After our cold and wet stay in Hot Springs, we were ready to high-tail it south to warmer weather! Our next planned campground was near Carlsbad, NM — about 800 miles away. Since we try never to exceed 400 miles travel distance in any one day, this required an overnight stopover on the road. As mentioned previously, our preferred option is overnight parking at a rest area, because of the convenience factor.

Our I-30 route across Texas didn’t offer many rest stop options. Most are older/smaller rest stops, with few truck parking spaces. Where there is truck parking, most are the “parallel” parking type, which can be problematic for us. We spied one new rest stop, with ample parking, about half way along our route. Perfect! We headed that way, only to find it blocked by road construction. Oops! The remaining rest stops along our way weren’t really a good option. It was too late (after 5 pm) to book a campground for the night. We had already traveled over 400 miles and were tired. We hadn’t really planned an alternative — but we needed to come up with one in fairly short order!

Allstays app to the rescue! Using the app, I spotted a Walmart about 12 miles up, just off the highway. Those of you that are RV-ers know that Walmart overnight parking is a Thing. Walmart typically allows overnight RV parking, unless specifically prohibited by local ordinance. We’ve stayed at Walmarts before, but have found them to be difficult to maneuver due to crowded parking lots, abrupt pavement transitions (scraping bottom of bus) and low-hanging tree branches (scraping top of bus). So, Walmart isn’t typically on our radar for overnight parking. Still, needs must, so we gave it a shot.

Although the parking lot wasn’t especially large, we found a good spot on the edge. We asked, and received, permission to stay — so it was a go! Our stay gave us an opportunity to pick up a few things, to boot.

The next morning, Jeff discovered he had left an attachment to his Viair portable air compressor back at the last campsite. Major bummer. Normally, he checks the air pressure in all of our tires at the beginning of every travel day. But, no problem, we were at a Walmart! He was able to find something that worked and readied our tires for travel.

So it all worked out. We found a quiet and safe place to stay. We ended needing some things — and Walmart had them. We may just have to put Walmart back on our list of potential parking spots!

Hot Springs National Park is one of the most unusual National Parks that we’ve visited so far. Instead of a remote setting, this park is located smack-dab in the city downtown area! The reason for the park is, of course, the natural hot springs.

In this area, water bubbles up from the depths of the earth, emerging at a temperature of around 143 degrees Fahrenheit. The springs produce over a million gallons of hot water per day! For centuries, the Native Americans used the mineral-laden water for medicinal purposes. The first bath houses built to take advantage of this hot water supply were essentially huts or log cabins built over rough excavations in the rocks. Over time, however, much more elaborate structures were constructed, some which are still in use today. Andrew Jackson designated this area the first Federal Reservation in 1832, 40 years before Yellowstone became the first National Park. When Congress established the National Park Service, Hot Springs Reservation became Hot Springs National Park in 1921.

The highlight of the Park is Bathhouse Row, a street lined with Golden Age era structures. Many have been converted to other purposes (dining, shopping, lodging), but two still operate as bathhouses. The Buckstaff provides a private traditional bathhouse experience (bath/massage) while the Quapaw (named after the local Native American tribe) offers a public mineral pools experience along with traditional spa services.

We elected to visit the Quapaw to experience the mineral pools for the nominal fee of $20 per person. The pools are available on a first-come-first-serve basis only, no reservations taken. Due to COVID, occupancy of the pools area is limited to 30 people, to allow for social distancing. We queued up on a busy Saturday morning and were #10 and #11 on the waiting list. Before entering, we were health checked with a questionnaire and temperature screen. We had to stay on property, but passed the time easily in the onsite cafe, enjoying hot beverages and a light snack during our wait. After an hour or so, we were called to the front, were given locker keys and escorted to the dressing rooms. Masks were required at all times, unless actually in the pools area.

There are four pools to choose from, at temperatures of 95, 98, 102 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The room was beautiful too, with a gorgeous barrel-vaulted ceiling and tiled pools. Everything was immaculately clean. Pool attendants provided an unlimited supply of iced mineral water and towels, as needed. The room was large enough that we never felt crowded, and had no trouble maintaining adequate distancing. The changing room had showers, lockers, and a swimsuit spinner that centrifuged my bathing suit almost dry! It was a great way to spend a few hours on a cold October day.

