Trip 97, Los Angeles 2010 - Part 1 Is in the slow process of being moved here from the old site. Some of it is still there and will be until this transition is complete.
Trip 97 - Part 1
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Getting ready to go gets harder and takes longer with every passing trip. Nan Lou said as we were about to leave that she was getting too old for this stuff. I wonder if doing the air travel thing with getting to and from the aerodrome, all the time wasted because you have to get there so early, packing a minimum amount of clothing and accessories, and the ever popular security screening. Then there’s the plane’s crappers, not the best in the best of times, but now with one airline planning to have only one per plane and a charge of $1.50 to use it, (NL here) I may never fly again. What goes around, comes around and I just read where five carriers were going to quit charging for carry on luggage again
We had to stop by Staples and send Tiny off to whatever hospital services small, cute Netbooks.. By then, I had been shaking from lack of food for about an hour or more. Originally, I thought we would have sort of a bagel breakfast thing. It was too late for that! I issued wifely ultimatum numero uno for this trip by declaring that if we ate at Panera’s, it would have to be a sandwich and one of their horrible soups. Finally, good sense hit both of us at the same time when we looked up and saw O’Charleys and thought that here was a restaurant serving real food. Which it did! Which we ate!
Ham insisted that I find the route when he was busy helping to train the brand new UPS package shipper. I thought going down Rte. 37 to US 50 sounded good. Traffic was heavy as it always is any more, and Ham started Joaning on me for not suggesting we go via Rt. 67. I was snippy right back and kept remarking how pretty the scenery with all the redbud and dogwood was. Rt. 50 was even prettier. nl
I really wasn’t Joaning on Nan Lou, I just mentioned that route 67 was more in the direction we wanted to go. But it was a twisty route over hale and dale and the scenery along US 50 would have been hard to beat.
Before we arrived at any city of significant size we came across a state forest. There was no sign telling us about camping but we turned in and in very short order we saw they had primitive camping. That is what we like and I thought that it couldn’t get any better than this.
It was a very short drive to the sites and we found one where it was easy to park levelly. We took the short walk back to the pay station and left our eight bucks in the pipe.
We played a game of Scrabble while there was still plenty of light and then a small bite for supper since we had eaten not all that long ago. It is now 8:21 and NL in bed reading and I will soon join her there with my Len Deighton spy story from the great year of 1964.
Tomorrow we will try and figure out how to get there from here, after we figure out where there is. We are pretty sure where here is because we be here. hb
Wednesday, April 21, 2010.
It really was a nice, pretty campground. Most of the other campers were using tents and it looked like they were living in them for the duration. Duration of what, I don’t know. Ham heard some cars around 4:00 A.M. so he thought perhaps some of the people were going to work. Whatever, the place was quiet as could be with only a few gunshots disturbing the peace this morning. Logging trucks were going toward the exit on the main road. An interesting place with lots of privacy and quiet.
We ate breakfast in the van and felt nice and healthy because of it. A good thing for what was going to be our other meal of the day later in the afternoon. A little spoiler here as they say in the flics.
We headed Southwest toward New Harmony. The forest was pretty and the area was reminiscent of Kentucky with rolling hills and green crop fields. So many fields were solid yellow with the mysterious yellow flowers that my mother used to call Wild Mustard. We determined they must be planted because entire fields were covered, just as if they were crops. We did see one farmer plowing them under. This made us wonder if they were planted to renew some nutrient to the soil. I’ve looked this up sometime in the past but could find little information.
Petersburg was a likely town that was bigger than most we had gone through. This started a conversation on how the fast food restaurants have driven the Mom and Pop cafes out of business. Just then, Ham looked on the other side of the street and playing I Spy with my Little Eye, found a bakery. Making a left turn uey around the block, we went in a cutesy little place that was more of a small restaurant than bakery. Ham was happy with a canola, and I found the Heath Bar cheesecake to be somewhat lacking in flavor. But, not to matter, it was a fun way to take a wee rest from the LER. We liked the black and white photos of Paris Fr. and live oaks. We asked about them and were told by the very friendly waitress that a friend gave them to her. We looked at them closely and determined they were copies of very old photos. We chuckled and clucked about the women who got all gussied up to go in such a down to earth place. Ham particularly liked the metallic red head’s color and one woman’s strappy sandals with miniscule high heels. I had to point out that her feet might be killing her and he said he didn’t care, they looked good. I liked woman who had about seven big clunky silver bracelets on one arm. I said if I lived in a tiny place like Petersburg, I would never dress up to go to a place like that. Then, I remembered that I don’t dress up to go to Castleton or Ocean World or any place else. Guess I’m just a slob.
