Final Blog for 2008 Trip : Aussies on tour - instalment #20

Although this wasn't the end of our 2008 trip, due to computer prob's and time constraints, no more blogs were written about our fantastic trip. We will try and improve our 'blogging' on our 2009 trip!:

When we arrived at Hot Springs we discovered that McDonalds besides having wifi, had a large parking area at the rear, after checking that it was ok to stay there overnight we setup. This was really convent as we could “Skype” home later in the evening, McDonalds had tables and chairs outside which was great, lovely warm night. Also convenient was the Laundromat over the other side of the road, which we made use of the next day. The only thing that was not so good was the lack of footpaths in the area. We walked to the local food store which we could manage for most of the way, through long grass on the verges, however when we had to cross the river on the bridge this did provide us with a challenge, I don’t think that walking is a favorite pastime in this area as the dual lane traffic was up close and personal. All around this area they lay claim to some relationship to former US president Bill Clinton he was born here, grew up here, went school here etc. The drive from Hot Springs to Little Rock was interesting despite the fact we were on a major highway. The road in parts was blasted out of the mountain creating mini canyons. We followed the 70 to little Rock through lush green country side. We bypassed Little Rock and found the Camping World store and stayed the night there; they were kind enough to provide power. We were trying to make up time to meet up with our UK friends Dave & Janet in Memphis, although we still did not travel on the 40, as per usual we chose a parallel more scenic road, this time we were on the 72. Although the drive was through flat country, it was green farm land growing mainly corn and rice; we came across a rice co-operative which was something we did not expect to see. Prior to reaching Memphis we rejoined the 40 and the hurly burly of the big trucks and fast cars. The border between Arkansas and Tennessee is the Mississippi River which has a large steel bridge at least half a mile long, we had to cross this bridge three times as we continued to miss the correct off ramp, and like all freeways in large cities once you make a mistake it is difficult to get back on track. We eventually made it across and to our destination, which was an RV park on Elvis Presley Boulevard, only two blocks from Graceland’s. Dave and Janet were in the drive ahead of us booking in. After setting up and catching up we went for a walk around the area. We came across a supermarket called Piggly Wiggly, we found out that they are a chain across neighboring states that started in Memphis, so not only did Elvis originate from here but also Piggly Wiggly. The following day we walked to Graceland’s. This is a huge industry for the area, we had no intention or desire to visit it originally, but since Dave was so keen on it had beer in their itinerary from the beginning and it gave us the opportunity to meet up with them again, we thought why not? It is so big, that I think perhaps I will leave it for our next newsletter to write more about it.
Until then Brian & Michele
We are currently in Cortez CO.

Aussies on tour - instalment #19

The next day’s drive was through to Mena on the 71 was lush and tropical and is the commencement of the Ouachita Mountains. The towns on this route were insignificant, but the scenery made up for this. We turned off the 71 onto the 80 and drove through a valley containing what must have been the poultry capital of America because they were all along the valley. There weren’t many pull offs along this road suitable for an overnight spot, so we finished up driving into Danville. We thought that we could perhaps find the local park to stay at overnight. We couldn’t find it but as we were driving around we noticed a man working in his garden, we asked him if he knew where it was. He scratched his head and thought for a while and said that we couldn’t be further away from it. He then suggested that we follow him and he would show us. We followed him across town and we arrived there we found a very large recreation area including baseball field where there was a game in progress. Our guide pointed to the different areas and facilities. He must have realized that we were going to stay there overnight, as he said that the police usually make sweeps through at night but if anybody asks, tell them that Alderman…………said it would be ok. The night was extremely hot so we left the door open. Sometime during the night we were woken up by torches shining in the door, a loud two way radio making registration checks, and the men in blue asking “what y’all doing here”. If I had been more awake I would have said “trying to sleep”. They eventually left saying that we don’t usually see people here at night and “Y’all take care now”. Haven’t been caught in a police raid for some time! After leaving Danville we drove along the 27 through mountains covered with tall Pine trees, once again picture post card country! Had lunch at one end of Lake Ouachita, which is a huge expanse of water covering many square miles, it was so nice we spent a few hours there. After lunch we joined the 270 and drove to a COE campsite on lake Ouachita, magnificent setting right on the lake with forests all around, power, hot showers, all life’s luxuries. We stayed there for two nights. Another great thing about the COE campsites is that they have a late checkout time 3.00/4.00 PM. We only drove a few miles down the road when we saw a sign for another COE campsite; we drove in to have a look. It was six miles in on a windy, but beautiful road. When we arrived we decided to stay the night here. This one had most of the amenities of a resort, including a restaurant. Once we had set up, connected power, water sewer etc, our neighbor came over and ask us which part of California we were from. After the usual explanation he was quite intrigued with us. Because it was hot he offered to take us out on the lake on his “barge”, he said we will “make our own breeze”. So after only having been there about an hour, here we were out on this beautiful lake with total strangers having a great time. Tomorrow we would leave and never see them again, not even an exchange of phone numbers. It’s amazing the people you meet on the road.
Currently at Charma NM
Till next time, Brian & Michele

