Almost Home, West(ern) Virginia
Actually, we are home and have been doing chores around here like doing a top-to-bottom cleaning of our RV. This will be the last post for this trip so I've got to catch you up on the last few stops along the way.
After Fort Kearny we headed further east along I-80 but before leaving Nebraska we decided to leave the interstate and get back on secondary highways. We crossed the Missouri River into Iowa and headed east along US-34. Iowa, in case you don't know, is the buckle of the corn belt (notice the wind turbines, again).
We continued along US-34 to another charming campground near Chariton, IA called Red Haw State Park (we never did find out what a "red haw" is). Its main feature is a small lake (Red Haw) and lots of shade trees in the campground. We hiked around the lake (about 4 miles) but otherwise tried to keep cool. We were back in the land of humidity, after all.
From Iowa we turned south into Missouri parallel to the Mississippi River for a while then through Jefferson City and on down to Alley Spring which is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. My sister and her husband used to live in this area of Missouri and had suggested it (thanks Al). I had floated the Jacks Fork river with them years ago and it seemed like time to go back and treat Ann to one of the most relaxing river floats ever. We had a great time!
The river flow at this time of year is primarily from Alley Spring. According to a sign at the spring, it pumps out 81 million gallons each day into the river. It gives the water a unique color.
As we came upon a section of the river outside the national park near a campground, we saw folks just relaxing in the river. They brought their own shade, coolers full of beer and folding chairs. Well, it was very hot.
The day after our float we went to the mill that is right next to the spring itself. It rained quite a bit that day but it was a welcome change for us.
From the Ozarks we went a little bit south and east to West Memphis, Arkansas, just across the Mississippi from Memphis proper. We stayed at a private campground the was inside the levee meaning that it was at high risk of flooding any time the river came up. The park was built with this in mind. The park office was a trailer that could be moved when necessary. The bathrooms were built with solid concrete walls able to withstand flooding. All of the big electrical junction boxes were up on platforms 12 feet in the air.
The river itself was right there and we saw barge traffic up and down the river all day long.
We rented a car and drove into and around Memphis for the day. Actually, in retrospect, we would have been better off getting an Uber or Lyft into downtown and just gotten an all-day transit pass. We spent most of the day on Beale Street, famous as being the home of the blues. Louis Armstrong, Albert King, Muddy Waters, BB King and many others helped make Beale Street famous (not to mention WC Handy who wrote the song "Beale Street Blues"). The street is blocked off to traffic for about 3 blocks all the time and has a feel like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, especially at night.
We had lunch at a place on Beale Street called King Palace Cafe and split a pulled pork sandwich, fried green tomatoes and fried crawfish tails. It was all great. Later we went back to their patio and listened to a local blues/rock performer by the name of Sonny Mack who we thoroughly enjoyed.
At suppertime we went to the Blues City Cafe and ordered one combo plate (again, we split it) with ribs, catfish, baked beans and a bunch of fixin's. No doubt, the ribs were the best we have ever had. We had gotten friendly with our server/bartender while there. There was a large group of Japanese businessmen near us and, apparently their servers ordered too much food for the table. Six unclaimed 1/2 rack rib dinners were sitting on the table next to us and the bartender took four of them back to the kitchen. When he came back, he had 2 to-go boxes - one for us for us and one for the couple on the other side of us. We walked out with supper for the next day, no charge. Yeah! We did give him a great tip.
After eating we went to the Rum Boogie Cafe and heard a blues band that didn't really impress us. We left after one drink so we could go feed the cats who hadn't seen us all day. As we were walking back to our car, we passed the Blues Hall where a cajun band was playing and kicked ourselves for not going into this bar earlier. They were really good.
We had planned on heading to Holden Beach, NC for a couple of days, thinking we would truly make our trip coast-to-coast. However, a check of the weather forecast was for LOTS of rain there so we decided to head home.
So, after 14 weeks and one day, 21 states, 10,042.9 miles, 595.2 gallons of gasoline and 209 1/2 hours of actual driving time, WE'RE BACK.
