Wow!  I can't believe so much time has gone by! I guess I owe it to you to pass on some important information.  We are aproaching the date of the start of the Lake Hamilton drawdown.
Entergy will be drawing the lake down by 5 feet, allowing nature to clean up some of the vegetation that is growing in the shallow water.
This year they published on their site their annual drawdown and refill dates. These dates may be useful for planing summer and winter fishing trips.  Hope this is information you can use!
Summer Lake Levels

• Lake Hamilton 398.9’ – 399.9’ – target of 399.7’
• Lake Catherine 303’ – 305’ – target of 304.25’

'22 – ’23  Winter Lake Levels – Five Foot Drawdown

• Lake Hamilton 394.2’ – 395.2’ – target of 394.7’
• Lake Catherine 298’ – 300’ – target of 299’ 

The annual drawdown begins on November 1 of each year and the refill of both lakes will begin between March 1 and March 8 of the following year. The refill is scheduled to be completed each year by March 15.

This morning I had to leave Hot Springs on business so I took the "scenic route" out of town.  Wow!  It was such a gorgeous morning!  There was a light fog that didn't really affect visibility, other than the softening effect on the lighting.  There were no clouds in the sky so the sunlight was streaming through the trees, beams and shadows being accented by the fog.

The redbud trees are in full bloom while the wild crabapple, cherry and pear trees blooms are beginning to fade.  In competition with the redbuds, the maples and oaks have their flowers on full display.

This weekend, my wife Brenda and I are headed to Garvan Woodland Gardens to enjoy the tulips and daffodils.

I tell you, you just can't beat spring in Hot Springs!

​Rick 

Cool weather has finally arrived!  As I look out the office window I see leaves in all colors, from golds and oranges to reds and finally brown.  A nice breeze is shuffling the leaves across the ground on this sunny 66 degree day.

Cool weather brings with it a hint of cold weather to come and this means it is time to prepare your rig so that you can truly enjoy this marvelous season.

You will want to prepare your water lines to avoid freezing.  We are far enough south that preparation is simple and inexpensive.  RV supply stores have water lines with built in heat tape that can be easily connected and plugged into your electrical pedestal right at your rig.  This will prevent your water from freezing up at night.  But then, you still have your water source to take care of.  We recommend that you simply invert a 5 gallon bucket over the spigot and handle to trap some of the heat coming off of the heat tape.  This has worked quite well for our guests over the past several years. ( Further north, taking a step like that would be laughable.  That is just how mild our winters are in the south.)  We do have one guest that has set up residence for Oaklawn Park's upcoming thoroughbred racing season.  He built a box of foam panels and duct tape and set it over his water source, and connected his heated water line to the source and rig.  Nice and neat!

An alternative would be to simply fill your reservoir and disconnect the water line until you need to refill.  Oddly enough, no one here ever does that.

You will also need to make sure your grey and black tanks are shut off to prevent your effluent from freezing up your sewer line.  This will also prevent sludge from building up in your tank causing expensive and troublesome tank cleaning.  This is because the solids will be flushed out when you drain the tank rather than sitting on the bottom becoming a hardened mass.  Draining the grey water will then flush the solids out of the hose.

The tanks need to be protected from the weather by either warming pads (available at the rv supply store) or, if they are in the insulated basement, by placing a couple of 100 watt lamps in the basement to keep things warm.

Now that the water coming in and going out is taken care of make sure you check the seals around your slide-outs to insure that they are properly seated against the rig and not gaping anywhere.  No need to suffer drafts!

All in all, prepping for cold weather is not that big a deal here in central Arkansas.  A little forethought goes a long way.

Rick

Photographer George (Geo) Bogue and wife Marty have taken up residence and guest Hosting duties at LLRVP giving old Rick and Brenda a welcome break.  With him he brings his skills as a photographer and is photographing clubs and reunions during their stay.

Recently he photographed the Clardy Family Reunion, hosted by Leisure Landing, and made CD's of the photographs and a "sight and sound" DVD available at a very reasonable price.  You can see an intro of the DVD on this site at the home page.

Welcome Geo and Marty!

Eighteen  members of the Lufkin Sam's Club of Lufkin, Texas descended on Hot Springs and Leisure Landing RV Park.  Scheduled by then Wagon Master, John Rhodes, the group under current Wagon Master Tommy Hurst rolled into Leisure Landing for the March 14th through 18th "Long Trip." While a few of the members arrived a day or two early, most arrived on the 14th and quickly set about club business.  You know... The business of having fun!

Having scouted Leisure Landing RV Park after receiving a "Free Night Preview" invitation, John Rhodes scheduled the trip in July of 2013.  Current Wagon Master Tommy Hurst was the beneficiary of this long range planning and led the group in exploration of Hot Springs and all it has to offer.