Aussies on tour - instalment #18

The Wright Patman Lake area was created by damming a river to create a huge manmade lake. Where there have been projects of this type undertaken by the Corps Of Engineers( COE )they often set up areas for public use, which include picnic areas and camp grounds. They all have amenities, shower block, power, water, sewer hookup, at more than competitive prices. They are a gem, perhaps a hidden secret. It was then time to cross the border and enter Arkansas pronounced Ar Kansas by our good friend Ed in Albuquerque. Drove though beautiful lush green countryside until we came across Doddridge, there we found a small area that is used for an annual fair, consequently all the little stall shelters etc had power in them, which for us was fantastic considering the extreme heat that we were experiencing, this made for an enjoyable stay.
The next morning I telephoned HP to try again to resolve the computer problems. Because I only have the mobile phone and to talk to somebody, you have to go through a long and tedious menu for about 10/15 minutes, then you get through to India at a call rate of 15cent per minute and you can be on the line for an excess of an hour. We had to go to the Post Office that morning, I explained my situation, and asked if I could use their telephone as it was a toll free number from a land line. This was ok, however my problem was not resolved, the support person in India said, he wanted to see the computer connected to the internet and speak to me on the phone at the same time. Big challenge!! We headed towards Texarkana for fuel and called into a McDonalds to send out a newsletter, because of the number of recipients, I send them in three batches. After the first batch was sent the computer froze, it would not respond at all. I did the usual restart procedure without any luck. We then tried to find a Best Buy to see if the “Geek Squad” could help to resolve the problem. Once again with no GPS and a fairly large town the task was somewhat difficult. When we did finally find them, their first thoughts was how much to charge us to retrieve our data, fortunately we managed to talk them out of that and they did retrieve some of the data. The difficult one was all my email contacts; they assured me that if they backed up the entire program, they would be able to retrieve the contacts later. After about four hours they completed a system restore, so far so good, of course all the programs were gone, they then tried to restore my email contracts list, you have probably guessed by now, another hour or so, time for a shift change and there will be a “super geek “ here tomorrow. We spent the night in the Target parking lot close by to Best buy, for an early start.
During the night we experienced a storm with large hail stones, torrential rain and thunderstorms etc. We did have television reception that night and programs were continually interrupted with warnings of storms. Next morning after surviving the ordeals of the weather we went back to “super Geek” at Best Buys, another hour and a half later and much sweating from the geek informed me that they must be in there some ware, but he can’t find them, we decided to cut our losses and head out of town, and reinstall programs myself,and get the computer up and running again.
We crossed the border back into Arkansas. We found a great over nighter on a huge river system at a boat ramp car park, the only disconcerting issue was the sign at the water’s edge saying “beware of the alligators. After reading this notice ,when I walked by the long grass and heard a rustle it made me a little nervous. The next day we continued along the 71 , we drove through Dequeen,managed to picked up wifi at the rear of a local restaurant. We drove out to Dequeen Lake where we had lunch; this is another COE recreation area. That night we stayed at Vandervoort,a very friendly small town. The area includes their local ball park and recreation reserve. There was power and water here also. Made the most of some time out from driving and finished the wiring of the van to improve the coach battery charge, and also made the job easier being parked on nice green grass. During the night we were sitting outside and mystified by flashes of light all around us and in the trees, we figured that they must have been fireflies, which we had never seen before.We are so far behind with the news because of the computer problems and being a tourist as well so i will include where we currently are, at the bottom of each update.
At present we are in a National forest park just outside Taos NM on our way to Colorado.