The scenery flattened out and it looked more like central Indiana. Several of the towns looked like ghost towns with not a person in sight. We were relieved to finally see three men, all dressed alike, working on a house. Perhaps they were Habitat for Humanity workers.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Getting ready to go gets harder and takes longer with every passing trip. Nan Lou said as we were about to leave that she was getting too old for this stuff. I wonder if doing the air travel thing with getting to and from the aerodrome, all the time wasted because you have to get there so early, packing a minimum amount of clothing and accessories, and the ever popular security screening. Then there’s the plane’s crappers, not the best in the best of times, but now with one airline planning to have only one per plane and a charge of $1.50 to use it, (NL here) I may never fly again. What goes around, comes around and I just read where five carriers were going to quit charging for carry on luggage again
We had to stop by Staples and send Tiny off to whatever hospital services small, cute Netbooks.. By then, I had been shaking from lack of food for about an hour or more. Originally, I thought we would have sort of a bagel breakfast thing. It was too late for that! I issued wifely ultimatum numero uno for this trip by declaring that if we ate at Panera’s, it would have to be a sandwich and one of their horrible soups. Finally, good sense hit both of us at the same time when we looked up and saw O’Charleys and thought that here was a restaurant serving real food. Which it did! Which we ate!
Ham insisted that I find the route when he was busy helping to train the brand new UPS package shipper. I thought going down Rte. 37 to US 50 sounded good. Traffic was heavy as it always is any more, and Ham started Joaning on me for not suggesting we go via Rt. 67. I was snippy right back and kept remarking how pretty the scenery with all the redbud and dogwood was. Rt. 50 was even prettier. nl
I really wasn’t Joaning on Nan Lou, I just mentioned that route 67 was more in the direction we wanted to go. But it was a twisty route over hale and dale and the scenery along US 50 would have been hard to beat.
Before we arrived at any city of significant size we came across a state forest. There was no sign telling us about camping but we turned in and in very short order we saw they had primitive camping. That is what we like and I thought that it couldn’t get any better than this.
It was a very short drive to the sites and we found one where it was easy to park levelly. We took the short walk back to the pay station and left our eight bucks in the pipe.
We played a game of Scrabble while there was still plenty of light and then a small bite for supper since we had eaten not all that long ago. It is now 8:21 and NL in bed reading and I will soon join her there with my Len Deighton spy story from the great year of 1964.
Tomorrow we will try and figure out how to get there from here, after we figure out where there is. We are pretty sure where here is because we be here. hb
Wednesday, April 21, 2010.
It really was a nice, pretty campground. Most of the other campers were using tents and it looked like they were living in them for the duration. Duration of what, I don’t know. Ham heard some cars around 4:00 A.M. so he thought perhaps some of the people were going to work. Whatever, the place was quiet as could be with only a few gunshots disturbing the peace this morning. Logging trucks were going toward the exit on the main road. An interesting place with lots of privacy and quiet.
We ate breakfast in the van and felt nice and healthy because of it. A good thing for what was going to be our other meal of the day later in the afternoon. A little spoiler here as they say in the flics.
We headed Southwest toward New Harmony. The forest was pretty and the area was reminiscent of Kentucky with rolling hills and green crop fields. So many fields were solid yellow with the mysterious yellow flowers that my mother used to call Wild Mustard. We determined they must be planted because entire fields were covered, just as if they were crops. We did see one farmer plowing them under. This made us wonder if they were planted to renew some nutrient to the soil. I’ve looked this up sometime in the past but could find little information.
