The days have been busy with Dr. appointments and trips to the post office and the bank. Just usual business and personal things. The April showers, which were few, really have made the flowers and flowering trees beautiful. All across the mid west from Kansas City the flowering trees were full of blooms.

Interest in the house is picking up, so maybe a potential buyer is in the offing, who knows. There have been several showings in the last couple of weeks of so, maybe one of them will be the new owner.

We have had some stewed rhubarb from the garden. It needs to be pulled again as it is getting big. yum, yum. Maybe a pie this time?

Wednesday, we picked up the Keerns and went to Pendleton to Smokin Joes bbq restaurant for a really nice meal and visit. I had brisket and the others had tenderloins. They said the tenderloins were quite good and sure were big. They had just returned from a trip to Cave In Rock, IL which is on the Ohio river. Ill sr 1 ends at the river in the middle of town. If you want to cross you have to wait for the ferry. Otherwise you have to retreat north and go west to I57 and down across the Mississippi river at Cairo.
Not a lot going on other than normal things that have to be done while in Indiana and getting all of the medical things done and updated and new prescriptions for the following year. I use Wallgreen Drugs for my prescriptions and they are in just about all towns of any size. Their computer system has all of the info available so getting refills is not a problem, it just takes money.

The photos are from Bass Pro Shop that shows some Elk as well as a not too friendly Gray Wolf and some Turkeys in the trees among the Spanish Moss.

From the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO we were off toward Kansas City and another hamfest on Saturday. We spent a lot of time in Independence, MO, the home of Harry S. Turman. The library is quite interesting and filled with memorabilia from his days in the White House as well as his earlier years spent in the area. March thru the end of December is a special display of the Korean War years. This was a traveling exhibit and quite extensive and interesting.

Harry and Bess are both buried there as is daughter Margaret and her husband. He died in 2000 and Margaret in 2008. Harry died in 1972 and Bess in 1982.

We spent time touring the Harry S. Truman Lake and stayed at a local campground close to the lake.

The hamfest was quite nice in a Shrine Temple. The radio club is a part of the temple and get use of the building, so they were quite reasonable in prices. We had a good day and met a lot of vendors from prior shows in the areas around the state.

Sunday, we were off toward Fishers after spending the night in Cameron, MO. We decided to take US36 east rather than I70 down to St. Louis and then back up to Indianapolis. US36 was divided highway most of the way until we got into the rolling part of western Indiana and it was 2 lane, but a nice drive with not much traffic until we got into the metro area.

We arrived in Fishers early afternoon on Monday and got hooked up and settled in for a while. House has not sold, so may do some work on it making it more interesting to prospective buyers.

The rest of the week we have been relaxing and visiting with family and getting things lined up for a long list of Dr. appointments. Yes, it is that time of year to get prodded and poked and pinched, etc. But that is a part of life that one has to endure when you get older and things begin to wear out.

Our photos are from the Bass Pro Shop. If you click on the photos and enlarge them you can see the animals that are up on the rock formations. Hopefully you can get to see them in person some time.

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog. Part of the time we were in low service areas and a week or so ago my AT&T air care went on the fritz. It has been replaced with a new Verizon card and I hope it will serve me better than the AT&T one did. I was really disappointed with it due to poor coverage, even with an external antenna and amplifier.

Wednesday, the 7th of April, it is still windy. Seems it is always windy when we are on the road and generally from the front and/or the side making driving difficult.

We are in Highland, AR very close to Cherokee Village and Evelyn is visiting several friends. We are also enjoying some of the good food in the area as well as some catfish at the local catfish house.

Friday, we were off to Memphis, TN to the Municipal Bldg. for a free fest. The building is donated to the radio club and they do not charge for the tables nor entrance. You have to buy the raffle tickets and all of the proceeds to go a local charity as all of the prizes are donated. A very nice facility and we had a good day and were off toward Kansas City before 4pm.

We got as far as Dyersburg, TN for the night. We went on to Charleston, MO the next morning and met with our cousins, John and Jackie. We went to Lamberts, the home of throwed rolls, in nearby Sykeston, MO. A great meal and a very enjoyable way to celebrate my birthday. Jackie had baked me a brownie cake and had it all decorated up. We all had a piece before they left for home in Kevil, KY.

Monday morning, we were off to Springfield, MO and the famous Bass Pro Shop. We really went there to see the museum, but it was closed for renovation and the receptionist said it may be closed for a year or more as the renovation was extensive. However, there are animals all over the retail section of the store. Part of the ceiling is painted water surface, you are actually under the water and you see the bottom of the ducks swimming, etc. Really gets your attention when you realize what you are looking at. I think there is most every kind of animal there from all over the country, from Grizzly bears to a real live Alligator. A real treat to visit and see all of the creatures. Lunch in the upstairs restaurant after a ride up the elevator behind the waterfalls.

