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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