Time at the Chickasaw Cultural Center near OKC

We spent a few days in Oklahoma City with good friends Kirk and Susan.  Kirk and I got to play some golf together and we had dinner at their place and enjoyed some hang time together.  They have a new grandbaby and we got to see her as well.  And see Mandy and meet Ty.  It was a great time.

On Sunday, we took a short drive out to the Chickasaw Visitor Center, Chickasaw National Recreation Area and the Chickasaw Cultural Center.

All three sites were fairly close to each other.  We started at the Visitor Center and got the impression of a very well done and informative center.

That was followed up with some time seeing and orientation video and displays over at the National Recreation Center main building.

 Next it was time for a short hike out on the grounds to take in some of the great scenery.

 We saw this fellow perched up on a branch.  He was observing the proceedings as we observed him.

 His head is on a swivel.  Fascinating.

This bridge was right near the start/end of the hike at the information center.

Along the way we got a couple of couples' photos.

Next, we went over to the Cultural Center and had a buffalo burger for lunch, then wandered through the museum and grounds.

It was a very impressive time at the Cultural Center and one of the most well done displays and we have seen in a long time.  It was a wonderful day with good friends.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

More Things We Use

Another in a series of things Pam and I use that may be of some help or interest to our readers...We use certain products or do things a certain way and have picked up some ideas we like to share.

1. Baskets in the Refrigerator.  And bungee tie downs - 
Dortha bought some of these baskets for the refrigerator and Pam has used them ever since our first few months on the road.

Pam also uses baskets to keep things in the freezer.  Bungee cords help keep everything from moving around too much when we roll down the road.

2. Freightliner Large plastic wrench hubcap bolt tool -  
Frank was in the campsite right across from us when we were still finishing up our full time working.  During those couple of weeks, he sold me a tool that came in handy last week.

He had a Fleetwood Discovery on a Freightliner chassis and had taken the wheels off a few times.  He noticed that his bright and shiny hubcaps were permanently scarred and gouged by the mechanics who used metal wrenches to get the center screw off.  This plastic one worked like a champ when I put on my new hubcap.

3. Foot/boot scraper - 
In Florida this past winter it was hard to keep from tracking sand into the Roadrunner and messing up the floors.  We looked a number of times at Home Depot and Lowes but did not find one.  We saw one back in December but for some reason it is a seasonal item.

While in Virginia Beach, I used our Amazon Prime account and ordered this scraper that sits outside by our steps.  It works well.

4. Dish tub in the sink /Suds down the toilet -
When Pam and I first started tent camping, she always took along a dish tub to clean things up after dinner.  I don't know whether by habit or ingenuity, she continued that practice.

One thing that enables us to do is pour soapy water down the black tank regularly.  We have a hose rinse set up that is useful also, but this puts 'good use' to the used dish water and also cleans our black tank.

5. Smell Management - strike matches in the bathroom -
After we had used a jar candle, Pam kept it and we place it on the heat duct ledge in the bathroom near a box of strike matches.

Matches are considerable cheaper than bathroom fragrances.  We light the match, let it burn down and blow it out and it does the job well.  We've been doing this for years now, ever since we visited 'Bradley on the Rocks' - Marg and Bill's cottage in Ontario on Lake Huron.

That's all for now - thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Two Days in Arkansas

Written from the Roadrunner RV Park in Oklahoma City.

We left Red Bay (and said goodbye to friends Steve and Karen)

and spent two days in some great Arkansas campgrounds.  The first one was in West Memphis at Tom Sawyer's RV Park and last night we stayed at the Aux Arc COE (Corps of Engineers) Campground in Ozark, AR.  Both were very different but excellent stays.

We heard good things about the Tom Sawyer RV park on the banks of the Mississippi and the reviews on RVParkReviews looked pretty good.  It was a little higher than we liked ($40) but we decided to go for it.

We were not disappointed.  Amy at the front desk, was helpful and friendly and showed us to our site.  When we found that trees blocked any chance to get satellite TV access, she found a spot on the 5th wheel side of the campground that was completely open.

 It threatened to rain but we got to see some tug boats and barges going up and down the Mighty Mississippi!

 After threatening, it finally did rain.  We got caught having to wait for it to quit while our clothes were finishing up in the dryer.  We were about 500 yards away from the laundry room, so we waited out the downpour.  The amazing thing about the laundry was that it was FREE!  Don't know if we have stayed in a commercial campground with free washers and dryers!

 We enjoyed the afternoon and evening, had dinner at the coach and did not even unhook since we were there for only one night.

The next morning it was beautiful so I watched some more traffic on the river while I ate my breakfast.

It was a nice way to start the morning.  Next we packed up and headed west toward Ozark AR and the Aux Arc COE Campground.

We commented more than once how strange the name "Aux Arc' was.  Later we learned it stemmed from the French settlers who called in by that name because of the area and the 'bend in the river'.  Aux Arc was later 'Americanized' to the name 'Ozark' which caught on for a whole part of the country.

When we arrived, we knew we wanted 50 amp service for the air conditioners and the TV, and we were able to choose from one of the three remaining campsites. But, they were on the wrong side of the road under the trees.  Turned out there was no satellite TV but we picked up a few local channels. For one night we survived fine.

 The view was great and the campground is right on the banks of the Arkansas River.   Beautiful and well manicured campground.  We were impressed!  It was nice to see a lot of families coming in for the weekend and enjoying the place.

 We didn't see any laundry service but the Army Corps of Engineers honors the National Park Service Senior Pass so our campsite for the night was $10!  That was really nice!

We did a bit of sightseeing in the area and drove 10 miles over to Altus AR which is the "Wine Capital of Arkansas'.  We even drove up to the Wiederkehr's Winery and property.  In the 1880's a group settled from Europe and established a community that became famous for its wine.

We haven't been this way before so it was an interesting couple of days and we were glad to see the Mississippi River up close. And we really like the COE park which makes us think we should look for more of them on our travels this summer.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And thanks for those comments -- we always appreciate them!

Roadrunner Review: Mason Jar on the Main

We stayed in Red Bay at the Downtown RV Park for two nights.  It was our first time doing that, we usually stay at the Tiffin Allegro Campground over by the Service Center.  But our friends Steve and Karen were there so we decided to give it a try.

It worked out well!

A couple hours after we arrived a young lady walked around and passed out flyers to the Mason Jar on the Main Restaurant a couple of blocks away on Main Street.  We tried it out on Tuesday for lunch and were impressed.

 The first thing I noticed was the metal paneling.  Nice.  The clean old original brick wall on one side works well with the metal.  The tables and chairs give it a good look along with the checkerboard tile floor.  Not overdone, a bit trendy and a fun atmosphere.

Owner Sherri was also our order taker and about as friendly as can be.  We opted for Chicken Fingers and the Special of the Day:  Fried Balogna Sandwich.  Pam said the chicken was good and they make their own tasty ranch dressing.  My balogna sandwich with pepper jack cheese and onion rings was a home run.
We had a 1/2 sweet tea and regular tea and a 1/2 tea and 1/2 lemonade which were very good.

 Cool looking chalkboard along one wall.

 Our order arrived in a few minutes and it was worth the wait.  The place started getting busy with a whole mix of folks -- us and some other 'motor home people (as we are known by the locals), some workers from the Tiffin Plant, one of the Tiffin son owners and a couple of his friends, a couple of ladies out for lunch and then a whole bunch of folks making it a busy place.

The food was good and reasonably priced.  The atmosphere was friendly, trendy and clean and the place was decorated well.  It is the perfect spot to grab some good food in downtown Red Bay.  We will be back!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!