Aussies on tour - instalment #17

The reason there has been a delay in sending out news items, is due to recurring computer problems. For this reason, I have a couple of recommendations if you are considering purchasing a computer.....

My recommendation # 1

Do not purchase anything from Best Buys as they have substituted the word service in the saying After sales Service with the word “money”. At the last Best Buys I called into which was in Charlotte South Carolina they said that it would cost me $190 to do a full diagnostic test on the computer, could maybe reduce it slightly because I had purchased it from them. I bought the computer on the 10th of April 08, and have had problems with it four days after purchasing it and have been to other Best Buy stores trying to resolve the ongoing problems.

My Recommendation #2

Never buy a Compaq/HP product. All problems are routed to a call center in India, it takes at least 15 minutes to go through the menu to finally speak to a person, and then of course there is the language problem. I have been on the phone for over two hours and three times I have been told that somebody of senior management would ring me back within 48 hours and it has never happened. When you are mobile like we are and only have a mobile phone at a call rate of 15cents per minute both incoming and outgoing. The option is to try and find a public phone if you can find one - I don’t know if you have tried to hold a phone in one hand, balance a computer in the other hand and try and follow instructions, which has involved turning the computer upside down looking for numbers, typing on the keyboard, while trying to hear what they are saying with all the ambient noise in a public place. I could go on but only makes me angry. I just can’t see why these companies can’t see the value in customer satisfaction. I will just continue venting to people I meet. Don’t you agree that customer satisfaction would be of paramount importance of any Company, as this is the cheapest and most effective form of advertising!

My Recommendation 3

Stay away from Microsoft Vista, as Best Buys blame the software, so they won’t fix the computer. Despite the fact that Compaq has sent me a new set of installation disks, the computer still has all the previous problems. I can only assume that both these Companies have a poor relationship with Microsoft and we appear to be the meat in the sandwich. They have a TV commercial running in the US with people from “Microsoft Vista anonymous” appearing in it, relaying their stories. I would appear in it for free and add to the stories.

Since my last news item all my notes have been lost yet again! which covers over a month of travelling, since then we have been to TX, AR, TN, SC, NC, SC, GA and back to TN. I am going to have to rely on my memory for the last months travelling, so some things and places may be missed thanks to the THREE companies written about above (plus all other software including our GPS mapping, Stock market trading data, photos, and other vital information)

Now for some news from memory ......
The day after leaving Gainesville the weather was still hot and the wind was still blowing. The countryside was lush and green; something that we are not used to, if we have 100 degree temperatures, the countryside is brown. Here it is still green; this meant that it was humid and sticky. There were a lot of horse properties which seemed to be doing well, by the looks of them. They appeared to be quarter horse properties . We called into a nice wooded area for afternoon tea which was under a grove of large old oak trees, which made it nice and cool ,a relief from the heat out on the road. We decided to make it a short day and stay the night there. It was too hot to cook that night so we bought a pizza, it was nice, and unfortunately for me it was the first and last one we have purchased. The following day was Friday and a lady walking her dog in the park told us about some garage sales around the corner. I went for a walk and had a look at nine of them, we later found out that this is an huge annual event along the 82 hwy ,” garage sale mania”. They have hundreds of them stretching for miles, for the next three days we drove past them, all with their goodies stacked up for sale in their front yards. Paris is quite a large town, however like a number of US towns it appears a little tired. The town was practically destroyed by fire early last century and was rebuilt, the most significant building being the government one for justice departments etc. We then left for the Wright Patman lake area.

Will be in touch