Hurricane Blew Through, Should be Home mid-Week

 

Yesterday and today things were a bit gloomy.  Last year we lost Skruffy on Christmas Eve in Sacramento area, took off for Florida two days later.  It was a very sad trip because her demise came so quick...hit us both very hard.  With Bubba we have seen his decline for the past few years.  We knew it was a matter of time...but it still is not easy.  Staying here two nights allowed for the Hurricane to clear out of our way home, and for us to gently mourn life without Bubba.  As for Indy, she does not seem to realize Bubba is gone, but her territorial nature is slowly going away.

Last night we had a nice sunset.  There is a small pond near our campsite where I took the picture at.  (If you call concrete camping a campsite...but hey, free with electricity and water is something you can't complain about).

I think we parked here last year when we stayed for a couple days in April.  Next to the grass for an easy dog walk, and these sites down near the end are flatter.

Above is our section, the back half of the park.

Below is the front part of the park.  When we arrived, only 1/3 of these RVs were in the park.  Most of those that pulled in took off this morning, and fewer have pulled in today.  However, we had two 5th wheels pull in right next to us around 4:30.  With so many empty sites, I wondered why...but then I saw that they were both from Michigan, traveling together, 

It will be interesting where Indy sets herself during our travels from this point on.  Lately she has found a spot right behind my chair next to where the slide-out is "in" for travel.  Of course, every so often she has to jump on Marcia's lap to get her "whiff" of air.

We are heading directly south to I-20, then east, then south again to I-10.  Hoping for four days of travel and three nights after Saturday night's stay here at the Casino.

And we appreciate our friends and family who reached out to us about losing Bubba.  Thank you so very much.

RIP Bubba Dog, You ARE Missed

 

Our Bubba Boy is with his sister, sitting on Dad's lap with cousin Charlie (Patti's dog).  Above is from our 2013 travels, and no...they did not have sunglasses on, and no, Bubba did not have that big white smile.  They were together so much, Bubba and Skruffy, now they are together forever.

Countless times they were staring out the motorhome door waiting for their FAVORITE time...their Arny Treat to start the day.  "IF" we let them out early, Skruffy and her big mouth would wake the entire neighborhood.  This year we let Bubba out, and Indy once we got her, and they would wander the yard and then wait for Arny.  

Then there was the time on our first visit out west in 2012.  Stopped at a rest area in the middle of the Mojave Dessert and not a blade of grass could be seen.

But Bubba ALWAYS walked to the beat of his own drum.  He was kind, gentle, quiet, always in search of a handout (treat), and loved the smells of the outside (and of food, of course).  His love of outside smells had him taking off at any opportunity he could. And those smells would over-ride his normal obedience.  You say, "Bubba NO!", he would mind...unless the call of the smell was there...then off he went.

Of course, Bubba loved to get his naps.  With our first motorhome, he got his own man cave, where the original old TV was encased and would pop up over the dashboard at the push of a button.  He loved that man cave.

But he sure loved his food...and the food of others.  This had to have been his happiest 3+ months, when we left him at Sandy and Arny's while we went back to Florida.  No Skruffy, his favorite Uncle Arny and Aunt Sandy, and he only ran away (sniffed his way down the block) two or three times!

And boy did he like a nice green lawn and a roll on his back.

No matter HOW HOT it was, Bubba would go lay on the grass in the sun.

This was him all groomed out for the initial trip out west.  From this point on, I did most of his grooming, and although he did not like it at first, he came to put up with me.

While we mourn, Bubba is rolling on his back laughing.

This morning, in the middle of the night, Bubba got up and walked over to the front door, 2 am.  I got up and let him out, he walks about 10 steps and just stares out into the night.  After 5 minutes of him staring, I ask him to come in and he turns around and comes in...but won't get in his bed.  I turn the light on and see that he peed in his bed in his sleep.  Yesterday morning after coming back in from his morning duty, he stood up in his bed and was shaking...every leg shaking, his whole body shaking...it  was if he was so weak that he could not stand but he did not want to lay down either.  Over the past week he has nearly fallen out of the motorhome 2-3 times, and needed help to get back in nearly every time he went out.  When I let him out at 2 am this morning, with it being dark and the light on, he just went down the stairs like they were nothing, and back up again.  In the sunlight it was so bright on his eyes that he could not see where he was going.  He bumped into trees, bushes, picnic benches, the motorhome...it was just heartbreaking.  On top of that his cough was getting very persistent. About all he did was eat, sleep, pee and poop.  So our decision was do we let him eventually fall out of the motorhome and get hurt (break leg or neck) and then put him down, or do it now while he was failing but before he got hurt.  Marcia could not stand to see him continue going downhill, and did not want to see him hurting (from a fall).  So now he is free from that aging body...he was a GREAT dog, and good boy, and went so peacefully to sleep.  They have a butterfly garden where they spread the ashes of the dogs and cats and other critters...so next time you see a butterfly, think of Bubba.

