Wednesday, October 21, 2026

From Acorns to Pecans

Atkins, ArkansasW

On Tuesday, Oct. 20th we had a different wake up. Boy, it sure is strange going through time changes. Last night, just before our meal out, Bill was starting to feel stuffed up so took a cold tablet. He didn't eat as much as I'd normally expect and maybe that was why.

Good morning!

We woke at 4:45 am. First Gibbs and I heard Bill tell him that it wasn't time to get up, to go back to sleep. Bill used the facilities and apparently was wide awake anyway. Old time was 5:45. Bill, feeling the way he did last night, went up to bed just after 8:30 so he was slept out.

Acorns at Sikeston, MO

I watched the episode of Survivor myself, he'll catch up (or not) and went up to bed around 9:30 and slept well. We were in no hurry today. Our drive will only be just over 4 1/2 hours. Bill wasn't much better but took the Tylenol again and we sat with our tea and coffee and planned our next 3 nights.

Our spot
at J.T.'s Monday night
Lambert's is across the lot.

It was another unbelievably lovely day for traveling. I know the weather back home is good too and that is nice to see. I took Gibbs for a nice long walk around the park and admired the oak trees, even finding a few tiny acorns on the lot. We hooked up and pulled out at 9:15.

Remember our new table?
Bill knows how to pack!

Bill put shorts on today and I wore capris. Showing some leg!! The forecast everywhere is around 77F/24C. We got on I-55S and the roads were good. It was a pretty smooth ride and we made a brief stop at a truck parking area for nature calls. Gibbs settled down better after that, laying down for most of the morning.

Bill is happy with Black Beauty's mileage, getting 10.8 mpg today mostly. Good girl, BB! It has warmed up considerably, 74F/23.3C. Fuel prices are slowly dropping, we expected that in the mid-western states but don't expect it to last too long. To get the Canada vs US breakdown, check out Bill's next blog post.

I missed the sign to Arkansas
so had to steal one.
Memphis........sigh....maybe we'll have to
make a special trip one year. We always
talked about going back.

I thought this was considerate
of the county to add port-a-pots when
their services were unavailable.
Cute little teardrop called
The Birdhouse.

I didn't make a lunch, we discussed the need last night and again this morning while eating breakfast at 8:30, so at noon, we just snacked on cereal bars and cheese. I have hard-boiled eggs and yogourt in the Suite for when we stop, if we are so inclined to have more. 

Around North Little Rock, this
beautiful, massive church was worth
a photo op this year.

We did stop at a Rest Area although the building was closed, used their port-a-pots. That was very considerate as it meant we didn't have to open the Suite up to use our washroom. Gibbs stretched his little legs, as did we, and we were back on the interstate within 15 minutes. 

With just under 90 minutes to go, we felt refreshed and content with how the day was progressing. We've been so fortunate with our travel weather and thank the good Lord for watching over us this fall. We remembered (well, Bill did) to bypass the first road our vehicle gps's told us to turn onto last April, and stayed on Rd. 113 before making our turn.

Arrival at our destination.
Paw Paws Pecan's
We love Charlotte's Plantation home.

Either way involved a lot of twists and turns on a single lane road but this one we knew was more suited to traffic, especially large rv's. 😉🤣 We arrived at Paw Paw's Pecan Farm/Charlotte's Plantation at 2:45, parked in the same spot and got set up with no issues at all. Gibbs roamed off leash while I gathered freshly fallen pecans. ('pe-cahns').


Just relaxing outside in the
gorgeous sunshine and peacefulness.
Not a sound other than a red breasted
woodpecker, blue jay and a flicker.
(according to Merlin)

I still have very few left from last spring. Bill and Gibbs had a snooze inside and I was tickled that my sweetheart brought out my gravity chair to sit in and enjoy the outdoors. I'd brought a book to start but soon realized that I'd already read it. Oh well, I closed my eyes and relaxed. Our Starlink kept going in and out so I couldn't even catch up on your blog posts.


Lots of room for guest parking.
That's us, way back there.

Nancy will appreciate this
as I'm sure other quilters will too.
Charlotte's quilts are beautiful.
On the Christmas ones she integrates
sparkles in certain places. 💞

At 5, Billy had invited us up for a visit after their work day was done. It is harvest time! We had a lovely 30 minute chat and chose from an array of goodies to bring back to the Suite. Her quilts, fudge and his spiced nuts etc. were on display and the house smelled heavenly! Such a lovely couple, we'll be sad not to see them again.

This is what 'hungry eyes' look like.
Good thing his hands are in his pockets
although they had sample jars for
each one.

Charlotte and Billy
If you are coming this way,
it is definitely worth a stop!

Back at the Suite, Bill finished the leftover mac & cheese and I had fried bacon and a hard boiled egg. We weren't that hungry, seems Lambert's is still keeping us filled! With Starlink being spotty, for some reason, I forgot to use my hotspot and instead we both opted to leave the tv off and read. 

Such a peaceful place.
We did hear some coy dogs before
we went to bed.

I'm into  Sue Grafton's U is for Undertow and Bill is reading James Patterson's Cajun Justice. When I went to add pictures to my written blog, half of it had disappeared. Oh bother! Anyway, I was in bed by 9:30 and Bill by 10:30. Gibbs, of course, was sleeping most of the evening and followed me up. 💗

This was quite enough supper
for me tonight.

I hope you had a good day, we certainly did! We are happy to have you along. Just a note, like Lorne mentioned in his blog, if your name comes up Anonynous when you comment, please add your name. I'd love to know who you are! Thank you!

