October 28, 2013

           This is Day Five. I left Harlow's Casino and Resort, see addendum, and headed west at sunrise. I crossed the Mississippi Bridge into Arkansas, which I love to intentionally mis-pronounce as "ark-AND-zuss". I paralleled the Mississippi for many miles, noting every inch of the riverfront belongs to somebody. The river morning fog was still present some 80 miles west. (Later correction, make that 85 or 86 miles inland to the west, my direction of travel.) This is an excellent early-morning photo of the batbike and camper, with some resort or other in the background.

           That's where I pulled into Pine Bluff, AR. Where I wasted an hour trying to find a road map. And I'm in the boonies for sure. I gave up asking for an Internet café. You can only ask so many times and here are the two major reasons you stop:

           A) You get tired of explaining what the Internet is.
           B) The way they look at each other, you can never be certain they quite believe you about that "innernet" thing.

           But the scoot southwest toward Texarkana took me back into rolling hill country. I prefer such roads, they make for much more interesting motorcycle tours. I like forest stretches, as it is still warm enough to enjoy the shade along the road. When I asked directions, people warned me it was winding but I found it quite pleasant. Be prepared for open stretches of nothing. I have a spare gas can.
           The least enjoyable part of the trip so far was the last 30 miles into Texarkana, where I had to take the freeway. Trucks blasting past at 75 mph. But there are not that many alternative routes through the delta swamps.

           I stopped at Texarkana to find my library card still works, I should say but for the freeway segment, the drive was beautiful. I noticed it was marked "The Trail of Tears". As a surprise because I did not know it, Highway 78 goes through the settlement Kingsland where Johnny Cash was born. Again, a surprise. Johnny Cash, my hero. It is heavily wooded, what you'd call deer country. Um, I think that may have been the only thing that ever happened in Kingsland. I didn't even stop but for this photo.
           I also made Hope, AR, where I saw the first pretty girl on this trip. They are not everywhere like back in my day. A blonde babe at a roadside store with two broken gas pumps. Alas, she did not hop in the sidecar and let me take her away from all that. So, one pretty gal in 1,600 miles. I weep for America.
           Now, if you want to test your 4WD, use the streets of Texarkana. I had to slow to 10 mph and waddle completely through town. Or I mean to the library. It's on 4th, where I spent a precious daylight hour (4:30 to 5:30 PM) on the computer. See how nice I am to you?
           Not finding any camper-friendly spots in Texarkana, I drove on in the dark along Highway 82 to New Boston. There I parked behind the west side Shell, clearing the stay with the owner. A state trooper suggested the Walmart, but there is evidently a log mill nearby. That means the Walmart lot would likely be noisy both late and early.
           Also, my clutched skipped a gear. I often cause that by my habit of speed shifting, but it is also a sign of fatigue, so I'll wait until tomorrow to see if it recurs. There is a Harley shop in Paris, 52 miles from here, that works on gearboxes. It is good to be back in Texas where even the food tastes better. This has been a wildly successful trip already. (It was a loose seal in the drive shaft gearbox. I topped it off with 150 weight gear oil.)

ADDENDUM
           Free camping, boondocking that is, is the way to go on a budget. The costs on this trip have been trimmed by half alread. I'm behind schedule, but so what. I've passed what I call the "Point of Perpetual Travel". That's what I say to mean the cost of travel has finally fallen below my income while travelling. That makes it tempting to stay on the road permanently--never calling any place home. But no can do. At least not right now.

           Here is what I call a town hall. I don't remember which little town it was, but here's a structure that survived the Civil War somehow. I saw somehow, because upon closer inspection, there is a small plaque that casually mentions this building was also used to manufacture and store ammunition.

           As mentioned just above, I spend 9 hours camped on the Mississippi. It is now 5:30 AM or so. I pulled into a sheltered corner of an 18-wheeler parking lot and slept like a log. But when I awoke, the trucks were all gone and you could see my camper from the freeway. Oops. I zipped back to Harlow's Casino and Resort for their $10 breakfast (sorry if some events get mentioned twice, the blog is written in two sections when I'm traveling.
           It is a misnomer to call the place a resort. There is nothing to do there except park and gamble. There is absolutely nothing resort about the place. But, thanks to Harlow's, I was able to afford that deep cycle (marine starting) marine battery* I've been longing for. And that puppy works. It runs both lights, both chargers and the fan or electric blanket all night without losing even a tenth of a volt. Mind you, all this gear is brand new and I have not run it all night by itself yet. No need to, it is only October.
           Word of caution about electric blankets. Your solar power must be converted to some type of AC, and there are many different standards. So do not buy an electric blanket with an auto-off feature. These have a timer that sometimes requires a sine wave to work. Sine wave rectifiers are the most expensive.

           *At this time I did not understand the difference between the two batteries. But any marine battery is worth the extra few dollars, you can trust me on that one.

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