After the hot dog cook-out provided by Leisure Landing, the group decided that Hot Springs was a great destination and Leisure Landing RV Park was perfectly situated to take advantage of the sights, restaurants and excitement of the resort city so wisely made reservations for 2015!

2014 has arrived with great promise.  We had a great year last year and made a lot of new friends from the US, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Germany and Japan!  (As we say here in the South, It's a "hoot" hearing the wonderful accents from around the globe.)  We've already been making reservations for Spring, Summer and Fall of this year so the word is finally getting out about our little "hidden jewel."

We have been unseasonably cool this winter but have been rather dry, but the weatherman says that we will see a bit of a warm up to more seasonable temps of the mid 50's by the end of the week, just in time for the start of our "5th Season," live horse racing at Oaklawn Park. 

The crystal clear skies and brilliant sunshine sure have me chomping at the bits for springtime!  I realize that spring does not officially begin until April, but here in Arkansas we feel that spring has begun by late February and I start to get anxious in January.  Things begin to bud and grow as early as February and, if you are into gardening and have not started, you are way behind by that time.

We've started planning this year's Super Bowl party and will have some great door prizes for our guests!  Last years' party was a blast with a lot of hollering at the teams and coaches on TV (in between bites of the great pot-luck dinner everyone provided)!

We are also looking forward to the RV clubs visiting our park.  Among the clubs that visited last year were the Melon City Sams' from Hope, Arkansas (birthplace of President Bill Clinton) and Rock City Sams' from Little Rock and surrounding areas as well as Whispering Pines of North Little Rock and surrounding areas.

Well, I had better get back to work before Brenda finds me pecking away at this keyboard.  So, Happy New Year, and y'all come see us!

Valentine's Day of 2013 is one that my family will certainly remember.  As a tradition on holidays I try to either buy or prepare special gifts for my family.  (A wife, 3 daughters, 3 granddaughters and 1 great granddaughter.  My only grandson is married into the family, or we would have no boys at all!)

This year I decided to bake and decorate cupcakes for everyone.  Red Velvet heart shaped cupcakes with pink cream cheese icing and a royal icing rose planted into the middle of it.  I had finished the cupcakes for my wife and daughters and was about to start on the grandkids when I developed a severe case of "acid reflux."  3 extra strength Tums later the burning had not relented.

Fast forward to February 16.  I got to experience the joys of a quadruple bypass surgery.  I beat the "Widow Maker!"  I spent 2 weeks in the hospital and since that time I have been recovering from the surgery,trying to get my blood sugar back under control and trying to catch up on all of the things that got "back burnered" during my time in the hospital, and the time spent on "light duty."

I certainly hope that in the future my reports will be about the RV park and it's guests.  TTFN! (Ta Ta For Now)

Rick

It has been quite a while since I have taken time to sit and bring you up to date with my ramblings.

Thanksgiving and Christmas have both come and gone and our first ever Super Bowl party is now history.  A "finger-food potluck" this was quite a party!  Lots of great food, games, door prizes... and even dancing!  We had everything from 2 kinds of cheese dip to "red hot" pickles!  LLRVP provided a meat and cheese tray as well as a fruit tray.  Park guests and their friends provided the rest.

Now you would think that at a football based event that the door prizes would have been won by the guys in attendance.  Uh-uh!  Nope!  Nada!  Both prizes were won by women!  They really pulled one over on the guys!

Everyone had a great time.  Maybe we will see you here next Super Bowl...

Entergy Corporation has just completed their annual drawdown of Lake Hamilton.  Dropping the level of the lake 5 feet to facilitate shoreline maintenance and inspection, the drawdown is part of a plan to help control nuisance aquatic vegitation.  This years drought resulted in warmer than normal water temps and much clearer water enabling the vegetation to grow more abundantly, causing a problem for boaters and swimmers.  The drawdown is a very "green" way of handling the vegetation problem as nature does the work eliminating the grasses through dehydration and freezing during the coldest days of winter.

The water will return to it's normal depth in March, and until that time the smaller lake pool has  concentrated the fish population somewhat, a boon to anglers!

Lee, a young man from Arizona, walked into the office to rent a site and when asked the size of the RV he said that he reallly didn't know.  Well, that in itself isn't too uncommon but what transpired next was.  He said that he hadn't purchased it yet!

Whaaaattt!

Talk about an newbie!  This was going to be his first RV and he was looking for a place to park it.  After having checked out some other parks he settled on ours.

Well, he talked to the folks at Livingston Homes & Camper Sales and purchased a 31 foot Kodiak.  A nice rig and perfect for a single first time RV'er, he has been very pleased with his experience.

Happy Camping, Lee!