Slowing our Roll
We slowed down our travels to see roadside attractions
We finished teaching our RV Basic Training Camp in Texas, and now we are on our way back to Indiana. We have some extra time to get there, so we are traveling in a much more leisurely pace than normal. And loving it!
From Texas to - Texas
Our first day of travel after being in Glen Rose for a week of teaching, we only went about 90 miles - to the north east of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis. We had camped on Lavon Lake a year ago, and have friends in the area, so we sort of repeated the visit.
And then to - Texas
We enjoyed that short trip, so when we were ready to move again, we didn’t plan a 300+ mile drive. Instead, I saw a Harvest host brewery about 67 miles away and we decided to aim toward that destination. We took our time in the morning, then sent to Aldi and Costco to stock up on coffee and… I don’t recall. Other essentials. Coffee is the most essential. I remember that. We sat and drank our afternoon coffee then headed east.
Our new travel pan is to not plan, so we didn’t make a reservation. We drove as far as Sulphur Springs, Texas and decided we were, indeed, ready to stop for the day. We went inside Texas Hops and Chops and verified that it would be okay to spend the night. The wonderfully friendly server gave us great instructions where to park. She joked that we could only boondock there if we ate there, which of course we had planned to do anyway. It was still early, though, so we went to the downtown area for site-seeing. Oh, I should explain this:
What’s on your Roadside, America?
Since our plan on this trip is to not plan, we are slowing our roll and stopping when we learn about a fun, interesting, or silly attraction that we want to see. To find these attractions, I as scanning the Roadside app from RoadsideAmerica.com and the Atlas Obscura app. We are not stopping at every single place listed on these apps, but we are choosing which ones we want to see. We are not basing this decision on how much time we have. If we want to see something, we make the time to see it.
Why are we not stopping for everything on the apps? Well, some of them just don’t really interest us. Sometimes it’s pouring buckets and not worth getting out of the vehicle. Sometimes - often, really - we are towing a 25-foot trailer behind us and need to avoid excess traffic, narrow roads, and low bridges. If we learn about something we really, really want to see, we’ll camp in the area, unhook the trailer, and go see it with the truck. Which takes me back to Sulphur Springs.
Mirrored bathrooms
Sulphur Springs is not only home to a great brewery and steakhouse Harvest Host, it also boasts a beautiful courtyard square and veteran memorial. We didn’t know about those, though, until we went to see the mirrored bathrooms on the square.
There is something quite strange about using a toilet in the middle of a busy town square when you can see everyone milling about outside the door. But honestly, I had thoroughly tested the walls and I could not see in from the outside. So why would anyone else be able to?
They couldn’t, of course, and that’s what made this silly stop so intriguing to us. This is just the kind of nonsense we like to get into. We took video from the outside and the inside.
More silliness
There was another bonus at this stop: a street corner tribute to Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. If you aren’t familiar, I highly recommend a YouTube primer. John Cleese is nothing short of genius. I shot video of Tony doing silly walks, but I know if I tried, my knee would protest and I’d be sorry. So I just crossed the street with my normal gait. I did try a pose to match the sign.
Dinner and beer
All those shenanigans worked up our appetites, and we returned to the brewery for dinner. As we were perusing the menu, another couple came inside to check into the Harvest Host site. When they returned from parking, we invited them to sit with us. Hi, Randy and Cynthia!
Tony tried a couple of the beers, and I had a pear seltzer. I had a really delicious burger, with potato skin fries as my side dish. Tony had a hamburger plate with mashed potatoes. We had a lovely evening meeting new friends, and a good night’s sleep even through the rain.
Apparently this is becoming a theme for us. Sleep at a brewery and wake up parked in a flooded field! Haha. At least this time we were out of the flooded portions so I didn’t have to pack up in my bare feet!
Hop on over
I saw that there was an iHop nearby so we went there for breakfast. There was an empty parking lot lot next door, fortunately.
Last time we tried iHop, in Kansas City, was a total disaster. After waiting about 10 minutes to even be acknowledged, they said they couldn’t seat us because the kitchen was behind. Lame. We could have sat there drinking coffee, chatting, and reading the menu. Instead, we made snide comments, and left.
