Living where we do in Texas, it takes a couple of days to get out of the state and start for real on our road trip.

We spent the first night in Antlers, Oklahoma, en route to the Ozarks RV Resort in Oak Grove, Arkansas from where we will really begin our journey.

Oh my, what beautiful countryside we travel through: Talihina, Poteau and Fort Smith in Oklahoma, Bentonville and Bella Vista in Arkansas, before heading through Blue Eye in Missouri, a town which proudly boasts that it has a population of 36, and into Oak Grove, Arkansas which sits on the Missouri/Arkansas border.

We arrive very late at night as we have been on a winding road up and down the Ozark mountains for hours. As the passenger, is was quite concerning at times looking down over the mountain’s edge, with hair-pin bends at every turn which Mike navigated with great care and ease.

And, after setting up camp and enjoying a night’s rest, this is the view that we awoke too and couldn’t stop enjoying… Table Rock Lake. Wow wee, it’s beautiful! The temperature is to die for, there are no bugs, there is very little humidity and the peace and quiet is exactly what we enjoy! Oh boy, I could look at this view all day long!

A view of our RV Resort in Oak Grove, Arkansas overlooking Table Rock Lake. Located in the Ozark Mountains, the lake was created in 1958 following the damming of the White River by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Today happens to be Global Tiger Day and purely by accident we are taking a tour of the National Tiger Sanctuary in Saddlebrook, Missouri, about an hour from where we are staying.

The sanctuary began in 2000, when Keith Kindade and Judy McGee founded a non-profit organization to keep the animals’ needs at the forefront of every decision no matter the cost. They recognized education as a vital tool for improving conditions for animals both in the wild and in captivity. Beyond education, they also wanted to teach about environmental conditions affecting the earth’s ecosystems and solutions that benefit all species of life.

Our tour was wonderful and other than a personal wish to replace the wire fencing with something more photographically acceptable to get a better close-up shot of these wonderful cats, which, of course, I know is financially impossible, I could happily visit every day for ever more!

Meet Merlin.  Merlin was rescued from a magic show in 2011 where he lived indoors in a small, concrete cage. He is 11 years old and weighs in at around 400 pounds. When Merlin is not sleeping in the sun, he enjoys playing hide and seek and tag with the keepers.

Niara arrived at the sanctuary in 2013, with four other African lions. She is the largest, and likely the oldest, female in the pride. Niara is a social butterfly of the group and gets along well with everyone (lions and human!). She loves to rub against the fence and get attention from the staff.

Princess and her sister Precious found their home at the sanctuary in 2014. Born in 2005, Princess weighs-in at around 250 pounds. Her stripes are brown and go darker in colour without sunshine. Princess was simply incredible to watch and thank heavens she and her sister are now safe and can live-out their lives in peace.

We are on the road heading to Antlers, Oklahoma, a distance of some 300 miles, on day one of our latest adventure.

I am not sure who gets to name towns and cities in the US, but whomever oversaw naming places in Texas, certainly had their fun.

We swing by Athens, circumvent Palestine, and on to Paris and yes, we’re still in Texas!

Texans have a good sense of humour and in the early nineties, the folks of Paris, Texas build a 65-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower that they market as the “second largest Eiffel Tower in the second largest Paris.”

Unfortunately, or coincidentally, in the same year, the folks in Paris, Tennessee also construct a replica of the famous French landmark which just happens to be five feet taller than the tower in Texas!

Now, rivalry in Texas is not taken lightly, and wishing to reclaim their number-one title, they add a huge, red-metal cowboy hat on top of the structure to make their Eiffel Tower taller than the one in Tennessee! Cute!

Ultimately the friendly competition falls by the wayside when the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino completes construction of its own Eiffel Tower which stands at over 500 feet tall!

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, Texas.

We are off on our latest road trip and we have some new characters on board!

The usual suspects head the cast for this first part of our journey:

The Husband! Also referred to as “My Darling Mike” or sometimes “He who must be obeyed” (HA! HA! HA!) pictured here with his beloved Poppy-dog enjoying a craft beer at the Big Boss brewing company in Raleigh, North Carolina back in May. Poppy is rather partial to a craft beer!

Kitty Abigail, also known as Princess!

Kitty Archer, also known as “Bad boy” for bullying kitty Artie who is at home, and “Mr. Annonying” for his habit of jumping onto our bed every morning around 5 a.m. with the sole intent of biting noses and fingers!  

And, me, the blogger, pictured here with Mum at Beachy Head in East Sussex, England a couple of weeks ago.

I am back from Blightey and have 10 days to get organized for our next road trip!

We leave on July 27 and will stopping in Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois & Wisconsin, ending up in Paducah, Kentucky for the solar eclipse on August 21.

I look forward to having you onboard! See you on the 27th!

Throw-back: me in 2005, in Beijing, visiting the Great Wall of China, in a bar, wearing a Russian deputy-dog hat! Go figure!

