Saturday, October 27, 2018 (Travel to Mena, Arkansas)

It was a chilly morning with no heat but we were up, showered and walking across to McDonald's by

6:15. Quite a few semis had joined us on the big empty lot.

It was just after 7:00 when we pulled out and continued south on I-55. Such a beautiful sunny day...a big change from yesterday!

At West Memphis, Arkansas, we took I-40 west...I believe this is the White River getting a new bridge...

 Arkansas River...

River barges...

At Little Rock, Arkansas (in the distance), we took I-30...

...to highway 70...stopping in Hot Springs to fuel up...$2.96/gallon!

Arkansas has such beautiful scenery compared to some of the other states we've passed through in the last few days...

  

The highway narrows...

Ouachita River...

 We arrived in Mena and continued through town, as per Pam's directions...

 Looks like a cool town...looking forward to exploring it more! The train station is now a museum...

 We turned onto a narrow country dirt road...

This was much steeper than it looks...

We met Red and Pat at the top of the hill in a huge cloud of dust and followed them in...

We turned off the wider main road onto a very narrow road to their property. Pam took pictures of us turning into their driveway...

Yikes...this is going to be tight!

After hugs and handshakes it was time to try and fit into our spot. With two other rigs visiting, we didn't have a lot of manoeuvrability for 66' of us to get situated. The plan was to pull down the very narrow power line road far enough to straighten out which put the trailer on quite an angle...

 ...and back in to our spot. Steve was concerned about this because the truck only has one drive wheel. There is a steep slope on the drivers side. He went down as far as he dared but was nowhere near being straight enough to back into our site...

You guessed it...Steve got stuck trying to back up. Luckily Red had gravel available to put under the tires. It took several attempts and lots more gravel to finally get unstuck.

 Almost there...just assessing the situation. Bill had to move his truck so Steve could manoeuvre back and forth several times until he was straight enough to back into our site..

 I'm on the radio giving Steve directions. Just go straight back now...

Although there were a few tense moments, we did it! Nothing like providing some entertainment for the group! 30 amp power and water...sweet! Thanks for the help Red and Pat and the photos Pam.

We got all up and were ready to sit down with a cool drink. It was much warmer here than what we have been experiencing in the last few weeks...yes!

We joined everyone sitting in the shade...it was a lovely 79F/26C! Good to be back in shorts and flip flops!

As it cooled down, Pat got a campfire going and we moved over. Left to right....Red, Pam, Pat, Bridget, me and Bill....

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of grilled steak, baked sweet potatoes and Caesar salad....followed by more campfire time. The evening ended with cake and ice cream inside Bridget and Pat's fifth-wheel. So happy to be here...we're looking forward to spending time with the gang!