Friday, October 26, 2018 (Travel to Blytheville, Arkansas)

We woke to rain Friday morning...well, at least it's not snow! While sitting with our usual morning coffee, I thought I would just check to see how far it was to Red and Pam's place in Arkansas. Hmmmm....a 2 day drive, that's not bad. So I contacted them to see if they were still there and if they had room for us. They have Pat and Bridget visiting, as well as Bill (Kelly is visiting family) but they encouraged us to come. As many full-time RVer's say...travel plans are in jello and that's the beauty of the lifestyle. So just like that, we changed our route!

After going into Walmart to pick up a few items and some more beer and wine...the county they are in is a "dry" county...we were on the road just before 9:30. It was a cloudy, rainy, socked-in day as we gradually made our way over to I-57...

...taking a number of secondary highways. Very scenic little town...Taylorville, I think...

Finally made it to I-57 south...

As we approached Marion, Ilinois to fill up at the Pilot Truck Stop, we heard a big bang...scared us to death!! Steve thought we'd hit something but when he pulled over to take a look, he couldn't see anything. As we pulled back onto the highway, there was a hissing sound and the truck had no power...ah...ha...that's familiar! Back in Anchorage, Alaska the same thing had happened...it was a blown turbo hose.

We limped to the Pilot Truck Stop which was only a mile away and there happened to be a garage...what luck is that?! One of the clamps on the turbo hose came off. Luckily the mechanic was able to replace both clamps without us having to off load the boat and unbolt the boat loader to tilt the cab. He had us back on the road within a half hour.

We're about to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri...

 Missouri State Line...

 Big Lake Bayou...

 Cotton fields...

Our destination for today was a Walmart in Blytheville, Arkansas but when I called, they said they no longer allow overnight camping in their lot. Sheesh! So we thought we'd try a Love's Truck Stop a little further along the Interstate...it was full, however, near the on/off ramps to the freeway was a big open spot where there used to be a truck stop. So we decided to pull in there.

We only put our bedroom slide out, so there would be no cooking dinner tonight...or coffee/breakfast in the morning. Luckily there happened to be a McDonald's across the road, so we walked over...not normally a place I care to eat at but I must admit I was pleasantly surprised! I had a grilled chicken ranch salad and it was good! Steve's burger not so much. Go figure...LOL!