Travel Day 3 of 3

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Friday, April 14, 2017

(I know I am a little out of order with my days but we did not want to miss wishing everyone a Happy Easter and I had not finished going through our pictures of travel day 3.)

We pulled out of the Walmart in Ft. Smith, Arkansas around 10 o'clock. We were only on I-540 for about 11 miles before turning onto I-40. After only a little over 4 miles we were on I-49 towards Fayetteville.

The wildflowers on I-540 are thick and beautiful.

Crossing the Arkansas River.

We are on I-40 for a few minutes.

Heading North on I-49 we will be driving through part of the Boston Mountains. The scenery along here was breathtaking.

The Stinger B's first tunnel.

We will be going right.

The first of several of these signs today.
I call these "wiggle worms".

We are making our way towards US-412.

For a few miles we are on a divided highway.

Then we were on 2 lanes with an occasional passing
lane. (There are, for all practical purposes, no shoulders
on this highway and most of the time a double yellow line. The
passing lanes gave everyone behind us a chance to get by.)

Not many wildflowers but we did start to see some flowering
trees. Not sure about purple one but I believe the white
is dogwood.

Another dogwood and the dreaded "wiggle worm".

A "wiggle worm" on each side and 35 mph this may
not be good.

A short flat section, it was just a tease.

We have turned onto US-65 and now we are in
the Ozarks.

There are still lots of hills and curves but now they are
are longer and the curves are not as severe. Plus, we are
on a divided four lane highway with shoulders.

Leaving Arkansas behind we cross into Missouri.

We are almost to the RV park and now. For a few miles we are 
back on a hilly, curvy, no shoulder two lane road.

Success, after 152 miles we have made it to our home for the 
next few days. This is a Passport America Park with full 
hookups for $25 a night. We are parked on a cement slab 
in a pull-thru site. The views are nothing to talk about but it
is a clean park...we are on a level site...we are smiling.

A few personal comments about our last three travel days. First off all, we have seen some wonderful scenery and we are glad we took the time to drive across Oklahoma and Arkansas on the backroads. Will we do it again...probably not. It is not just the hills and curves, though Tom did mention he has seen enough to last for a while, it was the lack of places to pull over if we would have needed to.  A lot of the roads we were on, if we would have had an issue, we would not have been able to move our motor home off of the roadway. (There were areas you would not have been able to get a car all the way off the road let alone an RV.) This may be why we only saw one other bigger rig during most of our drive. (We did see a few smaller travel trailers and a lot of Semi's.) When we turned North onto US 65 is when we finally started seeing larger RV's again. We certainly plan on visiting these states again, there is a scenic ride through the Boston Mountains we would love to take, we just think we will feel more comfortable with the Stinger B staying on major highways.

I realize this makes two days in a row I am leaving you with song lyrics...but with all the ups and downs on the road these lyrics kept running through my mind...it was mostly the "What goes up must come down" part but then of course the rest of the lyrics would follow.

Blood Sweat & Tears - Spinning Wheel

What goes up must come down

Spinnin' wheel got to go 'round

Talkin' 'bout your troubles it's a cryin' sin

Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel spin

You got no money and you got no home

Spinnin' wheel all alone

Talkin' 'bout your troubles and you, you never learn

Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel turn

Did you find the directing sign on the

Straight and narrow highway

Would you mind a reflecting sign

Just let it shine within your mind

And show you the colors that are real

Someone is waiting just for you

Spinnin' wheel, spinnin' true

Drop all your troubles by the riverside

Catch a painted pony on the spinning wheel ride

                                                                     Songwriters: David Clayton-Thomas

Hope you had a calm and peaceful day.

If you have a moment to leave a comment we would love hearing from you.