Thursday, October 31, 2013
Soil and Soul Part II
As we walk the streets downtown you can feel the history of Helena, with Arkansas's richest soil, some of it's oldest settlements and much of it's "soul stirring and influential music". It has had mighty plantations and deplorable slave quarters. It has seen extraordinary wealth and extreme poverty. These contrasts are still obvious today as witnessed by the sad and haunting streets of the downtown area. There are some attempts at restoration happening. But with an area that can't maintain its own school system you know that funds for these type of projects will be limited.
One of the old homes is called the Pillow-Thompson House and it is open for touring a few days a week at no charge. It was built in 1896 and home to 5 generations of Pillow descendants. As is so often the case we are the only people here and we have our guide Raymond Willie all to ourselves.
When he got out of the navy he took training in housekeeping management, was hired by the Phillips Community College Foundation, which was the beneficiary of the home from the last remaining family members. While working at the Pillow house he was often asked questions about its history. He realized how little he knew about both his home city and the historic house. He began to study the history of the Delta region and is now a walking encyclopedia about Helena, the Pillow family, the Civil War and the Mississippi River.
He and Bob shared some stories of their Navy experiences. He served in the Mediterranean on the USS Eisenhower. Two things Raymond would like to see are the Northern lights and the headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca Lake in Minnesota.
We spent almost two hours with Raymond touring the beautiful old home which has been restored to its original grandeur by local artisans over a period of four years.
We have had another very special day spending most of it with two southern gentlemen.
Again we want to see and learn more about where we are but as we have discovered there is so much
more to be seen and so we move on tomorrow out of Arkansas and into Mississippi and more Delta blues history.
New Lesson Learned....save my drafts:(
Today's post is only half finished because I lost the second half. Important lesson learned, save everything!! It will not happen again. May do a rewrite tonight but right now I can't face it. A glass of wine is in order.
The Arkansas Delta - Its Soil and It's Soul
We head into the old historic part of Helena pulling the RV, as we have been told we will have no problem parking. Our first destination is to The Delta Cultural Center where from delta cotton fields to Civil War Battlefields, early settlements, births of communities and the origins of the Delta Blues are all represented in 2 small, but beautiful museums.
The Arkansas Delta helped launch musicians such as Johnny Cash, Levon Helm, Charlie Rich and Conway Twitty. One man, who has lived and been a part of this area and this music for over 70 years is "Sunshine" Sonny Payne. He is the long time host of "King biscuit Time", the nations oldest continuing blues radio program. And as the brochure says, "spins the best of the blues and welcomes guests from across the nation to the radio show that first took to the airways on Helena's KFFA AM in 1941 and continues today".
We hoped we would be able to watch the taping today. We not only were able to watch, he invited us to come and sit in his broadcast area and be his guests for today. Put in front of microphones we were interviewed by him about where we were from and welcomed to Helena, Arkansas. We also interviewed him about his life.... he left his radio program during WWII and then after the war went on the road touring with big bands. After a few years of this he tired of the road and came back to Helena and continues today with his 1/2 hour live broadcast 5 days a week. He still does his own marketing and selling of advertising. He says this is where he makes his money:) not on the radio show. At 88 years of age he walks with a cane and has trouble hearing but he thinks he might retire someday and do what we are doing.
We could have stayed and talked to him all afternoon but he had things to do and people to see. A special man who made for a very special experience for us. He sent us on our way with 10 CDs of old and new delta blues music, saying he gets them all the time and can't keep or play everything.
It's time for lunch and we are sent down Cherry Street to Granny Dees for some home cooking for
lunch. The sandwich board outside says "the best burgers", so we ordered one to share. Y'all want
everything? Yup we say. And we got it with everything including sauce made with Jack Daniels. My Dad, Ollie, the best burger man I've known would have approved:)
We are now driving around looking at historic sites, some beautiful and others decaying. In this part
of Helena at least 1 in 5 buildings is abandoned, to the point of falling down in some cases.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Hills to prairie and back to the Great River.
We have officially left the Ozarks of north western Arkansas to head through a prairie like area reminiscent of Iowa and our own prairies. Our weather app says we were in Skunk Hollow overnight. We thought we were in a Walmart in Conway. Road signs for places like Pickle Gap, Skunk Hollow and Toad Suck make you question just where you are.
