Brinkley, AR

March, 2nd.

We spent our last night in Texas at Texarkana and proceeded into Arkansas. Our travels are not just sight seeing. We also have to stop for fuel, and do some shopping. Fuel stops are hard because a lot of the stations are geared for cars and when you add our total length of 45 feet pulling in and out can get harry. Sometimes we have a lot of trucks to deal with. Here is a case in point,

 OK you guys who's on first? You go, no you go. Wait, I was here first. Lemme' outa here!

Luckily, Shirley was driving out of this place and a trucker stopped so we could pull out onto the road.


See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Ft.Worth

We arrived in Ft. Worth on the 27th. and stayed at The Vineyard RV Park in Grape Vine, TX. This is one of the most unique towns we have ever seen. We had stayed here in '08 when we took our tour of Texas and had forgotten just how much we liked this town. We are certainly earlier this year so the place is not very crowded.

This is a place to stay and also gives us a chance to visit some folks who were neighbors in Carmichael. We enjoyed visiting them last time here and did a repeat visit this time. We were invited to tour Ft. Worth with them on Monday the 28th. so we accepted and stayed the extra day.

The intent was to visit some art galleries and the American Airlines Museum. Well, it was Monday and these places were closed. We did get to tour the Botanical Gardens which is a favorite thing for Shirley and me and we also got to visit the stock yards which brings back the feeling of old Texas.

Oops, it's closed. We did get a group picture of Dave, Susan and Shirley. I'm the one behind the camera.

 Serene view of the Japanese garden. Someday when I get rich and when my ship comes in I will have a back yard like this.

 Dave, Susan and Shirley. The weather was just about perfect. Some wind, but hey it's February.

                                              Susan, Barry and Dave. See, I was there too.

                                                                 Ride 'um cowboy!

                                                                        Don't shoot!

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

More about Sweetwater

After lunch on the 25th, we looked across the road and saw a sign, "WASP MUSEUM." Now this could mean many things, but due to my interest in airplanes I thought I knew. Also this was right on Avenger Field. We headed for an old hanger and this is what we found.

During WWII all the men were busy being in the war and there were not enough of them to ferry planes to Europe to fight with. So something like 30,000 women volunteered to do the job. Only about 1,800 made the cut but what a job they did. Unfortunately, like so many things, they have not been given their due for their service. This museum is not very well funded, and lacks a lot of hoopla, but it is here. You might Google it and learn more.

 It seems we have found a young miss who has just arrived. Hmmmm, nice car. Wonder who she is?

 There she is again. Seems a little short to me. But she seems to have the spirit. "V" for VICTORY!

 The sign on the front of the hanger build in 1939 where all this happened still stands and houses the whole museum.

An original shack on Avenger Field.

By accident whenever we stop in almost any town we find something of interest that we find very worthwhile.

Also on Avenger Field is housed a very nice looking college facility. The Texas State Technical College. We roamed around and found some windmill parts scattered around. I know all this "green" energy is favored by a lot of people, but these things as far as I'm concerned are a blight on the landscape. The relics scattered around show some of the problems they are having.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley

Sweetwater, TX

On February 25th. we made it to Sweetwater. This town has memories for me 'cause when I was a child traveling with my parents, I was usually sick. Either from drinking the water (which we blamed it on) or maybe even car sick. Anyway, the water elsewhere tasted like alkali and just made me sicker. When we got to Sweetwater, TX the water actually tasted good and I always enjoyed it.  So here we are.

 We stopped to check out the Elks Lodge and decided to spend the night. Ten dollars for full hook-ups is just too hard to pass up.

We learned we were two weeks too early for the annual rattlesnake round up. Wait, what is that on the ground behind me?

More later.

See Ya! Barry and Shirley