I can already tell that this leg of our journey is going to be a favorite of mine. We've been on the road for a couple of weeks now since leaving Oil City, LA, where we celebrated the life of Jonathan's Pawpaw. After visiting with our family there for a few days, gathered in Mawmaw's home, laughing, remembering Pawpaw, and of course eating lots of good home-cooking, we finally hit the road again for our second "official" Ensey family RV adventure, this time to Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Missouri! Our first stop was in Little Rock, Arkansas, which I have to say was surprisingly beautiful and not at all what I expected, especially with the first signs of autumn leaves and cooler weather arriving about the same time we did. Jonathan only had a couple of business meetings in Little Rock, so we were able to spend a lot of quality time together, exploring the area. We took one whole day to do some hiking in the hills around Little Rock, letting the kids just explore nature, and giving ourselves the chance to unplug and focus on our family. We hiked a 2 mile trail on some pretty rough and bumpy terrain, but the kids did incredibly well and never complained. Annie demanded to be carried for about the last mile, so Jonathan and I took turns hauling her like her own personal pack mules thru the hills of Arkansas. But all in all, we had a blast, saw some incredibly beautiful scenery, and burned a LOT of calories!
Back in Little Rock, we had parked our RV at one of the most beautiful spots you could ever hope to stay. The back of our RV was only about ten feet from a twenty foot drop-off into the Arkansas river, so our view of the river was fabulous, as was our view of downtown across the water. The sun set directly over the river every evening, so we got some killer pictures! I did have a time keeping the kids from getting too close to the drop off into the water, though. I drew a literal line in the sand and told them not to DARE cross it. I can't even tell you how many times they crossed it. What is it about a line in the sand, both literal and figurative, that makes you just HAVE to cross it? Needless to say, we had a few serious "come to Jesus" meetings about crossing that line and getting too close to the water. There's a sermon in there somewhere! ; )
One evening as we were all getting ready for bed and relaxing, I heard what I thought at first was a barge on the river blowing it's horn. I ignored it for a minute, but once I realized it hadn't stopped blowing, I decided to step outside and check it out (and maybe throw rocks at the barge driver for bugging me). As soon as I opened the RV door, the siren was deafening, and I could tell it was turning in circles by the way the sound moved across the river. I had never heard anything like it before; it made the hairs stand up on my arms and I was immediately terrified because I knew it was a tornado siren, even though I had never heard one. At this point Jonathan had already joined me, and I told him I was afraid there was a tornado coming. Sure enough within a minute or two, a neighbor came running over to let us know a tornado was spotted just 10 miles from us. Now, I'm a pretty calm and collected girl. In Texas, I have sat thru massive hurricanes without batting an eye. But a tornado is just a different ball game in my opinion. I went into panic mode. Our RV was literally only feet from the huge drop off into the river. The RV park had zero places to take shelter. We have three children with us. I wasn't about to die in some RV park in Arkansas, I don't care HOW good the view is! So we grabbed the kids and a Bible and ran like mad for the truck. As soon as we stepped out of our front door, the storm hit. It rained like you wouldn't believe. The wind was blowing, the kids were bawling their eyes out because they were terrified, and quite frankly I was terrified myself. The only place we could find to hide was under a giant freeway. As soon as we pulled under the freeway, we couldn't help but laugh. Parked around us were five other F350's like ours that had fled the RV park looking for shelter. We were talking to my parents on the phone, and my dad let us know that the tornado was basically right over the road we were hiding under. We had some serious family prayer, and I read to the kids out of Psalms 91 about God being our protection in times of trouble. They were finally able to calm down, which took a lot of the stress out of the situation for me and Jonathan. We had a lot of friends and family praying for our safety, and thankfully, the tornado never touched down near us. After waiting out the rest of the storm and checking the weather about 10,000 times just to be sure, we finally made our way back to the RV and crashed for the night. RV-falling-into-river crisis averted!
