We were going to sup in our room. But our boiled eggs from two weeks ago had gone bad. So we walked across the US-69 to the McDonalds and ordered a burger for Karen and a salad for me. I was amused that the receipt evoked both the humped trucks and the highway we are on.
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Day 16: A Sunday drive from east Dallas exurbs to Hot Springs, Arkansas in the southern Ozarks. We couldn't "bag" another capitol tour, because Sunday deep in the Bible Belt. And (spoiler?) we didn't bother on Monday morning.
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Dark skies ahead as we zip north-eastward along I-30 in Texas
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I was surprised to see, zooming up behind me, a tiny ATV, atop an SUV, who then zipped right past me. (Say this aloud).Note: I have decades of experience shooting blind pictures. When I am driving, I usually point the camera in what I hope is the right direction, and hold down the multi-shot button for a few seconds. My attention is still mostly on the road, once I've made the decision to pull out and point the camera. Later (usually at a computer) I see if I actually got what I hoped. Sometimes, it works.
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By noon we wanted coffee, or possibly a lunch break. Google said there was a coffee shop at an unlikely exit. We followed the GPS to the spot. It was an empty lot next to a chain-link-fenced school bus corral across a narrow road from a high school. Reported the non-existence of this venue to Google, and got some coffee at the fading and failing truck stop back at the interchange (where the only one working there had never heard of a coffee shop in this town).
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Navigating through Texarkana, where the overpasses want to make sure you know you are still in Texas.
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Welcome to Arkansas
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At the I-30 rest area west of Hope Arkansas I wondered how many millons of flushes it takes to wear off the chrome and nickel and to wear these pits into a flush handle.
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Arkadelphia. Soon we will leave the bland interstate for state roads to take a slower and more scenic route up to Hot Springs, AR. Also, the overcast has faded.
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GPS allows us to find and take roads that may or may not be on the AAA maps. I do note that 128 East is taking us westward.
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A fairly major bridge to carry a pair of gas (?) lines across a small river in Arkansas. Probably carrying fiber, too.
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As we enter the Hot Springs area, I remember that Hot Springs National Park is basically a mountain, as we pass this park tour duck.
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Welcome to Hot Springs
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Hot Springs was once a happening spa town. Back before modern medicine, folks came here for "the cure." The main street is a line of bath houses in the grand Victorian tradition, with gilding, tilework, and all the posh amenities. Well, somewhat run down, now.
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As we walked around the town, it was getting chilly. Karen dashed across the highway (Main Street) to grab our jackets. When she returned, a park ranger accoted her and scolded her for taking her life in her hands like that. We promised not to do that, again.
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Neoclassical architecture is a reason to visit this town, that is incidentally the state capitol.
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After dinner, as the sun got low, we decided to go up the winding "No Trailers" road up the National Park to the overlook tower.
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The view from up there was nice. It was quite windy.
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Looking down at the state capitol.
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Just looking down.
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A stranger offered to take our picture.
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Just below the observation deck, there is an enclosed observation floor and museum. It was a bit hard to see the exhibits when facing west at this time of day.
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Mirror selfie in the observation window.
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The observation floor museum had exhibits from the old hotels. This place was apparently still quite "happening" mid-century.
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We watched the shadow of the tower sweep eastward across the landscape. Note the amusement park, and the fancy highway we didn't take. Also, note the bright halo around the top of the tower. This is a common retroreflection effect, probably caused (in this case) by setttling dew drops.
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After they closed the tower and chased us out, we went down the mountain to join the locals at a filling station, and filled a jug with local spring water. This station had cold water.
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And back up the mountain to watch the sunset. I tried to get a vertical panorama in my fancy camera going from the colorful horizon up to the tower behind us. It never was quite succesful. The camera was unable to figure out the too smooth gradation of blues.
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Watched a mellow sunset from up on Hot Springs Mountain in Arkansas at Hot Springs National Park.
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It was a mellow sunset.
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