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MOTORCADE CLUB BRINGS VISITORS THROUGH CITY SITES

By Judy Normand/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Sunday, October 25, 2009 12:03 AM CDT

Ed and Lois Goering of Corvallis, Ore., were disappointed they wouldn’t be able to visit the International Paper Co., but soon found reasons to be pleasantly surprised at other tourist spots in Pine Bluff, as well as in other areas of the state.

“We knew about Pine Bluff because our daughter, at one time, was an intern at International Paper and told us we should tour the plant, but ... Evergreen does not give tours,” Lois Goering said, referring to International Paper, now doing business as Evergreen Packaging Inc.

The couple attended an RV jamboree in North Little Rock last year and began making plans for a trip “Around Arkansas” for 2009. Their group travel manager for the Arkansas excursion was Renee Robison from the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism in Little Rock.

Lois Goering spoke on the phone from their motorhome (pausing now and then in the conversation to act as navigator for her husband) as they were traveling to Daisy State Park in the foothills of the Ouachita mountains. Their trek had already taken them to Petit Jean State Park, Clarksville, Eureka Springs and Mountain View before traveling to Stuttgart and then on to Pine Bluff.

After “digging around in the mud” for diamonds at Murfreesboro’s Crater of Diamonds State Park, they’ll be returning to Oregon.

The retired couple are members of the Foretravel Motorcade Club out of Nacogdoches, Texas, and have spent the last three years roaming around the country with future plans for tours to South Texas, the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Coast region in California, Oregon and Washington, and Alaska.

The Goerings’ first stop in Pine Bluff was a tour of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s fish farm — “very interesting” — guided by Dr. Andrew Goodwin, who suggested they also check out the university’s farm at Keo, which they did.

The next morning, she said, a trip to Delta Rivers Nature Center was on the agenda, where they participated in a walking tour and learned about the center’s water quality research.

“The Entertainers Hall of Fame at the convention center was an interesting little gem on our tour,” Lois Goering said. “Everyone was surprised at the entertainers with Arkansas connections.”

The group also visited the Arkansas Railroad Museum and Sissy’s Log Cabin.

“My husband said no women went to the Railroad Museum — just Sissy’s,” she said, laughing, “but everyone was really pleased with the Railroad Museum. And we had a delicious catfish dinner at the Pine Bluff Country Club. We understand that’s an Arkansas specialty.”

In all, she said, 19 motorhomes were in Pine Bluff — the limit for the club, she said, is 27 motorhomes for one tour.

“And we ask that everyone travel in groups of two or three motorhomes, so as not to tie up traffic, and we give everybody two hours to get to the next place,” she said.

She revealed that the tours were a lot of work, but that they had committees for everything from food to parking and that things usually went well. The 1,200 members average about eight tours per year and include travelers from all across the United States. The only requirement, she said, is that everyone must have their own motorhomes.

“There’s always a specific route and everything is written out, but, depending on the weather or other things, the plans can be changed,” she said, adding that she and her husband had enjoyed “very much” their time in Pine Bluff.

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