12 Jun 2022 - Arrived at Bull Shoals White River State Park Campground Arkansas

 12 Jun

<The laptop came to life upon arrival at Bull Shoals today, so we will post to the blog tonight, and then go back and try to catch up on the previous days as time permits>

We departed Tom Sawyer's RV Park in West Memphis Arkansas this morning at 0945 hrs and headed north and a bit west to the Bull Shoals White River State Park Campground.  We arrived at 1442 hrs after driving 213 miles with two stops - one for a potty and coffee break, and one at the Walmart in Mountain Home AR to pick up a wall bracket for our replacement living room TV.  

We were surprisingly pleased with the roads today.  We both assumed we would be on more two-lane roads but the majority of the trip was divided four lane.  They got a little windy and hilly the last couple hours but overall we had descent roads for the trip.  

We have stayed at this campground once before in 2016 and really enjoyed it.  I have scuba dived Bull Shoals lake before which is above the dam, but this campground is below the dam and right on the shores of the famous White River.  As was our experience in 2016, the White River is one of the most outstanding trout fishing rivers in the United States.  As we were planning our trip to Maine in 2016 our route brought us here, just slightly out of the path to get to New England from Iowa!  But one of our Iowa Air Guard comrades, Randy Zimmerman, introduced us to one of his friends, Paul Bobby, who is a fishing guide here and also happens to be a retired Air Force First Sergeant.  So we made connections with Paul and also a great friend and retired Command Chief from Kansas, Russ Brotsky who is an avid fisherman.  The Brotsky's met us and camped here in 2016 and we both went fishing with Paul and had an absolute blast!  Unfortunately Russ could not make it this year but it worked out that Doreen and I could come here again and fish with Paul for a couple days.

So we arrived to some beastly heat, topping 98F with a "feels like" temp of nearly 120F due to the humidity.  Even at 1833 hrs it was still almost 94F.   

Because we do not have AC power as we tow the fifth wheel down the road, it was incredibly hot inside when we arrived, even with the vent fans running.  But we got set up quickly, fired up all three air conditions, one at a time, and both fans as well.  

Liberty found here favorite spot here in front of the fan!

Our site is really nice as are most of them.  They are paved and full hook-up with ample parking for the truck.  

Spacious sites here with a very nice crushed rock patio, 

barbecue grill, picnic table and fire ring.

Flags up and so is our Tempest weather station

Lots of room between our coach and the neighbors

Tons of space to the rear.

After dinner we took Liberty out on a walk, but it was still pretty hot and she seemed to overheat so we packed it in for tonight.  The campground is pretty full, but with the rigs spread out so much it does not seem crowded.

The loop we are on.  The river is visible on the left

A thermocline.  

The picture above is neat, but to feel it is really amazing. We walked down by the water and the temperature was probably 20-30 degrees cooler at least.   Cool river water meets hot, humid ambient air - "smoke on the water" as Deep Purple would sing!  Showing my age now!

We plan to fish both Tuesday and Wednesday and also hope to meet up with Chuck and Sherri Leonard who live near Mountain Home.  I worked with Chuck for many years at the Iowa Air National Guard.  Then we will depart on Thursday and head towards Tulsa OK.