There's Always Room for Jell-O

When last we met, we were near Memphis, and we did, indeed, make a trip to see the birthplace of the Blues, as well as the National Civil Rights Museum.  We went to the museum first, and it was quite a moving experience.  So much more than a memorial to the place where MLK Jr. was assassinated.  It was interesting, educating, and sobering to think about the inexplicable cruelty mankind can inflict on their fellow human beings.

We left there and headed toward Beale Street to see and smell the sights.  It was definitely a fun way to pass a bit of time and enjoy some Memphis BBQ in the form of a pulled pork sandwich at Pig on Beale Street.  And, our mascot, Chipotle, got to do a little photobombing on the fun oversized guitars that line the street!

From Southaven, Mississippi, we headed to Ozark, Arkansas to spend a couple nights at an Army Corps of Engineers (COE) campground.  The campground was very nice, our site was right on the lake, overlooking the dam.  Unfortunately, it was overcast and rainy the entire stay.  There wasn’t really anything to see nearby, and we weren’t able to enjoy the perfect location backed up onto the lake.  Oh well.

From Ozark, we headed to Weatherford, Oklahoma, and our DRV Suite Owners rally.  It was a fun week of getting to know all the folks we have previously only known through our posts on the DRV Facebook page.  We got to show off our rigs, visit local points of interest (POI) like the Stafford Air and Space Museum and the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, as well as visit local restaurants – incredible food at little out-of-the-way places!

 

We left Weatherford on Tuesday (4/9), bound for Tucumcari, New Mexico for a one-night stay.  Our campground, Cactus RV Park, is on Route 66, and the buildings at the campground were actually an old motel that had once been a part of the many places to stay along the “Mother Road”, as Route 66 was called.  We took a walk down the street for about two blocks, and the businesses (current and closed) were a sight to behold.  Suffice it to say, I am totally hooked on all things Route 66!

We had an unfortunate situation when we set up camp - we had a mechanical malfunction while in transit.  The center driver’s side landing gear (jack) extended while we were driving, and the foot that rests on the ground was ripped off.  Tim discovered it when we had stopped at a rest area, and he retracted the jack.   When we arrived, the campground owner was nice enough to loan us a hunk of wood to extend the jack onto when we set up.  At that point, Tim set about doing research into what happened, but we had to wait on making phone inquiries until we reached Pueblo, Colorado for our next stop.

                                                        Pikes Peak from Colorado Springs

Owning an RV like we have is a good and bad thing.  Good in that it is only sold at exclusive RV dealers due to the nature of the RV (built for full-time living vs. weekend warriors who only take the rig out for a couple weeks per year).  Bad in that it is only sold at exclusive RV dealers and they are far and few between, which means that the dealers’ service areas tend to be very busy this time of year with owners getting some Spring tune-ups/fix-ups.  Tim wasn’t able to find any DRV dealers (or other dealers that DRV recommended to him) who could fit us in, let alone stocked the parts that are needed for the repair.  We’re still under warranty (about three weeks until our first anniversary), so we’re not looking at a financial outlay on this.  But, we still need to find somewhere to have the repair work done.  Lippert, the company who manufactures the jacks, has been very good to work with, and they are working on finding a way to get us into their service center in Goshen, Indiana to have the repairs done.  It’s either that, or going back to the DRV service center in Elkhart, Indiana and waiting there until they can get us in.

By now, you have probably guessed that our travel itinerary is kaput.  The reservations we made up through North Dakota were cancelled with no penalty.  And now, instead of heading north, tomorrow we’ll be heading east into Kansas.  The lemonade here is that I’ve never been to Kansas, so we get to add that to our list of states visited.  Which direction we take from there, we’re not sure.  Talk about flying by the seat of your pants!  We have never travelled without a set agenda before.  It’s certainly a different way to do things.

And, as I mentioned in my last post about Jell-O plans, we are most certainly dining on a heaping helping of the gelatinous goop with this plot twist in our plans.   Stay tuned to see how things unfold!