One last thing that HAS to be mentioned about Little Rock is a little hole-in-the-wall BBQ/southern home-cooking type place that we stopped at called Burge's. Y'all, there just aren't words for the food we ate there. I looked online for recommendations, and saw a lot of people suggesting the turkey salad. Sounded pretty sketchy to me, so I asked the lady behind the counter for a taste test before I committed to anything. She brought out a spoonful of the most uninspiring, unappetizing cream colored mush that I had ever seen. I thought maybe the good folks of Little Rock were just really easy to please, having seen them rave over said mush online, but I gave it a try anyway. Y'all, words fail me. It was to die for! Like literally, if I died eating that turkey salad, I would regret nothing AND go out with a smile. I can't fathom how they got all the flavors I tasted into that mush. But it's kind of like Santa when you're a kid: you don't really know what he is, where he comes from, or what makes him work, you just accept that it's pure magic and go with it; same with the turkey salad from Burge's. Don't know what's in it, how it's made, or how they cram all of that flavor into something that looks so simple, and I really don't care. I just assumed it was magic and left there with a goofy grin on my face...and the top button of my skirt undone so I could breathe. Our next destination was Memphis, Tennessee. Technically, we were parked right across the state line in Mississippi, so we've now covered the top and bottom of Mississippi without actually really visiting the state. Haha! We had a really great time in Memphis and saw some really incredible sites. Our first stop was Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. The tour of the home and grounds is done very well. Every person is given their own iPad and headphones and led on a personal tour of the property. Stepping into Graceland is like stepping back in time. It's such a strange experience to see inside of a home last updated in the early 70's. I absolutely loved the tour, and had to fight back tears every time I heard Elvis speak or sing thru my headphones. How sad to be so loved by millions and still feel so empty and alone. He was so talented, and had that familiar quality that makes you feel like you knew him personally. As the tour was coming to the end, I got that feeling you get when you're watching an old movie you've seen hundreds of times, and you know it ends badly, but still hold out hope that somehow the ending will be different this time around. But in the end, as we knew we would have to from the beginning, we filed past the grave of Elvis Presley, and paid our respects to a legend. We left feeling a little sad and empty, knowing that someone so talented and so loved by the world felt so alone at the end of his life. It made me even more thankful to have Jesus holding my hand, to know that even if the whole world was against me, I never have to feel alone and empty. I'm so thankful for joy and peace that passes understanding, no matter what the circumstances.
While in Memphis, Jonathan wanted to try a BBQ place near downtown that is rated one of the best in Memphis, so we made a stop at Central BBQ, and ate some crazy good ribs, BBQ nachos, baked beans, pulled pork sandwiches, etc.! As we were leaving, we looked across the street and realized we were only steps away from the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was shot and killed. I was excited to have randomly stumbled across this piece of history, so we made our way over and spent some time at his memorial that they have set up at the hotel. It was such a unique opportunity to see in person the place I've seen in pictures my whole life, and also so heartbreaking to have to explain to my kids the reason behind this man's death, to have to explain a hate and a concept that they can't even fathom. Heartbreaking, but also such a great opportunity to teach my children what Martin Luther King, Jr stood for, fought for, and in the end, died for. We had a wonderful time in Memphis and I look forward to going back sometime soon to explore the cities' amazing history a little further.
Last Monday morning we left Memphis and headed toward Knoxville. Since it was about a seven hour drive, we stopped overnight at a gorgeous KOA park along the way. Right across from the RV was a massive hill, so while Jonathan and I were setting up the "house" for the night, the kids were rolling like crazy people down the hill, screaming like they were being chased by bears. Haha. I'm sure all of the old, grumpy neighbors loved that! Something about children brings out the not-so-nice side of elderly RV folk! ; ) The next morning we were packing up to head out when our next door neighbor came by to say hello. He was a very nice guy, and didn't treat our children like they have the plague, so we enjoyed talking to him while we worked on getting the RV ready to leave. After we had chatted for a while and playing with his two dogs, he asked where we were from. I told him we were from Texas, and he said he was too. (It's so nice to come across other Texans on the road.) So Jonathan asked where in Texas they were from, and to our utter shock, he responded "Conroe"! Haha! What are the odds?! And they only live a few miles away from us! Neither of us could believe the random coincidence! We talked a little longer, exchanged information, said our goodbyes to our new hometown friend, and hit the road to Knoxville!
I know this post has been a LOOOONG one, and I'm sorry to bore you with all the detail, but this blog acts not only to keep our friends and family informed of our whereabouts and the fun we're having, it also acts as my memory! I have a horrifically terrible memory, so I'm hoping that having all of the details written out will help me not lose whole chunks of this adventure. Haha. Here's hoping!
Until later,
- Molly
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