We were having a lazy morning not planning on making a lot of miles. Bob was checking the oil, I was closing slides and bringing out the iPads and cords....normal leaving routine when I asked Bob if the oil was OK as Bertha was doing a bit of sputtering when first started. He said she was good but we have a different problem...what? Somehow the doors locked and our other set was already in the truck, oops:(....into Walmart to use their phone as everything was already in the truck ready to leave. It took about 1/2 hour for the locksmith to get here.....a young fellow who had also attended the Camden Arkansas fire academy. He was wearing an academy baseball cap. He attended 5 years ago and also said there were Canadians in his class. The way we are going we will meet someone soon who was in the same class as Josh:)
$45 later we are on the road. Flat straight roads! So strange after our 2 1/2 weeks in the hills. Even saw logging trucks but with skinny logs, nothing like the west coast. I don't know what kind trees they log but they sure don't cut down the huge majestic maples and oaks.
There are so many churches with so many different faiths. Some are small little buildings but others are huge church buildings with several other buildings attached...schools, gathering places? I wonder how they are supported, government subsidies? or all from their congregations.
Same with banks, so many stand alone names. Like I said previously, banks, churches, flea markets and Dollaramas.
Noticing the difference in temperature, it's getting warmer and also more humid as we get closer to the "Great River" again. They call it the delta area even though we are still a long way from the gulf. Both sides of the River claim to be the home of the Delta Blues.....Helena-West
Helena, Arkansas and Clarksdale, Mississippi, also known as the Crossroads of the blues.
We are staying in Helena tonight and hope to explore this area on the River with a history of slave traffic, the underground railway, civil war battles and River traffic.
What we do over the next couple of days is weather dependent as Thursday is predicted to have rain and thunderstorms. We have to be aware and have a place to wait out the weather if it is severe.
We have now traveled over 6000 miles since leaving home in mid August. A lot of travel and so
many new and different places that we have seen. But everywhere it's really just people living their lives, some better off than others, some more beautiful than others but around every corner something different appears.
I am excited every morning to be on the road, ready for what is ahead of us.
We were having a lazy morning not planning on making a lot of miles. Bob was checking the oil, I was closing slides and bringing out the iPads and cords....normal leaving routine when I asked Bob if the oil was OK as Bertha was doing a bit of sputtering when first started. He said she was good but we have a different problem...what? Somehow the doors locked and our other set was already in the truck, oops:(....into Walmart to use their phone as everything was already in the truck ready to leave. It took about 1/2 hour for the locksmith to get here.....a young fellow who had also attended the Camden Arkansas fire academy. He was wearing an academy baseball cap. He attended 5 years ago and also said there were Canadians in his class. The way we are going we will meet someone soon who was in the same class as Josh:)
$45 later we are on the road. Flat straight roads! So strange after our 2 1/2 weeks in the hills. Even saw logging trucks but with skinny logs, nothing like the west coast. I don't know what kind trees they log but they sure don't cut down the huge majestic maples and oaks.
There are so many churches with so many different faiths. Some are small little buildings but others are huge church buildings with several other buildings attached...schools, gathering places? I wonder how they are supported, government subsidies? or all from their congregations.
Same with banks, so many stand alone names. Like I said previously, banks, churches, flea markets and Dollaramas.
Noticing the difference in temperature, it's getting warmer and also more humid as we get closer to the "Great River" again. They call it the delta area even though we are still a long way from the gulf. Both sides of the River claim to be the home of the Delta Blues.....Helena-West
Helena, Arkansas and Clarksdale, Mississippi, also known as the Crossroads of the blues.
We are staying in Helena tonight and hope to explore this area on the River with a history of slave traffic, the underground railway, civil war battles and River traffic.
What we do over the next couple of days is weather dependent as Thursday is predicted to have rain and thunderstorms. We have to be aware and have a place to wait out the weather if it is severe.
We have now traveled over 6000 miles since leaving home in mid August. A lot of travel and so
many new and different places that we have seen. But everywhere it's really just people living their lives, some better off than others, some more beautiful than others but around every corner something different appears.
I am excited every morning to be on the road, ready for what is ahead of us.