This time, we were seated much more quickly, though they did say the kitchen was backed up and it would be a wait. Our server was an absolute delight, she was so upbeat the whole time. She took our orders and brought us a cup of coffee. Which, by the way, she never refilled. She was a little bit busy but still…
I could not hold my tongue when I heard her tell the table next to us that they had run out of crepes. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever made a crepe. Sure, they are really thin and it’s scary to flip or lift them. But the ingredients are nothing special, and there is no reason a commercial kitchen can’t whip up a batch. Seriously. Giant eyeroll.
The server said only one manager knows how to mix crepes. I told her I could step back there and do it for them. Our breakfast was served without an extreme wait, and I really enjoyed my ham and cheese omelette and pancakes. I just wish I had been offered a coffee refill, at least once. But as i said, the server was really sweet and I don’t NEED unlimited coffee before a long road trip!
Moo
Sulphur Springs Texas is also home to the Southwest Dairy Museum. If you ever wondered about where your glass of milk came from, this is a good place to learn the details. There was a movie, and all sorts of exhibits of milking machines and dairy products of all kinds. This museum is listed on the Roadside app because of the giant cows that stand between the parking lot and the street.
Weather woes
What’s the opposite of delay? Because that’s what the weather caused for us on this drive day. We had planned to make a few stops, but the rain was pelting us so hard that a couple times we almost just pulled over and stopped. No way did we want to get out of the truck!
In Texarkana, we drove past the post office that is located in two different states. Texarkana is a town split by the state line of Texas and Arkansas, as you might have guessed. We wanted to do a fun photo with us in two states in one doorway but the rain changed our plans. We took some drive-by photos and kept going.
Rather than spend a lot of time in town and perhaps spend the night, we opted to try to outrun the weather, and kept driving.
Don’t lose Hope
By the time we got to Hope, Arkansas, the weather was not quite so bad so we stuck to the plan of visiting the birth home of President Bill Clinton. This is also the site of the Klipsch museum of speakers, but sadly it was closed when we got there.
We did tour Clinton’s home. I find that I really enjoy “real” settings of how people lived in the past. In particular, I love old kitchens. This house was the real deal, although the ranger/tour guide made sure we understood the age-appropriate furniture was not original to the house. There were lots of real photos of little Billy III, and his family.
No-host site
We decided rather than stop in 20 miles at a Harvest Host, we would drive to Hot Springs Arkansas, where we booked a KOA. We do love to boondock, but when the sun won’t shine and the heat and humidity require air conditioning to make the trailer comfortable, we knew being hooked up would be the better bet.
A new view of Hot Springs, Arkansas
This was our third visit to Hot Springs. We knew the highlight of previous visits was, naturally, the Superior Bathhouse Brewery. It’s the only brewery in a National Park! What we did not take into account was that it was Saturday, and spring break in Arkansas. There was no parking available anywhere along bathhouse row!
I opened my trusty Roadside app, and found a museum that looked like a fun visit. And it was! The Mid-America Science Museum is a hands-on science experience. We spent a lot of time in the Animation Academy, learning and playing with all sorts of animation. We also attended a show in the Tesla Theater, where we did not get electrocuted! Yay science!
I also saw that there were some Muffler Men in the area. We drove to where they are, and got photos through the fence, but they were on private property and the business was not open that day.
Since we couldn’t find parking in the main part of town, I searched for an alternative lunch spot and found a Cuban sandwich and coffee shop called Cafe Mi Amor. Lunch and coffee were divine!
We picked up some groceries and headed back to camp. We never got hungry gain, but nibbled on some cheese and grapes later that evening. I did a load of laundry and we chatted with our neighbor as he hooked up his 5th wheel for his early morning departure.
Choo Choo Chew
Today, we left Hot Springs. The Roadside app found our first stop: Lunch at All Aboard Grill in Little Rock Arkansas. Why did we choose this place? Well, our meal was delivered by a train. How could we resist? The food was pretty tasty, and I chose a basket (with fried shrimp) because it included a hushpuppy. Yumm-O.
We got tired of driving before crossing into Tennessee, so we stopped at a KOA in West Memphis. We are working and relaxing with the air conditioner running to decrease the temperature and humidity. Another storm is expected overnight.
Non-Plan Plans
We are enjoying traveling without pre-determined destinations. We only go as far as we feel like going, and we stop to look at whatever we feel like seeing. Tony doesn’t understand why it took me so long to agree to this lack of planning!