Where we are today.

Where we'll be
tomorrow.
Good night!

Tomorrow, we'll be in Texas, come along for the ride.

Monday, October 19, 2026

Day 2

Sikeston, MO
On Monday, Oct. 19th we were awake and mobile by 6:30. Mind you, this gal was in bed before 9:30! 🤭 Bill had one of his (?) Christmas movies on and I wasn't into that! I was asleep in no time.

Good morning!

When we were ready to pull out, he noticed that we lost the small door cover for the hot water heater somewhere. 🤷‍♀️ You hear so many noises on the highway and I-69 was so rough for quite a stretch, nothing surprises us! Easy to replace.

Yay! I got to see the sunrise just
as we left the museum.

It's a lovely day again, only 34F/1C, but clear skies. We fueled up at a Gallup stn. in Kendallville using our Mudflap app. Still paying $6.15/gal. 🫣 after getting .14 off. 

The 3 positions of Gibbs today

We got back on I-69S for the long drive towards Indianapolis. Always a guess what the bypass 465 will be like. It was busy enough but quick too, avoiding downtown chaos.🤭
These lilies (?) were pretty
at a rest stop.

Indianapolis, IN
the bypass but still busy enough.

At 12:05 we crossed the state line into Illinois and immediately gained an hour. A long days drive so psyching ourselves into believing we're arriving at our destination and hour earlier doesn't hurt anyone! 🤣

Someone is getting a new home,
both halves driving alongside us on 
the interstate.
Someone else is taking a trip. They'll probably
arrive before we do!

A fuel stop had us calling Mudflap to verify Bill's identity...again. It didn't work so we paid a whopping $6.64/gallon to fill up. Egads. Another addition to our reasons for stopping. 🤷‍♀️ We got on I-70W out of Indianapolis and now on I-57S.

A stop at a Road Ranger station
and we ate our lunch in the back-40.
Cute little camper for a single man.
Entering Illinois, we gained an hour on our
time clock.

The temperature has risen to a balmy 73F/23C with little to no visible wind. We've had the a/c on low warding off the heat of the afternoon sun. 

In Effingham, IL this is always a
special sight for me.
The Cross at the Crossroads.
198' tall.
They had a crane up to it so I
used my Google app and erased it for
a better picture.

Its quite lovely! We stopped at  Rest Area near Anna called Trail of Tears. It's one of the best.

One of the cleanest, nicest
rest areas we've stopped at over
the years.

We had 45 minutes/49 miles to our destination and we were ready to stop. We arrived at Lambert's Cafe/J.T.'s RV Stop in Sikeston, Missouri at 4:30 pm. Paid the overnight fee, pulled into a site and Bill hooked us up to electricity and water. He added a bit of water to our fresh water tank to tide us over for a few days without carrying too much.

Crossing the Mississippi River
is always a treat.

We knew what we were doing for supper (yay!) so we sat to update our blogs and relax. Bill did try to open his Mudflap app and get a discount fuel code and lo and behold, now it worked! What the?? 

More Gibbs performances.
We went out to go piddle and all he
headed for the truck.
Then, the next time, he became a dead
dog and wouldn't budge. How
can you not laugh?
Yes, he got a tummy rub and I 
tied him to the step when I went inside.
🤭🥴
I understood, he'd been in the truck all day!

So, he hopped in B.B. and drove just a block down to fuel up at a Breaktime station. That was the cheapest price yet at $5.89/gal. 👍(I can't believe we're happy with that!) He did call Mudflap to update his identity again and finally after a couple more tries, had success. Good grief, he has more patience than I!

We walked across the lot at 6:15
for supper.
It was a Monday night.
The place was packed.

This is our 3rd visit here at this location. 3rd time for the rv stop and 3rd time for the 'throwed rolls!' Each time I've come, I tell myself to order small off the menu as they are constantly coming around with food, again and again, not to mention the addition of the free rolls! 😂😂 So far, it hasn't worked but tonight? We'll see.

We walked in to this and
it never stopped.

Before we walked over to the restaurant, I took the time to call the hosts for our stay tomorrow night and book a spot. No problem! It will be a shorter day for us and we're looking forward to that. So, at the restaurant, we were seated and the food started coming. Fried okra and hot rolls.

Large drinks, I just had water.
Hot rolls, all night long.

We had no plates but paper towels are provided on the tables. Bill ordered a cheeseburger and beans, I ordered a chicken caesar salad. Trying to be good, right? The salad came in a huge dinner plate sized bread bowl! 
Yes, a salad would be a good choice.
Ha! Wrong! It was huge!
The fried okra was good and Bill
enjoyed his burger.

It wasn't the best salad, not even close, (you win some, you lose some) but I ate what I could, ate the rolls, a few fried potatoes and onions that were brought to the table - free. We were stuffed so I picked out the chicken for Gibbs, left the rest of the salad (over half), paid our bill and walked home.

When we walked out,
the empty dining room waiting for
more customers caught my eye.
Also, the old stove and decor
was very eye catching.
Good night!

It was a lot of food for the price we paid but it is mostly the ambience and experience we love best. Gibbs loved some chicken bits with his food. No need for sandwiches tomorrow, great! We'll watch Survivor from last Wednesday and I'll be off to bed soon after.

It was a great day! We reached a lovely high of 73F/24C today. Shorts weather again.

Thank you all for your support and comments regarding our decision for the future. We appreciate hearing from you! Check out Bill's blog from yesterday here.

Thank you for your comments too. A picture of our spot here will be in tomorrow's post, if I remember!