We left Texarkana and we headed towards Memphis. Fortunately, we had the MapQuest instructions Jim pulled for the entire trip before we left because our GPS wasn’t cooperating. It just could not find the address. This was not the first time, though. We have had several situations when this happened and in fact, it appeared Jim had the same problem with MapQuest. It wasn’t until much later in the day, when I finally resorted to an old fashioned Atlas that I realized our problem. We were headed to an address in West Memphis, not Memphis, and West Memphis is in Arkansas not Tennessee. That is your Trivia lesson for today.
Our campground is named Tom Sawyer RV Park and it sits right on the Mississippi River. Our actual site is right on the river and we pulled in so we had the full view from our back window.
Barge being pushed down river with coal on it. On the way to our site, maybe 300 yards away from the water’s edge, there is a house on stilts. It appears there was some flood here in 2011.
There are benches strategically placed all along the water’s edge for guests to sit and watch the tug boat/barge traffic that is constant. It really is interesting to watch. I never realized how quick the current is in the Mississippi and had no idea there would be the amount of debris being moved by this swift current. As a matter of fact, a 15 foot log just went by. Last night we were just reading and we heard what sounded like a big tug boat coming and Jim ran out to get a good look. It was a HUGE tug boat pushing 5 oil barges back up river. It had to be at least 100 yards long. Please don’t misunderstand. The traffic sound is very muted and not intrusive, but only makes you aware of activity if you want to see it.
The sun rises here is a full hour earlier than in Spring, Texas and Jim was outside with his trusty camera to catch a spectacular sunrise coming up over the river.
After checking out what was available to see in Memphis, we decided today needed to be the outdoor activities day because the chance of rain is less today than tomorrow. We finally decided we would, (wait for it) go to the zoo! You know how much I love zoos and Memphis has a really nice one. Actually it took us over 5 hours to go through it. They did some really interesting things that I have not seen at other zoos. At one of the main restaurants they put a primate enclosure right next door with windows between the two buildings. The monkeys sit in the window and watch the people with a great deal of interest. In fact, one of the order lines is right by the window and at least twice while we were in the restaurant you could tell the monkeys took the people standing in line by surprise. It was great fun to watch. Another thing they do that I think is really good is they have staff come out and feed the most popular animals at scheduled times in the middle of the day so the animals are active. They also stay and answer questions the people have about the animals. We had a great conversation with the staff member who is one of the elephant handlers.
Here are some of the best pictures from the zoo.
All and all, it was a great day.
goneagainblog.com 
Great pics. Good I decided not to fly into Mississippi. U might have ended up in Arkansas !!!!!!!!!!!!