New blog address
I now have 2 blog sites. If you can still access..... klgytraveljournal.blogspot.ca ...and see the latest post from Oct 21 then, at the top go to 'dashboard' and you should see another 5 posts.
If this works please leave me a post to let me know you are able to follow again.
If this works please leave me a post to let me know you are able to follow again.
Monday, October 28, 2013
To central Arkansas
Monday 10/28
Observations:
More brilliant colours, more ups and downs.
As I'm having trouble writing in a coherent fashion due to lack of time I will continue with short comments as we travel.
So many Flea markets, dollar stores, auction barns everywhere.
Lots of streets named Mockingbird, Nightingale.
Fog burned off, lovely day as we drive away from the Ozarks, towards the delta area.
St Joe, Center of the Ozarks
Camden AR, Fire training Center where Josh came for his training. Fellow in Courseys meats had a t shirt on from the training Center. He did his training in 2002 and said there were a lot of Canadians in the course. Then a fellow walks in to purchase some things and he's wearing a tshirt with, " Bryan Adams, local crew". He has worked in the entertainment business for many years and has worked with Bryan many times. Go figure when you are in a holler called Pickle Creek that you find such connections. I traumatized them both by asking them to have their pictures taken, lol.
Lots of road kill every morning and today I'm sure they were Armadillos, feet up on the side of the highway. They look prehistoric and scaley rather than furry like skunks or raccoons.
1st greyhound bus seen with its destination sign on....Kansas City:) ....another queue for a song.....:)
Walmart camp, near Conway
Haircut in Walmart, $15.50 for shampoo and cut. So nice to have someone shampoo your hair. Another fun experience asking questions about the lives of the young girls working there.
Game 5 World Series.
I wonder sometimes if people question our choice to stay in Walmart parking lots. When we find a place we want to stay for some time we don't hesitate to pay for a state park or preferably a Corp of Engineers park. But when we are traveling we dont know when or where we might stop. It all depends on our energy for the day, a destination, or how many miles we feel like traveling. We don't need any services and a Walmart offers us a normally quiet night and also the opportunity to pick up the supplies we need.
Feet up and watching game 5 of the World Series ...go St Louis!!!
Observations:
More brilliant colours, more ups and downs.
As I'm having trouble writing in a coherent fashion due to lack of time I will continue with short comments as we travel.
So many Flea markets, dollar stores, auction barns everywhere.
Lots of streets named Mockingbird, Nightingale.
Fog burned off, lovely day as we drive away from the Ozarks, towards the delta area.
St Joe, Center of the Ozarks
Camden AR, Fire training Center where Josh came for his training. Fellow in Courseys meats had a t shirt on from the training Center. He did his training in 2002 and said there were a lot of Canadians in the course. Then a fellow walks in to purchase some things and he's wearing a tshirt with, " Bryan Adams, local crew". He has worked in the entertainment business for many years and has worked with Bryan many times. Go figure when you are in a holler called Pickle Creek that you find such connections. I traumatized them both by asking them to have their pictures taken, lol.
Lots of road kill every morning and today I'm sure they were Armadillos, feet up on the side of the highway. They look prehistoric and scaley rather than furry like skunks or raccoons.
1st greyhound bus seen with its destination sign on....Kansas City:) ....another queue for a song.....:)
Walmart camp, near Conway
Haircut in Walmart, $15.50 for shampoo and cut. So nice to have someone shampoo your hair. Another fun experience asking questions about the lives of the young girls working there.
Game 5 World Series.
I wonder sometimes if people question our choice to stay in Walmart parking lots. When we find a place we want to stay for some time we don't hesitate to pay for a state park or preferably a Corp of Engineers park. But when we are traveling we dont know when or where we might stop. It all depends on our energy for the day, a destination, or how many miles we feel like traveling. We don't need any services and a Walmart offers us a normally quiet night and also the opportunity to pick up the supplies we need.
Feet up and watching game 5 of the World Series ...go St Louis!!!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Observations from Eureka Springs and North west Arkansas
Today we drove 200 miles of Arkansas' finest hills and hollers. It is quite a treat to not be pulling the trailer so we headed out early to explore this part of Arkansas looking for the fall colours.
