16 Diamonds?

     We arrived at Murfreesboro early enough to drive through the town and check out the crater of diamonds state park.   Checked out the gift shop and I purchased a hooded sweatshirt.  On the way back to town we checked out a campground.  It seemed that Ruthie was developing a cold so we decided to stay at a motel.  We went to the local grocery store to get some tv dinners and treats.   We stayed at the Queen of Diamonds as they had good internet service and who knows maybe it will bring us luck.
     The internet service turned out to be a problem,  I couldn't connect to their WiFi.  They reset the router and took out all the phones, they did it again.  Then they decided they had this problem before and to try in front of the laundry room to make sure it wasn't my computer.  It wasn't!  Ended up moving to a newer wing of the motel where they had WiFi and hard wired service.  A little problem with the wired one.  They thought it was on a lamp, but that turned out to be a phone plug in that didn't go any where.  We found the internet plug on the opposite wall from the table,  after doing some furniture moving I was all set. 

      Dec 11th   It dropped down to 17 degrees last night, so with Ruthie's cold the hotel was  a good idea.  We thought we would delay our fortune hunting while Ruthie recovered, we would wait and check on the mail,  and work on the blog.  At friend Louise's suggestion Ruthie started drinking some emergen-C to fight her cold.  What's good for the goose is good for the gander so she insisted I start taking some also.   She mixed me up a dose and  she reminded me to shake my bottom as I was drinking it!   Made it real difficult to drink, sometimes I just don’t know what she's thinking.

   So what do we have here?  
     Well we learned this and many other interesting things from Steve our room 50 neighbor.  I came  back from a errand and Ruthie and Steve were sitting in rocking chairs enjoying the sun.  These are the seeds of the Sweet-gum tree and they came be painted and used for crafts, christmas tree decorations and sold to tourists as porcupine eggs.  The town he is from planted a lot of them because the leaves are beautiful.  However a few years later they ended up having them removed because of this nasty little seed.  ( reminds me of Stewartville MN and their street lights.  Sometimes it is hard to foresee the consequences of our decisions. ) Try stepping on them once.  They are about the size of ping pong ball.  A good neighbor he helped me repair our camper light, he worked for the state of Arkansas inspecting school buses.  He also pointed out mistletoe hanging in a nearby tree. 

      Dec 12 Wednesday  4:48 am 18 degrees, significant because that is what it was when we left MN to get away from the cold, at least we don’t have to shovel our way to the trike.   Ruthie was feeling a little better so we went for a walk of the downtown area, lots of interesting shops.  Walked the downtown area.  One of the shops was the Moonshine trading post. 

     We liked it enough to rent a shelf to display Michelle's bandana's  They are right above the good fresh egg sign and two below the sweet tea.
     Mail continued:  Checked with the local post office still no package for us.  Now it has been seven days for a two day package.  Called Norman, the lady we talked to now was the one that had been on a cruise and she didn't know anything about it because the other lady only works on Saturday and evidently they never talk.  This is getting to be trying.  to be continued.



 

  Dec 13,   This was to be our day for fortune.  We headed to the Crater of Diamonds state park  It is the only diamond mine in the world where the public can hunt for diamonds.    We rented the basic diamond mining set.  A shovel, two screens and a pail.  We started where the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam diamond, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the U.S  was found.     A ranger came by and teased us with some diamonds and gave us a little history.  The crater came from a volcanic eruption over eighty million years ago, that brought the diamonds to the surface.   A local farmer found some diamonds and sold the land it was mined commercially for a few years and then the state turned it into a state park.   Now it looks like a very rocky and barren 37 acre plowed field.  We tried the dry screen sifting method with no luck,  Then we tried the pan washing method until my hands got cold washing the dirt.  I never thought I would be doing this,  rockiest field I have ever seen  I stopped to warm my hands and wander around the field.  We spent four hours there. 

   Usually we share a meal , however Ruthie made a declaration that she was going to have her own meal tonight, looks like working in the field has worked up an appetite.   We ate at Rattlers a local cafe  named after the football team.  If you want to have some fun stop and get the owner talking lumber, electric power or politics.    We stopped at candle shop on the way home, had to have something to show for our days work.

Crater Map

 
Dec 14   It is time to move on, no mail arrived, sure glad we didn't wait in Norman for it.  We didn't have far to go to our next stop in Texarcana and the temperature at risen to 68 it got to 73 that day and we only seen one motorcycle it still surprises us we arent seeing more cycles.  

15 Mena

    Dec 9th
 Jim and Lynae had told us about a very scenic ride from Mena AR,  There was a very light drizzle falling as we started to load up,   Jim's neighbor hollered over to ask if they were kicking us out in the rain.  A fun group of people here.  You might want to remember this picture.  It is important not only to show you how quickly your friends will desert you for the safety of their garage when a few sprinkles hit.  But in a few days I will be showing you some pictures that will show you how fortunate our timing is on this trip.
     From Hot Springs we headed West on 270 and then using 71 dropped down into Mena AR.  We had got a good start this morning so we arrived at the start of our run early after noon.
     We started out on the Talimena Scenic Drive as it stretches across the very top of the Ouachita Mountains in Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas.  One of the points that interested Ruthie was Queen Wilhelmina State Park and Lake as this was her grand mothers middle name, without the queen of course.  The drive had many well marked look out points that we were unaccustomed to.  Usually they come up at the last minute and you have to swing out if no one is coming. 

