No rain today!

Finally the sun came back today, so I decided to take myself out for lunch.  Going out to eat is not a big thing in my life, so this was a bit of an event.

I headed a few miles down the interstate for the exit for Wiederkehr Wine Cellars.  It’s on the Arkansas Wine Trail.  I really wasn’t interested in another wine tour, but wanted to visit their restaurant to try some Swiss food.  After perusing the menu, my first instinct was to order the Rueben sandwich, but I thought I ought to try something different.  I chose the Quiche Lorraine dish.  I’ve never had that before.  I like quiches.  Well, this was the heaviest quiche I’ve ever had.  I could only eat less than half of it.  Don’t know if it was the heavy amount of Swiss cheese or the way too thick, non-flakey crust, but I left wishing I had gone with my first idea.  At least I didn’t have to cook.

What I enjoyed the most about the outing was driving the back roads through the Arkansas wine country.  The rolling hills and grape vines reminded me of the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York.  I sure wouldn’t mind being here in October when the wine festivals occur. 

Heading back to the rig on US 64, rather than the interstate, I followed a sign to another COE park along the way.  The entrance road to the park curled up a mountainside to an overlook.  Lots of folks were out picnicking in the finally nice weather.  I stopped at the overlook for a view of the dam along the Arkansas River.

It sure was a surprise to me to see the Aux Arc COE Park across the river.  As I looked east of the lock and dam, I could almost see my campsite.  It’s located just before the bend of the river on the right.  This gave me a new perspective on where I was actually staying.  It’s not often that you get a view of  your location this way.  Cool beans!

Late this morning, a young couple with a little boy moved into the site next to me.  While I was out driving around today, they went out fishing on the river in their boat.  They actually caught something.  I was curious, so I went over to ask what they caught.  The husband had three big catfish that he was fileting with an electric knife.  I’d never seen that done before.  Only took a couple of minutes, and he threw the remains back into the river to feed the turtles.  I’m not a big fan of catfish, but this gentleman was thrilled with his catch.

I’ll be heading out tomorrow morning for a campground in Missouri.  It’s just north of Joplin.  It’s a private campground, and I need to do some laundry there.  The reviews of this stop are good, so we’ll see.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy