Our Trip Home! (October 24, 2014)

This was our first official traveling and camping day!  We talked at length with several of our camping neighbors at Tom Sawyer RV Park--the couple that travels the U.S. weighing RVs, the man that runs an RV driving school, and the couple making their way home to Georgia from a summer in the Northwest.  Then we headed down the road towards Arkansas and Lake Dardenelle State Park.

We stayed two nights in our full-hook-up site on the lake at one of the nicest state parks we have ever experienced.  We were certainly wishing for our kayak, as the lake water looked heavenly.

 
But we didn't have our kayak because we were very minimalistic on this trip.  Everything had to fit in our little car (along with three passengers and Luke's luggage).  We brought 2 towels, sheets, blanket, 2 plates, 2 forks, 2 spoons.  We saved some space and only brought one knife.  None of our campgrounds had restaurants or groceries within walking distance, and we were a little wary of driving the motorhome into small parking lots on this maiden voyage.  We were thankful for that small ice chest of food we packed  and the gallon of milk our RV salesman brought to us.  I have to admit that we were a little jealous of those cooking smells wafting from the camp sites of more prepared campers.  With limited food and all the hikes we took, we certainly didn't gain any weight this trip!

We enjoyed the changing foliage, and the sunsets over the lake were especially nice.  Dardenelle State Park also has a great visitor center.  We especially liked watching the ranger feeding the fish in the large aquariums, and Denisa was in line with the rest of the kids when we got to touch the snakes.


We had no satellite TV or computer connection for this first trip, but we were entertained by the antics of the squirrels at our camp site.  
 
With limited television, we got to bed early every night.  So we should have been rested and refreshed from this trip.  But we lost some of that relaxation on the final leg of the trip home on Sunday.  As we crossed the Oklahoma border, it seemed that someone turned on a wind machine.  We had 30 mph cross winds from the south that seemed intent on pushing us off I-40.  Combined with the effects of passing 18-wheelers (that we are still trying to get used to) it was a long and tiring trip during the last leg home.  We are looking forward to the days when we won't have to travel to get home for work, because we would have waited out the wind if we were retired!