We soaked ourselves limp, then exited to explore the shops along the street. The National Park visitor center building was closed, but park literature and the passport stamp station was available just outside. Along the row, there are several public hot springs fountain dispensers where anyone can take home their own supply of water — just bring containers!

Unlike Missouri, Arkansas does impose COVID controls, so we felt much more comfortable exploring the area. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It rained (and was COLD) during virtually all of our stay which restricted our usual outdoor activities. Jeff did manage to slip out between rain showers to mountain bike once. Still, we managed to explore the Park a bit, dined out a couple of times, and definitely enjoyed our hot springs soak.

We continue to head south and west, next stop — Carlsbad, NM!

It was sad for me to leave my hometown after such a great visit. Being able to spend time with my family made me feel, well, normal, after so many months of isolation. Our next stop was Branson, Missouri — well known for its variety of shows and attractions. Unlike Pigeon Forge, Branson doesn’t have a defined “strip”, instead includes a fairly large rambling area dotted with strip malls, restaurants and numerous theaters.

Under normal circumstances, I’d have been in show hog-heaven. I could have seen live entertainment literally every day — comedy, variety, band tribute shows — you name it. But …. COVID. It’s ironic that early this year, we couldn’t see and do a lot of tourist activities because States weren’t open. Now, some areas are TOO open!

Quite a few shows in the Branson area are open and actively performing. But, the State of Missouri has no mandated COVID controls, as far as we can tell. The city of Branson has enacted a mask mandate, but it seems to be inconsistently followed and/or enforced. Shows have no capacity restrictions, which means they can sell tickets to all the seats, if they want – no social distancing. And although masks might be required going into the theater, they are not required while seated, presumably so that you can enjoy your purchased concessions. The idea of sitting in a packed (indoor!) theater, for 2-plus hours, with essentially no COVID precautions, just doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Restaurants don’t have any mandated capacity or social distancing requirements either. We stopped at a small diner while out motorcycling our first day here, and the tables were stacked like usual. We were able to socially-distance, because we went at an off-peak time, but the waitress and other workers (and other patrons) did not wear masks at all. Folks in this region are mostly living like this pandemic doesn’t exist.

The area also has the Silver Dollar City theme park, but after our somewhat disastrous pandemic-time visit to Cedar Point, I’m not sure Silver Dollar City will offer a much better experience.

I’m not going into the politics of the pandemic, or getting into an argument about whether masks are effective or not. But, as responsible adults, we have to make decisions about the health risks we are willing to accept. Considering the uptick in COVID cases throughout the country, we’ve decided that, for this visit, we would forgo shows, restaurants, and attractions. We focused on motorcycling, outdoor activities, and maybe some shopping during off-peak times.

Since it rained more than half our stay, even outdoor activities were constrained. During the couple of nice days we had, we rode the countryside. This area is really beautiful with rolling hills, lakes, and valleys. One of our rides involved taking a free ferry across a lake. That was pretty cool!

All in all though, Branson has been sort of a bust.

I look forward to coming back some day when we can actually participate in all the attractions this area offers.

What a weird year this has been.

2020 started off so auspiciously too. We had a wonderful winter at Recreation Plantation, full of activities and meeting new friends. We even experienced a wonderful cruise in the Caribbean with my sister, never dreaming that cruising would be entirely shut down a month later. We had fully booked an exciting Northeast RV loop. Then just a couple of weeks before we were set to go — COVID.

Like everyone these days, we’ve had to be flexible. We typically do our trip planning a year or more in advance, primarily so we can be assured of getting our campground and site preference. But this year, we’ve had to make adjustments on the fly.

Some campground closed completely, for a time. Others opened up in a limited fashion, or for limited populations. Some States imposed quarantine requirements. We’ve had to recheck reservations as we traveled, to see whether we would be able to go there — or not.

So far, no campground actually cancelled on us, although we ended up cancelling several stops early in the nationwide COVID closure period, in order to hunker down at our Gatlinburg cabin. Once we started traveling again, we encountered a variety of situations. Some campgrounds didn’t allow anyone in the office at all, everything was done over the phone. Some campgrounds closed all amenities, including bath houses. Others opened limited amenities, such as outdoor facilities. We just never knew, one place to the next, what we would get. We were never in a situation that required us to quarantine, as much of the year we were traveling from and/or through areas with low COVID case rates.

