Exploring the State Museums

One of the many old homes we saw along the way.

A slight glimmer of light was coming in through a crack in the shade. I knew it was not headlights so it must be the sun coming up over the River. We are in Saracen Park here just north of Pine Bluff. Today we head out to Little Rock to visit some of the State Museums there. We have about an hour drive. We planed out the trip so that we would go to each museum in the order of there position we mapped out. This would save us some time and miles. The kids have passport books that the parks stamp here showing that they visited the park. They are excited that they will add 4 new parks to their list today.

We arrived in Little Rock about 2:00. It was 104 degrees at that time and it felt hotter as we walked from the car to the first museum. We were visiting the Little Rock War Museum. It is located in the old Armory located just south of town. There is a lot of Civil War history here in Arkansas. The Civil War…World War I and II as well as Korea and Viet Nam are all represented here at the museum.

We also visited the Agricultural Museum in Scott. Something I had never seen was how they use to Gin Cotton. The old equipment housed here in the museum was really interesting to see. It was a laborious process back in those days to produce cotton fibers for clothes.

From there we went to the old State House Museum and studied all the exhibits there. A lot of information about Arkansas and Little Rock was housed there…most of which did not interest the kids…but they got their stamp and they were happy. The gift shop set us back a few dollars but it was well worth the money. 

It was getting late when we left the State House Museum so we headed out to find a place to eat. McDonalds topped the list of places to dine so McDonalds it was. After eating it was time to make the trip back to Pine Bluff and the RV park.

We really had a wonderful day filled with a lot of informative exhibits. It is amazing the amount of history you can find in places that most tourist never frequent. We have learned more about this part of the country visiting the smaller towns and out of the way places on our adventure…

 

Somewhere in Time    

Railroad Museum in Pine Bluff

 

After pouring our coffee we sat out on the patio with all our tourist information we had gathered up. There were several places in Pine Bluff that we wanted to visit. One of these places was the Railroad Museum. This was located just down the street from Serecan Park and it houses many of the locomotives from days gone by. Not only the old locomotives are stored there but many of the retired newer switch engines.

 

This car is marked with the year I was born

I tried driving one to see if it handled like the Motorhome

I would think the control panel would be a little more sophisticated than this

 

Kris finally agreed to stand on the front of the locomotive if Maw stayed close by.

This is the switching center for Little Rock to Texarkana.

The Museum was great but keep in mind…there is no AC!

We had a very enjoyable visit to this museum and it was free. They are open from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Monday thru Saturday. If you are in the area and like trains this is a must see.

Next we headed down town to see the murals on on the buildings. They have over 15 in town on the sides of buildings and they are something to see.

    

   

It was a fun day and we got to see so much of the town we never knew existed.

Next we headed over to the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame. This is located in the Civic Center around back.

 

Kris enjoyed playing on the stage…maybe he will be an entertainer…

 

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Serecan Park

This is the airplane simulator which was fun to ride in

Kris enjoyed the Game Warden’s boat that he drove

They had many animals on display

And fish too

And last but never least the Souvenir store where the real money comes out.

 

Well I want to let you know that Arkansas is not missing out on the 100 degree weather this year. We were 112 the other day and I don’t see any cooler temps coming our way. We are fortunate that we have a shady spot here at the park and we do get a breeze off the river so not all is bad.

We are headed over to the Nature Center down the street. They have an aquarium and many other exhibits to see. This will be a great place to be while the temps soar into the 100’s again today. They also have a walking trail that you can view many types of birds and butterflies. I think the walking trail will be an early morning thing and then retreat into the Nature Center to see the inside things.

We arrived at the center and parked not too far from the main entrance. We walked about 100 foot of the trail and decided that it was too hot so we went straight to the entrance and went inside. They have many stuffed animals there and reptiles of all sorts. The aquarium is under renovation so it was not much to look at. They did have some very large catfish and carp.

One of the exhibits was an airplane simulator that took you on a flight over the Arkansas River basin. It flew over different areas and explained the changes that have been made over the years. Another simulator was a Game Warden boat that took you out on the lakes and showed you what the Wardens do everyday to preserve the wildlife.

Overall the tour was enjoyable and we stayed cool. That has been the key here lately is to stay cool and have fun at the same time. We have not been able to set out on the patio and enjoy the outdoors. They have deer at this park that graze in the open areas in the cool of the morning but you don’t see them after 9:00 am. I myself stay in the shade after 9:00!

Tomorrow is the Railroad Museum and that looks like a lot of fun. I don’t think it is in the AC so this will be an early morning tour for sure. Old trains fascinate me…being that I use to travel by train as a young boy. This will give me the chance to travel back…

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More Hot Weather

 

 

 

 

I could hear trucks going down the road this morning as I laid there in bed. This was an indicator that it was late and that I needed to get up fix coffee and get something done before the sun gets up and heats everything up!

