Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Unpublished Excerpts
No Beer Here
We bought groceries in Tennessee but they don’t sell beer there on Sunday. Driving the Interstate through Arkansas we didn’t find beer either. Stopped at the first store we found in Texas—it was a “dry” county. Three days without beer. (sigh) Some things are NOT the same all over the US. Travel rule #5 says “Respect Regional Cultural differences—but it’s hard when there is no beer.
Arkansas
We whisked through Arkansas on Interstates 40 and 30 with only 3 side trips. # 1. Into Little Rock to see Central High School National Historic Site. There is a wonderful visitor center that tells the story of the 9 courageous students who integrated this school—not all that many years ago. The school itself is the most imposing educational edifice that I have seen. I’ll try to include a photo. This is really the only Civil Rights stop we made in our journey through the south. #2. We ducked off the highway to find a state park to spend the night. (We did not go to Hot Springs even though there is a National Park. It sounded way too touristy. We did not go to the state park where you can hunt for diamonds.) #3. We did take a detour to Historic Washington State Park. It’s one of those old towns with a lot of history and refurbished buildings. It was VERY quiet when we were there. We took a tour. Washington was for a while the Confederate Capitol of Arkansas. Had a great plate lunch at the old tavern—good food and reasonable price.
Texas State Parks
Three nights in Texas and we have slept in 3 state parks. Not as cheap as Louisiana to be sure. Most of them charge an admission fee in addition to the $16 camping fee. Staying in a state park always takes extra time because of leveling issues. One of the biggest challenges with a small motor home is getting it level. We have a set of orange and yellow leveling blocks but sometimes not enough-- so we look for the most level spot we can find. The state parks here are certainly not crowded at this time of year. In fact at the first one there were over 60 sites and we were the only campers—not even a park host.
We have been heading all this time toward Austin but when we got there we discovered it is NOT an RV friendly city. We could not find a place to park anywhere: which is why we ended up in state park #3. It was 80 degrees—a nice afternoon for a hike and sitting in the shade with a book. Texas state park #4 charged $7 per person in addition to the camping fee and it was quite nearly full. The huge charge is because of the spring fed swimming pool which of course everyone wants to use (not us). The temperature is a constant 72 degrees and you can swim with the fishes—and the scuba divers.
We bought groceries in Tennessee but they don’t sell beer there on Sunday. Driving the Interstate through Arkansas we didn’t find beer either. Stopped at the first store we found in Texas—it was a “dry” county. Three days without beer. (sigh) Some things are NOT the same all over the US. Travel rule #5 says “Respect Regional Cultural differences—but it’s hard when there is no beer.
Arkansas
We whisked through Arkansas on Interstates 40 and 30 with only 3 side trips. # 1. Into Little Rock to see Central High School National Historic Site. There is a wonderful visitor center that tells the story of the 9 courageous students who integrated this school—not all that many years ago. The school itself is the most imposing educational edifice that I have seen. I’ll try to include a photo. This is really the only Civil Rights stop we made in our journey through the south. #2. We ducked off the highway to find a state park to spend the night. (We did not go to Hot Springs even though there is a National Park. It sounded way too touristy. We did not go to the state park where you can hunt for diamonds.) #3. We did take a detour to Historic Washington State Park. It’s one of those old towns with a lot of history and refurbished buildings. It was VERY quiet when we were there. We took a tour. Washington was for a while the Confederate Capitol of Arkansas. Had a great plate lunch at the old tavern—good food and reasonable price.
Texas State Parks
Three nights in Texas and we have slept in 3 state parks. Not as cheap as Louisiana to be sure. Most of them charge an admission fee in addition to the $16 camping fee. Staying in a state park always takes extra time because of leveling issues. One of the biggest challenges with a small motor home is getting it level. We have a set of orange and yellow leveling blocks but sometimes not enough-- so we look for the most level spot we can find. The state parks here are certainly not crowded at this time of year. In fact at the first one there were over 60 sites and we were the only campers—not even a park host.
We have been heading all this time toward Austin but when we got there we discovered it is NOT an RV friendly city. We could not find a place to park anywhere: which is why we ended up in state park #3. It was 80 degrees—a nice afternoon for a hike and sitting in the shade with a book. Texas state park #4 charged $7 per person in addition to the camping fee and it was quite nearly full. The huge charge is because of the spring fed swimming pool which of course everyone wants to use (not us). The temperature is a constant 72 degrees and you can swim with the fishes—and the scuba divers.
# posted by Carol Harma @ 10:10 AM 
