West Memphis Arkansas to Clarksville, Arkansas, Spadra COE!

Had a nice night at the West Memphis KOA. It was so humid and warm we left the trailer's fan on all night.  We didn't have to have a/c but had to move the air.  We woke up this am to rainy, warmer temps.  

Our RV walk last night..lots of water

A see saw Ninny! 

Nice little playground for the kiddies..

Started the coffee at 0600 and then enjoyed catching up with blogging friends. We see many are moving closer to their home bases.  Breakfast, showers etc and we were on our way.  

Water, Water everywhere in Arkansas..

White River

High and Proud in Wynne, Arkansas..

GIP led us to highway 64 west and we continued on that road until Conway, Arkansas. We love highway 64, lots of it is 4 lane and when it's not it's a beautiful 2 lane road. Lots to look at and photograph. At Conway we  bit the bullet and got on I 40 for about 50 miles or so. Not too bad of a drive. 

it'll be awhile before this farmer can plant his field!

I just love the name...Beebe..

Loved this Cowboy Church in Conway,  Arkansas..

Their student ministry..

We pulled into Spadra Corp of Engineers campground just before 1500..which is the way we like it!  Found the perfect site and started to get set up. Brian, the camp host came by and we had a nice chit chat. Very friendly.  

I ate here in 2008 w Bryan and family and Ken and I have
eaten here too..Yummy food!

Our view ...:)

Can't beat the site and the view :)

We've been here several times as it is close to Clarksville, Arkansas..near and dear to my heart.  We have electric and water, showers and a dump station all for $8.00 a night with your Golden Age Pass (16.00 without)..and it sits right on the Arkansas River with amazing views. If you don't like trains going by, then it's not for you, but doesn't bother us a bit! 

We're here for two nights and the weather should improve. Actually other than leaving the KOA this morning we've had no rain that counts.:)  

Thank you to all our Vietnam Veterans! 

Below is the 2nd part of our trip to Shiloh.  I hope everyone had a wonderful day as we have! Enjoy your evening :) 

Shiloh National Military Park ....Part 2

11.  Shiloh's Casualties..One of five known mass graves where many of the 1728 Confederate dead were buried. 

12..Jones Field..Union forces rallied here at noon on April 6th mounting a counter attack the briefly checked the Confederate offensive. Next day the Union troops drove them from the field. 

13..Water Oaks Pond..Desperate assaults Gen Beauregard hurled through the pond on April 7 failed to halt Grant. Beauregard withdrew his army to Cornith. 

14.  Field Hospital..Here Federal surgeons set up on the first tent hospitals of the Civil War. Care was improved and the death rate lowered. 

15..Death of General Johnston..Struck by a stray bullet, Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston died in the ravine. 

16...The Peach Orchard..Sarah Bell's orchard was in full bloom when Confederate troops attacked Union forces on April 6. Union forces took the field the next day ** New Peach trees are being planted right now at the field**

17..Bloody Pond..Throughout the battle, soldiers of both sides came here to drink and bathe their wounds. Both men and horses died at the pond, their blood staining the water. 

 18..Dill Branch Ravine, Wooden US gunboats Lexington and Tyler, anchored opposite the mouth of the ravine to support General Grant's defense of Pittsburg Landing. 

19.  Grant's left flank..Here Union artillery hammered the flank of Confederate infantry charging across the rugged area.

There is a large National Cemetery here, but time didn't permit..

A barge on the river..

 20.  Pittsburg Landing.. Gen Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio arrived here on the night of April 6th to reinforce Grant. 

We had lunch here..trying to imagine the troops and ships landing
here..was quite a hill to climb! 

 That ends our day at Shiloh.  Very glad we went as we were when we've seen Gettysburg, Vicksburg and some of the smaller battlefields. 

Shiloh National Military Park..on to Marion, Arkansas KOA.

This post is being brought to you from Marion, Arkansas KOA.  We had a wonderful day yesterday (Tuesday) at Shiloh Battlefield which I will share later in this post. 

Once we got back to camp yesterday at Pickwick Dam TVA we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.  We stopped on the way in at the day use area on the Tennessee River.  There were lots of people fishing all along the walkway that was made for this purpose I assume. We people watched for a bit and then went bak to camp. Temps were perfect so we were able to enjoy the view and the campground by sitting outside for awhile. 

All the people fishing! Did see one person catch a fish..