I had a small parcel for Quesnel and whether I'm sending parcels or postcards to Canada I always look for a small town post office. It's usually a friendly exchange with a local postmaster or mistress but today it backfired. Two towns and neither had ever sent a parcel to Canada and were not sure about the customs labels. I say thank you very much and it wasn't important that it was sent today. It doesn't matter what the outcome is I just enjoy talking to the people...they are so warm and friendly and I want to keep listening to their southern way of speaking, y'all know what I'm sayin?
We roll up and down and along razorback ridges, some as high as 2300 feet. There are "poultry farms"? all over these rolling hills that have these long low buildings that are chicken and turkey buildings. Each farm either supplies to Butterball or Tyson Foods.
We travel through towns with names like Blue Eye, population 36, Nail, Enon, Limestone and Deer.
We stop in the town of Green Forest cos we saw a library on the Main Street. I'm trying to connect my iPad to my PC to see if I can restore it to factory settings and save some of my data that has been backed up before we left in August. Doesn't work:(...we are referred down the road a mile or so to Jim's drive in for a "really good burger". Turns out to be a good choice. $8.00 for 2 deluxe cheeseburgers and a large sack of fries. More homemade than McDonald type food.
Really sweet librarian that tries to help us but hasn't been very far from this part of Arkansas.
As we sat in the library a sheriffs vehicle goes racing out of town with lights flashing and siren blaring. As we head out of town after our lunch we come to stop. Another accident....this time a dually truck pulling a 5th wheel is sideswiped or sideswipes a motorcycle trike. It doesn't appear to have injuries, just a lot of fender type damage. These roads are so narrow and have no shoulders which make all the corners and twists and turns pretty scary.
We follow the hills and valleys along the Buffalo River which is a National Heritage waterway and through the town of Ponca. An Elk herd was introduced to this area and we see a small group laying in the fields along the way. The colours are the most brilliant along this valley. Maples, Oak, dogwood, red bud, cypress to name a few. Oranges and reds the most predominant.
Our next town of Jasper is where we have been sent to mail my parcel. The post office smoke signal has worked and they are expecting the "Canadians". Parcel sent successfully, third time lucky:)
Restaurants like the "Hillbilly Highway Ozark Cafe". The high point along the way known as the Grand Canyon of the Ozarks and Mockingbird Hill.
It's been a beautiful day filled with beautiful colours and breathtaking vistas. The air is pure and clear at these heights . Even though we are not pulling the trailer it is another long day of driving but very worth it.
Friday 10/25/13
Short-mile touring into town
So busy with the extra tourists for folk festival.
It is a tourist destination just for the funkyness and quaintness, Victorian homes, hotels, spas...and it's all built on the side of steep hollers(canyons)
Dairy Hollow
Almost impossible to find a place to park but they do have a good trolley system for $6 a day or $10 for 2 days and you can jump on and off all along the various routes.
Lunch at the Anglers, well known for its Catfish....had catfish with fries and hush puppies, aka "shut em up dawgs". Very good but still just a white fish, don't compare to Halibut, lol
Back to sit in the sun at camp. It is such a beautiful camp spot to sit and look out onto this huge lake surrounded by the fall colours
I had a small parcel for Quesnel and whether I'm sending parcels or postcards to Canada I always look for a small town post office. It's usually a friendly exchange with a local postmaster or mistress but today it backfired. Two towns and neither had ever sent a parcel to Canada and were not sure about the customs labels. I say thank you very much and it wasn't important that it was sent today. It doesn't matter what the outcome is I just enjoy talking to the people...they are so warm and friendly and I want to keep listening to their southern way of speaking, y'all know what I'm sayin?
We roll up and down and along razorback ridges, some as high as 2300 feet. There are "poultry farms"? all over these rolling hills that have these long low buildings that are chicken and turkey buildings. Each farm either supplies to Butterball or Tyson Foods.
We travel through towns with names like Blue Eye, population 36, Nail, Enon, Limestone and Deer.
We stop in the town of Green Forest cos we saw a library on the Main Street. I'm trying to connect my iPad to my PC to see if I can restore it to factory settings and save some of my data that has been backed up before we left in August. Doesn't work:(...we are referred down the road a mile or so to Jim's drive in for a "really good burger". Turns out to be a good choice. $8.00 for 2 deluxe cheeseburgers and a large sack of fries. More homemade than McDonald type food.
