Monday

I headed out from Lake Catherine State Park early in the morning so that I could have time to drive over to Crater of Diamonds State Park and still get into Texas at a reasonable time. Crater of Diamonds is a 37-acre volcanic lava tube that is full of diamonds, garnets, and other gems. They have had flawless diamonds over 10 carats found in the field. They plow the dirt and you look through it for stuff that sparkles. You can screen the dirt dry or take buckets of it to a washing station and wash it through a couple of screens to catch the small gravel. You then look through the gravel for diamonds. Dry is too much work, so I tried wet screening. It works pretty good, but you have a lot of gravel to look through. I was short on time, so I have a box of gravel to look through later. There were 11 diamonds found in the park the day before.

On my way to Sulphur Springs, I passed a field with more travel trailers than I have ever seem in one place. My first thought was that they had to belong to FEMA. Sure enough, when I got to the other end of the compound there was the sign - the FEMA Emergency Housing Unit in Hope, Arkansas.

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I stopped in Cooper, TX to eat supper. By 4:30 pm everything in town was closed. The only place to eat was Big Jon's Burgers. Had a pretty good burger and chili-cheese fries for about $6.

I spent the night in a cabin at Cooper Lake State Park - South Sulphur Unit. No photos of the park, there is not much to see. It's a small rustic cabin near some water.

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Tuesday, I will head back to Austin to resuce Parker from the kennel and get ready to go back to work on Wednesday. I have decided that I am ready to retire, buy and RV, and spend my life on the road.

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-Eric

Sunday

I headed off to Hot Springs first thing in the morning and went over to the Buckstaff Bathhouse on historic Bathhouse Row. I soaked in the thermal waters the same way they did 50 years ago. You have an assistant that helps you through the process. It started with a 20 minute soak in 105 degree water in a clawfoot tub with a whirlpool. Then you move to 10 minutes in a sitz bath (not so impressed). Next is 3 minutes in a steam cabinet and a 20 minute full body hot wrap. You finish off with a 2 minute shower in a "needle shower" that completely surrounds your body with water jets. After a short time in the cooling room, you get dressed and leave. It took about 75 minutes to complete and was worth the $22 for the experience.




After the bath, I walked around some of the trails and looked at one of the few hot springs that is not covered up with steel doors. The water is 147 degrees when it surfaces. I also drove the windy road to the top of the mountain and went up the 250 foot mouontain tower. It was a nice view, but not wirth the $6 to ride the elevator.

My next stop was the Garvan Woodland Gardens. It was one of the best gardens I have walked through. I got a lot of ideas for working on my yard this winter.

I spent the night in a cabin at Lake Catherine State Park. It was a nice cabin with a full kitchen and living room. It was a cool evening, so I took a walk down the waterfall trail loop, which is about 2.5 miles long. It follows the edge of the lake to a waterfall then goes back into the woods.

Saturday - Part 2

My first stop back in Arkansas was at the White River National Wildlife Refuge. I drove 15 miles down a dirt road into the refuge and found myself in the middle of the swamps. It really was like being in the middle of nowhere. It's so remote in some areas, that scientists think they recently found an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Something thought to have been extinct for over 40 years. I was hoping to take a picture of one and claim a $10k reward from the Nature Conservancy. Unfortunately, no woodpeckers. Just a lot of water and cypress trees.

I left the refuge and was on my way down a small road when I saw the largest gathering of waterfowl I have ever seen. There must have been 20,000 birds in this one flooded field.

I spent the night in Pine Buff, Arkansas at a Holiday Inn Express.

Saturday - Part 1

Sorry - no Graceland. I got up early in the morning at went over to the Memphis Fire Department Memorial. It's a large sculpture on the side of the Fire Museum that is probably about 25 feet tall. I also looked around the museum. They have a few really old fire trucks and some great interactive fire safety stuff for the kids.




When I finished there, it was time to go over to the Peabody Hotel for the famous duck march. They have five ducks that live in a penthouse suite on the top floor. Every morning at 11:00, they roll out the red carpet and march the ducks down the elevator to the lobby fountain. They take them back up at 5:00 each evening. It is quite a production and they have been doing this for something like 70 years.