I did just that but Sherri had already beat me to the coffee fixin and she was in on the computer. I fixed mine and we both retired to the screen porch outside.

The porch is just about done and when I get the doors up we will put the carpet down and Sherri can buy her furniture. She is looking at buying a table and chairs and maybe some kind of bench with cushions. Our daughter in law had said we could have the one on their back porch but we are not real sure if it will ever make it here. It will be real nice when it is all done. We like to go out in the morning and set on the porch while it is still cool. We get a real nice breeze through there and it is comfortable until around 10:00 am and then it gets too hot to  enjoy. We bought some roll up shades for the East end of the porch that we can roll down to block the sun off in the morning. I put them up and I think they will work well.

Not much happening other than that. We will be working around the barn some  today. I need to weed eat the grass next to the barn and water my poor trees. They are just about to die from all this heat. I have not had to mow for some time and don’t think I will again until next fall when we might get some rain.

By the way sorry I have not given more information on where we stay….I will do better in the future.

Until next time I will sign off here and get to work…

Somewhere in Time

Enjoying the Cool Temps

Sherri has her on desk for make-up

Really nice facilities here

We have room to back in the Jeep

No one can walk off with out picnic table

 

Woke up this morning rested and ready for the new day. I made the coffee and then took my shower. Got dressed and then sat down at the dining room table to post.

Really not much to tell this day…when you have the same routine over and over again. I will have to say that taking the Motorhome with us when we go like this is much nicer than just staying in a Hotel.

We have so much that we could do here at the lake. By the time I get off and get home it is too hot and I am too tired to do anything but shower and kick back in a easy chair. I need to wash the Jeep but that has been put off for some time. I will be off all next week and some of those things will get done then.

Sherri and I had planned on going to Kansas for our grandson’s birthday but things did not work out in our favor so we…once again…will miss their party. I do hope that next year we are in a position to be there. I know I have said that before but with us both working and all the other things that we have to do it is hard to make plans.

This is my two grandsons in Kansas

 

Better get this closed out for now. Tomorrow will bring some news which I will report…

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Almost Forgot to Post!

Got to hurry up and get there…

We made it and this is the view out our front window

 

This was a work day for us both and we were up at 5:00. It was so nice waking up here in Arkansas setting beside a lake. The weather here has been hot but we are camped in the shade and it must be 20 degrees cooler.

Sherri Backs me in

I follow her instructions

      

She takes over the controls and levels us up         

   

Sherri what do you think that is? I have no idea Joe. Should we park next to it?

 

We had our coffee and left for work about 6:30. It took about 12 minutes to get there with very little traffic. Worked until 4:30 and then went to El Sol for Mexican food. We met some of our co-workers and had a very good meal.

Sherri dropped me off and went shopping and returned home about 8:30. We had a good day and settled in for the night to get ready for tomorrow…another day

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Working on the Patio

I know! I know!…I’ve been busy working around the barn. We have so many things going on that I don’t have time to post on here. Sherri went shopping this morning and I just finished the screen on the patio so I came in to fix me a bite to eat. While I was inside I decided to post. It has become hard to post every day but every once in a while I do get a chance to catch up on what has been going on in my life.

Sherri is leaving for Arkansas next week to work but I will not be going with here this time. I have  some things I have to get done here and there was not anything for me to do there so I will stay here next week. I hope to get caught up on some of the things we have started but have not finished. The patio is one of them and then I have some things I want to do to the Motorhome. With all this it will be good for me to stay behind and catch up on some of my chores.

Week after next I will be going for my physical at the VA. Now it is so much better going to the VA for my health care. Where once it use to take half a day to see the doctor…I get a 10:30 appointment and I am in the doctor’s office at 10:30. I don’t mind going there…well except for the parking. You might have to walk a quarter of a mile to the hospital but you do get in on time.

So much for all that I have some pictures of the patio. Next time I send some I will have it completed. Also I have some shots of the fence in the back yard and the playground that I  brought over from my daughter’s house. It is all coming together slowly but surely…

 

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Working on the Screened Room

It was morning and I slid out of bed rather slowly. Sherri and I have been planning on screening in our patio cover…located under the barn. Yesterday I mowed most of the morning so this AM I am rather spent. I made some coffee…poured me a cup and headed out to the patio to see where to start. We have to get an early start on these projects because of the extreme heat we are having this summer. Already we have had 100 degree temps three days in a row. GEEE come on fall weather. I never did like summer.

Sherri joined me on the patio and we discussed where to start. We had gathered all the materials we needed to start and finish the screen process. The carpet and furniture we have not bought as of this date but then Sherri is still deciding on what she wants. We are using the “Screen Tight” System and it is really nice to work with. The best place to start is at the beginning. I got all the needed tools out of the shop and to work we went. We worked until about 5:00 PM and it just got too hot to even breathe.