Petersburg was a likely town that was bigger than most we had gone through. This started a conversation on how the fast food restaurants have driven the Mom and Pop cafes out of business. Just then, Ham looked on the other side of the street and playing I Spy with my Little Eye, found a bakery. Making a left turn uey around the block, we went in a cutesy little place that was more of a small restaurant than bakery. Ham was happy with a canola, and I found the Heath Bar cheesecake to be somewhat lacking in flavor. But, not to matter, it was a fun way to take a wee rest from the LER. We liked the black and white photos of Paris Fr. and live oaks. We asked about them and were told by the very friendly waitress that a friend gave them to her. We looked at them closely and determined they were copies of very old photos. We chuckled and clucked about the women who got all gussied up to go in such a down to earth place. Ham particularly liked the metallic red head’s color and one woman’s strappy sandals with miniscule high heels. I had to point out that her feet might be killing her and he said he didn’t care, they looked good. I liked woman who had about seven big clunky silver bracelets on one arm. I said if I lived in a tiny place like Petersburg, I would never dress up to go to a place like that. Then, I remembered that I don’t dress up to go to Castleton or Ocean World or any place else. Guess I’m just a slob.
The scenery flattened out and it looked more like central Indiana. Several of the towns looked like ghost towns with not a person in sight. We were relieved to finally see three men, all dressed alike, working on a house. Perhaps they were Habitat for Humanity workers.
New Harmony was very quiet too. Not too much going on. Hamilton found the Hoosier Salon gallery and I took a look see. I wasn’t too impressed with the quality of the paintings. The hostess certainly didn’t impress me. I think she was appalled at my dress being something of a snooty sort. Phooey, I thought.
It was again time to search out real food but most everything seemed to be closed on Wednesdays. We settled on going in an antique shop for old time’s sake. Nothing really interests us much any more.
We had a pretty yucky sandwich at a supposed pizza and pasta place. Ham hated his sweet vinegar salad dressing. His ham and cheese sandwich seemed to give him a headache. My BLT had teeny bits of minced bacon and I ended up pulling the filling out of the grease soaked bread. All in all we have had much better in good old Castleton.
We headed out of town to find New Harmony State Park which was about ten miles down the road when we passed Murphy Park right at the edge of town and remembered we had camped there before. Twenty dollars seemed like a lot to me just to park the LER, but Ham talked to some guys and they said that they seldom came around to collect. I didn’t realize Hammie had a headache and was probably exhausted too from all the work of the past few days getting ready to go.
It was again time to search out real food but most everything seemed to be closed on Wednesdays. We settled on going in an antique shop for old time’s sake. Nothing really interests us much any more.
We had a pretty yucky sandwich at a supposed pizza and pasta place. Ham hated his sweet vinegar salad dressing. His ham and cheese sandwich seemed to give him a headache. My BLT had teeny bits of minced bacon and I ended up pulling the filling out of the grease soaked bread. All in all we have had much better in good old Castleton.
We headed out of town to find New Harmony State Park which was about ten miles down the road when we passed Murphy Park right at the edge of town and remembered we had camped there before. Twenty dollars seemed like a lot to me just to park the LER, but Ham talked to some guys and they said that they seldom came around to collect. I didn’t realize Hammie had a headache and was probably exhausted too from all the work of the past few days getting ready to go.
As soon as we parked, he pulled out the bed and in no time he was sound asleep. I only hope he can sleep tonight since he had long periods of wakefulness last night.
I finished my Spenser novel and need to find another that looks interesting. That’s all for now. nl
I hadn’t planned to make this trip avoiding interstates but it seems that’s what we are doing after leaving I-465 on the south side of Indy. Going south west through Indiana to New Harmony was on mostly two lane roads with a few old four lanes thrown in and even a county road or two. I was going to list them all but the map is buried and who can remember 137 different road numbers. We’ve made the westbound trip so often that we are about to run out of new routes. Looking ahead, I see interstates looming and feel that at some time we will just have to bite the bullet and take ‘em. We will miss the pastry shop full of local lovelies and the local small town tourista greasy spoons serving grease on a Panini and the overpriced antique shops selling old beat up smelly library books for $16. But there will be rest stops, truck stops, giant trucks, demented drivers who have to be at the head of the line no matter what, and the sight of Golden Arches every 16 miles. hb
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The free night in the city park/campground was pretty restful except we were very close to a bunch of playground equipment. Early this morning some children moved in for a scream fest. There was one who I had heard last evening when we first parked. It must have been a she type since she had the shrillest, loudest, most demanding voice you could imagine. She will grow up into a full fledged fishwife hollering about her fresh fish on the banks of the Wabash.