After that, I ate at Rendezvous BBQ in an alley basement. I had a pulled pork sandwich, rice and beans, slaw and beans. Pretty good. I would have had the "famous" charcoal ribs, but didn't feel like a $20 lunch. Overall, I would be just as happy with Texas BBQ. http://www.hogsfly.com/

When I got done with lunch I headed out of town and back toward Arkansas.

...cont'd on part 2.

Friday

I got up early this morning and drove about three hours to Memphis. What a good choice. This town is awesome!

I checked into the hotel and headed out to explore the area. I tried to eat at a local soul food restaurant that was featured on Food Network, but the service was horrible. After 15 minutes without be asked what I wanted to drink or provided a menu, I walked out. I went to Westy's Bar & Grill down the road and had a pretty good sandwich.

I scoped out Beale Street. It's like a combination of Austin's 6th Street, Old Pecan Street, and Warehouse District. I visited some of the stores but didn't buy anything.

Afterward, I made my way to West Memphis (back across in Arkansas) and went to Southland Park Racetrack. I've done horse races a few times, but never greyhounds. It was a lot of fun. They are so fast! I won back most of my lost bets on the 10th race and decided to leave while I was only about $15 down.


Being Halloween, I figured I would go back down to Beale Street. It was absolutely packed. They have done a really good job putting everything together. I thinks it's actually better than our 6th Street.

There is a small city park with an open-air stage and seating in the middle of all the clubs and stores. The band Egypt Central was playing a free concert this evening. A little heavy for my taste, but still good. There was a local jazz and blues band playing there earlier in the day that was really good. Of course, the Halloween people-watching was the best part.


I think I may spend another day in Memphis. I'm not due at Lake Catherine until Sunday evening. Besides, I haven't eaten at Rendezvous BBQ in a back-alley basement off 2nd Street or seen the famous Peabody Hotel ducks yet. I also haven't purchased Karen Sparkman her Elvis shirt from Graceland.

http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody_ducks/

Thursday

I ate breakfast in Talihina, OK at Pam's Hateful Hussy Cafe. It was a really good small town diner where I got eggs, hash browns, biscuit and gravy, and a Pepsi for $4.

Sardis Lake Dam in Oklahoma.

From there I headed down the Talimena National Scenic Byway. It starts in Eastern Oklahoma and ends in Western Arkansas. At breakfast, the locals said I had good timing for the drive. Apparently the trees were just changing color, which is two or three weeks later than normal. I have decided it must be due to global warming. I guess this are will be a desert or beachfront property in a few years. (Had to stop and fill up my as tank so my giant V8 engine could make the trip).

On the Arkansas side of the Byway is Queen Wilhelmina State Park. They have some old cabins and a train. Didn't have much time, so I headed on down the trail.

I spent the night about 30 miles south of Hot Springs at Lake DeGray Resort State Park. The park has these yurts that you can rent for about half the cost of a room in the resort. They are about 16' around and have insulated canvas walls.

After checking in the yurt, I headed to Hot Springs to look around. There is a neat shopping district in the National Park area. I bought a hat and other stuff at the local stores. There's not as much to do in Hot Springs as I would have thought.

I also visited Arkadelphia. It is the most boring town in the world. The only good thing there is Arby's. I can't imagine why anyone would live there.

Went back to the yurt and watched the movie War, Inc. It was about the only thing left in the Redbox. Don't waste your time. What a horrible movie.

Wednesday

I dropped Parker off at the Kennel and was out of town by 7:30 am this morning. I met Garret Lee (a friend that works at Ft. Worth Fire Dept.) for lunch. Thanks for the FD t-shirt! We ate at the Ol' South Restraunt near downtown Ft. Worth. Great food.

I stopped by the Fort Worth Treasury Office and took the tour. Security was like visiting the CIA. Standing above a room containing hundreds of millions of dollars sure has a way of making you feel poor.

Apparently, I have a long lost family member in north Texas that sales and repairs boats . . .

As I crossed the border to Oklahoma, I stopped at one of the casinos. Walked out $10 down. I spent the first night in Atoka, Oklahoma. A small town with nothing exciting to do.