 

 

Downstream Casino — Quapaw Nation's Link to Pine Bluff

At Downstream Casino RV Park, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma borders

When I knew we had a few days between leaving Mount Magazine and getting up to the Kansas City area I was more than happy to find that the Downstream Casino, right at the border of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri, and not too many miles from the Arkansas border too.  It has a RV Park that is part of Passport America, $15 per night for water and electric with a dump station.  Was also pleased to find that you can stay one night for free if you are a “Q-Club” Member.  But I also had another reason to stay here…The Quapaw Indians, who own the casino, are a major part of Pine Bluff’s early history.  More specifically, Chief Saracen, who is buried in Pine Bluff’s St. Joseph Cemetery. 

This is an old picture of the outside of my office at the Pine Bluff Main Library.  My office was behind that red couch, and the door, decorated for Halloween by Miss Ann, the children’s librarian, was the entrance to my office.  The BLACK arrow points to the Saracen Bow and arrows.  Later they were loaned to the State Arts and Science Center and they encased them in a nice plastic case, which when returned was placed up on the wall again, case included.  As far as I know, they are still there…but I can’t promise that.  Back in the late 1700’s two children and their father were captured by the Chickasaw Indians just south of Pine Bluff.  According to Judge Pope, written in 1895: “The news was brought to Saracen. Going to the weeping mother, he said, “When the sun is so high (pointing with his hand) Saracen will bring your children. If Saracen no find them, you will see Saracen no more.” Alone and unaided, he overtook the marauding party near Arkansas Post. With Indian war whoop and tomahawk uplifted, he sprang in upon them and took the children”.  The story goes that he and other Quapaw also tracked down the father and paid a ransom for him.  Later he made the bow and arrow as a ‘toy gift’ to the children…the arrows don’t have sharp points, they are blunt.  The library ended up with them many years ago.

There is a mural in Pine Bluff which depicts the story of when the two children were rescued.  The Lake across from the County Court House is now Saracen Lake.  Attached to the lake is Saracen Landing, which is where Marcia and I got married back in 2011.  The RV park I lived in for six years is now called Saracen RV Park.  Chief Saracen has become a local saint within Pine Bluff’s History.  To top it all off…

…the Quapaw are building a casino in Pine Bluff, which should be up and going sometime in 2020.  In November 2018 the voters of Arkansas voted to allow for four casinos, one in Hot Springs at the Race Track, one in West Memphis at the Dog Track, and one in Jefferson County and one in Pope County.  So far the Quapaw have been awarded the casino in Jefferson County, but rules for operation of casinos are still progressing…but they Quapaw are ready to build, close to the Mall, as soon as everything is lined up, and they plan to call it the Saracen Casino Resort.

  

We found that for an overnight stay, or due to the holiday weekend, even a three night stay, this RV Park was just fine.  Of course, if it was full, we would not like it.  But how it is situated, the day noise is tolerable, and there is not much late night noise at all.  We purposely parked next to a patch of grass for the doggies sake, and although there were many open spots, we can’t understand why yesterday evening a trailer just had to park right next to us…but they were gone before 9:00 am.  When you arrive, you pick out your spot, go over to the Q Store (gas station/store) nearby and pay.  “IF” you need to become a Q-Club member, go to the casino first, then the store.  They have you put a receipt on your windshield, and they enter you into their computer indicating when you are to depart. 

  

The spot where Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma meet is just a tenth of a mile from the RV Park.  The Casino is in Oklahoma, the RV Park is in Missouri, and most of the Casino Parking is in Kansas.  At the Tri-State area, back in 1938 the WPA erected this rock mound monument.  Later, a survey found that they were 50 feet to far to the west, and the ground map was created where the true Tri-State meeting place is located.

As you drive up to the Casino, don’t be surprised if you see some Buffalo roaming the fields.  Back in 2011 they brought in 8 Buffalo…now it looks like they have a good 30-40 head near the Casino.  Overall, they have around 150 head of Buffalo and 500 head of Beef that they raise through the Quapaw Cattle Company, with plans to raise all their own feed for the animals, all according to an article I read dated June, 2016. 

Tomorrow we head on to the Kansas City area…

Last Arkansas Sunset – Good Friday Story – Downstream Casino

At Downstream Casino RV Park, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma borders

After the Wednesday night Hail Strom, it rained nearly all day on Thursday…so much that it was difficult to find a time to go outside to pick up after the dogs who don’t seem to mind getting wet when they have to GO…   Around 7:30 I look out my window and tell Marcia that it looks like it has cleared up enough for me to get a last sunset picture…so out the door I go.  Unfortunately, as I tried to get out of the RV area, there was a boy scout troop trying to back their cargo trailer (WAY narrower than any RV) into one of the spots, blocking access to the exit from the RV park.  I try to sit there patiently, as he goes back, forward, back, forward, countless times, all with the assistance of a guy outside guiding him.  I keep looking out through the trees and seeing my sunset disappear.  It looks like he is just about to finish….and then he pulls all the way out again.  I had enough…I get out and yell, “HEY, I am trying to get a picture of that sunset, can you let me by?”  He moves far enough ahead that I can pass….  I would have thought that Boy Scout Leaders would a) know how to back up, and b) have better manners.  GRRRRR! 

