Ozark Bathhouse
Public confederate pride
Ed's Flags
Private confederate pride
Scenic Route 7
Overlook in the Ozarks
Diesel prices jump
Ozark Mountains, Arkansas
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.