Little Rock to Memphis

Southaven, MS - Events of Thursday, May 16, 2013

On Thursday, we packed up the motor home, unhooked the utilities, dumped our holding tanks and hooked up the toad - all in the pouring rain. We thought about waiting a while for the rain to stop; but the weather radar didn't show a break coming for quite some time, and we were anxious to get going. We also had our new Frogg Togg raincoats to keep us dry, so we forged ahead.

We got on the road around 10:00 a.m. for a three-hour drive to Memphis. When we went to Memphis in the past, we always stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park. Tom Saywer is located across the river from Memphis, TN in West Memphis, AR. The campground is located right on the Mississippi River, which is both a plus and a minus. The plus is we like to watch the barges go up and down the river.

This time of year, we always run the risk of bumping into the minus...flooding along the Mississippi. Local officials order the campground to close any time the river level goes above 31.5' in Memphis. We got an e-mail from the campground ahead of time warning us they would probably be closing, so we made reservations at EZ Daze RV Park a few miles to the south of Memphis in Southaven, MS instead. As it turned out, it was a good thing we did because the Mississippi crested at around 34' a couple of days before we arrived in the Memphis area.

As we approached the bridge to cross the Mississippi from Arkansas, Margery snapped a few photos of the high water. In the next photo, the water is supposed to be behind the row of trees in the distance.

High water along the Mississippi

Another view of high water along the Mississippi

We pulled into EZ Daze RV Park around 1:00. EZ Daze has about 85 sites, 14 or 15 of which are pull-throughs. The roads and pads are paved, and there is a small, paved patio for each site. The patio is better suited to 5th wheels than motor homes because it located toward the rear of the site. There is well-manicured grass between each site and there are a few very small trees.

Our site at EZ Daze RV Park

View down the road at EZ Daze

The sites all have full hookups with 30/50-amp electric. There is free cable and free Wi-Fi that was fairly fast except for a few evenings when everyone in the campground must have been trying to get online at the same time. There is also a pool, a hot tub and a dog run.

The rates a EZ Daze are $40 a night including tax or $240 a week. The weekly rate works out to a little over $34 a night.

Judging from the small size of the trees and the bright appearance of the concrete, the campground seems to be relatively new, and already they are expanding. They are adding 49 new sites across the road. Unfortunately, the noise from the construction was pretty loud a couple of the days we were there - even on one Saturday. Fortunately, it was hot on those days, so we just ran the air which drowned out most of the construction noise. EZ Daze is located only a short distance from I-55, so there is a fair amount of traffic noise all day and all night.

Depending on the direction of the wind, the campground can also be on the flight path of Memphis International Airport. Memphis serves as the hub for FedEx, so if the wind is right (or maybe we should say if the wind is wrong), there are lots of planes flying over, especially in the wee hours of the morning as planes depart to deliver their overnight packages to the intended destination cities. There is also another series of take-offs in the late afternoon, but the ones at 2:30 to 4:30 a.m. are a lot more annoying.

A couple of days after we arrived in Memphis and after the Mississippi had started to subside, we decided to drive back across the river in the car to see if we could get a look at Tom Sawyer RV Park to see what shape it was in. Unfortunately, the entrance road was as far as we got because the road was still under two feet of water about a quarter of the way into the campground.

Entrance road to Tom Sawyer RV Park under water

One of the things we like about Memphis in addition to watching barges on the Mississippi is the barbecue. This year, our stay coincided with the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. We'll tell you all about it in our next post.

Comments

[Marsha]

One the best investments you two have made...raincoats!

Good thinking with the second reservation. The river looks dangerous.

I suppose now you are going to try convience your readers that it is just a coincidence that you two are there at the exact time the contest is going on. Yeah, we believe you. Lol

[Debbie Buskirk]

We were at Tom Sawyer in Dec. Nice park. We could see where debris and overturned sheds/decks were left from past flooding.