Day 68 – Travel Day – Newport TN to Raleigh NC – 315 miles

After 7500 miles in the RV and another 1500 miles in the Tracker, we are finally home in Raleigh. Today was an easier day. We took our time over coffee and packing up in Newport and headed out at 9am. The first hour was just beautiful, driving through the Smoky Mtns. That is today's photo. The weather was lovely, and Bill maneuvered the curvy roads well.

We even made it down the 5 mile/6% grade east of Ashville with no problems. We made some rest stops and had lunch, making it to the RV storage place at 4pm. We packed up refrigerator items and just the bare essentials and came on home to the apartment.

Our cars had been towed to another section of the complex, and both have dead batteries which is not surprising. After settling in, Bill went to pick up the mail and get some Qdoba Mexican gumbo for dinner. We are both wiped out and have spent the evening watching mindless TV.

It was an awesome trip, and I will try and get more photos uploaded this week.

Day 67 – Travel Day – Wes Memphis AK to Newport TN – 445 miles

It was a long, tiring day of driving, but we made it to Newport TN and should only have 317 miles to get home tomorrow. We reluctantly left the Mississippi River at 8am and drove and drove and drove. We stopped for gas and then lunch at a rest area. Nothing exciting happened, and there were no neat sights along the road. Luckily the weather was good.

It will be weird to sleep in our apartment tomorrow night, but we will be off and running again in a week to head to Disney World.

Day 66 – West Memphis AK

It was a lovely rest day after I got over being awakened at 8:30 by Bill taking a shower 3’ from my feet. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I had gone to sleep at 11:30, so 9 hours of sleep was okay. We had our coffee outside watching tugs and barges go by on the Mississippi River.

I worked on labeling photos and am almost caught up. Bill did some laundry since the facilities are right next door and free. He did go out for Pepsi and bread. I spent some time out under our tree watching the river and reading. This is truly a lovely campground for just relaxing.

At 4 we headed in for barbecue at Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous. We figured out it was half a block from the Peabody Hotel, so we decided to go in time to see the duck march at 5. We got a good spot on the mezzanine before the crowds really swarmed the place. It was really rather anti-climactic, and I am not sure what all the fuss is about. After waiting a half hour, the ducks got out and walked the short distance to the elevator. The whole thing took less than 30 seconds. Oh, well. Now I can say “been there, done that”. Today's photo is about 10 minutes before the show started.

We got to Rendezvous before the crowds did. For an appetizer we had the cheese and sausage. It was a strange dish – sliced sausage, strips of cheese, pickle slices, and some peppers all sprinkled with dry rib. Not that wonderful. Bill ordered the ribs. Everything there is dry rubbed – no wet sauce - which we really hadn’t tried before. Bill’s ribs were okay, but my beef brisket was wonderful. The baked beans were pretty good, and the cole slaw was really different – a vinegar and mustard sauce with, once again, the dry rub. We had lots of leftovers which we brought home for lunch on the road tomorrow.

After we got back to the campground (not a long drive at all), we went out and sat by the river. Tomorrow it is back on the road again. We hope to reach Newport Tennessee before dark tomorrow night, then to Raleigh on Saturday.

Day 65 - Travel Day – Shawnee OK to West Memphis AK – 435 miles

It was a boring travel day. We were up at 7 and on the road at 8, since we wanted to get to West Memphis today. Last night we found a campground right on the Mississippi River. There wasn’t much else in-between. Bill called this morning, and they had room, so off we went.

In Oklahoma we did pass a beautiful large lake near a town called Lotawatah. We found that amusing since there were lots of towns with Indian names. And in Conway Arkansas there was Toad Suck Park. At 2, we pulled into a rest area, but it was totally full with mostly trucks, so we kept on to the next exit and found a vacant Walmart parking lot to rest and eat some lunch. When we got back on the interstate, it was all backed up. We were afraid there was an accident, but it turned out to be just a car fire. That took an additional 20 minutes.

We made it to the Tom Sawyer RV Park. It is truly right on the river, between the river and the levee. There are 3 rows of campers, and we are in the middle, but we still have a good view of the river. A large grassy area separates us all from the river. They have put benches along the grassy area, and most everyone was out this evening watching barges and other boats go by. Today's photo is from our bench along the river with the moon reflecting on the river.

We like it here so much we have decided to stay until Friday morning. After 3 long days of driving, we both decided we wanted a rest, and this is the perfect place to do it! We will just probably hang around here and go into Memphis if we can find a neat BBQ place to eat.

Day 64 – Travel Day – Tucumcari NM to Shawnee OK – 393 miles

I am writing this from the parking lot of our second RV park in the parking lot of a casino. This time we are at the Firelake Casino (just east of Oklahoma City), and the cost of parking here with electricity is free for 3 nights. We only have electric hookup as the water is for every other site, and they were all taken. This is a much larger casino (run by the Pottawatomie nation). Bill was thrilled to be here.

