WalkTheLine
Active Member
November 2-6, 2018
TT Trip # 3 Eureka Springs, AR VIA Leroy Percy State Park, Greenville MS
This is our first real long distance road trip in our new Prowler TT and we picked Eureka Springs, AR mainly because of the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and to see the leaves change color. Along the way, we wanted to check out Leroy Percy State Park near Greenville, MS as he is (or, was) my great-great uncle. People along for the ride beside myself are my wife, the two kids, and the mother-in-law.
We gassed up the truck and loaded up and headed out midday on Thursday and drove up I-55 to the Utica cutoff over to Vicksburg up to the Mississippi Delta past Yazoo City and on up to the park. For the most part I-55 is nice with pretty scenery and rolling hills but there are several stretches in MS that are concrete with failing expansion joints which make for a rough ride but fortunately it is all being repaved. The highways up in the Delta are nice and the cotton fields were being harvested but still looked like snow covered landscapes in a few areas. The Mississippi Delta is truly a different, strange place and worth at least a drive through.
In spite of our efforts to leave on time, we didn’t arrive at LP State Park till just before sundown. Of course, the staff had already left so we rolled on in. Our reservation showed us at #063 Loop 3. We passed the first loop where there were maybe 20 sites, none but 2 occupied. We thought about just pulling in there but decided to honor our reserve site as we had reserved 50 amps. Figuring the next loops were just down the road, we continued down the drive. It was starting to get really dark at this point--- twilight where you can’t see anything—and no second or third loop was to be found. The road got narrower and a sign appeared saying “Cabins.” Uh oh.
Try turning a 32 foot TT around in a state park cabin parking lot with only 2 spots in the dark with absolutely no lights….thankfully there were some gaps in the trees so we were able to pull forward and back up in the woods to turn around and we went back to the first loop we saw and just picked a spot for the night. By this time, the clouds had cleared and we had a beautiful full moon and lots and lots of cats. Apparently, the place is overrun with feral cats. I guess people camping out there feed them.
Regardless, we got out of there at dawn – never saw anyone else or any staff—and headed NW to Arkansas. The drive from the Delta to NW Arkansas is amazing! Beautiful scenery, hills, plateaus, vistas, nice smooth roads and plenty of small towns with fuel, restaurants, etc. I was a bit nervous as I looked online for Pilot, J, or Love’s and there weren’t any on our route but no problems with fuel. There were some steep grades but nothing the truck couldn’t handle.
We pulled up to the Wanderlust RV Park in Eureka Springs around 3pm. This was the nicest RV park I have ever stayed in. Now, I admit it’s only the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] one or something like that but it was well run, immaculate, and the rules were enforced. Best of all, someone escorted us to our spot and helped us back in which was nice. The only immediate complaint I had was the utility hookups were located at the front of the spot, not the side or rear, so I had to pay extra for an extension cord and another water hose in order to reach the rear of the trailer. The spot had sewer which was a first for us so that was nice and convenient. The spot also had a nice view of the small valley behind us and awesome sunsets. I would definitely recommend Wanderlust.
The next 2 days we spent sightseeing and visiting Crystal Bridges in nearby Bentonville. We also used our TV antenna and set up outside to watch LSU play Alabama while enjoying a few drinks.
The drive up was split in two but we planned to do the long haul all the way home so we packed up early (and as quietly as we could) and left at 6 am. It took us almost 12 hours to make it home but it was a nice, uneventful drive except for the passenger side taillight went out on us halfway down— the taillight, brake light, and turn signal all failed so I will take a look at it this weekend. We had trouble on our first trip out with the opposite side light cover falling off somewhere on I-20. I also have horrible luck with trailer lights—my boat trailer and my flatbed all have issues.
The two other issues we had with the TT were we couldn’t get the propane water heater to spark or stay lit. We were able to match light the burner but it would go out after 5 seconds or so. I figured maybe air in the line but I kept trying and gave up eventually and just used the electric one. We also have a persistent “Full” reading on the black water tank even though we dumped and rinsed it well. I think there may be a turd stuck on the sensor or something like that so will try to address all 3 issues this weekend before our next trip in 2 weeks.