Really sweet librarian that tries to help us but hasn't been very far from this part of Arkansas.
As we sat in the library a sheriffs vehicle goes racing out of town with lights flashing and siren blaring. As we head out of town after our lunch we come to stop. Another accident....this time a dually truck pulling a 5th wheel is sideswiped or sideswipes a motorcycle trike. It doesn't appear to have injuries, just a lot of fender type damage. These roads are so narrow and have no shoulders which make all the corners and twists and turns pretty scary.
We follow the hills and valleys along the Buffalo River which is a National Heritage waterway and through the town of Ponca. An Elk herd was introduced to this area and we see a small group laying in the fields along the way. The colours are the most brilliant along this valley. Maples, Oak, dogwood, red bud, cypress to name a few. Oranges and reds the most predominant.
Our next town of Jasper is where we have been sent to mail my parcel. The post office smoke signal has worked and they are expecting the "Canadians". Parcel sent successfully, third time lucky:)
Restaurants like the "Hillbilly Highway Ozark Cafe". The high point along the way known as the Grand Canyon of the Ozarks and Mockingbird Hill.
It's been a beautiful day filled with beautiful colours and breathtaking vistas. The air is pure and clear at these heights . Even though we are not pulling the trailer it is another long day of driving but very worth it.
Friday 10/25/13
Short-mile touring into town
So busy with the extra tourists for folk festival.
It is a tourist destination just for the funkyness and quaintness, Victorian homes, hotels, spas...and it's all built on the side of steep hollers(canyons)
Dairy Hollow
Almost impossible to find a place to park but they do have a good trolley system for $6 a day or $10 for 2 days and you can jump on and off all along the various routes.
Lunch at the Anglers, well known for its Catfish....had catfish with fries and hush puppies, aka "shut em up dawgs". Very good but still just a white fish, don't compare to Halibut, lol
Back to sit in the sun at camp. It is such a beautiful camp spot to sit and look out onto this huge lake surrounded by the fall colours
iPad crash, where is my blog?
Wednesday Oct 23
My iPad has conked our finally after it's "shattering" experience in Inverness. At this point I don't know how to transfer my blog to my mini so I am writing my blog in I notes and hopefully will be able to transfer it later.
A cool night and some overcast this morning but before we head out we have full sunshine. We are headed to Pea Ridge, a National Park Civil War battle sight. It is strange to imagine a civil war battle happening in this area. But as we are finding out a lot of civil war battles were fought in Missouri and Arkansas.
It is a strange reality to see, when, as Canadians it is only something we see in movies like Gone With the Wind.
We have been told that we can buy an annual park pass for Corp of Engineer camp sites only to be told after a 25 mile drive that as Canadians we can't have the pass. This north west part of Arkansas is so hilly and twisty that major roadways don't even have shoulder lanes. Around a bend we are stopped by a semi rolled over, half in the ditch, half on the road. All big rigs, rv buses and 5th wheels are stopped on our side of the road. Luckily we are considered small enough with just the truck to get by so we continue on our way.
By the time we return the traffic has been let through and we head back towards Eureka Springs. We check out Holiday Island where we were going to camp but again we have to make a judgement call on how we can get the RV up and down these roads. We have decided our camp site on Beaver Lake is beautiful, peaceful, accessible and where we will stay until we leave on Sunday after our radio show taping on Saturday night.
We drive the streets of Eureka Springs. Absolutely nothing in this part of the state is straight or flat. We have seen many funky, historic towns in our travels over the years. This town was originally a hippy colony, then a spa retreat that brought the wealthy searching for cures from the springs. Many homes and buildings from the Victorian era have been maintained and restored. Very cool but still lots of tourist
Back to camp to sit in the sun, have a visit with our neighbours and another batch of perogies for dinner.
A first time TV evening watching game one of the World Series, Boston against St Louis.....we have to cheer for St Louis as they are just "up the highway" from us.
My iPad has conked our finally after it's "shattering" experience in Inverness. At this point I don't know how to transfer my blog to my mini so I am writing my blog in I notes and hopefully will be able to transfer it later.
A cool night and some overcast this morning but before we head out we have full sunshine. We are headed to Pea Ridge, a National Park Civil War battle sight. It is strange to imagine a civil war battle happening in this area. But as we are finding out a lot of civil war battles were fought in Missouri and Arkansas.
