Wednesday, March 27, 2024

One Great Sunset and One Stupid Thing

Location: Queen Wilhemina State Park; Mena, Arkansas

Today is day four at this peaceful place and my last. I'm really glad I chose to come here and for staying four days. I've had great vibes every day that I've been here no matter what I've been doing. I think this time of year is the best also with the trees bare of leaves, not very crowded and every day has a little nip in the air. Don't misread that people, I'm not have a nip every day, the weather is a little nippy every day. Geez. Today was the only day I've went to town (Mena) and that was to fuel up for tomorrows moving day and also to try out the Chinese buffet that I put off on day 2. By the way, the Reuben Sandwich I mentioned in the last post was a disappointment. I'll rank it a 3 or 4 on a scale of 10, the Chinese an 8.

That's the lodge with restaurant on the top of the hill.

A nice walking path that will definitely be very different after the trees leaf out.

Nice viewing platform near the lodge with benches. 

The view from the bench


Walking back to the RV. It should be off there in the distance.

Another picture of our campsite

I've done only little exploring and several long, thinking walks. Mostly it's been just relaxing and letting the peace soak into body, mind and soul. Of course that doesn't count day 2 when I could have died because of a stupid decision on my part. After being disappointed with the Reuben, I didn't feel like going back to the RV so I decided to drive around a little since the fog seemed to have left and the weather was clear. I decided to head west since I knew there were a few scenic turn-outs that a way and there hadn't been hardly any traffic coming from that direction. I knew that because my back window overlooks the only highway that comes and goes from this place. So off I went towards Oklahoma on one of those "hope serendipity happens" trips. I stopped at a couple pull-offs and even with the heavy moisture still hanging in the air, it all felt good. More good vibes. I think I almost overdosed on them. But while at one of the pull-offs, I noticed something that made me head back to Freedom and high-tail it back to the campground. What I had noticed was the fog rolling up from the valley and coming very quickly. I had already experienced the strange fog from that morning as it would almost instantaneously appear and disappear. I was probably 15 miles away from the campground and had I have thought about it more, the safest thing would have been to just sit tight in that turn-off and wait for it to clear off again. But instead I foolishly drove carefully cautiously thoughtfully safely barely over the speed limit very fast and broke the speed limit by several miles per hour. Within a mile of the campground the fog caught me and I had to creep the rest of the way to the RV.

Yeah, this wasn't stupid at all (slippery wet steep curves)

Looking at the back window of Liberty as I drove by

A pull-off with a bench. It was chilly and wet but still strangely peaceful. I liked it, I liked it a lot.

I was able to do a little exploring today so I went to see the Pioneer Cemetery from the 1800's. Most the graves are just marked by rocks and there are probably many more that are unmarked. One though, had a modern style headstone like I've never seen before. It had names on both sides and they were different names and dates. The one on the backside was upside down. I'm not sure what it was all about and I don't think I want to know.

The path leading to the Pioneer Cemetery
The entrance to the cemetery

 
Front side, normal

Backside, different name and dates, AND upsidedown.
A view from today to help remember this place

Adventures are all around us, we just need to expect them and look for them.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be leaving Arkansas. Tomorrow I sleep in a COE campground in Texas.

I chose a great campsite again with the setting sun right out my door. It was the only decent sunset in the 4 days here. I got lucky in that the weather front was just leaving as the sun was setting and there was on/off rain going on. The combination made the sunset look like the mountain was on fire. Really neat. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

  

 

Monday, March 25, 2024

Queen Wilhelmina State Park

Location: Queen Wilhelmina State Park; Mena, Arkansas

It was a short tow of about 90 miles on mostly 2-lane curvy highways through the Quachita Mountains of western Arkansas. Over the last dozen or so miles, I climbed about 1,200 feet in elevation on a curvy road. The final elevation of the state park is about 2,500 feet. There are some wide scenic pull-outs along the road that makes for a pretty drive. I was on the leading edge of a weather front which made the sky put on a really nice show.

One of the road pictures on this trip. This is the end/beginning of a short stretch of I-49. The sky was the main character during the trip.

This was mostly the road conditions. Very smooth roads that had only recently been overlaid.

