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Borrego Springs, CA

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Almost there

I left Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas, early this morning with a plan to drive about 300 miles further on my journey south.  We started in Arkansas, but were shortly driving through Memphis, Tennessee.  Memphis on I-55 always puckers me up some because of their low underpasses.  I always end up deeply inhaling and crunching down in the driver’s seat as we go under those 13’ 11” passes.  Not that it does any good, but I just can’t help it.  My rig is just about 13’ 6” tall, and I always worry those roads overhead have sagged some…

Then it was on to a couple of hundred miles in Mississippi.  I have nightmares about my last stop outside of Jackson, MS, at Swinging Bridge Campground, so today’s plan was to head over to Louisiana on I-20 at Jackson.  To get to I-20, I took I-220 to the west.  OMG!  What a horrible road that is.  I drive at 57 mph, and I just can’t understand why anyone would do this road at the posted 70 mph limit.  It’s in terrible condition, and I found myself levitating above my seat because of the severe dips almost constantly.  Amazingly, all cabinets and drawers stayed closed during this harrowing section.  Thankfully, once I got on I-20 the road smoothed out, and I was able to unclamp my white-knuckled hands from the steering wheel and get some feeling back into them.

By 3:00, I was pulling into Poverty Point Reservoir State Park in Delhi, Louisiana.  I’ll post more about this park tomorrow.

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Yesterday while I was enjoying a day of no travel and rest, Emma and I spent time watching the barges pass by on the Mississippi River.  We also took a couple of walks.  One of them was to see the ‘tree house’.  It’s a ways back from the river and affords an elevated view of the Mississippi after you walk up a couple of ramps.

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There are several wooden benches carved out of trees on the deck surrounding the tree house.  Don’t know what this is used for, but there’s electricity up there, and a fridge and bar looking area inside.  Maybe things happen there during the summer?

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                                                   It’s kind of neat how it really is a tree house.

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Inside you can see where the high water mark was with the flooding of the river a couple of years ago.  That was pretty sobering.

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Here’s a shot from the deck of the tree house of the motorhome sites in the campground.  That’s the Mighty Mississippi on the far side of the rigs.  It seems like the river was quite low at this time of the year.  The far side is all sand.  Just made me think about how the water can rise in the spring to a point higher than I was standing.

I’ve paid for two nights at Poverty Point State Park.  Tomorrow, Emma and I will hop in the toad and drive the 75 miles or so to Bayou Cocodrie NWR to get the lay of the land.  If possible, I like to drive to my refuges where I’ll be staying in the car first before bringing the rig.  Sometimes that has saved me from getting into some real pickles with the big rig towing the car.  Since I’ll be their first ever RV volunteer, I want to feel comfortable with what approach I’ll make to get into the site.  Maybe it will be a snap, but I’ve run into situations with low hanging power lines, or dead ends with no place to turn around.  I’d rather check it out first to avoid the stress of challenging situations.

So, I’m almost there.  I’ll be more than happy to settle in on Tuesday, at last!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy 

27 comments:

  1. Judy..I do NOT know how you do it..You are amazing...Makes me humble to hear what you have to encounter...HANG IN THERE GIRLFRIEND!!!!!

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  2. Welcome back to the south. Maybe our paths will cross again soon.
    The wildflowers on the Dees trail are magnificent this year. They burned the HQ savanna in May.

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  3. Glad you are out of those low temps and high winds.

    The tree house is pretty cool. I can't believe the water was that high. WOW!

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  4. I think it's an excellent idea to first check out the area you will be moving into. Hopefully it will be easy with no obstructions in your way.

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  5. that flood had the Mississippi the the steps of the Arch. having been in trucking believe me truckers fear some of the
    overpasses as not the the road above has sagged but that the road they are on has been resurfaced a lot and not
    remeasured. Very good idea to check out your 'new home' in the toad. White knuckling really takes a lot out of a
    person...hope you sleep like hibernating bear (always been my experience babies dont always sleep thru the night :-) )

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  6. That is really smart driving to your new place to check out your access. But then, why would I not expect you to do it. It's always a great idea to preempt Murphy any way you can.