We were off to an early start, about 10 A.M., so we could find breakfast before lunch was being served. Well, we soon found that there was one restaurant open and off we went. They were okay except for the coffee which was not okay.
We took in a few antique shops and I wandered off while Nan Lou was busy doing something else and stumbled across a genuine coffee shop, book store combo. As I cased it out a local lady told me it had the best coffee in town. I told her we already had the worst and she seemed to know whereof I spoke and said she always had tea there. I found Nan Lou and we had some good coffee and a roll to top it off.
There was a one man art gallery, an artist named Pace, associated with the coffee shop and it was full of paintings made by Mr. Pace from the forties until 2009. Not being an artist, nor able to talk art-speak I will only say that I would be hard pressed to shell out $8,000 to $37,000 for his work.
From there we headed across the Wabash River on an old multi span two lane bridge and had to pay a whole dollar to enter Illinois. Sometime in the past we crossed the same river a little farther downstream on an even older bridge that seemed to go on and on forever. This one today was like a big interstate bridge compared to that other one.
We saw many acres of some yellow flowered plants which we have seen many times before and I finally stopped and asked a gentleman about them. He said they were called Mustard Seed and grew wild when the farmers didn’t plant any crops. Nan Lou remembered that her mother called the same plants wild mustard many years ago.
We went through a town called Anna, which I remembered as a very small rural town. It wasn’t small or rural and I must admit I must have been thinking of some other Anna. While slowly going through this busy bogged down in traffic town we passed a couple of youngsters on the sidewalk. One was lying on his back on a skate board slowly pushing himself along with his feet and the other was sprawled out on his back, on the sidewalk, looking like he was fast asleep. hb This was one of the funniest sights we’ve seen since these two kids were right next to a four lane street comparable to Keystone Avenue.
We went through pretty rolling hills and farm fields of Southern Illinois. Ham remembered the Hunt Clubs from trips through the area when Evans was in school at Carbondale. Sure enough, they appeared. It seems like they are in business to provide outlets for the goose hunters. What do they do with them when they bag one? I imagine a goose is gamey and strong. Probably, they were a staple for the northern Indian tribes. Those people needed strong and gamey to have strength to live through the long, dark winters. But, nowadays? C’mon! Surely even the dedicated outdoorsman would prefer a good T bone.
Many fields looked soggy, the closer we came to the Mississippi River, so we assumed there had been a lot of rain. The bridge was new looking and was one of these suspension things with big cables stretched from tall concrete pillars. Actually, it was a rather pretty bridge.
I finished my Spenser novel and need to find another that looks interesting. That’s all for now. nl
I hadn’t planned to make this trip avoiding interstates but it seems that’s what we are doing after leaving I-465 on the south side of Indy. Going south west through Indiana to New Harmony was on mostly two lane roads with a few old four lanes thrown in and even a county road or two. I was going to list them all but the map is buried and who can remember 137 different road numbers. We’ve made the westbound trip so often that we are about to run out of new routes. Looking ahead, I see interstates looming and feel that at some time we will just have to bite the bullet and take ‘em. We will miss the pastry shop full of local lovelies and the local small town tourista greasy spoons serving grease on a Panini and the overpriced antique shops selling old beat up smelly library books for $16. But there will be rest stops, truck stops, giant trucks, demented drivers who have to be at the head of the line no matter what, and the sight of Golden Arches every 16 miles. hb
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The free night in the city park/campground was pretty restful except we were very close to a bunch of playground equipment. Early this morning some children moved in for a scream fest. There was one who I had heard last evening when we first parked. It must have been a she type since she had the shrillest, loudest, most demanding voice you could imagine. She will grow up into a full fledged fishwife hollering about her fresh fish on the banks of the Wabash.
We were off to an early start, about 10 A.M., so we could find breakfast before lunch was being served. Well, we soon found that there was one restaurant open and off we went. They were okay except for the coffee which was not okay.
We took in a few antique shops and I wandered off while Nan Lou was busy doing something else and stumbled across a genuine coffee shop, book store combo. As I cased it out a local lady told me it had the best coffee in town. I told her we already had the worst and she seemed to know whereof I spoke and said she always had tea there. I found Nan Lou and we had some good coffee and a roll to top it off.