Another typical road view of western Arkansas with some strange looking "roller-type" clouds.

If you're tired of the road pictures, just skip or X. :)

This is the beginning of the ascent to the State Park. Freedom didn't have any trouble with the tow. 


Just one of the many pull-offs (officially "scenic vistas").

A lot of the road looked like this. I got lucky and was able to get this picture while no traffic was coming or going.

A picture out my side window. If you look in the side mirror you will notice the painted center line curving. Yeah, I took a picture while taking a curve on the road (children, don't do this at home). 

I arrived at the campground early and immediately got a great vibe while checking in at the lodge. That vibe has not left me, even though the weather is changing. There was only one other camper here when I checked. Apparently, the weather scared most of them away. The water has been turned off at all of the campsites due to predicted freezes so I had to fill my fresh water tank at the only potable water source they had available. As I'm writing this post on the morning after arriving, the weather is rainy, stormy, windy, foggy and dreary. Heavy storms passed through here last night and the wind picked up which rocked Liberty a little bit, but nothing severe. This morning's weather has been strange. It has been a steady on/off rain and the fog has been coming and going. One minute the visibility is unlimited and the next it is 10 feet. The fog doesn't roll in like I'm used to. It just suddenly appears in an instant. This last time there it appeared it was accompanied by a low rolling thunder-like sound that lasted nearly a whole minute. I am enjoying all of these weather changes while looking out my back window. Apparently, the wind direction has just changed since the rain is now hitting my back window which is pointed north. Life is an adventure, even in the rain.

I took this one while filling up my fresh water tank. My campsite is about the 3rd one down. This campground will be entirely different during the summer once the trees leaf out. I think I picked the right time of year.

These are campsites on the opposite side of the road from me. There were a couple sites better than mine, but envy ain't a good thing, so I'm satisfied with mine. 

My campsite. It was a little tight backing in, but not a major problem. I had to use boards on her right side because I wanted to be on the edge of the pavement. All is good.


This is the overall view looking north from my campsite.

I was curious where the name of this State Park came from so I did a little research. There was some interesting reading but I'll try to give you the Reader's Digest Condensed version (ya'll young'uns will have to find a Seasoned Citizen to ask what that is). Anyway, the railroad that ran through this area in the late 1800's was financed by the Dutch (more on the difference between Dutch, Holland and the Netherlands later). These rich Dutch people built a fancy lodge on top of this mountain so their equally fancy passengers could rest and enjoy the views. They named it after their young queen, Queen Wilhelmina, of the Netherlands. They even built a Royal suite for her in case she ever decided to visit. I wasn't able to find out if she did or not. The lodge was nicknamed "The Castle in the Sky" because of its fancyness and the view which gave the appearance of being on top of the world. The lodge only lasted 3 years before it was abandoned and fell into ruin. It stayed that way until 1957 when the State of Arkansas acquired the property and surrounding area so they could create a State Park. They reconstructed the lodge in 1963 and it was very popular until it was destroyed by fire in 1973. Arkansans are a determined people so they immediately rebuilt it. That lodge is where I checked-in when I got here.  

But who the heck was Queen Wilhelmina?  Wilhelmina was the only child of the King Willen III, King of The Netherlands.  He died in 1890 when Wilhelmina was but 10 years old. Her mother, Queen Emma, acted as regent until Wilhelmina came of age in 1898 and assumed the throne. Wilhelmina reigned for 50 years as Queen. During the years of 1940 to 1945 she lived in exile while World War II devastated her country. During those years she lived in London which says a lot about her character since she lived though the bombings by the Germans. She clearly could have lived in America where it would have been much safer, but she wanted to be as near to her country as possible. She abdicated the throne in 1948 and her daughter, Queen Juliana, took over and reigned for 32 years until 1980. There is more, but I'm not including it here. 

Oh, before I forget. 1) the official name of the country is The Netherlands, 2) Holland is a region inside of The Netherlands, 3) Dutch is what the people call themselves and their language. Clear as mud, uh? 

