Jace's Annual Vacation 2025 Part 2

Our next destination for Jace's Summer vacation takes us to the eastern border or Arkansas. This was to be a one-night stay in a great RV park right on the Mighty Mississippi. Jace had crossed over the Mississippi a bit more north of this destination, so he had some idea of the size of the river, but nothing brings you up close and personal to the Mississippi like Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis, Arkansas. Our site was literally a stone's throw away from the riverbank, and the river is visible out both our front and side windows.

The reason for stopping here is not just to see the river up close, but to see the dozens of barges being “towed” down river to ports south of New Orleans. This is river commerce much as it has been for a couple of centuries, just on a larger scale. We knew Jace would love to see these 6 or 10 barges being guided by a single river tug, and he wasn't disappointed.

 

We had quite a thunderstorm in the early morning hours which knocked down a few branches, but outside of a few tense moments for some RV-ers who had to disconnect their electrical in a puddle, no one sustained any damage.

Our next stop was a couple of hours further west in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, home to Crater of Diamonds State Park. This is one of those bucket-list destinations, just so you can say you mined for diamonds once in your lifetime. Murfreesboro RV Park is run by two of the nicest people you'll ever meet, Sarah and Lynn. Lynn is the quiet enforcer of the rules in the park, and he keeps everyone on the straight and narrow. Sarah handles most everything else, including free lessons on how to mine for diamonds (not that it helped us in any way). They also provide the buckets, screens and carts you'll need for free instead of renting them at the State Park.

Mining for diamonds in 90 degree heat is hard work, even for someone as young as Jace. We tried a couple of buckets or raw materials, then simply gave up because our bucket list was checked off. Fortunately, the State Park had a water park on site, so we could all cool down from the morning's exertions.

 

Barbara and Jace sluicing sand and gravel to find "treasure".

Jace giving it the old college try by himself

The "World's Largest Diamond" . . .

Not wanting to leave Murfreesboro without a diamond, we headed over to the Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village where we not only saw the world's largest “diamond”, we learned about the early native settlers to the area and bought a bucket of slag which guaranteed a diamond and other very beautiful gemstones to find in the sluice. Jace was happy, we were happy.

I was able to get a more permanent cover installed on the back of the Jeep that would hold until we got to our next stop in Oklahoma City (where the window would be replaced). And I removed most of the glass that was in the back using a whisk broom and very thick work gloves. No room for a shop vac in the RV.

Oh, and right next to Murfreesboro was the small town of Delight, Arkansas, home of Glen Campbell. We drove through it on our way to Murfreesboro.

Our next destination was Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but getting there was a bit of a chore. Eventually, we were to drive on I-40 heading west, but you really can't get there from here, as they say, without some serious back road driving. And let me tell you, Arkansas and Oklahoma back roads leave a LOT to be desired. The pavement can be pretty cracked in many places, there are more than a couple of 90 degree, 10 MPH turns involved, and many of the roads are barely wide enough for two cars – let alone a 9 ft wide RV. Thank goodness we left early enough that oncoming traffic was light, because there was literally 3 inches on either side of the motor home trying to keep us between the lines.

Add to that, at the end of the day once we finally found I-40, we began to experience the near constant winds the Midwest is known for, At various times I was battling 15 mph constant and 20+mph gusts, and depending on the direction I was driving they were either headwinds or direct crosswinds pushing against the side of our billboard-sized RV.

Next up – we get to our first true “RV resort” that Jace can enjoy in between visits to local attractions.

Jace's 2025 Annual Summer Vacation - Part 1

After a one-year hiatus to be around for the birth of our second grandson, William, last year, it's back on the road for a 5-week all expenses paid (by us) vacation for Jace during his summer break from school.

This one is a doozy.

As in past vacations with Jace, we're using this trip to add a few states that we haven't stayed in before to our map of places visited. Unlike many couples who decide to full-time in an RV, we haven't rushed to visit every state in a year or two of travel. Many people run all around the map for a couple of years, then find themselves exhausted and less interested in traveling after putting those last state stickers in place. We decided from the beginning to take our time, and it's helped to make Jace's vacation planning a bit easier for us – just find places neither of us have been to.

We started our planning with 27 states visited thus far for us, while Jace had 17 under his belt.

And then it hit us. As Horace Greeley once said, “Go West, young man”.

Heading West was not without some challenges; we'd be driving through America's “Tornado Alley” in the middle of summer, maybe putting a load on our gas motor home when it came to some elevation changes and possible hairpin turns depending on our decided-upon destinations, the ubiquitous crowds that find their way to famous destinations, and finally, finding places to gas up the motor home in between stops when not every gas station can take in a 38' motor home with a 14' tow vehicle attached to it.

This isn't just hopping into a car and staying at local Motel 6's.

Our first stop after picking Jace up was just a short 2-hour drive to Ringgold, GA. Nothing particular there, but it's close to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN. Jace loves waterfalls, and even after more than 32 years of living in Georgia, Barbara and I had never been to Ruby Falls. It's an easy ½ mile guided trek underground inside and under Lookout Mountain with a fascinating story about it's discovery. The falls are approximately 85' high, dropping into a small pool. The short light show that colors the falls right before you head on the ½ mile reverse trek back to daylight is pretty impressive.

 

Our short stay in Ringgold was not without challenges, however. We stayed at Scenic City RV Campground, a new park just getting started in the area. They even have a group of greeters for new arrivals!

It's going to be a very nice park in a year or two – with great owners, btw - but due to the excessive rains the area had been having, some of their sites were not properly graded and graveled to handle the underlying mud and the weight of a 28,000 lb motor home. Our rear jacks sank into the ground, requiring me to use boards to get us properly leveled. Unfortunately, the boards couldn't cover the holes my jacks previously made, and cracked in two. Ended up using 3 boards on each rear jack, and barely made it out of our site on travel day with the front tires pushing away mud and gravel. Thought we were going to get stuck for sure! To add insult to injury, when dumping trash, I didn't notice that Jace's bike handlebars had shifted backwards at our stop at the dumpster, and when I closed the back hatch the handlebar shattered our rear window into a million pieces! That little mistake would cost me $500 down the road in Oklahoma.

Good thing we didn't have any bad weather forecast on the trip to our next destination in West Memphis, AR.

Needless to say, an inauspicious start to Jace's summer vacation.

Next up – an Arkansas many people haven't experienced.