So, for the most part, we were able to keep to our travel plan. But of course, the areas we visited were shut down to varying degrees. In the early days, almost nothing was open. We spent a lot of time walking around looking at the outside of closed buildings and shops! Eventually, gradually, States started to reopen and we rediscovered the joy of actually being served at a restaurant and shopping INSIDE real stores! It’s amazing how one’s perspective shifts when the things you used to do without a thought, are forbidden for a time.

Now, seven months into this pandemic, most areas have reopened to a significant degree. I no longer worry about campground cancellations or quarantine requirements. Many tourist attractions are open, albeit at a reduced capacity and with COVID precautions. Now, it’s a matter of assessing and managing our own personal risk as we travel about. Do we go to that stage show? Are we comfortable eating inside that restaurant? We look at the COVID prevalence in the area, the precautions they are taking, and decide accordingly.

So, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from this year so far.

The Bad: About half of the things that we USUALLY do on our travels were simply unavailable. Historical sites and museums closed, no theater, no concerts or festivals. No campground social mixers or planned activities. No night life. Limited shopping and dining. Limited social contact of any kind. That sucked.

The Good: At least we had a regular change of scenery! Most folks stuck at home didn’t have that luxury. And COVID didn’t close the outdoors, so we had hiking, biking, motorcycling options available. We were still able to see a new area of the country, and we can always go back and do the things we missed on another trip.

The Ugly: Politics and the upcoming presidential election … but I’m not going there!

We are eagerly awaiting the time when life will return to normal as we once knew it. When I don’t have to get a negative COVID test in order to feel comfortable visiting my aging parents. When we can go to a show, or a concert, or a wedding without worry.

In the meantime ….. we’ll need to be flexible.

And so, dear reader, you are caught up to date! After completing our Entegra Factory Service, we headed due south toward Anderson Indiana, my home town, for a two week visit. We were last in town with the bus about 18 months ago. We’ve experienced some briskly cool weather, and the leaves are turning bright hues of crimson, yellow and orange. It’s been years since I experienced an Indiana Fall. It evokes memories of Back-to-School elementary days, jumping in leaf piles, and changing classes at the Anderson University Campus. The bright clear blue skies of Indian Summer in Indiana are just beautiful.

Our main reason for being here is to spend quality time with family — and we certainly are doing that! We’ve been doing what we can in these COVID-tainted times — walking the lovely Mounds State Park, hitting balls at TopGolf, dining together, playing games, working puzzles, and just generally spending time together.

Considering our travels (and our recent visit to Cedar Point amusement park), I opted for a COVID test when I arrived here. It was a relatively painless experience, really. I booked an appointment online with a local CVS, provided the sample at the pharmacy drive-up window, and had my online results back within 48 hours. It was negative, as I expected, but it was reassuring nonetheless to have that status confirmed. I feel much more comfortable visiting my 89 year old parents knowing that I won’t risk carrying the disease to them. I am so very blessed to be able to visit my parents, living independently and well in their own home. I never forget for a minute how special that is.

Especially this year. So many have lost loved ones in the past months. My brother-in-law lost his (younger) brother very unexpectedly in late December. And Jeff’s Dad died in August. Long time readers of this blog may recall that we had to scramble to make arrangements for his Dad right before we left on this RV adventure, three years ago. He did well in his assisted living situation, but recurrent infections coupled with late stage dementia finally wore him down. He spent his last days at his daughter’s home and passed peacefully. A tough year, indeed.

So, we enjoy every moment we can manage to spend with our loved ones. And, on a lighter note, I am temporarily cat-sitting for my sister who is away at a wedding this weekend. We have gregarious Sophie, who cheerfully purr-rowss when I arrive and loves neck scritches. And then we have retiring Curie who wants to be around people, but only tolerates touching by Her Person (which is not me). Guess, if you will, who is who from the photos below.

We have a few more days here to enjoy family time, and then we’ll be heading on south and west, to Branson!

Just as with the Spartan chassis service, we have learned (the hard way) that it is far, far better to have our rig serviced by those who built it. We had our original fabulous Entegra Factory service experience last May, and booked an appointment to come back far out we could (6 months in advance). The service is understandably popular and slots fill up quickly.