Over is a pretty village in Cambridgeshire with a population of some 3,000 inhabitants, and once a year they all turn out to support the carnival.

As high noon arrives, a motley mob of smiling, black-leathered Harley-Davidson riders head a procession of uniquely decorated floats through the village, cheered-on by locals who willingly dip into their pockets to feed a never-ending stream of collection buckets.

Once the floats have completed their tour, we head to the village green to enjoy the remainder of the day’s activities. There are carnival rides for the kids, stalls selling plants, home-grown and made produce, beautifully covered notepads and custom T-shirts, to name a few.

The organizers have worked really hard to arrange events for every age group; a kid’s disco, fire-stick twirling, live bands and, of course, a beer tent!

Thank you to the Jackson family who were wonderful hosts to my brother and I and to sisters Christine and Charlotte who did a fantastic job as part of the Over Carnival organizing team!

Nephew Tom Hagerty, left, with his Dad. Tom’s girlfriend, Christine, was on the carnival organizing committee.

The Seven Sisters is a series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel with a break in the cliffs created by erosion known as the Birling Gap.

The chalk cliffs form part of the South Downs in East Sussex, between the towns of Seaford and Eastbourne in southern England. They are situated within the Seven Sisters Country Park which is bounded by the coast, the river Cuckmere and the A259 road.

Occasionally, the Seven Sisters are used in films and television programmes such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Atonement. They are a stand-in for the more famous White Cliffs of Dover because they are relatively free of modern development and are allowed to erode naturally keeping them their very bright white colour. The White Cliffs of Dover on the other hand are protected due to the important port they surround and are increasingly covered in vegetation and are greening as a result.

Birling Gap and the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs.

Mum & Dad enjoying the sunshine at the Birling Gap.

Eastbourne Pier, first completed in 1872, has been through several iterations in its interesting lifetime. The 1,000 feet-long structure is built on stilts that rest in cups on the sea-bed allowing it to move during rough weather.

During World War II part of the decking was removed and machine guns were installed in the theatre providing a useful point to repel any attempted enemy landings. In December 1942, an exploding mine caused considerable damage to the pier and nearby hotels; it had been tied to the stanchions by the local police, who were under the mistaken impression that it was fitted with a safety device!

Fire swept through the theatre in 1970 and a nightclub was built in its place. The nightclub remains today alongside a fish and chip kiosk, shops, an ice-cream parlour and typical English seaside amusements.

Eastbourne Pier, now privately owned by a Sheikh.

Victorian architecture dominates the style of hotels overlooking the sea.

Shipwrecks were not an uncommon event in the 17^th and early 18^th centuries on England’s  East Sussex coast, resulting in the Belle Tout lighthouse, a temporary wooden structure, beginning service in 1828. A permanent lighthouse replaced it in 1834 using 30 oil lamps consuming two gallons of oil every hour!

The Belle Tout lighthouse was not as successful as had been hoped, with two significant flaws leading to an alternative being sought. The cliff-top location caused problems when sea mists obscured the light, significantly reducing the distance that it would reach. Vessels that sailed too closely to the rocks would not be able to see the light because it was blocked by the edge of the cliff. And, the cliffs of Beachy Head suffered intense coastal erosion over the years and the rocky area below started to be covered by the light.

Sited over 500 feet seawards from the base of the cliffs, the Beachy Head lighthouse, with its distinctive red and white stripes, became operational in 1902. For the next 80 years, three lighthouse keepers maintained the rotating light which makes two white flashes every 20 seconds and is visible 26 nautical miles out to sea.

In 1983 the lighthouse was fully automated and the keepers were withdrawn. Due to advances in high tech navigational systems, a new LED light system was installed in 2011 and the visibility reduced to 8 miles.

The Belle Tout lighthouse was decommissioned in 1902.

The Beachy Head lighthouse was repainted in 2011 by two teams of abseilers!

At the outbreak of the World War II, the Lansdowne Hotel, where I am staying with Mum and Dad in Eastbourne, England comprised of five inter-connected houses with 72 bedrooms.

Owing to war conditions, the hotel was closed from 1940-1946 and during this time it was occupied by troops manning a coastal battery stationed on the slopes of the Wish Tower located just along the road from the hotel: Wish Tower is one of 103 gun towers built on the south and east coasts of England to defend against a potential invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800s!

Over the years, the hotel’s owners bought other properties and incorporated them into the facilities and today, the hotel has a total of 102 bedrooms and is part of the Best Western Hotels consortium.

With its easy-going personal service, comfortable lounges and an “old-fashioned” style, the Lansdowne Hotel is quintessentially English and very popular with seniors!  One of the hotel’s main attractions is the full-English breakfast and endless refills of tea which are included in the hotel rate. My word, can those seniors pack away some breakfast first thing in the morning, my Dad included!

Mum and Dad enjoying one of the hotel lounges overlooking the sea.

The seaside town of Eastbourne.