31 July 2010

As soon as we stepped out onto the balcony of the motel, we knew we were in for a bad day--already hot and muggy.

Breakfast from the lobby (where there was no place to sit anyway) was only tired pastries and bread for toast. Oh, and some weak orange juice.

So load up and back onto I-40. I'd originally picked a couple of parks in Arkansas to the north and the south, which would have taken several hours to get to and from.

Instead we opted for two right off of I-40, Little Rock High School, about as urban a setting as you can get. As we pulled into the parking lot we saw a perfect place to park in the shade; it wasn't until we'd stopped there that we saw it was for buses, so we moved to a less shady spot, then spent a few minutes cooling off inside the visitor center where we stamped our passports.



Back out on surface streets to I-40, west.

Fort Smith was staffed with folks in period costume, eager to tell us the history and significance of the fort--the end of the Trail of Tears, from whence the various Native American tribes were dispersed to reservations. Then back into the wet riding suits and back onto the interstate.



Our timing today was perfect, allowing us to spend the night with my brother in Bixby, OK; we pulled in to his driveway just before 4, and were greeted with glasses of ice water containing a sprig of mint.



We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in air-conditioned comfort.

States: Arkansas, Oklahoma

next
home