After Fort Kearny we headed further east along I-80 but before leaving Nebraska we decided to leave the interstate and get back on secondary highways. We crossed the Missouri River into Iowa and headed east along US-34. Iowa, in case you don't know, is the buckle of the corn belt (notice the wind turbines, again).
We continued along US-34 to another charming campground near Chariton, IA called Red Haw State Park (we never did find out what a "red haw" is). Its main feature is a small lake (Red Haw) and lots of shade trees in the campground. We hiked around the lake (about 4 miles) but otherwise tried to keep cool. We were back in the land of humidity, after all.
From Iowa we turned south into Missouri parallel to the Mississippi River for a while then through Jefferson City and on down to Alley Spring which is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. My sister and her husband used to live in this area of Missouri and had suggested it (thanks Al). I had floated the Jacks Fork river with them years ago and it seemed like time to go back and treat Ann to one of the most relaxing river floats ever. We had a great time!
The river flow at this time of year is primarily from Alley Spring. According to a sign at the spring, it pumps out 81 million gallons each day into the river. It gives the water a unique color.
As we came upon a section of the river outside the national park near a campground, we saw folks just relaxing in the river. They brought their own shade, coolers full of beer and folding chairs. Well, it was very hot.
The day after our float we went to the mill that is right next to the spring itself. It rained quite a bit that day but it was a welcome change for us.
From the Ozarks we went a little bit south and east to West Memphis, Arkansas, just across the Mississippi from Memphis proper. We stayed at a private campground the was inside the levee meaning that it was at high risk of flooding any time the river came up. The park was built with this in mind. The park office was a trailer that could be moved when necessary. The bathrooms were built with solid concrete walls able to withstand flooding. All of the big electrical junction boxes were up on platforms 12 feet in the air.
The river itself was right there and we saw barge traffic up and down the river all day long.
We rented a car and drove into and around Memphis for the day. Actually, in retrospect, we would have been better off getting an Uber or Lyft into downtown and just gotten an all-day transit pass. We spent most of the day on Beale Street, famous as being the home of the blues. Louis Armstrong, Albert King, Muddy Waters, BB King and many others helped make Beale Street famous (not to mention WC Handy who wrote the song "Beale Street Blues"). The street is blocked off to traffic for about 3 blocks all the time and has a feel like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, especially at night.
We had lunch at a place on Beale Street called King Palace Cafe and split a pulled pork sandwich, fried green tomatoes and fried crawfish tails. It was all great. Later we went back to their patio and listened to a local blues/rock performer by the name of Sonny Mack who we thoroughly enjoyed.
At suppertime we went to the Blues City Cafe and ordered one combo plate (again, we split it) with ribs, catfish, baked beans and a bunch of fixin's. No doubt, the ribs were the best we have ever had. We had gotten friendly with our server/bartender while there. There was a large group of Japanese businessmen near us and, apparently their servers ordered too much food for the table. Six unclaimed 1/2 rack rib dinners were sitting on the table next to us and the bartender took four of them back to the kitchen. When he came back, he had 2 to-go boxes - one for us for us and one for the couple on the other side of us. We walked out with supper for the next day, no charge. Yeah! We did give him a great tip.
After eating we went to the Rum Boogie Cafe and heard a blues band that didn't really impress us. We left after one drink so we could go feed the cats who hadn't seen us all day. As we were walking back to our car, we passed the Blues Hall where a cajun band was playing and kicked ourselves for not going into this bar earlier. They were really good.
We had planned on heading to Holden Beach, NC for a couple of days, thinking we would truly make our trip coast-to-coast. However, a check of the weather forecast was for LOTS of rain there so we decided to head home.
So, after 14 weeks and one day, 21 states, 10,042.9 miles, 595.2 gallons of gasoline and 209 1/2 hours of actual driving time, WE'RE BACK.
14 weeks and one day, 21 states, 10,042.9 miles, 595.2 gallons of gasoline and 209 1/2 hours of driving - Welcome home!!!! That must be a record.
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