Missouri to Arkansas

Fountain at lake at College of the Ozarks

We are out there exploring again and that makes me happy. From Kansas City visiting family we headed towards Branson, MO and Table Rock Lake. John grew up not too far from here in Salem Mo but believe it or not, he had never visited Branson. I know lots of people really enjoy this town and for us it was ok but it’s not really the kind of place we like to hang out. The only show we were interested in were 12 Irish Tenors but we are trying to stick to a budget and decided we would rather be outside so instead we took a lake cruise on Lake Tenycomo. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful cruise. We checked out Branson Landing and watched the water-fire show which was nice. There was one really interesting site......

This is what I first saw

fun prop!

       

........might be a good prop for Halloween !

Some of the houses on the hills, during our cruise.

We camped at Table Rock Lake State Park. The sites were pretty close together for a state park and all the FHU were taken so our site was just electric.  It worked for the 5 days we were there and was better than being in town. Like I said Branson isn’t really our cup of tea but I can see how it appeals to many.

Sunday we left Table Rock and were off to the Hot Springs AR area. Googled the route and checked the truck atlas, yep it’s a truck route. Well, not really. There were no low clearances or width and weight restrictions per se, though we had to take several bridges in the middle since they were so narrow. The whole trip was up, down and around. Those who have been in this part of the country have probably figured out we took the Scenic Byway 7. Though a beautiful drive I would not call it a leisurely one, just ask John. I’m just gad I was not driving. Next time it will be US 65 for sure. I say next time because we really like this area.

We are staying at Lake Ouachita State Park and it is a beautiful park. We are in site 4 and it is the largest site we’ve had anywhere. Several people (Jeff and Dawn, and Judy) recommended it and we give you a big thanks!. The site is FHU, paved, and the end the drive is double wide and long enough to park your vehicle on the side. We didn’t really need that as it was plenty long enough for us. Probably the only down side to this park is we can’t get satellite or over the air tv. We do have a good cell signal though.

Site 4 at Lake Ouachita Stae Park, its huge

Tuesday we walked a 4 mile lake trail here. I didn’t take the camera because it looked like rain when we left. It never did rain on us so if I had taken the camera it would have been great and I would have had some beautiful photos for you. I guess you’ll have to use your imagination. :)  The trail was a lot of up and down. We should have talked to the rangers before we left but we weren’t that smart. You’d think we were novice hikers. We wearing our tennies instead of our hiking boots, didn’t take our hiking sticks and worst of all didn’t take water. Well, needless to say we wish we had done all that but we survived just fine. We plan on doing more hiking as we travel so it was a lesson learned, or actually relearned, I hope.

As we are all aware of the government shutdown, we knew it was imminent when we arrived so Monday we made sure to make it into town to the Hot Springs National Park Visitors Center, knowing it most likely would be closed Tuesday (and of course it is). This is a nice little town, especially Bath House Row and the actual hot springs. We tested the water and it is pretty hot. Interesting place. They are working on a micro-brewery in the Superior Bath House, sounds like it might be awhile before they are ready to go. Now it is just a little brew pub with several assorted crafted beers on tap, some limited food and some really good Gelato.

Hey that water really is hot!

We went back into town yesterday so I could visit the local yarn shop, Knittin’ on the Corner. Cute little shop and wonderful people too. Bought some yarn for a hat for the Christmas season for granddaughter Evie and splurged on some sock yarn for me. I have found I love hand knitted socks. We also ate at a restaurant just upstairs from the yarn shop called the Grindhouse, their sign said they had the best burgers in Arkansas. When we walked in we had our doubts, looked like they could use a little remodel but the people were friendly and the burger menu looked interesting. We split the Lucky Luciano burger. It had pesto, goat cheese and a few other things on it and it was gooooooooood! Who would have thought? The fries are also good and have truffle oil on them, they call them Truffle fries. The burgers were a little pricey but are 1/2 pound and 1/2 a burger was plenty.

This is the view fro our chairs right now. :)

This is how far away from the trailer we are, this is a BIG site!

Today was that day when we had to get laundry done and get a few groceries. Now were are just sitting out at the back of our site. (Notice how far it is from the rig.) I’ve been thinking about the blog but it was finally time to post something. Sunday we will leave for the Memphis area and the Tom Sawyer Park on the river in West Memphis. Our plan is to be there a week. Then we’ll see what the weather is doing and pick the place to go. We have plenty of time and this whole area is new to us so I think we will play it by ear. Hopefully those goofy people in Washington will get this settled so the COE parks and National Park areas are open again.

Happy Trails.................................