Knowing it was going to be raining today, I planned to go into the town of Mena for a Chinese buffet lunch and wait for the weather to clear before doing any exploring. But with this strange fog situation, I think I'll go the lodge for lunch instead. Looking at their menu, they have a Reuben sandwich. Now if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is. As most readers know, I always try a Reuben when I get a chance. I've done so in all of my travels over the last 10 years. To get you caught up to date quickly, the number one Reuben so far is from a small cafe in the small town of Hinckley, Minnesota and a close second is from a small cafe in Freeport, Texas. I made the mistake of returning to the one in Freeport a few years afterwards and was disappointed. It wasn't even close to being as good. Shame, shame, lesson learned.

The view out my back window on the day I arrived. It is much different this morning with the rain and fog.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

 

 

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Goodbye Arkansas River

 Location: Springhill Corps of Engineers Campground; Fort Smith, Arkansas

Today is my fourth day here and my last. Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be turning away from the Arkansas River and start my return trip back south to Louisiana. I've been following the river and camping on its banks for the last 3 weeks. This is my 8th COE campground along the river. All of them have had their own special appeal and evoked different emotions. I'll get into those more in my wrap-up at the end of the trip. 


The obligatory road view showing typical northwest Arkansas along the interstate.

For the last few campgrounds, I've been showing up earlier than the check-in time without a problem. It caught up with me this time and I had to wait about an hour and a half before my campsite became vacant. There was a nice pavilion parking area where I was able to sit and wait. The weather was great and it really wasn't much of a problem.

This is my campsite and it isn't what I've been used to a the last campgrounds in that I can't clearly see the river. I can see it through the trees but it isn't clearly.

I am in a peaceful location and this is the view out my back window.

There were 3 things I wanted to see while camped here and a 4th was added at the last minute. First was the Lock and Dam which was a little bit of a bust since there wasn't a good viewing location of the structures. The COE needs to change that so the public can see what they are doing and learn from it.
This is the best view I could get. The locks are on the left with the dam in the middle and what looks like a powerhouse on the right but I couldn't confirm that.
I got this picture of the dam while out on my walk today. The weather was almost perfect. Just a little nip in the air but definitely shorts and tee shirt weather.

The second location was 50/50 shot because it was more of a museum than anything else and museums have not always been winners with me. Yeppers, I'm just a little jaded about them. It was an above average museum and to top it off, it was free. It was the Fort Smith National Historic Site. It tells the story of Fort Smith over the centuries. One of the main highlight is Judge Parker's court house and history. He handed out justice to the frontier world of Oklahoma back in the late 1800's. One of his many duties was to settle disputes between the Indian tribes in the "Indian nations" (Oklahoma). Later on he took care of criminals that used the "nations" as a large hide-out in between crimes. Judge Parker would send out Deputy Marshals to round up the bad guys and bring them back to Fort Smith to be tried in his court. The marshals were expected to bring them back alive and as an incentive to do so, the marshals were not paid or paid less if they killed the criminals. There were lots of public hangings but over his 21 years as Federal District Judge he was instrumental in cleaning up the territory. If this all sounds a little familiar, that may be because you've seen Clint Eastwood's movie,,,, "Hang 'Em High". It was an interesting stop and I could have spent a few more hours there if I had wanted. In terms of it's a small world, I met a woman that worked there who was from the town my daughter lives in. "It's a small world after all,,,,,,

The Fort Smith National Historic Site. A big, free museum.

The jailhouse floor. The prisoners slept on the floor and the guard was locked in a room. I guess that was in case he fell asleep.

A lot of information was in this area.

A replica of Judge Parker's Courtroom
The 3rd place of my original 3 locations was the Fort Smith National Cemetery. I've always been drawn to National Cemetery's around the country. I have found them in some unexpected places like the Battle of Little Big Horn or Battle of New Orleans. I haven't counted them up but it has probably been a couple of dozen. It is my way of showing respect to the ones that have went before us. Remember,,,,, Veterans are people who at one point in their lives wrote a blank check to the people and government of the United States of America for an amount up to and including their lives. 

Nice entry gates.

A Garden of Stones.
By congressional act, every National Cemetery must have a Superintendent's Lodge. The two story red building behind the flagpole is it. They are usually pretty fancy.

This surprised me and something I've never seen before. Personalized headstones. I couldn't find an answer as to why so I just assumed it was graves before it became a National Cemetery.

