The Pink Palace

It was 42 degrees when we woke up this morning and only went to 50 by the end of the day. On top of that, the wind was blowing from the north and it was cloudy. If we were going to go somewhere, it needed to be indoors. We made a plan to go into Memphis to go to the Pink Palace.



This mansion was built by Clarence Saunders, the man who developed the first self serve grocery store, Piggly Wiggly. It all began in Memphis and in the museum was a full scale model of the grocery store. He never moved into the mansion as he lost everything before it was finished. The creditors took it over and it was eventually donated to Memphis and used as a museum.









The museum was full of neat things from dinosaur remains, rocks, and lot of history. We watched a miniature circus that one man made taking 14 years to complete it. It is mechanical, but only plays 4 times a day.









There was also a planetarium and imax theater that we went to.



We enjoyed going there with no crowds. Yes, our truck is the only one in this parking lot.




We headed home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. Tomorrow, it will still be chilly, but the sun is supposed to be out.


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Location:Memphis, Tennessee

Sitting on the banks of "The Big Muddy"

We made it to our site on the Mississippi River today. We drove approximately 200 miles and we were set up by 3:00.



What a wonderful place this is! Not only do we have a scenic site with all the river traffic, we have internet, satellite tv, and full hookups. For an rver, it couldn't be more perfect. Our site is on the end with a large grassy yard. Sitting on the patio, it almost feels like we are on the river by ourselves.



We enjoyed probably the last really warm evening we will probably see here. Happy hour under the awning watching the barges glide through the river.






Tomorrow, a front is supposed to come through with rain and a high near 55 and a low of 41. Sounds like a good day for laundry, taco soup, and catching up on indoor projects. :)


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Location:West Memphis, AR

Scenic Drive and a Dinner Surprise

After a late breakfast, we decided to check out the Scenic Byway on Highway 7. We drove through Hot Springs, then stopped to pick something up for lunch from




We drove a little further and found the perfect place to eat!




This is a great spot!




After lunch we took a walk on the




It was a beautiful walk. We just don't have trees like this in central Texas.












We continued on and came upon a scenic drive, so the sign said. It was a little too scenic for us when we realized we were on a gravel road looking down the side of a mountain. The picture just doesn't do a good job in depicting how high we were as well as how close we were to the edge.








When we finally came upon a place to turn around, we did just that. It was a little too rustic for us.

We continued our drive until we came to the old Hollis CCC Camp. All that is left are the rock structures and fireplaces.








We turned around to go back to DeGray Lake. We did see some signs of Fall.








We will be back in this area in about 10 days. We're hoping to see even more colors then.
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We arrived back at our site and decided to go to the lodge for their fish and rib buffet. This was the view from our table.




And a surprise, there was a wedding going on down below! It was fun watching from afar. What a beautiful setting!




Dinner was great. The meat fell off the ribs. We visited for awhile with the camp hosts who are staying across from us. They had also come to try out the buffet. They live in Hot Springs Village. They camp host here for two weeks, then go back home. They will camp host again two weeks later at Lake Ouachita. We thought it was interesting that they only worked a two week stint. This might be something we might want to do later.

So, we wanted to end our day with some of our pictures of this beautiful place. We leave on Monday. Stay tuned for our next stop. :)
















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Location:Arkadelphia, Arkansas DeGray Lake State Park