11/1&2 Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi

Tom Sawyer RV Park is a pretty basic campground in West Memphis, AR, directly on the Mississippi.  Most of the sites have cement pads and there are asphalt roads, with most sites having full hookups, but there is no real landscaping, pools, or clubhouses.  What is DOES have is a fantastic view of the river and its traffic.  Location, location, location.  The best sites are the ones in the row closest to the river.

I have been here before, but still enjoy coming again because the river always changes, as does the traffic.  Last time I was here, there was more water in the river and I saw a paddlewheel cruise boat.  This time, there is a huge sandbar across the river, so all of the boats are coming very close to this side of the river. 

I was here two days--the first was cloudy and drizzly, but the second more than made up for it!  Here are a few photos I took.  Note that my motorhome looks small next to all the big Class As.

I was watching for the usual stream of barges going by, and then this very strange ship appeared, headed downstream on the Mississippi right in front of my campsite.  I jumped up and ran out to take a couple of photos. I looked it up online and discovered it was hauling rockets to Cape Canaveral! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Delta_Mariner

Other interesting thing about this ship was that a few years ago, it took a wrong turn in a channel on the Tennessee River and tried to under a bridge that was too short!  Check out the photo on this site:  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-01-27/kentucky-bridge-collapse/52813592/1  Even I could tell that bridge was too short! 

  

 

This is one of the larger "tow" boats.  They push instead of towing, but that's what they are called.  

Only two barges, so this is a small tow boat.