SW USA 2024: The Canadian Coddiwomplers*
Along the way, we spotted 5 or 6 small deer – maybe mule deer I’m not sure – a hawk, a heron and we crossed the Mississippi River.
The truck stops and welcome centres along the US Interstate Highways are great. We tend to gas up at Love’s places and grab a tea or coffee. We did stop at an interesting Tennessee Welcome Centre on this leg of our travels. It was quite a large piece of land that is the site of a huge Solar Farm and inside the centre there was an extensive exhibit about solar energy. The facility is a cooperation between the University of Tennesee and the state. The university obtained authorization to build the solar farm and the state built the welcome centre.
We met Morris, a very nice gentleman, who works for the university spreading the word about solar energy. We enjoyed a chat with him and he gave us the low down about the exhibit and some suggestions for our visit to San Antonio. Morris told us it is the only, totally solar, self-sustaining solar installation. What is not used by the center is fed into the grid. I didn't get a very good picture but the solar array was huge covering many acres. A very interesting rest center.
It was a long day but we finally arrived at our campground for two nights. We stayed near Little Rock, Arkansas at Willow Beach Park, an Army Corp of Engineers camp. We stayed here on our way home in 2020 – our adventure that was cut short by COVID. It is such a lovely spot on the Arkansas River that we wanted to return.
The history of the Corp of Engineers dates back to the American Revolution, established on June 16, 1775. Today they have three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction and civil works. They are responsible for flood control and their work includes building dams and reservoirs. These areas may include recreational sites and very nice and quite reasonable campgrounds. There are 942 Camping areas in 35 states. This spot at Willow Beach Park is beautiful and quiet as you can see in the picture. We stayed for two nights.
Our beautiful site. We stayed hitched and relied on our bikes.
We cycled for the first time in 2024. It was a beautiful sunny day, 72 ºF in January! We decided on a short ride to a great Mexican restaurant for lunch. It was so nice to get the trikes back out on the road and after some minor maintenance, oiling, tire pressure, and test ride etc., we were enjoying the quiet, flat Arkansas roads. Another reason to try to stay multiple nights in one location. Our route took us through a small residential area right on the river.
The next day we headed to our Harvest Host campsite. Harvest Hosts are small businesses that allow you (through a paid membership) to stay on their property for a night or sometimes more. This one is a winery – the Live Happy Lane Winery. We have stayed at a horse farm, a brewery, a car dealership in Dallas, and there are places like craft businesses, working farms, museums ...you get the idea. They welcome you with a minimum of a parking spot for you and your trailer/RV. (So you need to be self-contained with your own washroom.) Some offer hook-ups or other amenities. There is no charge though it is common curtesy to purchase something.
This particular Harvest Host asked us to contact them when we were about 5 minutes away so they could give us directions as there are two entrances to their place. We did call but just got their voice mail so we waited for about 10 minutes on a quiet backroad at the first entrance.
Ernie came out in his truck and lead us to a very large gravel parking lot. It turns out that this winery isn’t officially open yet, they don’t even have any vines! We gathered it is a new location for an established winery near Lubbuck, Texas and the wines they had for sale were made there.
The young lady who told us about the various wines explained that all of the grapes used in making their wines are Texas grown. Who knew that Texas had a wine industry! We are good guests of our Harvest Hosts and purchased a bottle of red wine for friends who enjoy a men’s night of red wine and red meat.
It was a good night without any water or power, relying on the Jackery to power the TV and Elizabeth’s CPAP unit. After such a lovely warm day it was a bit of shock to feel how cold it became in the evening. We were fine though even without the fireplace. The furnace only came on a few times. (This was a good test for our new Lithium batteries that I installed before we left. We ran the lights, DVD player, fridge, furnace, other background devices and water pump for about 14 hours and they drew about 20% of their capacity...great. I have an app on my phone that tells me their State of Charge.)
On Friday morning, we set out on our last leg to San Antonio where we planned to stay for a week. There is lots to do while we’re there including regular chores like groceries and laundry (never goes away).
So long for now.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Misty, FJ (Flat Jesus), the Guys, Miss Adventure Too, and Clifford the Big Red Truck.
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