Grapevine to Little Rock

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Our next stop will be the Vineyards RV Resort in Grapevine Texas - on the north side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It will be a short drive of just under 100 miles along US-180 as it intersects Interstate 20. I take advantage of the short day by heading into Weatherford for a haircut before we take off. Not far out of Mineral Wells was a construction detour. The two eastbound lanes were closed and the detour was a couple hard 90 degree turns on a sloped median section. The 18 wheeler a few vehicles ahead of me was having a hard time negotiating the turns. At that point, I decided we could avoid the situation completely by skipping this route and heading straight to I-20 from Mineral Wells. It's a bit longer but worth it. By the time we leave the campgrounds, the wind has really picked up. Driving in big cities like Dallas is never fun but the wind was more of an issue than the traffic was. Even with the obstacles, we made it to Grapevine without too much trouble.

The Vineyards is a much fancier campground than we typically stop but we have a reason for picking it. Our three nieces will be coming to visit and having a beach area and playground equipment will come in handy especially since we don't have our dog to help entertain them. Plus is is reasonably close to where Chris' brother lives, so travel back and forth won't be too inconvenient. Our first day in town brings something we haven't experienced in quite some time - thunderstorms. We didn't have it too bad near us. The campground is very near DFW airport, so there constantly seemed to be rumblings but usually just jets taking off.  

Pretty View at Vineyards

Our Site at Vinyards

The next four days is mainly spent with relatives. Sometimes at our place and sometimes at my brother in law's place. It was nice to see family and get a break from our standard tourist activities. We did get to explore downtown Grapevine a bit. The downtown area has all sorts of little shops. We stopped at a glass blowing place and looked around at all the neat glassware for sale but decided having fragile things might not go along with our rolling home. We did sit and watch the two guys working in the production area. They have several benches to sit down and observe the work in progress. The pieces in progress didn't require any "blowing" per we but it was still fascinating to watch as he went through the steps to produce the vase like objects. 

Working the Molten Glass

Flying Unicorn

A train yard with some vintage cars is part of downtown. Apparently they offer train rides but we didn't investigate the when and where since we knew we wouldn't have time while here. On top of the tourism building is an elaborate mechanical clock with moving figures - a glockenspiel. Well, the would be train robbers, Nat and Willy, are supposed to be moving and have a shootout several times a day but it is currently out of service while they wait to get a replacement part. Bummer. We head up to a small arboretum and wander around. With the rain having just ended, the humidity levels are even higher so we head back to the rig to cool off.

Old Locomotive

Clock Tower Out of Commission

Over the weekend, the nieces come to visit and play on the beach before heading back to the rig for a campfire and s'mores. Unfortunately the firewood from the campground store wasn't very dry and we really hadn't planned by having any fire starter or kindling, so just getting enough of a fire to even heat the marshmallows was a challenge. The girls (twin 8 year olds and an 11 year old) spent the night with us over the weekend. All were well behaved with only a little after hours giggling before we all drifted off to sleep. The next morning was a combination of swimming and sand castles. We also managed to fit in a brief fishing trip on the other side of the campground where there is a small pier specifically intended for fishing. The fish were not biting and the girls patience was limited. Glad we were not counting on caught fish for dinner. We all headed to one of our favorite restaurants when in the Texas area - Chuy's. We first tried the original place in Austin a few years ago and have recently discovered they have locations in many other states besides Texas. 

Nearby Marina at Vineyards Campground

Water Play

Chris and Her Brother and 3 Nieces

Switching Bait While Fishing

Showing Patience

Come On Fish!

Sand Castles

Our last day with family was back at my brother in law's house. We had bought the girls an assortment of water guns but managed to keep them out of reach until after we finished our cookout. The girls changed into their swimsuits and we had a lengthy water gun fight. They constantly came up with new "rules" that gave them an advantage. Of course, the biggest advantage they had was they were in the swimming pool so they really couldn't get any wetter! Even with my quick drying shirt, I was wet for a long time, but it was a fun afternoon. It's amazing how the time flew even though we didn't do much sightseeing during the 5 nights here.