From my attempt to get a good sunset the other day, I knew exactly which pullouts to use.  This pullout (picture above) gives a better view overall.  WOW, what a lovely site.

And very quickly it is gone…behind a line of clouds just above the distant southern edge of the Ozarks.  I stop and contemplate for a bit…I first arrived in Arkansas in January 1991…well, actually I think it December 31st when we pulled into Conway Arkansas to meet out new landlords and pick up the keys to the house we had decided to rent sight unseen.  By October 2012, I retired from the Library, but have come back through Arkansas each year to visit friends and see my doctor.  With Medicare right around the corner for me, and with retirement in the works for my friend who might end up moving away from Arkansas…well, I just have to wonder if I will ever be back. 

As I continue around the loop of Camron Bluff, I catch this panoramic view along the north.  Anyone who has taken sunset pictures enough knows that you have to check all around…the clouds of the passing storm catch the last rays of the sun and make a marvelous scene.  Goodbye Arkansas…will probably see you again, but one never knows.

Our “Good Friday” story has to do with our levelers, and my stupidity.  If you look to the far right of the above picture, you can see that our front left tire is on a yellow step leveler…our front right tire is on one too, but not shown in picture.  At Mount Magazine, we were still leaning too far to the passenger side, so I deployed our hydraulic levelers only on the passenger side, front and back.  As we got ready to leave, I needed to back up to get off the yellow levelers…which I did…without putting the hydraulic levelers up. Not only that, after I had gathered up the yellow levelers and put them in the car, moved the car, I started forward…which caused a scrapping noise, and instantly both Marcia and I knew I had the hydraulic levelers down still…again.  YES, again, because this is not the first time…but it is the first time that I did it going backwards to get off the yellow levelers.  I get out, open the entry door to the motorhome where the controls are and…nothing.  Can’t get the controls to light up, which means I can't get the levelers back up.  OH, you HAVE to have the parking break on, and I go back…and put it on again.  There is an IDIOT light by the break release which is suppose to light up….I can’t get it to light up either.  Now in the above picture you have to use your imagination just a bit…because in reality, not only are the front right and back right hydraulics' down….they are totally engaged…which means the foot is touching the ground.  WHAT TO DO NOW????

I knew that the hydraulic jacks when they go back up, is opposite the direction you travel forward…so that “IF” I drove forward, they would move towards the direction of the rear as they ascended upward.  So after much thought, and talking with Arny who did not know what I could do either, I decided to at least drive to the visitor’s center with Marcia following me in the car.  Indeed it scrapped a lot at first, then the scrapping got less and less.  At the visitor’s center the back ones were not scrapping at all anymore, but were still down at an angle close to this reenactment photo above which I took just a bit ago.  The front one was angled closer to the ground, and would still hit on some bumps in the road.  But I still could not get them to go up.  We decided that we would drive slowly to the nearest town, Paris Arkansas, with Marcia following me in the HHR.  By the time we got there, a 20 mile drive, the scrapping for the last 5-10 miles was non-existent.  So I found a place to pull into to look it over.  Well, they were still engaged, but they had moved enough that they were off the ground far enough to not scrape.  I decided that we would hook the HHR up and get to a bigger town.  Got Marcia into the motorhome, then I needed to turn around to face the street from the parking area we pulled into.  I knew I had enacted the parking break when I stopped, and as I looked down to find the release, I see the idiot light is on.  WHAT????   I hurry out to the controls and they light up….I hit the release button and the two levelers go up.  WHAT???????   WHY???????   All we could think of was that it was a Good Friday miracle for us!   Marcia said she prayed all the way down the mountain…guess someone was listening.  Thank you Jesus….

  

With everything working, it is now 1 pm (we tried to leave at 10 am), and we are soon headed over the Arkansas River…is this our last time over this great river too???

It is a very windy day…but we make it to I-40 west, then to I-49 north, and eventually up over the hill and the University of Arkansas comes into view.  This is where both of my sons, Michael and Ryan, graduated from with their Bachelor Degrees.  Ryan (the youngest) will graduate from Chiropractic school in just six days, hence our travels up north right now.

We pulled in the Downstream RV Park around 5 pm, after getting gas at the Flying J in Joplin.  This park is $30 per night, but it is a Passport America park, which means it is only $15…and you can stay for a week at that price.  Also, if you register with the Casino and get a Q-Club card, you get one night free, and $7 on your Q-Club Card.  Not knowing if we would be here for just two or for three, I did passport.  We both had a good night’s sleep, and today (Saturday) I went over to the Casino and got a Q-Club Card.  I walked around a bit, but never did use my free $7 yet.  Easter Sunday, after we watch church over the Internet, we are going to do laundry in Galina Kansas, just 6 miles to our north…hoping that Easter is not a busy laundry day.  More pictures of the Casino, the RV Park, and the general area tomorrow…