Little Rock Visit

We stopped in Little Rock, AR for a couple of nights to visit our daughter and SIL.  We normally stay at Maumelle Park, but they only have 50AMP power near the docks where it is covered in trees that interfere with out satellite TV reception and the other sites are only 30AMP.  We checked with the Downtown RV Park in North Little Rock, and they had all full hookup with 50AMP, plus they honored Passport America  at $9.90 a night!!!   Of course, that is where we stayed this time!

It is a gravel park, with a little grass along the riverfront, but the price and proximity were great.   Here is our site and the view out the front window…..

I also thought we had an 18 wheeler parked with us, but then we drove around and found out it was someone’s home……….

We ate out twice.  We tried a Cheeburger—Cheeburger, trying to find the great onion rings that we had at that restaurant in Florida, but they weren’t as good!  We also tried a Greek restaurant, and it was very good.  When I down loaded my pictures from the camera, I found some pictures that Patsy took at the house of the pool and the dog……… Izzy!

We left Wednesday morning, and headed for Texas.  We spent the night at the Rusk State Park Campground, home of the Rusk-Palestine train ride.  We were the only rig in the park!!!  When we checked out, I asked about the occupancy, and the girl said that it was only that way on “weekdays”.

We left on Thursday morning, and headed to the Wolf Creek Park to meet up with one of our camping groups.

Sunday Visit with Betty and Vernon

As we said two posts ago, when we realized that we would be going through Memphis, TN on the way to visit our daughter in Little Rock, AR, we decided to pay Betty and Vernon a visit……. mainly to see her new grandson!!!   Patsy won’t pass up a chance to see and hold a baby!!

The grandson was Henry, the six-week old son of Betty’s daughter, Gina, and her husband, Jim.  We also got to see Betty’s other daughter, Dana and her husband, Jeremy.

Like some past visits, since Betty knew we were coming, she did a lot of work cooking a nice lunch.  She barbequed a brisket and had sides of green beans, a pasta dish, and veggies.  She then packed it up, and drove it 45 miles to Gina’s house!!   The next visit will be unannounced…… except for a pair of really loud air horns going off in front of her house when we arrive!!!

We did not take any pictures, but we got to see the old house that Gina and Jim are restoring into their home.  It is a big house, and they are doing a great job.

Here is a picture of Henry shortly after birth………..

and here is one with his proud Grandpa…….

In fact, Vernon was taking care of Henry when we showed up today.

And here is Henry showing off his happy Mom and Dad…..

Betty, Vernon, et al…….. thanks for a great meal and a great visit!!

We are spending the night at the Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, AR.  We have stayed here before with our RV’ing friends Mark & Sue and Manuel & Connie.   It was nice to have a 50amp hookup with Sewer.  We got a lot of wash done!!

Dinner at Lamberts Cafe

We had heard about the Lambert’s Cafe (Home of the Thrown Rolls) trio for several years from our RV’ing friends.  We knew there was one in Sikeston, MO, which was right on our way.

Once we got there, it was 5:30PM on a Saturday night!!  The wait for a table was about one hour.  We decided to wait, since it is a place that we wanted to experience.  We parked the Bus on a big lot behind the restaurant, started up the generator, and turned on the a/c to wait.

 

A view of the interior (and Patsy)………….

 

Patsy’s Charbroiled chicken breasts…….

 

Richard’s hamburger steak………..

The individual meals were large……. but by the time they got to the table, waiters had already been around with what are known as “passarounds”…… large pots of grilled potatoes with onions, macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas, and fried okra.  You also had the guy who went around with rolls…… throwing them to you from across the room, or handing them to you if you were close enough.  When you caught it, you immediately found out how hot and fresh it was!!

I took some pictures inside the restaurant, but between my camera being on the blink, and the low lighting, they are not good pictures!!

The roll tosser (he was actually very accurate!)……..

A table of young guys wanting rolls…….

Here’s a lady that was sitting across from us.  It appears that she has successfully caught a lot of rolls in her life!!!!

 

Pass-arounds being served…….

  

Patsy in the gift shop on the way out of the restaurant..

We drove an hour after dinner, and spent the night on a Wal-Mart parking lot in Blytheville, AR.

Montgomery, IN Amish Community

We left Berne and headed toward Montgomery, IN about 10:00am.  Along the way, we saw a designation on the Indiana State Road Map noting ‘the longest covered bridge in the USA’, so we decided to take a little side road to check it out. 

It was long, and also in bad physical shape.  The road to it was very narrow in places, but we were lucky that the traffic was very light……… we met very few vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

Here are some pictures………..

While we were sitting on the side of the road, a truck parked in front of us and delivered a porta-potty -- presumably for a construction work crew……

A better picture shot from the inside of the Bus as we crossed the bridge…….

 

We arrived in Montgomery in a bad rain storm.  Once it passed, we found a local campground park, and secured a site in it.  We then took the car and did some touring.  We found the Gasthof Amish Village, and checked out the restaurant and bakery.  We got a piece of coconut cream pie at the bakery, and decided to come back to the restaurant for the Friday night dinner buffet.  The food was great!!!!

Here are some pictures of the grounds at the Amish Village………..

 

A close-up of the yellow lilies…….

 

Patsy sitting on the porch of the bakery…….

 

The “Blue Door” gift shop

The restaurant………

A second gift shop on the grounds of the village…….

We asked where we could find the Amish.  The lady at the restaurant told us to go to the big auction at “Dinky’s” Auction House on Friday night.  We went on Friday afternoon, and found a ‘flea market’ of sorts with ‘expired’ foods and dented cans…… and the Amish women were buying it up.  The expired foods (like Hostess cupcakes) had only expired in the last few days.

We went back to Dinky’s after we ate on Friday night, and were surprised at the ‘auction’.  We expected to see professional auctioneers selling horses and other animals.  Instead, we found small groups in either building and outside listening to an Amish guy with an electric ‘megaphone and speaker’ auctioning off automobiles, potted plants & hanging baskets, odd tools and parts, and other grouping of things!!!

Here is Dinky’s…..

 

We did a lot of riding around in the countryside.  Here are some buggy and roadside pictures……….

   

On Saturday morning, we went to the Amish Flea Market at the Amish Village complex.  We bought something for Aubrey, but did not take any pictures.

We looked to the map, and decided that we would continue on to Little Rock to visit our daughter, but we also chose to visit Patsy’s cousin, Betty, in Memphis to see her first grandchild.

Amish in Berne, IN

As we traveled South after the SCIC rally, we stopped at a rest area entering Indiana, and found some maps and brochures.  One described Berne, IN as having an Amish community, so we decided to check it out. 

Berne was a nice little town, and we parked the Bus and used to car to ride around.  We only got a few pictures because Patsy does not like to have the Amish see her taking their picture, so they are always from a distance!!!!

Here are a few………

   

I took the following two pictures at a gas station…….

 

Patsy had read someplace that the Older Order Amish do not believe in covered buggies, and this must be one of those groups.  I thought these were their convertibles for the summer months, but there were not covered buggies to be found anyplace!!

We left Berne at about 6:00pm and drove past Indianapolis so we would not have to do that in the morning rush hour traffic.  We parked overnight in a Walmart parking lot in Greenwood, IN……. just south of Indianapolis.   We also topped off the fuel take at $2.81/gal.

Today, we will head to another Amish community in Southern Indiana at Montgomery, IN, and continue our trek back to Texas without a plan!