Drove to Jean Petit State Park in Arkansas yesterday. A beautiful campground and area. We are camped on Lake Bailey. Up early this morning and went to the Jean Petit overlook. Great views of Ada Valley and the Arkansas River as the sun was coming up.

Below is the legend of Petit Jean

There is a 95 foot waterfall here in the park so we went to the Cedar Creek Falls overlook. A great view from above the falls. On to Mather Lodge to the trail head to the bottom of the falls. The literature says a 2 mile hike but round trip it was close to 4 miles according to my GPS on my phone. The first half mile drops over 200 feet to the creek.  Trail was steep and footing not the greatest but it was worth it.

Saw a lot of wildflowers. Trout Lilies, Early Saxifrage, Rue Anemone, and Spring Beauties.

Tomorrow we move on to Devils Den.

Explored the park today. Drove several miles to the boat landing on the Mississippi River. Joyce found a few flowers and we got pictures of a tug pushing a string of barges. It was quite foggy on the river and made for interesting pictures. Drove back to the camper and had lunch.

After lunch we drove several more miles to find there museum and nature center plus a couple of lakes. Took a while to find them. One of the side trips we took led us to a shelter. In that area was a house that had fallen in. Couldn't tell if was from neglect or a tree that came down during one of the two ice storms that they had here. A lot of tree damage. The woman at the visitors center said it sounded like gunshots going off.

We finally got to the nature center and it was closed. We did see a red tailed hawk wit a broken wing in a pen. On the way we saw a Barred Owl and Joyce got a nice picture of it.

Later in the day I took a short hike down one of the 18 miles of trails here. Trees blocking it in a couple of places.

Now watching a BB game on TV. Can't get the Va game since it is on cable. Just as well as I get to tense watching them play. Thunder storms have been rolling thru, some quite heavy. We have been under watches and warnings all evening. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny but a little cooler but I expect we can handle 64. Was up to 69 today.

Hopefully I will find a place where I can post these.

March 27

Now at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park north of Memphis. Been raining since we got. Comes in waves. Heavy rain and lots of thunder. Set the camper up in the rain and while we got wet, the inside of the  camper did not. However, we do have a leak around one of the roof vents. Have a basin catching the water and not leaking heavily.

This is another state park that costs us $11.43 per night. Gotta love it. Has lots of trails and bird and wild animals. Also a nature center. Weather supposed to be better tomorrow and good on Saturday. Plan to leave Sunday but sure of where we will go.

We bought a small TV with us since we have an antenna. Tonight we can get over 25 channels. Yesterday it was 29. Able to watch some the programs we like and some of the BB games. I have mixed feelings about it.

Very windy today. Affected us quite a bit. Both hands on the steering wheel. Then mix in rain, fortunately no hard and it is a challenge.

March 26

After spending more time in Asheville then we had planned, we are now in Lebanon, TN at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park. Weather was quite cold in Asheville this morning as we packed up-to leave.

Yesterday was nasty day. Heavy snow squalls all day, high winds and cold. Not a fit day for man nor beast. I had really wanted to leave yesterday, but in retrospect I am glad we did not. There was snow in the Smokies, and while not a large accumulation, the road was steep and curvy. Would not have been good with blowing snow and poor visibility.

Today was a pleasant day to drive. We changed time zones and when we got to our original destination for the day it was only 12:30 CDT. too early to stop. Decided to drive closer to Nashville so tomorrow's trip won't be as long.

This a nice campground about 8 miles from I 40. Not crowded and with discount only $11.43. Can't beat a deal like that.

Today has been really pleasant. No place to be,no real schedule to keep. We devoted this day to shopping for some small items we needed/wanted. I repaired the leg on one of our tables that folds against the wall. In the process found out that there is a leaf you can put in it.

Wasn't able to watch the ball game last night because I had trouble hooking up the cable. Tried to run the coax thru the window but that was a no go. Did some research this morning and the solution was so simple. Run it in under the Velcro. Felt kind of dumb. Took care of of that and now we have cable. I have ambivalent feelings about that.

Went to the Asheville Farmers Market and looked around. Lots of crafts, honey, pork side meat and various other things. Not much is there this time of year. We did buy some "creasy salad" and are looking forward to eating it.

Weather and traveling may be interesting tomorrow. Forecast is for mixed rain and snow in Asheville and the lower elevations. We have to go thru the Smokies tomorrow and they are predicting all snow. So stay tuned.

Got to the Asheville West KOA around 4:30. Drove thro some rain on the way here but I have driven in worse. Met our friend Katherine Cross for dinner at a Chinese Buffet. Had seen her for some time and it was quite nice. We are still figuring out some of the things with the camper. We are staying here tomorrow to make sure we learn everything we need.

Managed 14 mpg today. Not too bad.

Joyce and I are heading west again. Hope to get as far as Utah again. We have a new to us camper and are hopeful it will be more comfortable than our pop-up. I will try to update this as often I can. 

Our first stop will be in Asheville for two nights. Too sort everything out as we haven't camped in it before.