Travel from Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas

We drove our coach 243 miles, about four hours of driving, from Paris, Texas to Scott, Arkansas.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:

Map

An interactive map:

Depressions in the grass from our neighbor’s jacks and tires, due to rain making the ground a little soft:

Depressions from our neighbor's jacks and tires

Our coach:

Our coach

I put a couple of tiles below the AquaHot exhaust, but the surrounding grass still got a little singed:

Singed grass from AquaHot exhaust

Our jack pads got embedded in the soft ground; not too difficult to pull out. The larger pads help spread the load, though, and better than having the jacks get stuck in the ground:

Jack pads embedded in ground

Leaving the full hookup area:

Leaving full hookup area

Solar section:

Solar section

Onto I-30 East:

I-30 East

A fuel stop:

Fuel stop

As usual, we paid less than this, due to our fuel discount card:

Fuel stop

Back on I-30 East:

Back on I-30 East

The Texas overpasses had the Lone Star and state outline:

Texas overpass

Texarkana water tower:

Texarkana water tower

Welcome to Arkansas:

Welcome to Arkansas

The Arkansas overpasses had a less distinctive state outline (reminded me of a Solo cup):

Arkansas overpass

A lunch stop at Southfork Restaurant in Gurdon, Arkansas:

Lunch stop

Truck parking:

Truck parking

Paladin on the passenger chair:

Paladin on passenger chair

Our coach parked with trucks:

Coach parked with trucks

Into the restaurant:

Restaurant

Menu

Menu (they also have burgers and such, but we were in the mood for breakfast):

Menu

Super slow service, but over an hour later we got our breakfast for lunch:

Breakfast for lunch

We’d ordered biscuits with our breakfast, but they only had one, so provided extra potatoes and lots of toast instead:

Toast and biscuit

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Back on I-30 East:

Back on I-30 East

Arkadelphia water tower:

Arkadelphia water tower

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Oversize load:

Oversize load

Rough road:

Rough road

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Narrow road due to roadworks:

Narrow due to roadworks

Slow truck:

Slow truck

Overpass:

Overpass

Arkansas River:

Arkansas River

Exit to Scott:

Exit to Scott

An unmarked turn to the park:

Unmarked turn to park

Residential road:

Residential road

Entering Willow Beach Park:

Willow Beach Park

Park entrance station:

Park entrance station

Campsites:

Campsites

Our site (the back-in with the shelter):

Our site

Our site

Our coach after untoading:

Our coach

Our site; a bit of a slope on the driveway, but a flat concrete pad:

Our site

Our site

Paris Fairgrounds for Escapees/Xscapers gathering

We stayed at Paris Fairgrounds in Paris, Texas for an Escapees/Xscapers total solar eclipse gathering.

Not a normal campground, but the fairgrounds does have a few full-hookup sites, along with a bunch of dry camping. We managed to snag one of the full-hookup sites.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-04-05
  • Check out: 2024-04-14
  • 9 nights

Weather:

  • Mix of sunny, cloudy, rainy
  • High temps 68-82°F, lows 52-62°F
  • Some wind, gusts up to 30 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • Distant train horn noise on weekdays
  • Other camping sections had generator noise, but not audible from our full-hookup section
  • Some people noise and music

Site:

  • Rally parking, full-hookup, on grass
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked nearby
  • Unlevel, high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Site about 45 feet long by about 15 feet wide
  • Mostly clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 80 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 30 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 27 ms ping
  • AT&T: 110 Mbps down, 40 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • Verizon: 25 Mbps down, 9-24 Mbps up, 85 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Food trucks
  • Rally

Campground map; we were in the “FHU Section” (Full HookUp):

Map

An interactive map:

Our spot in the full-hookup section:

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Other full-hookup sites:

Other full-hookup sites

A couple of aerial views, from someone else’s drone:

Aerial view

Aerial view

And some aerial views from my drone, a few days later; several rigs had left by then:

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Aerial view

Our coach is the second-from-right one:

Aerial view

Aerial view

In downtown Paris, they have a 65-foot Eiffel tower, with a cowboy hat on top, of course:

Paris tower

Paris downtown lights:

Paris downtown lights

Opening announcements:

Opening announcements

Burgerland food truck:

Burgerland food truck

Unremarkable burger, and nice fries:

Burger and fries

Mexican food truck:

Mexican food truck

Mexican food:

Mexican food

One of the activities at this gathering was an all-day “lot crawl”, where each section takes turns to host food and/or beverages, and people from other sections visit to sample them and chat. Some people dressed up in costumes:

