Searcy, Arkansas

For years as members of FMCA, we were aware that the president of FMCA (now ex-president) had established a company based in Searcy, Arkansas, that would rebuild your RV windows that were fogged up or had moisture in between the panes of the double-paned glass. While our Phaeton was still under warranty, we had several windows replaced. The driver's window I think was done three times. Tiffin would simply replace rather than fix the windows. Now that the coach is not under warranty, I did not want to take it to Tiffin and have them replace the windows with other "like" windows that would fail in a short time. So we decided to head to Searcy and have our bad windows fixed.

On the way, we stopped in Gretna, Florida. When we pulled in, I noticed the coach two down from us as being familiar. Our friends, Rod and Marsha, who were the hosts at the Tiffin Campground for years, were camped there! So we visited a while. They had left Florida that morning, same as us. They mentioned they were headed to Red Bay in June and we were too! So it seems we will meet again.

The next morning we broke camp and drove on. We stopped at a Corps of Engineers Park along the Tombigbee River. It was a beautiful camp and we were right on the river. We saw a barge going through soon after we stopped. That was the only one we saw, but I'm sure there are more moving up and down that river. They also access the Tenn-Tom Waterway, which connects the Tennessee and the Tombigbee to the Gulf of Mexico. We were able to sit out for awhile, but once again, RAIN! It seems there is no end in sight. We we were safe and snug in our campground.

We finally got into Searcy on Friday afternoon and set up camp at Whitney Lane RV Park. It is owned by a very kind older gentleman who had just lost his wife three weeks ago. He put us on his best site. It was a full pad with 50 amp and full hookups. It was the last site on the row and we stepped out with a view of a grassy yard running back to a woods. We had gotten in late afternoon and it was hot, so we plugged in. After waiting a bit, our power still had not kicked in. Julian, the owner, had pointed out that the other hookup was bad because a plug had overheated and he hadn't yet replaced it. So Terry tried a couple things and nothing worked. We had to call Julian back. He came back and prepared to open up the box and fix the problem. He had built the park and knew how to do all of this, but this stuff is right up Terry's alley, so he helped him. The box was full of mud dauber nests, long since vacated, and the breaker was bad. But they got that all fixed up and decided to fix the second box which had some bad wire due to the overheated plug at one time. So the two guys worked till they had that done and Julian spent another hour just talking. He is such a sweet man and he no doubt is lonely having just lost his spouse. I think Terry earned his angel wings talking with him. He does have family around. His sister across the street, a daughter next door and another relative next to her. So I'm sure they all check on him.

On Tuesday after Memorial Day, we were up early and over at the FogDr. garage at 8 a.m. They were ready for us and backed us right in and up to the building. The have full hookups as well, but we just plugged into electric so we would have air. They came out and asked us which windows needed work, so we walked around as they labeled them, nine total. Then they took out the four in the bath and bedroom. They had told us it would take two days so we were prepared to stay the night there. But they had those four done by noon and pulled the others in the front and said they would try to have them all done. And they did! Very professional people to work with. They worked fast, but not too fast that you questioned their work. They had a definite system for removing all the windows and worked steadily till the job was done.

Once they were finished, we went to get some supper and once back in the motorhome, we started hanging valences. Terry had made all our wood valences and they are beautiful, but it was a lot of work removing them with the blinds in them. And a couple of them are really heavy. We had done all that before we got there, so all they had to do was do the windows. So now we had it all to put back. And we had several cabinets we had to empty and leave empty till they were done, so in addition to having wood valences all over the place and in the car, we had boxes of household goods sitting under the table. It was a mess. But by the time we were ready for bed, it was all done. Our new windows look great. We can actually see out of them for the first time in years!

We spent the night in their parking lot and slept in. Wednesday, yesterday, we got up and left their place at 9 a.m. It was a great stop and after leaving $$$$ in Searcy, we went on down the highway.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Seeking cooler climes!

We did drive over to Tunica and spend a couple days there. They don't want us to come back apparently. We only seek to be entertained for a reasonable amount of time and that didn't happen, so we didn't hang around the casinos very long. And it was still so stinkin' hot down there. It was still close to 100* every day and once again, we spent a lot of time in the motorhome with the dogs. Kinda' hate to go away for too long.

We decided to head north since it was 20 degrees cooler back in northern Indiana and since we were headed that way, why not go now? We stopped the first night in Dover, Tennessee, and drove around this little town. It was named Dover because of its resemblance to the "white cliffs of Dover" in England. We looked up and down the river and only saw one small rock formation which looked to be limestone along the river. Nothing at all like the white cliffs of Dover, but I guess someone thought so.

There is a Civil War Battlefield here on the site of Fort Donelson. The fort was an "earthenworks" fort so it was hard to see the definition. There were a lot of trenches dug and still there. There was also some artillery and a few monuments. In the museum was a picture of the ironclad "Cairo" which is in Vicksburg. We have seen that ship. There was a display that showed the ironclads that were engaged in a battle on the Cumberland River here and played a strategic part in the outcome. It was quite interesting.

While we were driving through the battlefield there were signs indicated "eagle nesting areas" and we were lucky enough to see a juvenile up in a tree. I had a hard time getting a good picture that wasn't blurry. . . I need to work at getting my settings right on my camera. But he was huge. It is hard to believe how quickly they grow.

We left Dover the next morning and traveled a long day to Cincinnati to the FMCA campground. We had full hookups there and a nice yard for the dogs. We met some nice people. . . most are just passing through, but are very friendly.

We moved on Friday to St. Paris, Ohio, and spent two nights while we were visiting Tab and Deanna, our Alaska companions. We had a great time with them. We went to the golf course restaurant for dinner that night and their special was prime rib. It was delicious and I brought half of it home.

On Saturday we all went to Springfield. They were having a "food truck" event. It was in one of the parks and there were dozens of food trucks there and offering their wares for sale. They had everything from hot dogs to pizza to BBQ, etc. One even had kosher Jewish food. We found one we wanted to try, so we got something to eat. It was very good. It came in a styrofoam and was layered with BBQ and mashed potatoes. There were several kinds of meat, each layer separated by mashed potatoes. Terry and I split one. There was entertainment as well. Several musical groups played, a different one every hour. They were good as well. We really enjoyed our visit.

From there Tab drove us by his neighborhood where he was raised. Down the street from his home was a "rock garden" built by a man who lived there. He has a little city built out of stones. It is called the Hartman Rock Garden and is free of charge. They do accept donations. We walked around and looked at all the little creations and marveled at the work and time the man took for this labor of love. No trip to Tab and Deanna's would be complete without ice cream, so we stopped off at Young's Dairy for some ice cream before heading home.

We left there this morning, Sunday morning, and drove to Shipshewana. We are here for three nights. We plan to visit the town shops tomorrow, and the flea market on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Goshen. Terry needs to do some work on the motorhome so he wants to do that before we head over to the campground.

Till next time. . .

Dale