Do you smell something?
Boy oh boy, those Ozark Mountains sure can be tough on an RV. The temperature gauge was climbing quickly as the RV struggled to make it up some parts of the steep highway. I started smelling that hot-radiator smell through the vents. Ali smelled it, too. Richard wasn’t concerned but I was terrified, picturing us stranded on some mountain road…which wouldn’t actually be too bad since we’d be stranded IN our home (the RV)!
Anyway, we pulled over for gas and checked the oil and coolant. Both were just a bit low so we added enough to fill them up. I spent the rest of the day sniffing the air coming through the air conditioning vents.
In Little Rock, we got into the third worst traffic jam we’ve ever been in. The worst one was in Chicago a couple of years ago. In that one, we weren’t moving, it was about 100 degrees outside, the air conditioner has died and Ali was throwing up. The second worst one was in Virginia in 1999. Traffic stopped for several hours because of of an 18-wheeler accident and our car overheated. We were traveling that day with a car, a UHaul truck, three kids, two cats and a hamster.
Today’s accident was also an 18-wheeler. I guess we were lucky. We only had to sit on the freeway for 2 1/2 hours. It was a real pain and since the accident had happened several hours before, I wondered why the police weren’t rerouting traffic through side streets. We arrived on that highway four hours after the accident occurred and we actually turned the RV off numerous times because we weren’t moving at all. Thank heavens we have a bathroom in the RV. I felt really sorry for the people in cars. I bet we could have made a bundle if we’d put a sign on the back of the RV saying “Toilet for rent: 25 cents.” Richard and I even traded seats once, getting out of the RV and walking around to the other side. Lots of people were getting out of their cars and trying to see what was happening ahead.
We arrived in Texarkana and ate a horrible meal at a local cajun restaurant and when we pulled into the campground, two police cars and three undercover cars pulled in behind us. Don’t worry, they were called her for somebody else. I took pictures from quite a distance. Our digital camera zooms in REALLY close. We’ll post those later, after we blur out the faces.
We threw on our bathing suits to try to escape from the Texas heat. However, once we got in the pool, we noticed that someone’s little girl who was in the pool was covered in open sores. Ug! We made a quick departure. I sat down at the table here under a tree to do some work (they have wireless, but it’s $6 for only 12 hours) and was immediately attacked by ants. They’re everywhere! We’ve only been here for two hours…and we already can’t wait to leave.
Tomorrow we’ll be driving 6 1/2 hours to visit my family in the Houston area. I’ll bring you up to date on all the family gossip once we’re there!