We saw a lot of new country on this leg of our journey, but Arkansas was our first completely new state. We had never before set foot or wheel in it. We crossed into the state almost as soon as we left Branson; it was 250 miles to Hot Springs and it was a beautiful drive.
We stayed at J&J RV Park , where we were parked looking at a lovely little creek. This was a friendly, quiet place very close to downtown (and the National Park). A nice amenity was two (count 'em) two different newspaper boxes. We hadn't been anyplace where we could buy a daily paper for days and days. It was especially good timing because we arrived on November 5 and were able to see the historic election day headlines. I know the newspaper business is fading fast, but Internet and 24/7 cable news coverage notwithstanding, it would have been just wrong not to have seen this historic election day coverage in print.
We liked the Hot Springs area a lot. Our original plan had been to spend a couple of days here so we could visit the National Park (just scroll down a little bit to see our post on it). We ended up staying a week. One of the joys of RVing is sometimes being able to do that when a spot unexpectedly catches your fancy. Here are a couple more places we visited while we stayed here.
Crater of Diamonds State Park in nearby Murfreesboro is the only place in this country where diamonds can be found. There's about 40 acres of plowed field where for a small fee you can prospect as much as you want to and keep whatever you find. Diamonds and other gems have been discovered and the most perfect diamond in the world was found here a few years ago. We didn't find anything -- we didn't really look very seriously -- but it was a good excuse to play in the dirt on a sunny afternoon. (We learned later that the best time to find diamonds is immediately after a rainstorm. People who are serious about their prospecting drop everything to arrive then because the rain washes up the stones.) Check out their website by clicking right there on the blue; it really is very well done.
The Presidential Museums do provide a good overview of a particular era in history. On an earlier trip, we visited the Truman Library in Independence MO and I think we got more out of it. Maybe this one is just a little too close to the present to be fully appreciated. But one display here pointed out that the Federal budget was balanced and the country was at peace at the end of President Clinton's term. What you heard everybody say as they viewed that was "what a difference eight years had made." Little Rock, the State Capitol, was just an hour away. We toured the President Clinton Library and Museum there. There's a lot of stuff packed into this building. Those boxes that form the walls are full of schedules and letters that you can take out and read. The other picture is a replica of the oval office.
Arkansas definitely goes on our "hope we get to come back" list. We really enjoyed our week in Hot Springs and could easily spend more time there -- and there is a lot more of the state to see as well.
The day we left Hot Springs we stayed overnight in Vicksburg, Mississippi. No beautiful view for the first time in two weeks; we stayed at Ameristar Casino RV Park. We paid more here than we had per night in the last two places (where we had those great views) so it wasn't a huge bargain. But we did get a coupon for a pretty good free breakfast at the Casino hotel the next morning.
Our next stop was not exactly in Mississippi but it was all about it. Scroll down to the post "Miss Lou." I don't know if this is true everywhere, but a hundred years ago or so back in the Northwest I learned how to spell the name of this state this way: M straight letter crooked letter crooked letter, straight letter, etc etc. Staying here I learned that it would be a lot easier if we spelled it like people pronounce it, which is more like this: Mizzippi. It sounds good that way and it would be a lot easier on 4th graders if they could spell it like it is supposed to sound.
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