As far as performance goes, we covered 1,350 miles including about 100 miles of sightseeing without the trailer. Average MPG was between 5-7.1 which is pretty poor in my opinion but am discussing this on another thread.
https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/68287-F-250-gasoline-should-I-switch
Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
TT Trip # 3 Eureka Springs, AR VIA Leroy Percy State Park, Greenville MS
This is our first real long distance road trip in our new Prowler TT and we picked Eureka Springs, AR mainly because of the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and to see the leaves change color. Along the way, we wanted to check out Leroy Percy State Park near Greenville, MS as he is (or, was) my great-great uncle. People along for the ride beside myself are my wife, the two kids, and the mother-in-law.
We gassed up the truck and loaded up and headed out midday on Thursday and drove up I-55 to the Utica cutoff over to Vicksburg up to the Mississippi Delta past Yazoo City and on up to the park. For the most part I-55 is nice with pretty scenery and rolling hills but there are several stretches in MS that are concrete with failing expansion joints which make for a rough ride but fortunately it is all being repaved. The highways up in the Delta are nice and the cotton fields were being harvested but still looked like snow covered landscapes in a few areas. The Mississippi Delta is truly a different, strange place and worth at least a drive through.
In spite of our efforts to leave on time, we didn’t arrive at LP State Park till just before sundown. Of course, the staff had already left so we rolled on in. Our reservation showed us at #063 Loop 3. We passed the first loop where there were maybe 20 sites, none but 2 occupied. We thought about just pulling in there but decided to honor our reserve site as we had reserved 50 amps. Figuring the next loops were just down the road, we continued down the drive. It was starting to get really dark at this point--- twilight where you can’t see anything—and no second or third loop was to be found. The road got narrower and a sign appeared saying “Cabins.” Uh oh.
Try turning a 32 foot TT around in a state park cabin parking lot with only 2 spots in the dark with absolutely no lights….thankfully there were some gaps in the trees so we were able to pull forward and back up in the woods to turn around and we went back to the first loop we saw and just picked a spot for the night. By this time, the clouds had cleared and we had a beautiful full moon and lots and lots of cats. Apparently, the place is overrun with feral cats. I guess people camping out there feed them.
Regardless, we got out of there at dawn – never saw anyone else or any staff—and headed NW to Arkansas. The drive from the Delta to NW Arkansas is amazing! Beautiful scenery, hills, plateaus, vistas, nice smooth roads and plenty of small towns with fuel, restaurants, etc. I was a bit nervous as I looked online for Pilot, J, or Love’s and there weren’t any on our route but no problems with fuel. There were some steep grades but nothing the truck couldn’t handle.
We pulled up to the Wanderlust RV Park in Eureka Springs around 3pm. This was the nicest RV park I have ever stayed in. Now, I admit it’s only the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] one or something like that but it was well run, immaculate, and the rules were enforced. Best of all, someone escorted us to our spot and helped us back in which was nice. The only immediate complaint I had was the utility hookups were located at the front of the spot, not the side or rear, so I had to pay extra for an extension cord and another water hose in order to reach the rear of the trailer. The spot had sewer which was a first for us so that was nice and convenient. The spot also had a nice view of the small valley behind us and awesome sunsets. I would definitely recommend Wanderlust.
The next 2 days we spent sightseeing and visiting Crystal Bridges in nearby Bentonville. We also used our TV antenna and set up outside to watch LSU play Alabama while enjoying a few drinks.
The drive up was split in two but we planned to do the long haul all the way home so we packed up early (and as quietly as we could) and left at 6 am. It took us almost 12 hours to make it home but it was a nice, uneventful drive except for the passenger side taillight went out on us halfway down— the taillight, brake light, and turn signal all failed so I will take a look at it this weekend. We had trouble on our first trip out with the opposite side light cover falling off somewhere on I-20. I also have horrible luck with trailer lights—my boat trailer and my flatbed all have issues.
The two other issues we had with the TT were we couldn’t get the propane water heater to spark or stay lit. We were able to match light the burner but it would go out after 5 seconds or so. I figured maybe air in the line but I kept trying and gave up eventually and just used the electric one. We also have a persistent “Full” reading on the black water tank even though we dumped and rinsed it well. I think there may be a turd stuck on the sensor or something like that so will try to address all 3 issues this weekend before our next trip in 2 weeks.
As far as performance goes, we covered 1,350 miles including about 100 miles of sightseeing without the trailer. Average MPG was between 5-7.1 which is pretty poor in my opinion but am discussing this on another thread.
https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/68287-F-250-gasoline-should-I-switch
Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
