in the window and saw a little bit of how they put them together. We also walked in the shop there that had some guitars you could try. Jeff found one that costs about $6000 dollars and gave it a try, boy he said it even made him sound good.

 

 

 

Our next adventure required a bit of walking. We headed toward the river where Bass Pro has purchased the Pyramid. It is huge with the usual stuff but bigger. They also have a lodge, bowling alley, lots of restaurants etc. The walk was about a couple miles. It was fairly easy to get there too. We ended up getting lunch there in The Uncle Buck Restaurant and it was good. We looked around a little and headed out. We walked down by the river before heading back to Sun Records to catch the bus.

The riverfront is really kept up nice. The have an amphitheater across the river and a tram that runs under the bridge to the island and back.

We made our way back to the truck and then back to the campground. It was a long day but we had fun looking at all the sites. Maybe if we come back we will do the Sun Record tour and the Gibson Guitar Factory tour. We now have a good idea of places we could park and walk. Bye, bye, Memphis until next time.


Saturday October 31- Rain, rain, rain, that's what you expect on Halloween. Jeff decided between last night and this morning he wanted to purchase a dish tailgate. We had planned to go to Camping World to get a couple things anyway. So off we went to shop. While we were in Camping World the sky's opened up and the rain just poured. Jeff found everything he needed and more. We headed back toward the campground. We stopped at the store and Jeff topped off the truck with fuel. He got diesel for $1.97 at the Kroger gas station. He couldn't believe it. The biggest news today was about our grandson, Ashton. He had his first hockey games today. We didn't get to see him but our kids keep us up on all that goes on. Ashton scored the very first goal in the first game. They had a second game too and he scored the very last goal in that one. They won both games and I'm sure he was excited about the results. Seth even facetimed me so we could see some of the game.























He was a bit nervous I'm sure the first picture was before the first game. The second picture was before the second game. Way to go Jr. Roughriders!!!! Way to go #7......


Sunday November 1- Well we fell back last night so that means the whole day will be a bit mixed up. We worked on getting the dish receiver set up so we can activate it at our next stop. We also called the next campground to make sure they have spots available. We don't have reservations there. We also called Fort Pickens. We have reservations there on November 4th, but because of all the rain the road to the park is closed. We hope it will be open before we are to arrive. Tomorrow we move again to Brandon Mississippi, real close to Jackson.

Bull Shoals White River State Park

Sunday October 25- Both Jeff and I woke up early this morning. We are ready to move on to our next spot. After the sun came up we got busy hooking up and packing up. We were concerned about getting out of this spot but it wasn't a problem at all. We hit the road around 8:45. We decided to take a way that was a bit longer. We hoped it would be easier driving with less hills and turns. We had about 216 miles to our next destination. We have visited this park before about 10 years ago but never stayed here. We arrived with no problems and found our way to our site #27. We are in the first loop but not on the water. We have a full hook up with 50 amp service. A shower house was located right behind us and they really take good care of them. They are spotless. After lunch we walked around the campgrounds and checked out all they have to offer. The first thing I noticed right away was all the Carriage 5th Wheels. I have never seen that many at a campground. I think there was 7. We also stopped in the bait store and got information about getting our fishing licenses and bait. Just walking around I'm loving this place already.

Monday October 26- We got up early got on our bikes and went to the bait shop to purchase our 3 day fishing license and trout stamps. The guy in there was very helpful, giving us pointers and tricks on what to do and not to do. We did some fishing by Big Spring first. The river was really running so Jeff had to rig the poles for that. Didn't do too good here so we moved up by the bait shop.

Jeff caught a couple up there...me not so much. We stayed until the rain moved in and then we went back to the rig.

Tuesday October 27-It rained all night and hasn't stopped yet. We decided to go take a look at the dam and the visitors center. Last time we were here they were building it. The visitor center overlooked the dam. Wish it was better weather out there for viewing but still pretty amazing.

Went in to Mountain Home and got fuel. Then on our way back we stopped at Gaston's which is a trout fishing resort. We went in the restaurant looking to get a late breakfast but breakfast was over. So we got coffee and blackberry cobbler with ice cream which was so good. The restaurant had a view of the river and the décor was very unique. They had old bicycles and scooters hanging from the ceiling, lots of cool stuff on the walls too.

After getting back and when the rain stopped we headed back to the river. Jeff caught 3 more, me.....nothing. This is beginning to annoy me. It's me, I'm not a very good fisher woman.  We had the trout Jeff caught yesterday for supper. It was really good. I have one more day to get me a fish.


Wednesday October 28- It rained again last night but just cloudy this morning. We headed to our spot to throw in our lines. I didn't have any luck this morning. We went back for lunch and I believe I see some blue sky's. We went back down to give it one more try.

I did it!!!! I finally caught a trout. It's the smallest trout I've ever seen but a trout non the less. Jeff caught a few more. We came back and had supper. Jeff cleaned the fish and we started loading up our stuff. We are leaving tomorrow. We both really like this park. The facilities are very well taken care of. The river is so pretty, and there is a lot of wildlife too. I've never seen so many squirrels in one place. One evening when we were walking we counted 9 deer in the clearing across the road from us. The roads to get here are a bit hilly and curvy but definitely doable. We will come back here for sure but next time maybe stay a little longer. We found our favorite sites so maybe next time we can get one of those. They say this park is one of the most popular in Arkansas. We see why. Good bye for now Bull Shoals White River....see ya next time.

Lake Of The Ozarks State Park

Monday October 19- It was a beauty of a day to travel in. We were on the road about 9 a.m. The drive was fairly easy, the only thing was we have never been to this park so we had to watch close. We arrived and pulled over to fill up with water. Jeff got on his bike to take a look around. Its an older park and unless you are familiar with it, its kind of hard to figure out. There are no full hook ups. They have sites with 30 and50 amp and no electric at all. There are no water hook ups on site either. They  have reservable  and walk in.  On every site that wasn't occupied there was a sign on it that said available for 2 days. We didn't want one of those because we didn't want to have to move. We ended up taking one close to the check in area. They had water sites but again a lot of them had no electricity. We wanted to set up. Well we had picked site #3 but that wasn't to be. It had a really tight turn and with all the trees and posts it wasn't going to happen. Our neighbor came out to help us out. Jeff had to back up but then we were scraping the bottom. We took the site right next to it #4. Well it was on a pretty good curve but we got in. The problem was going to be getting out. We made sure we had an out. Just didn't use the road, we would make our way through the grass. We had 30 amp service and was close enough to the dump station that we could walk over with our portable waste tank. The laundry facilities was close too. The park is really big with over 180 sites. After setting up we walked around the loop to get a better look. The more we walked the more we understood the lay out. We went in to town for dinner. Went to Outback and got a steak, it was really good. Finished that meal with a yummy dessert. It was in the 70's today with lots of sunshine.























Tuesday October 20- I started the day out with the laundry facilities. Our phones aren't working very well at all. Our television isn't working very well either. We do have a few channels, but don't have any network channels. On a positive note our internet card works so I did get to catch up on the blog. In the afternoon I took a walk around the campground, its a big park with lots of hills. What has us puzzled is all the buildings are really nice but aren't being maintained all that well. The cobwebs are thick every where. The rest of the day we just hung around and did some cooking. Made some apple crisp and baked spaghetti for supper. Again today its really warm 10-15 degrees above normal.


Wednesday October 21- Another warm day, its been kind of windy so we didn't get the boats out. I took a short walk this morning. On my way back I heard noises coming out of the dumpster. I went back and got Jeff to help rescue whatever was in there. I grabbed a broom to open the lid. Well Jeff did that and the raccoon still couldn't get out. I spotted a big piece of wood that Jeff put in there so he could get out.                                                                                                                                   

After he got out he just scurried off, no thank you for us. For our reward we decided to go into town to the outlet mall. It's not as good as I remember which is good, nothing to buy.
Went to the grocery store and Jeff found his chips, the are cooked in avocado oil and the only stuff in them are potatoes and sea salt. That made him happy. We went for lunch at Bandana's, we love there turkey sandwiches and again they were really good. We got back and took the dogs for a walk and Belle had blood in her urine. We had this problem last winter in Florida and we used the special food to dissolve the bladder stones and continued with a urinary food. We went to get x-rays when we were in Iowa and he said she's having no problems...the stones are gone. So as soon as we get out of the state this..... We will watch her very close. Hoping for the best.


Thursday October 22- Another really nice day. We decided to take on off the hiking trails. We took the Lake view trail. It was only about 1 1/2 miles. It was around the lake and it was really rustic. We didn't want to take a very long one because we want to watch Belle. Its really warm today, we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine.

 

Friday October 23- We got some rain last night but it stopped this morning. It was still a cloudy, gloomy day. Went for a short walk and so did Jeff, he got a little wet because it started sprinkling. We knew it was suppose to rain so we planned to go to a show today. First we went to Bob Evans for brunch. We had some time to kill before the show so we looked at a couple stores. The movie was The Bridge of Spies. It has Tom Hanks in it. It was pretty good but seemed a little long. We didn't stay away too long, still watching Belle. She seems better. We watched some TV and hung around home.