Costumes

Bus conversion and old Beetle:

Bus conversion and old Beetle

Food:

Food

Costumes

Facehugger:

Facehugger

Beverages:

Beverages

Alien lifeblood:

Alien lifeblood

Eclipse plates:

Eclipse plates

Costumes

Food

Food

Jenn with our contribution, rather strong “astronaut martinis”, made with vodka, triple sec, and Tang:

Jenn and beverages

Food

Homemade camper:

Homemade camper

Food

On eclipse day, most of the participants gathered to view it:

Eclipse viewing

Eclipse viewing

Eclipse viewing

The day started rather cloudy:

Eclipse

Jenn and David

But the clouds moved off in time to get a great view of the total eclipse:

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Eclipse

Some more photos in tomorrow’s post.

A couple of group photos after the eclipse:

Eclipse viewing

Eclipse viewing

We don’t go to rallies like this very often, and don’t participate with all activities when we do, but this was a good one.

Travel from Texarkana to Paris, Texas

We drove our coach 93 miles, about two hours of driving, from Texarkana, Texas to Paris, Texas.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

An interactive map:

Frontage road to I-30 West:

Frontage road to I-30 West

I-30 West:

I-30 West

Exit 199:

Exit 199

Water tower:

Water tower

Building transport:

Building transport

US Highway 82:

US Highway 82

US Highway 82

US Highway 82

US Highway 82

Water tower

We stopped at a picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

Picnic area

Ducks

Water tower

Stillhouse Road exit:

Stillhouse Road exit

Narrow road

Arriving at the Paris fairgrounds for an Escapees/Xscapers gathering for the total solar eclipse:

Escapees gathering at fairgrounds

Heading to our spot:

Heading to our spot

Texarkana KOA Journey

We stayed at Texarkana KOA Journey in Texarkana, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

An overnight stop just across the border into Texas, right off I-30.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-04-04
  • Check out: 2024-04-05
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temp 74°F, low 45°F
  • Negligible wind, gusts to 12 MPH

Noise:

  • Freeway noise
  • Nearby train noise (no horns)

Site:

  • #C29, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
  • Mostly level, a little high on driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 95 feet long by about 10 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 20 feet wide
  • Picnic table
  • Swing seat
  • No fire pit
  • Mostly clean site (some bottle cap-sized trash)

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Too-short but good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 20 Mbps down, 2-12 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 290 Mbps down, 6 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
  • Verizon: 2 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 140 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage bins
  • Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Easy access to the freeway

We stayed here one night on our way through the area and it was perfect for that. The pull-through site was long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle without having to disconnect. Check-in was quick and easy. Some road noise, which is to be expected, but not too bad. We camped at Texarkana KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Dump station behind our site:

Dump station behind our site

Closed pool:

Closed pool

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

A perfectly fine place for a one-night stop.

Travel from Scott, Arkansas to Texarkana, Texas

We drove our coach 151 miles, about two hours of driving, from Scott, Arkansas to Texarkana, Texas.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:

Route map

An interactive map:

We didn’t have a sewer hookup at the campground, so our gray and black tanks were getting rather full:

Mostly full gray and black tanks

Following the coach to the dump station:

Following coach

We used the dump station on the way out to empty our waste tanks, and hooked up our toad there:

At dump station

At dump station

On I-440 West, crossing the Arkansas River:

I-440, crossing Arkansas River

Arkansas River

I-440 joined I-30 West:

I-30 West

A vintage trailer:

Vintage trailer

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Rather narrow lanes, with close barriers, aren’t much fun with a wide coach:

Roadworks

Our coach on a traffic cam:

Our coach on traffic cam

Rest area stop:

Rest area stop

Rest area stop

Cute little trailer:

Cute trailer

Back on I-30:

I-30 West

Our coach on traffic cam

Oversize load (not sure what they’re carrying):

Oversize load

Oversize load

Arkadelphia:

Arkadelphia

Our coach on traffic cam

Passing Hope, Arkansas; President Clinton’s birthplace:

Hope

Trucks

Yellow field:

Yellow field

Texarkana, which (you may be surprised to learn) spans Texas and Arkansas:

Texarkana

The “Welcome to Texas” sign is across the road from our destination:

Welcome to Texas sign

KOA:

KOA

Our site for one night:

Our site

Willow Beach Campground

We stayed at Willow Beach Campground in Scott, Arkansas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A pleasant campground next to the Arkansas River. Our first of two stays here, on the way to and from the total solar eclipse celebration in Paris, Texas.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-03-31
  • Check out: 2024-04-04
  • 4 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, some rain
  • High temps ranging between 65-80°F, lows around 44-66°F
  • Moderate wind, gusts to 28 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • Distant train noise
  • Distant plane noise

Site:

  • #F15, back in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Unlevel back-to-front; needed to use blocks under front jacks; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 65 feet long by about 10 feet wide
  • Grass between sites about 50 feet wide on drive side, 80 feet on passenger side
  • Picnic table on concrete patio under shelter
  • Fire pit and charcoal grill
  • Mostly clean site (some cigarette butts and bottle cap-sized trash)

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, inconveniently located
  • No sewer connection

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 20-35 Mbps down, 2-10 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • AT&T: 35-200 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 100 ms ping
  • Verizon: 15 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Dump station
  • River

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A pleasant campground next to the Arkansas River

COE campgrounds are usually very picturesque and well-spaced. This one is no exception. Nestled between the river and a lake, there is a nice view either way. There’s lots of space between sites, although each site is not guaranteed to be very long or flat. Our site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, but our tow vehicle had to park diagonally to fit in front. The site was very sloped front to back and required multiple pads on the front jacks to get it level. Water & electric only, so plan ahead if staying for a while and need to dump your tanks. The dump station was conveniently located on the way to the exit. We camped at Willow Beach in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

Interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Arkansas River:

Arkansas River

Utilities; power and water, but no sewer:

Utilities

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Playground and birds:

Playground and birds

Info signs:

Info sign

Info sign

Info sign

Boat ramp:

Boat ramp

Dock

Snake on the road:

Snake on the road

Sunset:

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

Travel from Red Bay, Alabama to Scott, Arkansas

We drove our coach 282 miles, about five hours of driving, from Red Bay, Alabama to Scott, Arkansas.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Route map

An interactive map:

Toading up:

Toading up

Welcome to Mississippi:

Welcome to Mississippi

I-22 West:

I-22 West

Passing by Natchez Trace Parkway:

Natchez Trace Parkway

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Bathroom stop at a truck stop:

Bathroom stop at truck stop

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Entering Tennessee:

Tennessee

Vintage trailer:

Vintage trailer

Bass Pro Shops pyramid:

Bass Pro Shops pyramid

Emergency vehicles:

Emergency vehicles

The fourth state of this travel day, “Welcome to Arkansas”… hopefully the people in this accident took the advice to “buckle up for safety”:

Welcome to Arkansas

Small sternwheeler:

Small sternwheeler

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

52 gallons of diesel (we paid less than the pump price due to our fuel discount card):

Fuel stop

Rough road:

Rough road

Rest stop:

Rest stop

Paladin:

Paladin

He reached out to touch my foot:

Paladin

Paladin

Towns named Scott and England:

Scott England

Willow Beach Park:

Willow Beach Park

Campsites:

Campsites

Our site:

Our site

Red Bay Acres RV Resort

We stayed at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in Red Bay, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice full-hookup RV park in the hometown of Tiffin Motorhomes. Our second stay here.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-03-24
  • Check out: 2024-03-31
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy, some rain
  • High temps ranging between 63-72°F, lows around 38-52°F
  • One very windy day, gusts to 54 MPH, otherwise negligible

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Hourly clock tower noise
  • A little neighbor and tech services noise

Site:

  • #24, back in, concrete
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Somewhat level; used air and hydraulic leveling at different times
  • Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites wedge-shaped, from about 20 to 25 feet wide (their smallest “premium” site)
  • Picnic table on 12 by 12 feet concrete patio; fire pit
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 60 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 50 Mbps down, 45 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: 130 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Verizon: 28 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 28 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage pickup from site
  • Package delivery to site
  • Onsite restaurant
  • Pond
  • Hometown of Tiffin; local RV repairs

Our review on Campground Reviews (from our previous visit):

Nice place to return to after service

This is the place to stay when in Red Bay for service. It is a beautifully maintained park, with all the sites facing the fishing pond. All the other parks in town were basic gravel lots. The one drawback is having to back in to the site when coming back from service each day, but that’s not a big deal. The concrete pad was nicely level and all the utilities were good. It’s also nice to have the Yacht Club on-site for a bite to eat at the end of the day. If you’re looking to get service done on-site, make sure to check the list of approved vendors. We camped at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Lost Pines Coffee had decent coffee and baked goods for a midday pick-me-up. The Natchez Trace Parkway is fairly close and a very nice scenic drive.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site this time; again one of the larger corner sites, though this was only barely larger:

Our site

Our site

I used my ladder to check on a leak behind our shower (a loose connection, easily fixed):

Our site

Stuff from basement bays piled up, while doing wet bay enhancements:

Our site

Clearing land behind the park was a little noisy:

Clearing land behind the park

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Central pond:

Central pond

Central pond

Central pond

We visited the onsite Red Bay Yacht Club several times (you know, land yachts):

Red Bay Yacht Club

Red Bay Yacht Club

Red Bay Yacht Club

Pond view from inside:

Pond view from inside

We ate some dinners there, including pizza and loaded fries:

Pizza and loaded fries

Desserts:

Dessert

Dessert

Chicken wings and sandwich, while playing Phase 10:

Chicken wings and sandwich

Another night, tacos and more Phase 10:

Tacos

Games:

Games

Dog park:

Dog park

We wandered across the road to the Happy Hollow Outdoors store:

Happy Hollow Outdoors store

Happy Hollow Outdoors

Happy Hollow Outdoors

Travel from Pine Mountain, Georgia to Red Bay, Alabama

We drove our coach 279 miles, about five hours of driving, from Pine Mountain, Georgia to Red Bay, Alabama.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Route map

An interactive map:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving campground

A very narrow road in the campground:

Very narrow road in campground

Very narrow road in campground

Roadworks:

Roadworks

Historic LaGrange:

Historic LaGrange

LaGrange park:

LaGrange park

LaGrange College:

LaGrange College

We drove over an object on the road (couldn’t avoid it), and saw in the rear-view camera that it was dragging from the rear of the coach:

Item dragging from rear of coach

So we stopped at the next opportunity, and I went out to investigate; it turned out to be a bag like for a folding chair, hooked on to the rock guard; I quickly removed it:

Bag stuck on rock guard

I-20 West:

I-20 West

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Then we parked for lunch:

Parked for lunch

Popeyes for lunch:

Popeyes for lunch

Popeyes for lunch

I-20 West

I-22 West:

I-22 West

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Bathroom break (in our coach, of course) at a truck stop:

Bathroom break at truck stop

Paladin mid-yawn:

Paladin mid-yawn

Welcome to Mississippi:

Welcome to Mississippi

MS-76:

MS-76

Highway:

Highway

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama:

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

Arriving at Red Bay Acres:

Red Bay Acres

Our site:

Our site

F.D. Roosevelt State Park

We stayed at F.D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another nice state park, though a little tight for a big rig.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-03-17
  • Check out: 2024-03-24
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Partly cloudy; a couple days with some rain
  • High temps ranging between 59-70°F, lows around 30-50°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 29 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • #104, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Fairly level, a little high on the driver side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 75 feet long by about 15 feet wide
  • Slope to driver-side site 20 feet wide
  • Grass and trees on passenger side about 75 feet wide
  • Picnic table and fire pit on 20×10 feet gravel patio
  • Clean site

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
  • 40 PSI water, somewhat conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, somewhat inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 6-9 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 10 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 50-120 ms ping
  • Verizon: 15-25 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
  • AT&T: 30 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Trading post
  • Lake
  • Park

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice park, a little tight for big rigs

Very few sites here are FHU, but they all have lovely views of the lake in one form or another. The roads into and around the campground are a bit narrow and windy to drive a big rig around comfortably, but if you take your time and pay attention it’s manageable. Lots of nice trails around the park for hiking and boat rentals are available at the lake. Nice camp store at the main building where you check in and a convenient trading post in the campground itself, where you can get snacks, bait, firewood, etc. In the spring, the pollen is positively ridiculous, turning every internal and external surface bright yellow. If you’re sensitive to such things, bring your meds. We camped at F. D. Roosevelt State Park in a Motorhome. 

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

There was tree pollen everywhere; here’s some on our truck:

Pollen on truck

We used our griddle:

Griddle

The visitor center; we went straight to our site, then drove our truck back to check in, since their parking lot is too small for our coach and toad:

Visitor center

Park info sign:

Park info sign

Visitor center:

Visitor center

This site, #113, would probably be my preference if we were to stay here again:

Other sites

Other sites

It has a nice private patio overlooking the lake, down a couple of steps:

Other sites

Another Tiffin Allegro Bus:

Another Tiffin Allegro Bus

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Playground:

Playground

Tent sites:

Tent sites

Tent sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Shelter:

Shelter

Shelter

Little free library:

Little free library

Goose:

Goose

Lake:

Lake

Trading Post:

Trading Post

Trading Post

The nearby Liberty Bell Pool:

Liberty Bell Pool

Liberty Bell Pool

Liberty Bell Pool

A narrow exit road:

Narrow exit road