"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

April 24, 2007 We got up before chicken lady and joined Mary and Bob at their place for coffee. We heard about Fred, an elderly man, they had met years ago in Montana. He was an interesting character traveling about with his dog, Sheldon, who was company, but did not ohhh and awww at the sites. We left Mary and Bob to get on the road; they had 4-hundred miles or so make today. And we did some shopping then some internetting. Kathy did some shopping at the classy Good Will store next to the BWW- new Docker shorts for $2! Just about noon and we got on the road, MO62, heading east. Charleston was a neat little town that someone has pulled together with covers over the sidewalks. The Mississippi County courthouse stands in the center town. We came next to Cairo, where the Ohio joins the Mississippi and we cross over into Illinois. Across the river we drove into Fort Defiance State Park right down on the confluence of the two rivers and made some lunch. We did our morning constitutional aro...

April 23, 2007 We had a slow start to the morning listening to the wind in the trees and watching the sun slowly peek out of the clouds a few times. Will woke up slowly working his mind on a few Kurko puzzles. Kathy read her book, American Gods. Here is one from the book: “Henzelmann told them a story about his grandfather’s trumpet, and how he tried playing it during a cold snap, and the weather was so cold outside by the barn, where his grandfather had gone to practice, that no music came out. Then after he came inside he put the trumpet down by the woodstove to thaw. Well, the family’er all in bed that night and suddenly the unfrozen tunes start coming out of that trumpet. Scared my grandmother so much she nearly had kittens.” We hiked the two-mile trail through Crowley’s Ridge, named after a participant of War of 1812 and one of the first settlers in the area. The uniqueness of the region, the unusual soil types and rare plant species make this a prime area for research. There are...

April 22, 2007 We walked around the Waldorf getting some fresh air and waking up. Coffee followed and then we were a little more awake. Kathy worked on some correspondence and Will worked on the map. We were the first in line to get our tire fixed. That done we did some shopping, had some breakfast and it was one o’clock before we knew it. We made another stop at an Auto shop where Will bought a heavy duty air compressor. In Wynne, city with a smile, we almost got hit by a helicopter. The drive was through flat land that was mostly plowed up dirt. We crossed the Francisis River into Missouri. First town was Campbell. They had their own caboose and a large barber shop and a mural. This is peach country and this town claims to be the Peach Capitol of Missouri. Landscape changed to hill country. Just a few miles out of town we found Morris State Park, 161-acre park featured along Crowley’s Ridge Parkway. It protects the Crowley’s Ridge, which stand a few hundred feet above the Mississippi...

April 21, 2007 Happy Earth Day! Remember save water. If it is yellow, let it mellow and if it is brown, flush it down. After rising we made coffee and readied the Roadtrek for departure. Will got our hard boiled egg ready and what did he find? A double yoke! Jen and Troy, we thought of you having double yokes for deviled eggs. Fishermen came and put out to the river, birds chirped we were soon ready to go. US165 goes through rural lands of waves of amber wheat fields, rice paddies and open land. Small homes are scattered about, a few southern plantation homes with tall pillars and towns with churches and trailer homes. Large grain elevators spot the countryside. There are some neat little towns along the way too. We used the wifi in DeWitt (Justin IMed us and we got to chat a bit; hi was at the airport in San Diego), drove around the town square twice past the general hardware store, twirling studio and domino club. The town even has it’s own caboose. We continued north on AR1, the Gr...

April 20, 2007 Birds sang the coming of morning. We rose to a beautiful sunny day. The park is closed due to budget restrains, but the boat ramp is open to fishermen. We walked the short path leading to little camping areas that is closed now. Duckweed fills the swampy areas. A big worm wiggled and a poor snake never made it where it was going. Bright red cardinals sit and sing: twit-tu tu, tu, tu; a blue jay drops out of the trees to look mor e closely at the ground. Snowy Egrets (They sound like crows when they call.) fly out early and back late; dark cormorants (They sound like ducks.) fly back early and out late. The great horned owl, calling whooo whooo wit-whooo, sits high in the dead snag; he swoops down looking for a meal. Bullfrogs call, burrrripit, to us wanting a kiss. Will busied himself with projects; Kathy read. She is now reading American Gods, a fantasy adventure by John Goiman. We ate our meal, played a game and watched the comings and goings of man and bird. Fishermen...

April 19, 2007 What a beautiful sunny day. There was lots of traffic zooming across the bridge. Last night Will had put some stones along the edge of the Saline River, which has flooded over its banks. This morning the river was several yards down so it is slowly receding. Will made us some coffee and enjoyed a few minutes in the sun. See our new Pro Bass Shop chairs! We headed on across the bridge. Along AR139 east of Monticello we noticed some hawks sitting on a tall snag, dead tree. We stopped and just then two woodpeckers chased them off. We got pictures of the woodpeckers instead. In Winchester we had to help the postal clerk understand how to mail unique packages. Then we continued to Dumas. Real daises are now appearing on the side of the road. We have past bayous and fields. Will stopped and picked some for Kathy. The next wildflowers along the roads were forget-me-knots. Arkansas Post National Monument is a good excuse for saving some land for the public. We liked the touchy f...

April 18, 2007 Food and Fuel…we were the first to come up with that concept. Way back in the beginning, 1995, we set up our budget and started it all off with “Food and Fuel” which ment we could either eat or drive. If we sat somewhere a few days we could actually save money! We have kept that same budget and it works very well. Today with the price of gasoline we drive fewer miles per day than we did back then, but we can still catch up by not driving! Homer City; a small, but quaint with a town square. Crossed into Arkansas at Junction City. Stopped at Wal-Mart in El Dorado. The Moro State Park on the Ouachita River is where the road used to cross the river. They have a pet alligator. There is ferry exhibit here; the ferry used to run here in the 1800s; starting in 1965 a ferry has operated here. It is considered the floating bridge for highway 15. an average of 250 vehicles crossed the river each day. Today there is a bridge. We checked out the design for a house boat on a pontoon. ...