    Glad you survived those low overpasses. It's not good to install a sunroof on your RV by hitting one of them. ;c)

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  7. I would pucker up some with that little clearance on an overpass. I always wonder if they guessed at the clearance:)

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  8. Love your idea of taking the toad in first to scout out your new location. We don't have that opportunity with us not having a toad so Kevin will uses Google Earth or Google Streetview to get the lay of the land. There have also been times when he will park the motorhome and walk in or take the bike in before driving in.

    I think it is totally amazing that the water can get as high as the high water mark in the tree house, that is a LOT of water!

    Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  9. Louisiana roads are THE worst. I-10 jars my jaw so bad it gives me a headache. They like to put up signs that read: Rough Road (haha, FIX it), or Road Under Construction (but that must be an inside joke!).

    Good luck manana!

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  10. If you get back to Delhi in time, try and visit the actual Poverty Point historical site a few miles North and East of you. Awesome relics of a culture which thrived in the area 4000 years ago. Jackson MS has the most horrible roads of any city in the country. Yazoo clay. Constantly moving, shrinking or swelling. Good idea to check things beforehand. Watch your speed in Ferriday. Hope you find everything to your liking.

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  11. MS roads are awful but probably no worse than those in LA. When we lived there we used to wish they would RAISE property taxes and improve the roads. But you've been there and know all that.

    I know you and Emma will be glad to get to your new home!

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  12. Have a good scouting trip and hope your new home is wonderful...and warm :)

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  13. Thanks for the good idea to check out unknown sites before driving the rig in. I'm a newbie and store all these good suggestions as I know I'll use them sometime. My rig is a Fleetwood Flair- only 25 feet. I'm not sure of the exact height - I was told 12" but I went through an underpass today that said 13'6" an dI was quite nervous. The other nerve=racking thing that happened today, as I left the freeway to drive to a Walmart stop-over, was that my google-maps app. said I had to turn onto a certain street. The street crossed a railroad track and just as the pickup in front of me got just about to the tracks, the guard-rail came down for a train to pass. Great! The train was moving very slowly - and it was a very long train. We waited and waited; several cars came up behind me. I had several minutes of near panic. What if the train stopped? I'd never be able to turn around and I certainly couldn't back up with my toad behind me. We were there for about 20 minutes; finally it passed completely and the guard rail went up. Boy, was I relieved!

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  14. I like the check it out first in the toad. When we stay someplace for awhile we always check out what direction we're going to take when we leave. Some are easy others are a nightmare. Hope you like your new position. We all know they will love you.

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  15. That tree house is interesting, especially the high water mark. When we were at Jedidiah Smith Redwoods park last month they had a high water mark on the restroom door frame that went almost to the top of the door. Sure makes ya stop and think.

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  16. I wonder if Tom & Becky still use this neat little tree house. That was some high water.
    Can't wait to see your new winter home.

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  17. Kind of scary to see that high water mark in the tree house.

    Good idea to check out the entrance into your new home with your toad tomorrow and alleviate any more white-knuckled experiences.

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  18. We must have learned at the same white knuckle driving school. I don't even do 57. I just stay in the right lane and let the crazies zoom on by.

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  19. Cool tree house! It's hard to imagine the river being that high.
    What a smart idea to check out the Refuge first...

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  20. Love the tree house. I would love to retreat there. Smart move, taking the toad to check out your future home before you get into difficult situations. Hope the site you find is grand!!!

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  21. We like to check out the rv park before we go and I usually use Google Earth, but have found out the hard way that even Google Earth doesn't always tell the whole story.

    I am going to make note of I-55 near Memphis and try to avoid it like the plague. Why would they make such low overpasses? I have heard that even if it says it's a certain height, every time they re-pave, that can change, and of course they don't change the signs.

    Glad you are in the south now because I've heard there are some serious snows heading to the Dakotas.

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  22. You are getting closer! Lots to explore if you have never been there before! :)

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  23. You are very wise to check out your "landing site" before you approach it.

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  24. Amazing how we can be eager to get on the road and travel then be thrilled to settle in, once again.

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  25. A Tree House with a fridge and bar? Doesn't sound quite like Poverty Point to me - sounds like a nice resort place.

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  26. We have stayed at Poverty Point several times...it is a really nice park. They used to let you use the Senior Pass and stay for half price, but they stopped that a couple of years ago.

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  27. Cool looking treehouse! I hope the new gig works out well & that parking there will go with little effort. Will be looking forward to your pics too!

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