A short visit to Eureka Springs, AR revealed several really interesting things. The road/street is very narrow and steep and with lots of curves. The houses are built on rocks in various levels. There are stairways in some areas that connect one level to the next. Many beautiful homes of various levels, some one or two levels on one street and maybe two or three on the next street, 4 or 5 stories in all. Some are set right on the rocks with gardens all around. Really a beautiful old city built in the mountains. Many years ago it was known for its hot springs and there are still some hot baths available.

There is a huge outdoor theater where they have the Passion Play. You can tour the area all year around, however the actual play is centered around Easter and its religious settings. I understand it is quite an experience to see this magnificent event.

There are many shops in the old part of town that sell most anything you might desire. It is a real tourist mecca for those interested in browsing and window shopping. There are many eating places serving most anything you can imagine.

The whole area is well restored with many of the buildings having been restored to their original conditions. Away from the center of town there is newer businesses, hotels, motels, B&B's and larger restaurants, etc.

Monday night we spent at Cedar Hollow RV Park, in Flippin, AR. It is out in the boonies and back a county road. We had the number of the county road and I was watching road numbers on the right side of the road and they were in the 7020 area and we were looking for a 80?? number road. Would you believe that we found out that the roads going east were 70?? roads and those going west were 80?? roads. sometimes both at the same intersection. What a crazy way to number roads, but what can you expect in Arkansas.

Tuesday, we drove to Ash Flat, AR across a fairly good US412/US62 highway but with lots of curves and hills and of course, lots of wind from the side. I think the wind blows all the time when I am driving any direction.

We will be in this area for a few days and then off to Memphis, TN for another hamfest and then on north into Missouri.

Well, here we are at Turpentine Creek Wild Life Refuge near Eureka Springs, AR. There are a large number of cats here, lions, tigers, bears, bob cats, etc. What a beautiful group of wild animals. We got to see the
feeding session at 5pm last evening. It is quite a time. They are fed chicken and ground beef, etc. All of the meat is donated by Wal-Mart or Tyson foods or local groceries that have expired meat. It is prepared and frozen in blocks and fed in a partially frozen state. The animals enjoy licking the frozen items especially in the hot summer weather you find here in Arkansas. Most of the big cats are out all year round however the smaller ones are taken inside to warmer facilities.

Last night, the big cats were "caroling" they call it. I called it growling, but it was interesting to hear them talk to one another. It seemed like
they were just establishing their dominance in the group and you better know that I am the "big boy" around here.

Our motorhome is parked about 50 feet away from some of the cages with a couple of tigers and a lion, however they are not noisy, but interesting to watch as they observe us.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit Eureka Springs for a little while and had a late lunch/early dinner at one of the local restaurants. This is a very unique town with lots to see and do. It is really a shoppers mecca, with every kind of shop you can imagine and if you did not find what you wanted, you just did not look in the right place.

If you are ever in the area of Eureka Springs, be sure to visit the Turpentine Creek Refuse, it is about 6 miles south of town.

Crooked road to campground?









Our campsite overlooking a portion of the lake.









Court house in Poteau, OK.

Wednesday we headed for Wister, OK and Lake Wister State Park. We followed the signs to the park and followed the sign that said to the campground. It went up a steep hill and we found ourselves on a narrow
two lane road that did have a double yellow line, but there was not enough room to stay on your side. If you needed to pass an oncoming vehicle, you had to nearly stop and almost pull off the pavement. We passed two or three signs that said various campgrounds, but none to indicated Wister Lake State Park campground. After 5 miles of this narrow crooked road we came back to the road we turned off. We stopped and ask someone where we were and how to get to where we were going. They said we should go back into town and follow the signs to the state park but not to take the turn up the hill.


We did as directed and we did come to the lake and the campground, however, we could only find the maintenance office. We were instructed to go back the way we came and stop at the cabin rental office and they would take our money and send us back up that hill and across that crooked road to one of the campgrounds we had passed. When Evelyn said we would not go back that way again she said well, just go out to the campground where we were, at the maintenance area and pick a spot and that would be alright.

So, why not have a sign that says campground office or something to that effect, not cabin rental. They did have some cabins, but not that many, that we could see.

You can see our campsite in the second photo. We spent Wednesday and Thursday night here and would have liked to stayed longer, but we needed to get on to Ft. Smith, AR to set up on Friday afternoon.

On our way, we went by the court house in Poteau, OK. A nice but small town with a really nice older section that has been well renovated and has the old time look. The streets have angle parking with barely enough room to pass oncoming traffic.

We arrived at the K of C hall in Ft. Smith and set up for the hamfest on Saturday. It rained in the afternoon and during the night but cleared up early and it was a really nice day with sun and a light breeze. The hamfest was small but well attended. We did well for a show of this size and will keep it on our good list for a future date. Sunday we will head north and maybe a visit to some cats.