Hope people heed the sign!

There's a walkway and that's where people are fishing..

Barge going up to the locks..

Love this park..

Our site and where we sat yesterday..

Nice to see there were several families with children enjoying the campground. It seems most of the times we go we don't see a lot of families out, but it's probably spring break for these kiddos. Great to see families spending time together without the kids faces always in their phones and devices.  

Ken bar b q ued some awesome burgers for dinner. We finally used the meat we had bought to cook Clif some burgers, but the weather hadn't cooperated that trip.  I cooked some tater tots that I had and we had a great dinner.  He put the movie "Man of the House" with Tommy Lee Jones in the dvd player and I fell asleep before it was over. We've seen it before and it's a good, cute movie! 

This morning we didn't get out of bed until close to 0700.  We knew we didn't have far to go today, so we weren't worried about it. Enjoyed the morning and pulled out just about 1100.  The park has a dump station so we dumped on the way out. It was a great park and we know we'll be back. 

We looked at the map and checked with GIP and decided on the way to head for Memphis. We took 57 to 72 and Northern Mississippi then in Memphis we hit I 240 to I 55. We only had to spend a few miles on the freeway which is awesome. Except for about 5 miles, 57 and 72 are 4 lane highways with hardly any traffic! It was a beautiful drive and we put about 135 miles behind us today.  We pulled into the KOA just about 1400.  We were able to secure a water/electric site for $31.15 out the door, using a $10.00 off coupon they gave us last time we were here a few weeks ago. Not exactly cheap, but it works for a night.  The price was actually $6.00 higher than what we paid a couple of weeks ago.  The park is FULL! Guess with everyone going home.  They've had some massive rain, so I'm sure some of their sites are closed I'm sure. More rain expected tonight, so we'll see what happens by morning. 

Did some laundry and took a little RV walk. Tacos for dinner so figured this was a good time to get this post going. Headed for Spadra and Clarksville, Arkansas tomorrow..at least right now. haha. 

**I was trying to post some camp pics..but they're not loading** maybe tomorrow..:)

Shiloh National Military Park

Now on to the Battlefield Tour.  I took a lot of pictures while we were there. We followed the auto tour and it was awesome.  The visitor center has a great movie with reenactment actors that you can see on the hour, it explains a lot of the battles that you will come across during the tour.  It's a 32 minute film, which is longer than most that we see at National Parks but well worth the time. Don, it was the same one you have, but we watched again to see if anymore would sink in..haha. I decided to put this at the end of the post, as it may not interest some people and now would be the time to quit and go do something different. Because we probably won't go back again, I wanted to put as much as I could on the blog.  So read on, or have a great night!  I've decided to do 1-10 tonight and hopefully 11-20 tomorrow or next post.  

* click on pics to enlarge* 

1. Grant's Last Line..The final position of Grant's line on April 6th..

They sure had some beautiful monuments..

2.  Confederate Monument..Where Confederate troops encircled and captured nearly 2100 Union defenders of the hornets nest. 

This monument was beautiful!

All the kids had maps and they were headed to the thicket..
either Homeschool or vacation..:)

3. Duncan Field..Union troops defended this position for 7 hours on April 6th
before giving ground. They retook it the next day. 

4.  Ruggles' Battery..When infantry attacks failed, the Confederates concentrated 11 batteries of artillery to bombard the position. General Benjamin Prentiss and nearly 2,100 Union Solders were captured. 

 The road we followed..

5. Shiloh Church..The log Methodist church that gave the battle its name. It burned down during the war and was reconstructed using 150 year old wood in 1999. 

Wooden dowels for door hinges...

Gotta admit we loved the church! Very impressive workmanship! 

He wasn't a Civil War Soldier, but loved the fact that he was Southern Proud..

6. Rhea Field..The 6th MS infantry sustained 70 percent casulaties..

7.  Fraley Field..Battle began at 4:55 am April 6..when Confederate pickets engaged a patrol. 

8.  Confederates Gain Ground..

9. Invasion of the Union Camps..Prentiss soldiers briefly defended their camps before retreating. Johnston's offensive stalled when his soldiers stopped to plunder supplies..

10.  Hornet's Nest...Named because of the hot and shell they faced here..parts of 3 Federal divisions defended this densely wooded area. 

That's it for tonight..11- 20 I'll do on my next post..but i'll warn you ahead.  Have a good night! :)