There was a one man art gallery, an artist named Pace, associated with the coffee shop and it was full of paintings made by Mr. Pace from the forties until 2009. Not being an artist, nor able to talk art-speak I will only say that I would be hard pressed to shell out $8,000 to $37,000 for his work.
From there we headed across the Wabash River on an old multi span two lane bridge and had to pay a whole dollar to enter Illinois. Sometime in the past we crossed the same river a little farther downstream on an even older bridge that seemed to go on and on forever. This one today was like a big interstate bridge compared to that other one.
We saw many acres of some yellow flowered plants which we have seen many times before and I finally stopped and asked a gentleman about them. He said they were called Mustard Seed and grew wild when the farmers didn’t plant any crops. Nan Lou remembered that her mother called the same plants wild mustard many years ago.
We went through a town called Anna, which I remembered as a very small rural town. It wasn’t small or rural and I must admit I must have been thinking of some other Anna. While slowly going through this busy bogged down in traffic town we passed a couple of youngsters on the sidewalk. One was lying on his back on a skate board slowly pushing himself along with his feet and the other was sprawled out on his back, on the sidewalk, looking like he was fast asleep. hb This was one of the funniest sights we’ve seen since these two kids were right next to a four lane street comparable to Keystone Avenue.
We went through pretty rolling hills and farm fields of Southern Illinois. Ham remembered the Hunt Clubs from trips through the area when Evans was in school at Carbondale. Sure enough, they appeared. It seems like they are in business to provide outlets for the goose hunters. What do they do with them when they bag one? I imagine a goose is gamey and strong. Probably, they were a staple for the northern Indian tribes. Those people needed strong and gamey to have strength to live through the long, dark winters. But, nowadays? C’mon! Surely even the dedicated outdoorsman would prefer a good T bone.
Many fields looked soggy, the closer we came to the Mississippi River, so we assumed there had been a lot of rain. The bridge was new looking and was one of these suspension things with big cables stretched from tall concrete pillars. Actually, it was a rather pretty bridge.
The whole water front area had changed. The wall that holds back the flood waters, had several blocks of excellent murals. I don’t know what that is called other than a wall.
The store fronts had been yuppified. There were many antique shops and many, many bars. That was about it. But, I must say, the whole area looked different.
Looking different didn’t begin to describe the change to the town. It, too, used to be small and quaint. Now it is filled with huge areas like Castleton or Greenwood. If someone had told us things could change this much, we probably wouldn’t have believed him.
Ham spotted a street than Wal-Mart was supposed to be on and, for once, asked a lady in the Hobby Lobby parking lot where to find same. She gave excellent directions and he then got permission to park for the night. We went back out on the busy streets to the Cracker Barrel for their usual fare for dinner. Always one to think ahead, Ham asked if we could park here for the night. So, here we are. It seems like kind of a long day although it has been very pleasant and very pretty. All for now. nl.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Hamilton said we must be getting used to the LER because we both slept better last night.
Of course, he didn’t take an afternoon nap so, personally, I think that had something to do with it. We breakfasted healthily at our host’s place, The Cracker Barrel. Then we found our way out of town and started across Missouri one more time. And, I hope it is the last time, because the state hasn’t improved its road markings since the last time.
I had the great idea of finding the Nationally honored wild River. Hah! You go from a numbered road to a lettered road; and, then on to a double lettered road. None of which are marked on the map, nor are they marked with road signs. You kind of feel like you are oozing through the state like slime on slate with a sort of general idea about where you are because, luckily, there is a trusty compass on the dashboard.
Getting to and past the river was uneventful because it seemed the size of Fall Creek and not nearly as wild as the Fall Creek dam at Keystone. Ooops, that was IT? Wow!
An iffy campground was nine miles (supposedly) north of the highway. I say iffy because it had mighty few sites and who knew if was even there. If it wasn’t there, the nine miles back didn’t seem like a lot of fun. So, we headed south to Thayer that had a Wal-Mart. My poor eyesight determined there was a super center and a Sams. They were in another town. Actually because of the macular degeneration, I have trouble following straight lines. They are all wavy. Enough of that! Ham said this was the smallest Wal-Mart he had ever been in.