It is a strange reality to see, when, as Canadians it is only something we see in movies like Gone With the Wind.
We have been told that we can buy an annual park pass for Corp of Engineer camp sites only to be told after a 25 mile drive that as Canadians we can't have the pass. This north west part of Arkansas is so hilly and twisty that major roadways don't even have shoulder lanes. Around a bend we are stopped by a semi rolled over, half in the ditch, half on the road. All big rigs, rv buses and 5th wheels are stopped on our side of the road. Luckily we are considered small enough with just the truck to get by so we continue on our way.
By the time we return the traffic has been let through and we head back towards Eureka Springs. We check out Holiday Island where we were going to camp but again we have to make a judgement call on how we can get the RV up and down these roads. We have decided our camp site on Beaver Lake is beautiful, peaceful, accessible and where we will stay until we leave on Sunday after our radio show taping on Saturday night.
We drive the streets of Eureka Springs. Absolutely nothing in this part of the state is straight or flat. We have seen many funky, historic towns in our travels over the years. This town was originally a hippy colony, then a spa retreat that brought the wealthy searching for cures from the springs. Many homes and buildings from the Victorian era have been maintained and restored. Very cool but still lots of tourist
Back to camp to sit in the sun, have a visit with our neighbours and another batch of perogies for dinner.
A first time TV evening watching game one of the World Series, Boston against St Louis.....we have to cheer for St Louis as they are just "up the highway" from us.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
The Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas
Tuesday Oct 22/13
A very quiet night. It turns out we are on an island in the middle of Beaver Lake. It is a little overcast but the wind blowing will move the clouds away. When we stop like this it takes a while to unwind even though we didn't drive for 4 days while at the concert.
As it turned out this camp site has only been open again for one day after the Government shut down ended on Sunday. The Corps of Engineers is federally government run which we knew from talking to workers on the Mississippi locks and dams but didn't even think about when we headed over here.
All the national parks were closed and people had 48 hours to leave. Not a lot of happy Americans over this game of " Chicken" the government parties have played. As we are not American politically well informed we just listen to what people have to say and do not offer opinions other than it's not much different in Canada than here, government wise.
Looking for garbage disposal I discovered I would have to walk over the causeway from the island to the park entrance. I met a couple from Oklahoma who were on a year long RV excursion. Erline and Bill...he retired in 2006 and in 2007 he fell on ice and broke his back leaving him in a wheel chair. Their decision to continue with their RV travel meant they sold their truck and trailer and bought a class A so they could have a wheel chair assist built into their rig. It also meant Erline would have to learn to drive the motor home. Their journey continues as they also head towards Texas for the winter.
"Canada" geese are staying or living here on the lake and we watch a small gaggle of 8 fly in and land right in front of our site. I'm never that impressed with them at home seeing hundreds of them sitting in Farquharson Farms fields but to see them here is kind of neat. Are they snowbirds heading south like us or residents in this semi warmer climate.
The wind has died down and the sun is setting at shortly after 6:00pm. Our BBQ steak and veggies are almost cooked.
What a delicious end to a beautiful day.
Wednesday Oct 23
My iPad has conked our finally after it's "shattering" experience in Inverness. At this point I don't know how to transfer my blog to my mini so I am writing my blog in I notes and hopefully will be able to transfer it later.
A cool night and some overcast this morning but before we head out we have full sunshine. We are headed to Pea Ridge, a National Park Civil War battle sight. It is strange to imagine a civil war battle happening in this area. But as we are finding out a lot of civil war battles were fought in Missouri and Arkansas.
It is a strange reality to see, when, as Canadians it is only something we see in movies like Gone With the Wind.
We have been told that we can buy an annual park pass for Corp of Engineer camp sites only to be told after a 25 mile drive that as Canadians we can't have the pass. This north west part of Arkansas is so hilly and twisty that major roadways don't even have shoulder lanes. Around a bend we are stopped by a semi rolled over, half in the ditch, half on the road. All big rigs, rv buses and 5th wheels are stopped on our side of the road. Luckily we are considered small enough with just the truck to get by so we continue on our way.
