Today we drove toward Little Rock, Arkansas to visit Pinnacle Mountain State Park in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, unfortunately it was too hot and humid to take advantage of the hiking trails.  We are staying 2 miles from Pinnacle Mountain at the Maumella Campground which sits along the beautiful Arkansas River.  The Arkansas River is one of the Mississippi’s largest tributaries.  We are waiting for dusk hoping for it to cool down enough to go for a long hike.

Tomorrow we are heading to Lonnie’s brother and sister-in-law’s for a visit then on to St. Joseph’s to view the eclipse.

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Six days into our trip and the weather has been clear, hot and steamy for the last few days.  Yesterday we drove to Wright Patman Lake southeast of Texarkana and spent the afternoon and night at Rock Point Campground.  The RV sites are at water’s edge and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the lake.  We grilled a delicious steak with a bake potato for dinner, relaxed and took an evening walk.  This morning we departed for Lake Ouachita, (Wash’itaw), Arkansas.  This is one of the largest lakes I have seen with 975 miles of shoreline and 40,000 acres of water.  This lake is known for fishing as it has been stocked with bass, walleye and stripe.  The lake also offers wide open waters for boaters and skiers.  Fortunately a beautiful campsite overlooking the lake with tall shady pine trees was available.  Behind our site is a trail leading to a small beach which Vegas thoroughly enjoyed romping in the water.  Not sure about tomorrows plans but we will be thinking about it this evening.  I write this as I sit at our shady picnic table with a cool gentle breeze blowing off the water, ah life is good.

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We have been grounded at home for a couple weeks but on Monday, we go and get the Tiny House and start getting ready for a five-week trip to the Dakotas. The highlights of the trip include visiting with family along the way, the Eclipse, and Mount Rushmore. I just downloaded Willie Nelson (On the Road again) and made it our official theme song. I have feeling that we will be listening to that song many times over the next year.

We made it back to Austin and found 100 degree temperatures and no air conditioning in our home. Once again we are so thankful for our Unity, we just spent the night parked in our driveway with the Unity’s air conditioning blowing cold air. We got the air conditioner fixed the next day and are now ready to celebrate the 4th of July.

Today we left the Sky Ute Casino Resort (an excellent RV campground) and after two hours of driving we were dead tired. Fortunately we found a Family Dollar store  and stopped in their parking lot for a nap. After 45 minutes we were on the road again, wide awake and glad we are traveling in our Unity.

We are in a place with no internet no phone, just a cool breeze and the sound of a running river. Vegas is chewing a bone and Barb is reading. It’s been a long time since I have been so relaxed. The National forest is truly a treasure and I am so thankful that I can enjoy it.

We started our Monday with an adventure into the wilderness of the San Juan National Forest, we turned onto the gravel road leading along the raging waters of the Blanco River.  The road led us to an isolated primitive camping area next to the river under tall pines with plenty of shade, the perfect spot for an outback experience.  We’ve set up camp enjoying the cool breeze, the sound of the river, and watching Vegas exploring her new territory

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New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment and now I understand why.

Eyeing a narrow trail through the brush as a short cut to the trash bins, Vegas and I started trekking onward, when there was a rustling in the grass and a large brown snake came flying up and over the trail directly in front of us.  We both turned and ran as fast as possible back to the payment.  I thought maybe Vegas would resist me, but she was getting out of there faster than me.  We located the sidewalk a couple of rv pads down the way and walked safely with no incidents to the trash bins.  Located in the vicinity of the bins was a large colony of black-tailed prairie dogs, some standing up and chirping at us and other running as fast as possible into their holes.  Vegas wasn’t sure what to make of this.  We did not see any buffalo but maybe tomorrow, it looked like they hang out in that area often.

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Vegas not on the sidewalk!

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“Hay sierras debajo de los llanos” (there are mountains below the plains) was a common phrase used by early Mexican travelers who crossed through this area. We got here at 2:00 and the temperature was 101 so there is no hiking or biking the 25 miles of canyon trails. This afternoon it’s Netflix and Uverse but tomorrow morning we will be hiking with temperatures in the low 70’s.

This is the home of the official Texas State Bison heard. We saw a few when we cane in and I expect to see many more before we leave.