We have about half the project done and it will be next weekend before we get back on it. We put all the tools up and retreated to the indoor AC and fell into the recliners where we remained until bath time. Sherri did put together something to eat and then we watched a little TV before we headed to the showers and got ready for bed.

We are back in East Texas this next week to work and then we will return to the lake to complete our screened porch…

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Working and RVing

 

I drove back from Louisiana on Tuesday afternoon. It was a 4 hour drive and needless to say I was rather bushed by the time I arrived at the lake. Sherri was there with the slides tucked in on all sides and the jacks up it travel mode. We were headed back east to Tyler for a day of work. Our destination was the Tyler # 1 RV Park. We were only staying there one night and then off to work the next day. We told our host there that we would have a late check out due to our work schedule and they were kind enough to let us do it without and additional charge.

We like this park not only because of the good location but we are always treated well by our host. They don’t mind working with us when we have to work in Tyler and end up staying longer and sometimes shorter time than we originally planned. Those of you who work and RV know what I am talking about. It is not always easy to plan when you will be arriving or leaving some places coming from another location.

That night we did have some bad weather move into the area but no hail and no damaging winds to speak of. All was well with our stay there and it did run over till 2:00 and then we were on our way to Gladewater for a two day stay. The trip to Gladewater was short and before we knew it we were pulling in the front gate. I noticed on the electric sign out front in big red letters…”Welcome Pitman Family”. WOW how great is that. We stopped at the office and checked in for the two days. We got sight 40 right across from the office! That is a good site because you are close to the exit and laundry room. Before we lowered the jacks or put out the slides Sherri and I took off for the store to stock up on some groceries for the week. Here we work in the stores all week and then on our day off we go and buy groceries.

By the way I don’t think I showed you our new fridge we bought for the bay. We keep cold drinks in there and some overflow groceries. We are now looking for a freezer to set beside it. This gives us a little extra storage due to the fact we have the smaller fridge inside. It has worked out well so far.

We will be here for two days and then we are heading back to the lake for a few. After the 4th we head out again to work in east Texas. AHHH it wont be long and we will be going better places…

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Off to Work and Left Sherri Behind

Woke up this morning with many projects facing me. One of the biggest was putting up the sun shade on the  barn door. You see our door faces west and when the sun is setting in the afternoon it gets real hot in the RV. The windshield multiplies the heat 10 fold and it is all the AC unit can do to keep up with the temps as they rise. I decided to get a sun screen and hang it in the door of the barn so I could open and close it much like a shower curtain. When the sun comes up in the morning we don’t need the sun screen up but when 3:00 o’clock comes around we need something to shield it from the front of the MH.

I went down to Lowes and bought some wire and  turnbuckles to stretch across the top of the barn opening. I have ordered a sun screen out of the Camping World book that I will put grommets in across the top and down each side. On the top grommets I will install shower curtain hooks to ride on the wire and the grommets on each side I will bungee to the metal frame. With the shade hooked to the wire I can open and close it much like a window curtain and then bungee it tight to each side when it is drawn closed. I hope this works for those hot summer months ahead.

I do hope that soon we will not be here in the hot summer so all this will not  be needed then. My Direct TV box is located in the front cabinets over the passenger seat and when that sun beats down on the front windshield it over heats the box and it shuts off. For now I have a fan that I blow on the box to try and keep it cool but maybe the shade will keep me from having to do that?

OK that project is done less the shade which I learned yesterday is on backorder. We have to find some shower curtain hooks also to hang it up when it gets here.

I also bought a Flo-Jet for the dump…but I am thinking about taking it back. I think I can just use my Blueboy to haul off my waste and dump it in my BIL Septic Tank located next door. I noticed on the instructions for the macerator that maximum hose length was 50 foot. I had thought it would pump further than that? If anyone out there knows something I don’t let me know.

Just got word that they only need one person to work Monday so Sherri is going to stay home and catch up on some things she has been putting off for some time. I will pack up and head out Sunday and work two days and then get back home Tuesday night. We will then load up the house and take off for Tyler Texas and work there and then on to Gladewater. WOW traveling is one thing we still do…just not going to places we want to go to.

OK I have a lot to get done before I get on the road so I will sign off here and catch you later….

Somewhere in Time 

Back at Work

Sherri and I both bounced our of bed at the same time. We both were wide awake… and I use that term loosely. We started off real slow but picked up speed as time to leave grew closer. We are headed out to work today much to our dismay but it is what we have to do for now. Sherri had completed the laundry yesterday and packed the the bags. All I had to do this morning was get the house on wheels ready for our absence.

I always undo the water and turn off the HWH. These are precautions I  take to keep things from going south while we are gone. I surely don’t want the RV to flood while we are not there to catch it and no need for hot water if we are out of town.

The yard is mowed the house is secure so we are off for another week of work. I hope we are safe going and coming this week so I can enjoy more time off at our little place on the lake…

Somewhere in Time