The 4th place was added on to the list since it was in the area of the 3rd and 4th things. It was the United States Marshals Museum. It is not a government run place like the National Historic place so they charge an entry fee. For a veteran, it cost me $10.00 to wander around the place. It is a very good place that tells of the history of the Marshal service. I spent about an hour and a half there and could easily have stayed longer. One interesting thing that I learned was that Fredrick Douglas was the first black U.S. Marshal. He was appointed by President Hayes to the Washington D.C. district. It was a few years ago that I explored the town where one of the debates between Lincoln and Douglas took place.

It is my understanding that the Marshals Museum was built with nothing but private donations. It is a really nice looking building right along the river.


I forgot what this picture was about.



This surprised me. I'm still not sure if I was never taught about Douglas being a U.S. Marshal or if I was, I forgot. Sometimes surprises are nice.
Like I said, I'm turning south tomorrow and will have a tow of about 100 miles, mostly on 2-lane mountain roads, to an Arkansas State Park. It is located 2,000 feet higher in elevation than where I'm at now and is supposed to have some fantastic views from the mountaintop. It is called Queen Wilhelmina State Park.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Aux Arc = Ozark

Location: Aux Arc Corps of Engineer Campground; Ozark, Arkansas

This is another campground near a Lock/Dam/Powerhouse on the Arkansas River. I like the location of these campgrounds a lot because when I'm on the computer, the view out the back window is peaceful. One of the main goals for this trip was to find peace of mind, soul and body. The level of success has been above average. My memory demons have come out and played a couple of times but I was able to control them instead of vice versa. I attribute a lot of the success to the great campsites, campgrounds and weather. 

The dam and campground are located on the inside of a large bend in the Arkansas River. Since the French were some of the original western explorers in the area, they called the location, Aux Ark. Which loosely translated means "the bend", "a bend", "big bend", etc, etc. Well, the locals and people just passing through started slurring Aux Ark into Ozark which stuck. Ozark started being used for large portions of Arkansas as well as a mountain range. Who would have thought it was the Frenchy's? 

This looks like an aerial view but it is from the mountain top on the opposite side of the river from the campground. One of those white dots to the right of the dam is Liberty


This is the downstream side of the structure. That's the powerhouse on the left, then the dam and part of the lock. I had to wait until a campsite was empty in a different loop of the campground to get a picture of the downstream side. It does not appear to be any water passing through the powerhouse or gates. 

This campground is different than most other COE's. It has been about 90% full since I've been here and several of the RV's appear to be be long term stays. Usually there is a 14 day limit at COE's. It may be just because of spring break though. The extra amount of people hasn't bothered me at all and my campsite is very nice. I chose well.

I remembered to get a travel picture. Although it is just the Interstate, I'm reminded that a few readers mentioned they liked the travel pictures because it showed what different parts of the country looked like. That was years ago,


Pretty good campsite, uh? That's the upstream side of the dam in the background.
Nice daytime view of the Ozark Lock & Dam out the back window



 
I like this picture. It is of the powerhouse right after they turn on the outside lights. They usually come on right around sundown. You can still see the blue sky in the background. I forgot to turn off my interior lights to avoid the inside reflection. If I remember, I'll take a better one tonight and replace this one.


This bench was at the end of my campground walk. It is a comfortable bench and I used it to sort through my thoughts while catching a little rest before heading back to Liberty.



A look through part of the campground while on my walk. It gives an idea how close the river is to the RV on that side of the road.

I found an empty campsite on the other end of my loop to take a picture of the river.

I'm not sure if this sign is lit up at night but it doesn't seem to be so. That's strange, if it is important enough to see during daylight, why not at night?



This is the only decent sunrise picture that I've taken. It is taken from the doorway of Liberty. Another reason I chose this site. ** Post Edit, I added the next sunrise picture

I added this picture the day after posting. It is from the morning on moving day and is looking out of Liberty's door. Sunrise and Smoke on the Water,,,,Not bad, uh?

There wasn't anything in the area that caught my attention to explore so basically it has been a take it easy kind of stay. But tomorrow is moving day and it will be another short haul of around 50 miles to another COE. This one will be near Fort Smith with many exploration opportunities.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.