It's All About the Tugs

On Wednesday, November 1, we left Toad Suck in our rear view mirror and headed east to a destination we have wanted for time time to visit.   Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park sits, you guessed it, right on the banks of the Mississippi at the Arkansas-Tennessee border in West Memphis, Arkansas.  Here is the view across the river from our campsite.

We have been camped here for almost a week.  When we arrived, our goal was just to sit, relax and watch the barge traffic moving up and down river past our park.   We have been very successful in doing just that.  This is the first one we saw.

Tom Sawyer is not a fancy park…no playgrounds for the kiddies, but it does have tree houses.  Some, like this one, are available to rent.  Others are just for the enjoyment of the guests, and provide a great vantage point for tug-and-barge watching.

There are beautiful trails through the woods that the dogs enjoyed immensely.  I would have liked them more if they hadn’t been so muddy, but we have had showers several times and fog most days.  

As we finished our walk a couple of days ago, the dogs ran ahead of us.  John was walking beside and just behind me, and told me to stop.  I looked down and saw this copperhead stretched across the path.  He remained still as a stick until I circled around to get his picture.  Then he darted into the woods faster than I thought a snake could move.  If the dogs saw him, they didn't tell us...they just avoided him and went on their merry way.

We also have access to a very nice hike-and-bike trail.  One leg crosses the Mississippi between Arkansas and Tennessee, but it also winds its way along the levee beside the river.  We can access it at our park entrance and have had good walks almost every day.

But the real story here has been the Tugs…and the barges they move up and down the river.

It has been rainy and foggy for several days.  At one point John put on his raincoat and grabbed the squeegee to clean off our rear window so we could see better.

We see mostly barge traffic, but were able to get a glimpse of this stern-wheeler headed down river in the fog.

The tug boats come in all sizes, from small one-barge tugs to behemoths like this one that can move (up to 51 by our count) flotillas of barges, loaded and empty.  It's common to see groups seven barges long and six or seven across.

There were so many barges that the big guy needed a helper.

I’m not sure how wide the river is here, but the channel is relatively narrow.  When barges meet or pass each other, they are very close to each other, and to us on shore.

I think this small one was only 20 yards or so off shore when he passed.

One of our favorite sightings was this tug with his line of barges crossing the path made by the almost-full moon a couple of nights after we arrived.

There is a lot to see and do here in the area.  Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as we see and do it.