Tex Trek '23 - Day 2

Jackson, Tennessee to De Kalb, Texas by way of Arkansas

Mar 22, 2023

Tuesday, 21 March 2023

We spent last night at Blessed Bounty Orchard in Jackson, Tennessee. Today, we are headed to De Kalb, Texas to stay at another Harvest Hosts location — White ‘Tale’ Ranch. Here’s how things looked just before we left Blessed Bounty Orchard:

Blessed Bounty Orchard is on Fiberglass Road and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some pictures in honor of our all-fiberglass and aluminum Ollie.

As we drove west on I-40, we passed the Memphis landmark St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

We also passed the Memphis Zoo — probably our favorite in the United States. Highly recommended if traveling through Memphis. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit this trip.

Just across the Mississippi River from Memphis is Arkansas, giving our Ollie another state to add to the travels map:

Shortly after entering Arkansas, my trusty co-pilot captured this terrific shot of a crop duster.

Longtime readers know that one of our favorite things about pulling our own little home is that any port will work in a storm. It was ugly and rainy as we drove through Arkansas combined with a lot of rural nothingness. When we needed a bio break around lunchtime, a church parking lot a couple of miles off the highway made a perfect place to stop.

Skipper and Maddie have been good traveling companions and they definitely know the words “camping” and “trailer.” They aren’t so excited about “rain” though.

Today we also added Texas to Oliver’s Travels:

Observant readers will notice we have “stranded” Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin. If things turn out as planned, we will get to Oklahoma and North Dakota this year. Wisconsin may have to wait for 2024 when I envision a loop up into Ontario to get all the New England States too. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are on the return leg of this trip. Our oldest son Bill has Navy orders from Monterey, California to Williamsburg, Virginia later this year so we’ll be doing more east coast travel in 2024. Not sure yet where youngest son Brian, currently stationed in Silverdale, Washington, will end up in January 2024. The point is that South Carolina and the rest of the eastern seaboard will be conquered soon.

We arrived White ‘Tale’ Ranch around 5:30 pm and were welcomed by gracious hosts Peggy and Jay White.

This is my favorite type of Harvest Hosts location — lots of open area with tons of privacy. This is the total opposite of being in a crowded campground.