We didn’t stay in Arkansas long as we need to get to Camping World to get our messed up fridge checked out.  We did have a nice drive to Texas (June 18th) and the boys where whooping it up as we crossed the line. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that we would be in TX for a while.  Partly to get the fridge fixed and party because the state is huge.  It wasn’t long before we got to Jellystone Park in Tyler, Tx.

This was our first visit to a Jellystone Park.  It has recently become part of the Jellystone family.  I have to say that this location is excellent with only 2 negatives.  One is that the entrance sign wasn’t visible until I was right on it.  I had to go down until I found a place to u-turn.  Second is that there are 2 pools and that the family/kid friendly area was mainly 3 ft with a small area that went to 4 ft.   So the area really wasn’t meant for swimming, more like splashing.

The boys loved the jumping pillow.  Pretty much an extra large outdoor moon bounce.  I thought it was great except where they had sand surrounding it.  When the boys got all sweaty the sand stuck all over them.

The laundry room was fantastic.  It had brand new washers and dryers and had large enough areas to fold up your belonging.  The store has very little stock of items you may have forgotten on your trip, but they do have lots of Yogi bear merchandise.  The showers were great except they don’t have a bench to pur your stuff on.  Instead they had a plastic chair that blocked your way in and out of the shower.

Next up is San Antonio.

Jellystone Park, Tyler, TX

Ya know as much as Brian pushes my buttons he can really be sweet and helpful.  All day today he has been very helpful.  I think the trailering life agrees with him.  Today (June 27) we headed to Arkansas and to Catherine’s Landing.  I tried to get everyone out up to get ready as I wanted to leave early as I knew it was going to pour at some point on our journey.

I think todays highlight was when both kids actually put down their ipads when we were crossing the Mississippi River.  I don’t think they expected it to be as large as it is.  Right after we crossed into Arkansas, the skies opened up and it kept pouring on and off for the next hour.

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Catherine’s was fairly easy to get to although it would benefit from some additional signs beyond the one on the highway.  I had already checked some park reviews so I was aware of the lack of shade (its a new campground).  They have planted trees but its going to take a long time until they grow enough for shade.  We have an awning so I figure we will be fine.  Provided it doesn’t keep raining.  We went out to eat as the fridge is broken and I had to throw out all perishables.  On the way back to the trailer it started to rain. I spent most of our time searching for a place that had time to look at our fridge.  Nothing was available until mid-july.  So we decided to go to Texas a bit early and decided to leave the next day after visiting the Alligator farm.

Brian loves goats, until they jump up at him.

I have to say that I wish we hadn’t gone here.  It was pretty sad and smelled horribly.  I felt bad for the two wolves and two mountain lions.  You could tell they were totally bored in their small enclosures.  It was pretty obvious that people were questioning the care of the animals as there was a large sign at the exit stating how the animals are loved and cared for by a veterinary team when needed.  I am hoping our trip to Jellystone Park in Tyler, TX makes up for the farm.

We didn’t know that spring training for baseball started here.

I was the only one brave enough to hold an alligator

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The boys and I decided we were a bit tired of all the hustling we did Friday, so we decided to relax a bit more today.  Today (Sun, June 16) was all about horses.  The boys are totally different when it comes to animals.  Brian is hands on when he realizes that there isn’t anything to be afraid of and Sean prefers to look with his eyes not his hands.

Sean in Action

Since we visited the horses the night before and gave them some treats, Sean was willing to give riding one a try.  This completely shocked me as he rarely even touches the dog at home.  It might have something to do with the fact that the dog likes to lick and the horses don’t.  Susan, the trail boss for our ride, patiently explained to both boys about how horses are part of the food chain and that they know we are meat eaters and how if we are scared of the horses they will think there is an even bigger predator out there and they will be scared.  Sean soaked it all in and then listened carefully as they explained how to guide the horses.  Brian was listening very closely.  He was all excited over a mule.

Brian and Hank

Brian got to ride a mule called Hank.  When we were feeding them carrots Friday, Brian asked about the “horse” with the long ears.  I explained about mules and how they are cross breeding of a donkey and a horse.  All Brian talked about for the remainder of the night was hoping to get to ride him.  Needless to say, when Susan said he would ride him, Brian was ecstatic.  Brian had so much fun that he was complaining that the one hour ride was too short.

We left promising to come back later with treats for the horses.  When we did pop back in I mentioned how much Brian loved it and how he wanted to do a 2 hour ride but that Sean was happy with his one ride.  They offered to take him (on Hank of course) and Brian was pleading. So while Brian was galavanting around,  Sean and I were at the trailer.  He enjoyed his Ipad time and I got the never-ending pile of laundry to take care of.

Needless to say Brian thoroughly enjoyed his day of riding.  Susan mentioned how Brian has a good seat and that we should check into lessons.  Brian was beaming ear to ear.  He gave Hank a few carrots and all he talked about was how we should move here so when he is 16 he can work on the ranch and do trail rides. (We just bought him a western hat since he is going to be a cowboy)

Sean loves marshmallows

Just before dusk, I had the boys gather some wood.  Apparently this campground doesn’t require you to buy their wood unlike many others (due to preventing diseases and insects from being transported).  Once we got everything together it was time for a small fire.  I explained to the boys how we need just the right fire for s’mores as we need the coals more than the flame.  Brian was a bit disappointed as he prefers the flames.  Unfortunately, my graham crackers didn’t make the trip so we just toasted marshmallows instead.  They were still yummy, but it’s not quite the same.

Tomorrow we are off to Arkansas and we are hoping we can find a grocery store and we can try to make s’mores again.

Here are the pictures from the ranch.  Click on any of them to open it in a slideshow.

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Saturday, June 15th we stayed at Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch and Campground.  The boys were thrilled to arrive as we had a 6 hour drive to get here and we had a 10 mile backup that took forever to get through.  We all needed to stretch our legs when we arrived and unfortunately it took a few hours before we would be able to relax.

The campground is wooded and hilly and we all loved the feel of the place.  However, there are several wooden split rail style fences around the area.  Now, in a place that is big rig friendly (think RV movie) you would think they would realize what a hazard the fences are.  The fences give some ambiance, however, I prefer my trailer to not have to go through an obstacle course. I ended up hitting the back of the trailer on the fence and boy are they sturdy.  It pulled off the corner piece and twisted the right rear stabilizer.

We had several helpful “neighbors” stop by to offer advice on what to do next as we were still in the middle of the road.  We ended up unhooking the trailer from the truck and repositioning the truck so I could pull away from the fence without further damage.  For some reason while we were unhooking none of us thought to put chocks on the trailer, well it slid back 3 feet and stopped.  Thankfully no one was hurt (other than pride).  We finally moved down to another spot (much easier to get in) and started to settle in.

The kids and I discussed horse back riding for the next day.  We decided to bike down to the horses so Sean could become familiar with them and I could judge whether I thought he would be too fearful of them.  The ride down was great and both boys greeted the horses (and a mule).  I helped them feed them some carrots and we told them we would be back the following day.  Did I mention the campground was in a hilly location?  Let me tell you that riding a tandem bike up 2 very steep hills was hard.  I finally gave up and walked the bike up the hills.  Sean even got off the tandem and helped me push.  You must be wondering about Brian.  Well, he was cruising on his ELECTRIC bike.  He didn’t even break a sweat.  He was nice enough to carry our water for us.

Tomorrow is a day of horses, laundry and marshmallows. How’s that for a combo!