We started out early this morning from Tucumcari at 8am. We quickly lost an hour as we crossed into Texas. Texas provided the entertainment for the day with strange roadside items. First was the Cadillac Ranch with the 9 Cadillacs sticking in the ground. Next came the ‘biggest cross’ at Groom Texas. This is a 190’ cross that can be seen for miles. Also in Groom is a leaning water tower that a guy moved to advertise his truck stop that is no longer in existence. The last piece of entertainment in Texas was a cowboy on horseback with his dog trotting along by his side on the edge of the interstate.

After we hit Oklahoma, the wind picked up, and Bill had an interesting drive until we finally reached the Firelake Casino at 5. The scenery was not that exciting, so I got some reading in along the way.

At 6 we took the shuttle bus over to the casino to have dinner at the Grand Buffet. It wasn’t that great, but it was only $17.50 for the two of us. Bill got a $5 discount as it was King’s night, and a local couple behind us gave us another $5 discount coupon for me. That was sweet. The buffet was featuring Asian items, so I got some orange chicken and rice before the waitress told us that they had a stir-fry station in the middle. So I got some wonderful stir-fry veggies. For dessert we shared a Bananas Foster (also from the stir fry station) which with vanilla ice cream was quite good.

I left Bill to gamble and came back here to catch up on some TV. When I went out to catch the shuttle, a couple of bored valet attendants offered to give me a ride back here in their golf cart. That was kind of fun. I think Tuesday nights must be slow for them!

Tomorrow we head on out again on I 40 in our quest to get home by Saturday.

Day 63 – Travel Day – Antonito CO to Tucumcari NM – 293 miles

We were up at 7, had coffee and breakfast, packed up, and left the campground at 9. The only exciting thing all day happened right after we left the campground. An oncoming car flashed its lights at us. This usually means we have done something stupid like our steps are down or we are on fire. However, after we rounded a curve, we saw the problem. There were about 100 sheep being herded alongside the road by a cowboy and his working dogs. We were only delayed about 5 minutes, but it was really neat to see the cowboy and the dogs work the sheep. The dogs were quick to round up strays as they tried to cross the road. That is today's photo.

Then we drove south to Santa Fe. Ken had certainly picked the more scenic (if longer) drive up to Colorado, and I am so glad he did. Then it was on down to I 40 which we will follow until we get to Raleigh. We stopped at a rest area about 1 for lunch and for Bill to get a break. Then more driving. We arrived at Tucumcari KOA (we stayed here two years ago, and it is a nice park) about 4. We set up, got the satellite locked on, and relaxed.

This KOA has a little café that serves dinner and breakfast. You can pick it up, or they will even deliver it to your site. Bill decided he didn’t want to cook, so we ordered our dinner to eat here at the RV. I got chile rellenos pie, and he got chicken fried steak. It was surprisingly good. Mine came with some spicy black beans and a corn and zucchini side.

Bill found our next campground in OK. He was looking on RVparkreviews.com and found a casino in Shawnee OK that has free camping if you sign up for a $10 players card. It will be a 400 mile day tomorrow, but he is looking forward to free camping and maybe the chance to pay for gas at the blackjack tables.

Day 62 – Antonito CO – Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad trip

What a wonderful day for a train ride. We left the campground and drove the 12 miles back to Antonito to catch the train at 10am. We had tickets for the middle-class car which consisted of armchairs facing forward with huge windows which we all opened. The locomotive is a coal-driven one, and sometimes the smoke was a little over-whelming, but the ride was awesome.

We started out on flat land and ended up at Cumbres Pass at 10,000 ‘. We passed back and forth between Colorado and New Mexico. The aspen trees were the most gorgeous shade of yellow which were impressive because they were mixed in with dark green conifers. The mountainsides looked almost fake. There was an open cattle-car type car directly in front of us where people stood to watch the scenery and a docent talked about a variety of things.

At 12:30 we pulled into Osier where we had lunch with another train-load of people coming from the other direction. We had a choice of turkey dinner, or meatloaf, or a soup and salad line. Bill, Ken, and I took the turkey dinner. We had a buffet line and ate in a large hall. The food was really quite good considering we were in the middle of nowhere. The turkey was real, the stuffing was good, mashed potatoes were real, and the green beans not bad.

We continued on to Cumbres Pass where we disembarked and took a lovely bus on a 45 minute bus ride back to Antonito. It truly was a beautiful trip. Today’s photo is of the other train continuing the way we had just come with the beautiful aspens on the hillside.

We all rested at the campground until 6 when we drove down the road to the only restaurant in 10 miles. The four of us were the only ones there until a group of 11 came in were rather noisy. The food was okay. Nancy and I had fajitas which weren’t bad.

Tomorrow we head out for the mad trip back to Raleigh. It will be I 40 all the way home – drive and rest, drive and rest.