Our next destination was a short drive to Denton. Not to camp but to get replacement tires for the motorhome. We had tried to do this when we were in Tucson for the month of March but had no luck with the dealer getting in the 6 tires we needed. We had called this place in Denton a few weeks ago and they thought they could get them in for the date we would be in town and when we called a day ago, they had succeeded. We pulled into the place, unhitched the Jeep and explored town for a bit to kill a couple hours needed to complete the changeover. Did we absolutely need new tires? No, there was plenty of tread left, but with RVs, generally the tires will "age out" before they will wear out. Our tires were original to the coach and have date codes telling us they were over 7 years old. Some people will push their tires to 8 or even 10 years but we decided it was better to error on the safe side. After bopping around town for a while, we head back and find they are close to being done. We used our FMCA membership to buy the Michelin tires at a reduced price, but with installation, we come out of there $4600 lighter!

Missing Wheels

Replacing Rears

Since we weren't positive how long we would be in Denton, we hadn't made any definitive plans for where we camp. Chris had put together a tentative schedule/route and even booked a campground in southern Kentucky near Mammoth Cave National Park, but that was over 800 miles away and seven days out from Denton. We start heading east with a couple options in mind for the night based on traffic and ambition. We made it to the Elks Lodge in Texarkana Texas. We head into the bar to register and pay. This lodge is about as laid back as they come. We each have a beer, talk with some of the locals and pay our $10 to spend the night. No paperwork to fill out and they don't even check my Elks membership card. They have a few outlets out by their sign including a 30 amp service that works. There is a fair amount of road noise initially but isn't too bad overnight. I drive the couple miles to the east side of town which is in Arkansas to do a couple geocaches. It's not clear how the city services are divided between the two states. One of the buildings I go to sits squarely in both states. 

Split Between States

That evening in Texarkana, we try to determine where we want to stay as we head northeast to Cincinnati. Based on campground availability and things to do, we shoot for Little Rock Arkansas the next day - about 150 miles away. The drive goes smoothly and we pull into Maumelle Park. This is a Corps of Engineers (COE) park. We have had great experiences with other COE campgrounds all over the country. They almost always are next to some body of water usually related to a dam on a river that they have constructed. Coming in on a Tuesday without a reservation wasn't an issue at least for the 3 nights we wanted to spend there. Our site was good although it has a shared drive with the adjacent site. Not a problem since nobody was there while we were here. 

Our Site at Maumelle

The next day we drive into downtown Little Rock. We have a few goals in mind with the first being to tour the State Capitol building. Like many others, it is large and impressive. There is some sort of construction project taking place on the grounds surrounding the building but it doesn't interfere too much. The security screening to enter is pretty straightforward and the guard gives us the lay of the land before he head in. We pick up the map to help with our self guided tour and start exploring. Lots of stone (marble?) and oak make up most of the interior surfaces. The center dome is nice and not overly ornate.  The two wings to the senate and house chambers have large curved skylights and murals on each end. The second floor has the treasury office with a vault. The guard had told us that if we visit, we would be able to hold half a million dollars! He hadn't told us there would be a huge line of people waiting for their turn. We checked it out but decided not to spend the time required to get our hands on the money. It's not like they let you keep it.

War Memorial

Main Dome

Show Me the Money!

Senate Chambers

Firefighter Memorial

There are several monuments on the surrounding grounds but it doesn't take us too long to see everything that is at least within close proximity to the Capitol building. We search for a good lunch spot and find one called The Root Cafe. Good food and a nice outdoor patio for our dining pleasure. The next destination is to check out the park areas all along the Arkansas River. We find a parking lot for $5 rather than dealing with change and a parking meter. It was right next to Junction Bridge. The city has done a nice job with all the parks and trails along the river. Junction Bridge was formerly a railroad lift bridge but is no longer in service for train traffic. It had been fixed in the up position with both stairs and an elevator to the upper level so both pedestrian and bicycle traffic can get up, over and down to North Little Rock on the other side. A geocache on the bridge gave us a bit of trouble until we eliminated all hiding spots except for the park bench nearby. The problem was, said park bench had a guy sitting there reading. We headed down to at least check out the submarine that is docked on the north side hoping this will be enough time for the guy to up and leave. No such luck. As we came back I saw he was still there but also spotted the magnetic key holder on the bench. Pressed for time, I sat down and started to talk to the guy. He seemed to be someone that wouldn't bother to steal the thing after we left, so I explained geocaching briefly while I showed him the container and logged in.  

