Monday 5-1-23 Southland Casino & Little Rock

 

Sunset on the Arkansas River

We woke up to 49 degrees in Dickson TN. By the end of the day it was 73 degrees in Little Rock AR. Larry had set up the Wave 3 heater before going to bed so it kept us comfortable.

I woke up at 6:10 and Larry said it was early. I guess I'm still on eastern time zone plus it was already light outside. We had breakfast and then got the Minnie ready to leave. I made sure everything was secure and we were ready to get on the road by 7:00. 

Today was another long day for Larry. He drove 300 miles and had to fight the wind. The drive was interstates  I spent most of the time dozing off. We did stop a few times to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom. 

We crossed into Arkansas from Tennessee using a huge bridge. We used the same bridge going into Tennessee. Once on the other side of the river we were back in Arkansas.

Welcome to Arkansas sign on the bridge

Larry surprised me by stopping at Southland Casino. It is a fairly new casino and he had read reviews indicating it was very good. I hadn't been to a casino in a very long time, I don't remember how long, more than 3 years. When we entered the parking lot we had to go all the way around the old casino to the new casino. There was a lot of speed bumps. We were half way through when a security guard pulled up by us and told Larry to follow him. There was a special place for RVs. The big trucks can't enter the casino parking lot because they're too tall. They have to park in a dirt parking lot clear in the back. We were directed to park in a nice parking lot where the construction of the casino was going on. The guard told us where a nearby entrance to the casino was down a sidewalk by the construction. Larry thanked him and parked the Minnie.

Afterwards we went to the casino. As we entered the casino you had to go through a metal detector to make sure you don't have any weapons. Then you had to show identification that they scan into their system, I assume it checks your age and allows them to know who is inside the casino. I asked about a non-smoking area. He said the new casino is all non-smoking and the old casino is all smoking. The casino was big and beautiful and smelled great. We walked around to get familiar with the layout. I found machines I wanted to play. Then Larry said good-bye and went back to the Minnie. I played for an hour and a half and had a super time. I broke even. 

Excited about playing slots in a Southland Casino

I highly recommend this casino. It was not crowded and I felt very comfortable. Everything was new, bright and well maintained.

When I got back to Larry we had a sandwich for lunch. Then we moved on to Little Rock. Little Rock was 127 miles away. Before getting on the interstate we stopped and filled the Minnie up with gas.

The ride to Little Rock was a lot of work and at times a bit scary, the wind was blowing hard. As we were driving down the interstate we did see a doe and a fawn on the side of the interstate. We arrived in Little Rock about 3:30. Larry knew where we were going because we had stayed there before. 

It was Downtown Little Rock RV Park, which is located right on the Arkansas River. There is an old railroad bridge that was turned into a pedestrian walkway and bike bridge. It goes over the river to downtown Little Rock and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and other sites. At nighttime the bridges are gorgeous because they give you a beautiful light show.

RV park from the bridge

 

The walkway bridge to downtown Little Rock

Larry tried to make reservations for a site by calling them but they never returned his call. When he went to the office and asked if they had any openings the lady said not many, their normal sites are full hookups and they had a couple of openings but they also had an overflow area that only had electricity and water for $25.00. Larry was thrilled. We ended up getting a perfect site. It is near the exit, dump, dumpsters, bathrooms and office.

Larry parked the Minnie and connected it to the power. After plugging in Larry turned on the air conditioner to cool the Minnie off fast. We read a bit. I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I moved on to the event, which was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 29 minutes and 5 seconds, which put me in 9th place in my group.

We had leftover chicken for our dinner. After dinner we walked around for about a half hour. We walked onto the bridge so we could see the sunset on the river. When it got dark we went outside to take pictures of the bridge lights. Today we only saw one of the bridges with lights. The one we walked on didn't have it's lights going. The lights we saw were pretty. 

Pink lights on the bridge

 Purple lights on the bridge

Red lights on the bridge    

We had another long day. I had a lot of fun.