Saturday October 24- It was our last day here. It was really warm last night. It seems to be cooling off some today. Since we are leaving tomorrow we went in to fill up the truck and anything else we needed. The campground had lots more campers this weekend but mostly down by the water. We walked around the loop and marked sites that would work for us. We also loaded up everything we could. We want to get out of here before everyone else does. We would probably use this campground again but this isn't our favorite area. There are sites for big rigs but its a bit confusing your first time in. Tomorrow heading to Arkansas, Bull Shoals White River State Park.

 

Hiting the Road

Wednesday October 14-Well today is the day, we are out of here. Good bye hosting spot, good bye shower house, good bye Pleasant Creek State Park. We had wanted to leave by 9 a.m. but when Jeff checked to see if the water pump worked.....it didn't. It took him awhile to get it to work and we really needed that to work because the park we are going to didn't have water hook ups. We left around 10:30 and before we got to Palo we had lost the clear site on the sewer line. We stopped to look but couldn't find it. The weather was perfect for traveling and we knew the route because we had taken it many times before. We are heading to Mark Twain Lake, Ray Behrens campground. It located close to Hannibal Mo. Before we traveled full time we used this park a lot. When we arrived we were surprised by the number of campers. All the full hook ups were taken so its a good thing Jeff got the water pump working. We found a good spot #28 and backed in. We have 50 amp service which is good. No water on site or sewer. The thing that really bothered us was we had no T.V. Neither of us remembered that. The internet was super slow, even my phone didn't work that well.

After setting up we took a drive around the park and noticed the beautiful fall trees and even spotted a  deer along the road.

 We drove to a gas station to see if we could get a fishing license. Jackpot...we each picked up a 1 day pass so tomorrow looks like we will be fishing.


Thursday October 15- Well I got up way earlier than I had wanted. Soffee woke up at 2:30 and wanted out of bed. I took her out and she went back to sleep for about an hour. Then she did the same thing. I took her out again and she laid down in the leaves..unusal I thought. I brought her in and stayed out in the living room with her. She was really acting weird. She wouldn't lay down, and wouldn't even close her eyes. She usually sleeps 95% of the day. There were lots of things that concerned me. She was looking different, and acting really different. At one point I woke Jeff up because she scared me so much. She eventually came around. I was really relieved. It was really cool in the morning so we went fishing from the shore. That way we could fish for awhile come back and check on Soffee, refill our coffee and go out on the water. The temperatures warmed up so we took the kayaks to the boat ramp and went out fishing. It was a beautiful day and the trees very colorful.

The fishing wasn't that good but it was a great day to be out on the water. The wind started picking up so we made our way back to the dock.


Friday October 16- Another cool morning so I had to wait a bit before going on my walk. The walk was very scenic. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.

This is a nice park, its quiet and very scenic. The rest of the day we hung around the park. We left the campground around 2. We are making a trip to Palmyra to meet a very special set of twins. A friend of mine, Amanda Crumrine had these babies and I haven't been able to meet them yet. This girl I met thru church. We had a bible study when they were in high school and the friendship has lasted with them. It was a big blessing in my life to know them. It was a mentoring study. I was the mentor which is really funny because I know I learned way more from them then they ever could get from me. It was a great visit and so nice to visit with her and her husband Dave. The babies, well who can resist babies. They were a bit timid at first but warmed up to us.

After our visit here we left and went to Quincy Il., we are meeting my best friend and her husband for supper. I had made reservations at Fuji, a Japanese steak house. We got a seat by the grill to watch all the action.

The food was great and so was the company. We visited a while then we both left to go to our homes. It was good to see my friend before leaving....going to miss her a lot.



Saturday October 17- Its cool again this morning. Jeff made us a campfire. The campfire was really warm. Jeff I guess didn't realize that until it was too late. He melted his crocks.

We enjoyed the fire, even the dogs liked being outside. After lunch we took off on another road trip. This time we are going to Mexico Mo., These folks are also from our old church. It took about 45 minutes to get there. It was nice to see them and visit. Bonus she made the best brownies ever.
We stayed and visited for quite a while then headed back. Thanks Guy and Jean for a wonderful afternoon.


Sunday October 18- I took a short walk this morning before heading into Hannibal. I was really excited to go because I was going to one of my favorite quilt stores, The Hickory Stick. Well when we arrived there was some kind of festival going on downtown. Down the main street there was vendors set up. Lots of crafts, food and activities. Walked through and spotted what we wanted to purchase. We got fudge, kettlecorn, and beer bread.

The quilt store didn't disappoint either. I found lots of fabric I couldn't live without. We came back to the campground and packed up our stuff. We are taking off tomorrow for the Ozarks. Good bye Mark Twain Lake.....its been fun.