Junction Bridge

Hundreds of Locks on Junction Bridge

Next we headed along the river to the west through Ottenheimer Plaza. There are lots of  sculptures and other artwork displayed along the was as well as a small spray park with a handful of noisy kids enjoying the water on a warm afternoon. After checking out this end of the park we turn around and head east towards the Clinton Presidential Library. It's an impressive looking building but we really haven't budgeted our time to allow a real visit. There is another former rail lift bridge turned into pedestrian river crossing. This one ramps up and down instead of steps and elevator. As part of the library grounds is a wetland with a nice boardwalk snaking through it. We saw turtles in the water which isn't too surprising, but there are well over a hundred of them. As we walked just above them, we noticed that instead of swimming away, they were actually swimming towards us. They seemed to congregate right below where we were standing. Odd behavior but we suspect they get fed by others and have come to associate people with food. Each time we stopped, a different group would head our way.

Ribbit

Log Crossing Children

Another Lift Bridge by Wetlands

Clinton Presidential Library

Massive Cantilever on Library

Turtles Approach

The next day we head over to the very close by Pinnacle Mountain State Park. We likely could have found a trail that connected with our campground but we have some good hikes planned and probably shouldn't waste our energy just getting there. We first head to the parking area for the Base Trail. It is a 3 mile hike around the perimeter of Pinnacle Mountain. It was a nice hike. The woods here look much closer to what we are accustomed to in western New York. There is another major trailhead at the halfway point. As we get within 1000 feet, we start to hear all sorts of noise - the sound of kids at play. It keeps getting louder and louder until our pleasant hike is less pleasant. We could see a couple school buses in the parking lot but suspect there were several more out of view. At one point, a large group of screaming kids along with their chaperones were headed our way. We were concerned we would get stuck behind them so we increased our speed to beat them to the intersection. They must not have come our way because the noise level dropped after a few minutes and it was back to a peaceful hike. Even though many of the trees looked familiar, there were a number of wildflowers in bloom that we have never seen before. We will need to do a little research to figure out their names.

Elaborate Trailhead Sign

Indian Pink

We next head over to the visitor center in the park. The Ouachita Trail leads from here right back to the parking lot we were at before. The main reason to do this hike was to find a handful of geocaches along the trail. That often seems to be the impetus for our hiking decisions. By the time we head out and back, we have added another 3 miles to the pedometers. We check out the visitor center and run into a few volunteers working the beautiful gardens around the buildings. The one master gardener is able to identify one of our mystery flowers - Indian Pink. Chris has a lengthy talk with her as they talk about plants and each other's experiences. The woman was originally from Pennsylvania so they had plenty of common experiences in a gardening sense. After checking out the center and enjoying the air conditioning, we grabbed our picnic and plopped down at one of the picnic tables behind the building. 

One last walk was the Rock Valley Trail. The plan had been to only do as much as required to find the geocache on the trail, but when it turned out the cache was at the trailhead, we decided we could at least check out some of the trail. It was another nice trail and we ended up going all the way to the end where there is a scenic overlook of the Arkansas River. Another trail continues on from here and we suspect it would lead to our campgrounds but our car is here so back we go. All in all we ended up getting in just over 9 miles of hiking. It was a nice park to explore.

View at Dickinson Overlook

This was another one of those stops that seemed to go fast, and we likely would have stayed longer but the place was full for the upcoming weekend. Oh well, I think this could be added to the list of places we could come back to for more sightseeing since I'm sure we only scratched the surface of Little Rock. Oh, that reminds me. We did learn why the city is called Little Rock. There was a little outcropping of rocks on the south side of the Arkansas River and just a ways from here was a big rock on the north side of the river. People would refer to this area as "the little rock" and the other area as the "big rock". Over time the name Little Rock was adopted. It's not clear why the other side of the river is called North Little Rock instead of Big Rock?