By the time we return the traffic has been let through and we head back towards Eureka Springs. We check out Holiday Island where we were going to camp but again we have to make a judgement call on how we can get the RV up and down these roads. We have decided our camp site on Beaver Lake is beautiful, peaceful, accessible and where we will stay until we leave on Sunday after our radio show taping on Saturday night.
We drive the streets of Eureka Springs. Absolutely nothing in this part of the state is straight or flat. We have seen many funky, historic towns in our travels over the years. This town was originally a hippy colony, then a spa retreat that brought the wealthy searching for cures from the springs. Many homes and buildings from the Victorian era have been maintained and restored. Very cool but still lots of tourist
Back to camp to sit in the sun, have a visit with our neighbours and another batch of perogies for dinner.
A first time TV evening watching game one of the World Series, Boston against St Louis.....we have to cheer for St Louis as they are just "up the highway" from us.
A very quiet night. It turns out we are on an island in the middle of Beaver Lake. It is a little overcast but the wind blowing will move the clouds away. When we stop like this it takes a while to unwind even though we didn't drive for 4 days while at the concert.
As it turned out this camp site has only been open again for one day after the Government shut down ended on Sunday. The Corps of Engineers is federally government run which we knew from talking to workers on the Mississippi locks and dams but didn't even think about when we headed over here.
All the national parks were closed and people had 48 hours to leave. Not a lot of happy Americans over this game of " Chicken" the government parties have played. As we are not American politically well informed we just listen to what people have to say and do not offer opinions other than it's not much different in Canada than here, government wise.
Looking for garbage disposal I discovered I would have to walk over the causeway from the island to the park entrance. I met a couple from Oklahoma who were on a year long RV excursion. Erline and Bill...he retired in 2006 and in 2007 he fell on ice and broke his back leaving him in a wheel chair. Their decision to continue with their RV travel meant they sold their truck and trailer and bought a class A so they could have a wheel chair assist built into their rig. It also meant Erline would have to learn to drive the motor home. Their journey continues as they also head towards Texas for the winter.
"Canada" geese are staying or living here on the lake and we watch a small gaggle of 8 fly in and land right in front of our site. I'm never that impressed with them at home seeing hundreds of them sitting in Farquharson Farms fields but to see them here is kind of neat. Are they snowbirds heading south like us or residents in this semi warmer climate.
The wind has died down and the sun is setting at shortly after 6:00pm. Our BBQ steak and veggies are almost cooked.
What a delicious end to a beautiful day.
Wednesday Oct 23
My iPad has conked our finally after it's "shattering" experience in Inverness. At this point I don't know how to transfer my blog to my mini so I am writing my blog in I notes and hopefully will be able to transfer it later.
A cool night and some overcast this morning but before we head out we have full sunshine. We are headed to Pea Ridge, a National Park Civil War battle sight. It is strange to imagine a civil war battle happening in this area. But as we are finding out a lot of civil war battles were fought in Missouri and Arkansas.
It is a strange reality to see, when, as Canadians it is only something we see in movies like Gone With the Wind.
We have been told that we can buy an annual park pass for Corp of Engineer camp sites only to be told after a 25 mile drive that as Canadians we can't have the pass. This north west part of Arkansas is so hilly and twisty that major roadways don't even have shoulder lanes. Around a bend we are stopped by a semi rolled over, half in the ditch, half on the road. All big rigs, rv buses and 5th wheels are stopped on our side of the road. Luckily we are considered small enough with just the truck to get by so we continue on our way.
By the time we return the traffic has been let through and we head back towards Eureka Springs. We check out Holiday Island where we were going to camp but again we have to make a judgement call on how we can get the RV up and down these roads. We have decided our camp site on Beaver Lake is beautiful, peaceful, accessible and where we will stay until we leave on Sunday after our radio show taping on Saturday night.
We drive the streets of Eureka Springs. Absolutely nothing in this part of the state is straight or flat. We have seen many funky, historic towns in our travels over the years. This town was originally a hippy colony, then a spa retreat that brought the wealthy searching for cures from the springs. Many homes and buildings from the Victorian era have been maintained and restored. Very cool but still lots of tourist
Back to camp to sit in the sun, have a visit with our neighbours and another batch of perogies for dinner.
A first time TV evening watching game one of the World Series, Boston against St Louis.....we have to cheer for St Louis as they are just "up the highway" from us.
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