Wednesday 5-1-24 Beginning of a New Month, Back in Texas &Texarkana

 

Happy May

Today started a new month. We had a beautiful day. It got up to 88 degrees in Texarkana.

I got up at 7:00 and made oatmeal for breakfast. Then we got ready to leave. We put everything away we used. We would have stayed longer in Little Rock because there's a lot to do and we like it here but the rain is suppose to come in tomorrow morning and hang around a couple of days. It's not just the rain but it's also going to be in the high 80's and low 90's. We wanted to be closer to home. We were on the road by 8:00.

Today Larry drove 180 miles, which was mainly four lane highway. He had to drive through Little Rock during morning rush hour. It wasn't bad the direction we were going but the other way it was bumper to bumper. Once out of Little Rock the traffic lightened up. It's amazing how many 18-wheelers we saw today. The whole drive was a continuous line of trucks. In many places there were a lot of trees, not only on the sides of the road but also in the median. Some areas the median was so thick with trees you could not see the oncoming traffic, in other areas they had removed a lot of the trees. The drive was very nice. 

Our destination was Texarkana. We were 10 miles outside of Texarkana when our GPS said there was going to be a 15 minute delay. Larry drove in the construction for a few miles and decided to change the route. He found a nearby highway to get us to Texarkana, it was the old highway. We took the next exit. It wasn't out of our way and the road was very good. The old highway took us a block away from the Texarkana Federal Courthouse and Post Office, its unique in that it's located in both Texas and Arkansas. We found a place to park in Texas about a block away. We walked to the courthouse and post office. The sign for the Arkansas and Texas state lines was in great condition. The lower courthouse is in Texas and the post office is in Arkansas. On the second floor one of the court rooms is in Texas and the other in Arkansas. We went to the building and the security guard told us we couldn't go into the courthouse side without going through the security precautions but we could go into the post office. The post office was very old and in good condition. The lady working there gave us a pin representing Texarkana. 

Next we walked around the downtown area. You could tell that at one time the downtown area was a busy and happening place but like many other towns the downtown area has declined. It is obvious they have spent a lot of money trying the revitalize the area but it appears they are failing. Lots of empty and dilapidated buildings. There wasn't much to see, they use to have some museums but they looked like they went under or they're only open on the weekends. We did see a couple of murals of a couple of musicians. Scott Joplin is the Father of Ragtime and Otis Williams was the founder of the Temptations. Both were born in Texarkana. 

We walked on the sidewalks but they were in bad shape. I tripped a few times but the last time I fell hard. When I landed I put me left hand out to break my fall but I landed on my right breast and knocked the wind out of me. I couldn't breathe for a bit. A lady was walking and came over to help us. Larry told me to sit there a bit to make sure I was ok. I got my breath and Larry and the lady helped me up. I ended up skinning my left palm up and bruised my right knee. I'll probably be a little sore tomorrow. We thanked the lady for her help. She wanted to make sure I was ok. 

When we got back to the Minnie Larry programmed the GPS for our final destination, which was Piney Point Campground on Wright Patman Lake. It was 12 miles away.

 

Texas/Arkansas sign in front of the courthouse

 

Courthouse and Post Office building

 

Arkansas side of tractor in front of a museum

 

Texas side of the same tractor

 

Scott Joplin mural

 

Otis Williams mural

 

Our pins from Texarkana

Before going to the Piney Point campground we stopped by Texarkana Propane to fill the Minnie's propane tank. It took 5.1 lbs. This is the first time we had to fill the tank on this trip. Many trips we have to fill it every couple of weeks but that's when we camp without power, this trip we had power almost the entire trip. The gentleman who filled the tank was the least friendly person we have run into in quite some time.

We arrived at Piney Point Campground at 1:00. We stopped at the booth because there was someone in the booth. She was very friendly. She told us to find a site and go onto the website and pay for it. She said she would check the system and come by the site and give us the tag. There were a lot of openings. We found one that gave us a perfect view of Wright Patman Lake. This campground is gorgeous with a lot of trees, the sites are large and the parking pads are level. We have camped on Wright Patman Lake at Rocky Point Park before but this is our first time at Piney Point. Wright Patman Lake is a Corps of Engineers Lake and is very nice.

 

Camping at Piney Point Campground

Part of the campground

 

Wright Patman Lake

 

As we were setting up the Minnie our neighbor's dog came running over to welcome us to the campground. It was small and very cute. We said hi petted it. It's master called it back so it ran back to it's site.

We finished setting the Minnie up. It was warm so we relaxed under the air conditioner. I made sandwiches for lunch. While keeping cool we read. I played my Daily Challenges and the Event. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 1 hour, 30 minutes and 13 seconds, which put me in 14th place in my group. 

For dinner Larry barbecued sausage patties. Once it started to cool off we went for a walk around the campground. There is a hiking trail that takes you to Rocky Point Park. It is 1.3 mile one way. We checked it out. It was a little muddy. We'll see how it looks after the rain, maybe we can hike it. Larry walked with me for 15 minutes and I continued another 45 minutes. It was humid so I quit the walk but I continued stepping in place to get my steps, which was 17,000 steps. This put me in 2nd place in my group.