Our list wasn’t all that long really. The biggest issue (for me) was that the hot water in the shower wasn’t working right. Jeff had ordered and replaced the shower valve, but we still weren’t getting adequate hot water flow. It was likely that the hot water line was either blocked or crimped. And there were several other minor things, like, the driver seat footrest was inoperable. The trash drawer slide hardware was shedding ball bearings. The entry door tends to stick in cold weather. We asked them to tighten the bolts on one of the slide out motors that we couldn’t get to, and check/adjust the slides. Things like that. Just a week before our appointment, our super slide topper ripped away from the side of the coach. A timely failure, we added that to the list. The service shop was also going to do their usual comprehensive Annual Inspection Report (AIR) and let us know of anything they found. We were allotted three days in the shop to address all issues identified.

In these COVID days everything is a done bit differently, and our Entegra service experience was no exception. In the past, we stayed in our rig each night. Now, that wasn’t allowed. We arrived the night before our appointment and retrieved our name tag from the mailbox outside the service entrance. We checked into a nearby pet-friendly hotel (Hampton Inn) and moved in for a several day stay – Pumpkin and all. Going back to the rig, I disinfected every surface they were likely to contact (per their request) and left for the night. The next morning, we drove back and turned over the keys to the technician at 6:30 am. He pulled the bus into the shop, where it would stay until they were completed with all service items. We waited in our truck, and about 20 minutes later, Jeff was called into the service office to go over our list. By 7 am, we were free to go back to a leisurely (free) breakfast at the hotel while Entegra did their thing. The Entegra customer lounge was open and available during daytime hours, but we didn’t need to go there.

Our hotel experience was also a bit different than usual. During our stay, there was no housekeeping service, unless we specifically requested it. We elected not to have anyone enter our room, and simply waylaid the housekeeper for additional towels and consumable items. Masks were required except in our room and while eating at a table in the breakfast area. In a way, it was easier to stay in a hotel — we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn every day to vacate the bus for service. Pumpkin wasn’t very happy at the change in venue, but he wasn’t happy to be trapped in a pet pen in the customer lounge either. Pumpkin just wasn’t going to be happy.

During our free time, we toured the Recreational Vehicle/Manufactured Home Hall of Fame in nearby Elkhart. It was fascinating to climb into some of the earliest recreational vehicles from the 1930’s and to see how the RV design esthetic reflected the tastes of the various eras. Interestingly to me, the layout of various recreational vehicles (tent campers, trailers, motor homes) really haven’t changed all that much. I mean, there’s only so many logical ways to lay out kitchen, bathroom, seating and beds. The museum also celebrated the manufactured home, and provided a modern example of one to tour. The place is an interesting visit, but only takes about an hour to go through everything. They could enhance the exhibits by providing more videos of old RV’s either in commercials or documentaries. I was also surprised that the “vendor hall” didn’t have more displays and the “new RV” hall had only a couple of new rigs to view.

We also wandered about the shops of quaint Shipshewana and dined at the famous Dutch Essenhaus. I do enjoy being in Amish country!

Back at Entegra, the tech completed their exhaustive AIR and found a few minor items that we weren’t even aware of. A deflector plate under the dash was misaligned, causing low heat flow to the drivers side of the cockpit. The passenger security light sensor was broken. Some rubber seals needed replacing, and aquahot lines needed to be sealed/insulated in one spot. The front door deadbolt was bent. Those items were added to the repair list.

We had figured on 3 days for repairs, but late on the 2nd day, we were told that our bus was nearly finished and just needed final cleaning. So, we thought we would get it back quickly (that day, even) and could get an early start the next morning. It turned out that our bus wasn’t actually returned until noon the next day, because our final touches got delayed. Our service writer could have managed our expectations a bit better, but that is a very minor quibble in what was otherwise a stellar service experience. Not only were all of our requested items completed, they also efficiently fixed the items they found within the time allotted. The interior was returned sparkling clean, nicer than when we gave it to them. And the best part was the bill — less than $200! Even though we are technically out of warranty, they simply fixed a lot of these minor issues for free. Entegra really treats their owners right. We love our bus.

In a couple of years …. we’ll be back!