It was raining when we arrived and by the time Ham came out it was pouring. We lay down in back for a rest. It was a hard day’s drive for Ham. Then Evans called saying he ddn’t get the job. I feel sooo sorry for him. But, I guess Hamilton will be happier since he will have a reason to continue westward. nl
Saturday, April 24, 2010
It rained all night. Sometimes very hard and the parking lot looked like we pictured the Wild River. So, I guess we can say we camped on the banks of Wally’s Wild River, or in the Wally’s Wild River.
It finally stopped raining about breakfast but that didn’t last long. There was a Mickey’s across the road and we dined in elegance and had good coffee. Then we cruised the town of Thayer and felt compelled to leave ASAP before we were overcome with ennui.
It rained. The clouds finally parted and we were smitten with a great blue sky and great forests of a million shades of green. Of course, it is the Ozarks, what else. Then it rained some more. A blinding rain complete with hail that forced us into a WalMart parking lot to ride out the storm. It was a perfect storm because it stopped in about ten minutes and the sun came back. The temperature bounced from 55 to 63 for most of the day. Quite nice, I would say.
Arkansas is a very pretty state, at least along this route, and the roads are a little straighter than those in Missouri. They seem to be marked better, but we haven’t really put the Arkansas signage to the test. Even though we went through some pretty rural areas, we did not see the mile after mile of old rundown houses that we saw in Missouri.
Our route took us west on US 412 through Mountain Home where it rained; a small town named Snow, which didn’t have any (snow, that is), Harrison with the hail, Marble; and, into Huntsville where we ate a commendable meal, complete with an excellent pecan pie made by Grannie at Grannies Restaurant.
Withrow Spring State Park is a few miles out of Huntsville and that is where we are this very second. The ranger asked where we were from and I told him and that we had come through Missouri. He said that he thought the roads through Missouri were pretty difficult, especially if you’re in a hurry. I had to agree even though we weren’t on the worst ones this time.
I am a happy camper tonight as opposed to last night because I am not overcome with fatigue and did not eat oatmeal this morning. I have really focused on keeping my lips loose and kissable and not tightly drawn over my tooth into a hard, thin, straight line.
At one point we stopped at a Mickey’s for more coffee at the same time as a large motorcycle club. I have never seen so much leather at one time. Some of bikers were quite facially hirsute and would have looked rather fierce if their beards weren’t trimmed so neatly. They made me look like the wild man of the mountain. They all sported their colors that proclaimed they were something like, “Bikers Against Child Abuse from the Buffalo National River Area.” It was pretty scary.
A few more drops of rain just fell followed by hot penetrating rays of the never relenting sun. hb
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Awakened early by the silence of no rainfall we headed back to Grannies for breakfast. She was doing a great business and almost the parking spots were taken. Our breakfast of French toast, blueberry waffle, egg, and ham was better than last night’s dinner. We were happy campers. The town of Huntsville was a little bigger than we thought but wasn’t very interesting. It looked like it was time for a complete renovation of the old downtown section.
The state park we were in last was unusual in that a two lane highway ran right through it. The campgrounds were right on the highway, in fact, we backed off of the highway to park in our spot. For most sites there was a short driveway like at a scenic area to get into the campsites. It did have electric and water which we didn’t use.
The store fronts had been yuppified. There were many antique shops and many, many bars. That was about it. But, I must say, the whole area looked different.
Looking different didn’t begin to describe the change to the town. It, too, used to be small and quaint. Now it is filled with huge areas like Castleton or Greenwood. If someone had told us things could change this much, we probably wouldn’t have believed him.
Ham spotted a street than Wal-Mart was supposed to be on and, for once, asked a lady in the Hobby Lobby parking lot where to find same. She gave excellent directions and he then got permission to park for the night. We went back out on the busy streets to the Cracker Barrel for their usual fare for dinner. Always one to think ahead, Ham asked if we could park here for the night. So, here we are. It seems like kind of a long day although it has been very pleasant and very pretty. All for now. nl.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Hamilton said we must be getting used to the LER because we both slept better last night.
Of course, he didn’t take an afternoon nap so, personally, I think that had something to do with it. We breakfasted healthily at our host’s place, The Cracker Barrel. Then we found our way out of town and started across Missouri one more time. And, I hope it is the last time, because the state hasn’t improved its road markings since the last time.
