May 2-4, 2008 - After leaving the Natchez Trace we were on a
mission to get to Kansas, but we took the scenic route through the
Ozark mountains rather than the interstate to get there. We stopped
briefly in the town of Hot Springs which is famous for its hot baths.
Fancy bathhouses were erected along the main drag for tourists to
enjoy steaming in the hot baths. We didn't take a dip, but the
buildings were
intriguing.
We were also
intrigued to find
that the
Confederate flag
was flown in many
places here as well,
including the front
courtyard of a public
building.
Ed's Flags was
doing a bang-up
business, and he
included the
Confederate flag in
his lineup.
The most common
place to spot a
Confederate flag was in the front yard of a home.
The Scenic Route 7 through the mountains is a hilly, twisty drive. It
was a little bit of a struggle with the buggy, and Mark had to
concentrate as we wound our way up and down through the range.
We saw lots of motorcycles and even a motorcycle rally. This would
be an ideal place for any kind of two-wheeled vehicle.
There weren't too many lookouts with
views, but we did stop at one where
we got a good view of the valley.
We weren't near any major cities, and
the gas prices reflected that. When
we arrived in Florida on February 5th,
2008, diesel was $3.11 a gallon.
Now, a mere three months later,
diesel in Arkansas was $4.39. Little did we know that by the time we got to the North Rim of the
Grand Canyon, two months after we took this photo, diesel would be $5.34 a gallon.
We passed through several fascinating little communities where all the signs were in Spanish. I
had always thought that the border states had the most Latino residents, but here in the heart of
the Ozarks we discovered some thriving hispanic communities.
We had been told at two visitors centers in Arkansas not to miss Eureka Springs. It is a quaint town, they said, with a very cute
main street and lots of charm. Unfortunately, it is not RV friendly. In fact, it is not tourist friendly. We stopped at the visitors
center on the edge of town to find out where we could park so we could walk the town. It turned out that in order to see the town
you had to pay $5 to park your RV for the day outside of town and then you had to take a shuttle bus into town -- $9 for two
people. So in order to see this quaint, charming town we had to shell out $14. On top of that, the restrooms in the visitors
center weren't even in their building. They were way around in the back behind a bunch of shops, and they were decrepit and
dirty. So we skipped Eureka Springs. One theme that has been repeated over and over in our travels is that the more you pay
the less you get.
From the Ozarks we scooted through Missouri and finally landed in Chanute, Kansas, a small town tucked into the
southeastern corner of the state.