Toad Suck Revisited (after 37 years)

“Come come! Come Out!
From bogs old frogs command the dark
and look...the stars”
― Kikaku, Japanese Haiku

We are, at last, under way on our trip to Alaska by way of Reno and points west. The last few days before departure on Wednesday afternoon of Cinco de Mayo were hectic and Not Fun. This is our second night on the road and we are beginning to wonder what kind of Kamping Karma we have generated as we have had more issues in one and one half days than we usually have in six or eight weeks.

Day One: We got a late start (1 pm) from Farner, TN in cold (40 degrees) and rain.  We had an hour long construction delay on I-40 but the sun came out and we gained an hour when we crossed into CDT.  The battery on the TT was sluggish when we raised the power hitch but we thought it would charge along the way (not so) and the fridge, which spent six weeks at  Camping World in Tallahassee being repaired, refused to work on gas. This was not an immediate problem as it was a cold day and I had ice packs for the perishables.  In late afternoon Butch noted that the pressure in one of the tires on the truck (less than one month old) was slowing decreasing.

Turning to our trusty Next Exit book, I found that exit 238 had a Wal-Mart (battery and fuses for the fridge), a Discount Tire (that’s where we bought the tires), and a state park (Cedars of Lebanon). This appeared to be a good “Happening” as we had a new battery, a new tire, the fridge working, and a nice campsite within two hours. 

Day Two: We decided to push a little further today and set off for Nashville, Memphis, and Little Rock. All went well until afternoon. We had rough road conditions in West Memphis and a rock (or something) shattered the back window in the truck. When we stopped to refuel, I thought I smelled propane but the whole truck stop was super stinky, so I didn’t worry.  About three pm I called several campgrounds but did not find a vacancy until I called Toad Suck. They had five sites but as they are a  COE facility and registration has to be done through Rec .Gov.com, they could not hold one. About 15 minutes out I called them again. They now had three sites. When Butch and I arrived, there were two RV’s in front of us. Yep, we got the last site! Good Karma.

BUT: When we got into our campsite the propane smell was overwhelming and our alarm was going off in the TT. Butch took the cover off the back of the fridge and the entire gas line had come loose. Camping World had made no effort to secure the line or the cover. We lost all our propane and now, cannot use any gas appliances until it is repaired. On top of that, the shelf in the fridge broke (again!) and everything spilled on the floor, including a bottle of Merlot! Bad Karma!

Open another bottle of wine (one with a screw top), take a deep breath and wander down memory lane. When I was at Toad Suck in 1979 I was traveling in a Chevy van with my three sons. We put up our tents. We got out the Coleman stove. All our food was in a cooler with ice. I sat in a lawn chair, drank a glass of Merlot and admired the beautiful Arkansas River flowing by. The boys played in the water. Life was good and it still is.