I had the great idea of finding the Nationally honored wild River. Hah! You go from a numbered road to a lettered road; and, then on to a double lettered road. None of which are marked on the map, nor are they marked with road signs. You kind of feel like you are oozing through the state like slime on slate with a sort of general idea about where you are because, luckily, there is a trusty compass on the dashboard.
Getting to and past the river was uneventful because it seemed the size of Fall Creek and not nearly as wild as the Fall Creek dam at Keystone. Ooops, that was IT? Wow!
An iffy campground was nine miles (supposedly) north of the highway. I say iffy because it had mighty few sites and who knew if was even there. If it wasn’t there, the nine miles back didn’t seem like a lot of fun. So, we headed south to Thayer that had a Wal-Mart. My poor eyesight determined there was a super center and a Sams. They were in another town. Actually because of the macular degeneration, I have trouble following straight lines. They are all wavy. Enough of that! Ham said this was the smallest Wal-Mart he had ever been in.
It was raining when we arrived and by the time Ham came out it was pouring. We lay down in back for a rest. It was a hard day’s drive for Ham. Then Evans called saying he ddn’t get the job. I feel sooo sorry for him. But, I guess Hamilton will be happier since he will have a reason to continue westward. nl
Saturday, April 24, 2010
It rained all night. Sometimes very hard and the parking lot looked like we pictured the Wild River. So, I guess we can say we camped on the banks of Wally’s Wild River, or in the Wally’s Wild River.
It finally stopped raining about breakfast but that didn’t last long. There was a Mickey’s across the road and we dined in elegance and had good coffee. Then we cruised the town of Thayer and felt compelled to leave ASAP before we were overcome with ennui.
It rained. The clouds finally parted and we were smitten with a great blue sky and great forests of a million shades of green. Of course, it is the Ozarks, what else. Then it rained some more. A blinding rain complete with hail that forced us into a WalMart parking lot to ride out the storm. It was a perfect storm because it stopped in about ten minutes and the sun came back. The temperature bounced from 55 to 63 for most of the day. Quite nice, I would say.
Arkansas is a very pretty state, at least along this route, and the roads are a little straighter than those in Missouri. They seem to be marked better, but we haven’t really put the Arkansas signage to the test. Even though we went through some pretty rural areas, we did not see the mile after mile of old rundown houses that we saw in Missouri.
Our route took us west on US 412 through Mountain Home where it rained; a small town named Snow, which didn’t have any (snow, that is), Harrison with the hail, Marble; and, into Huntsville where we ate a commendable meal, complete with an excellent pecan pie made by Grannie at Grannies Restaurant.
Withrow Spring State Park is a few miles out of Huntsville and that is where we are this very second. The ranger asked where we were from and I told him and that we had come through Missouri. He said that he thought the roads through Missouri were pretty difficult, especially if you’re in a hurry. I had to agree even though we weren’t on the worst ones this time.
I am a happy camper tonight as opposed to last night because I am not overcome with fatigue and did not eat oatmeal this morning. I have really focused on keeping my lips loose and kissable and not tightly drawn over my tooth into a hard, thin, straight line.
At one point we stopped at a Mickey’s for more coffee at the same time as a large motorcycle club. I have never seen so much leather at one time. Some of bikers were quite facially hirsute and would have looked rather fierce if their beards weren’t trimmed so neatly. They made me look like the wild man of the mountain. They all sported their colors that proclaimed they were something like, “Bikers Against Child Abuse from the Buffalo National River Area.” It was pretty scary.
A few more drops of rain just fell followed by hot penetrating rays of the never relenting sun. hb
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Awakened early by the silence of no rainfall we headed back to Grannies for breakfast. She was doing a great business and almost the parking spots were taken. Our breakfast of French toast, blueberry waffle, egg, and ham was better than last night’s dinner. We were happy campers. The town of Huntsville was a little bigger than we thought but wasn’t very interesting. It looked like it was time for a complete renovation of the old downtown section.
The state park we were in last was unusual in that a two lane highway ran right through it. The campgrounds were right on the highway, in fact, we backed off of the highway to park in our spot. For most sites there was a short driveway like at a scenic area to get into the campsites. It did have electric and water which we didn’t use.