     The road to the top was tree lined and then it opened to a view of the valley.  When you have to slow for a sharp curve and then the hill is in front of you is when you realize you are pulling a heavy trailer.   You think you are to the top and then in the distance you see the road you are on going further up the mountain. 
     There is a spot on the mountain where the Arkansas and Oklahoma boundary marker is.  It says their are still lawsuits ongoing because of the disputed marker.

We stopped at several of the over looks to see the view.  Kind of makes you feel humble.

     When we were in Mena the sun was warm and it had reached 72 degrees.  By the time we had reached the top of the mountain the temperature was falling pretty fast.  It dropped to 50 and we were having patches of fog.  We thought when we dropped off the mountain down in to Oklahoma it would warm up.  Wrong again.  We drove quickly around Talihina OK and we didn’t see many oppertunites to stay so we decided to take the valley road back to Mena AR.   We pushed it a little harder on the way back as we were both chilled and wanted to find some place warm.  We found an economical hotel, got settled and stopped at a new BBQ place that had been recommended to us.
     The temperature continued to drop thru the night and when we woke up there was a light dusting of snow on the camper.   We let it warm up a little before we get on the road.  Our goal today is to pickup our mail in Norman AR and go on to Murfeesboro so we can look for diamonds at the crater of diamonds.   Great plan.  Dec 5th our grandson-S had taken our mail to the post office to have the post master place in a priority envelope and address from a printed address he carried, simple enough.

      It got up into the sixty's that day.  It was a very pleasant ride with the sun coming thru the trees as we rode.  The pictures just don't do it justice.  The sun keeps flickering between the trees as you ride like an old time film strip.  Maybe I will try a video next time.

    We found Norman OK,  it was small enough it wasn't hard to find the Post office.  We had called before we had them sent just to make sure it was a manned office.  Unfortunately the person we had talked to was on a ten day cruise.  Still shouldn't be a problem.  After explaining that we were there to pick up a general delivery package sent from Minnesota.  It took a little longer after we explained we were on a motorcycle "Oh my God"  we here that a lot, a very religious area I believe.  She checked all over and no package was found.  She and the post office from the sending area. ( don't want to embarrass anyone.) agreed because of Christmas and especially going South it could be longer.  It was already 6 days for a two day delivery.  Ruthie made a great decision that day.  We would ride on to Murfreesboro rather than wait in Norman.  The post master said it would only take a day as long as we stayed in the same zip code.  Mail; to be continued. ....
This is a link to map of this leg of the journey.   Map
Then click on Hot Springs Village-Talimena Scenic Drive -Murfeesboro

14 Hot Springs Village

Dec  5 Wednesday   
     We were back on #7 heading for Hot springs village,  our next host had asked us to call when we were about a half hour away and he would meet us at the gate.  Unfortunately because of the valleys and poor reception we couldn't get a signal until we hit Jessieville the GPS said we were still quite a ways from their home so we thought we would be OK.  When I reached Jim he said we were about 5 miles from the gate.  I was confused, was the GPS wrong?  We stopped at the gate to receive a pass and wait for Jim,  the guard lady was very serious about her job, I don't think we would be going any further.  When Jim arrived we started following him to their house.  We kept watching the GPS and were amazed at the miles yet to travel, where was he taking us?  Later we found out we were inside America's largest gated community, with nine golf courses and 500 miles of paved roads.  A neighbor of Jim and Lynae's that does the newcomer briefing said it had the land mass of San Francisco 26,000 acres with less than 14,000 residents.
      Just a few days ago we had been on the purple heart trail and now we were at one, Jim was a former Marine and tennis pro.   We seemed to fit right in, great people.  At supper that night Jim had mentioned that his gold wing  had an issue, some dirty rat ( literally)  had chewed thru some of the wiring and one of the results was no gas gauge.  The local Honda dealer said it would cost $2,700 to replace the wire harness and he charged them $250 for that piece of information.   I could see Ruthie's mind working, when we were re-manufacturing our home her favorite expression was "Vernon can do that"  at least this time she said it with a question, Vern, you could fix that couldn't you?  I said probably but I would have to look at it first.  We had originally planned on staying the one evening and heading out.  However this provided an opportunity to do what we had planned, exchange repair work or horse training for room and board.  The next morning we offered to work on the bike and if repaired our stay would be at no cost,  if I couldn't fix it we would pay them $20.00 per day.  They wanted to make sure this was not affecting our trip plans?  ( well you already know the answer, we have no plans.) 
   I tore the bike apart on the 6th to diagnose the problem, grey with stipe and rings was severed as well as one of the green ones,  I counted over 8 green wires in this bundle of 80 plus wires.  The problem was they disappeared behind the frame.
Dec 7th Jim took us golfing,  I know we haven't golfed in over 5 years, Ruthie used Lynae's clubs and I used Jim's friends "Big Jim"  kind of nervous here,  our Jim was 6'3" I didn't want to scratch Big Jim's clubs and  they kept talking about a bigger Jim. 

I think around this time Jim must have been reconsidering the deal.  Let's see $2,700 or Vern staying who knows how long.  I think it was then they he said maybe we should set a time limit and then just fix the fuel gauge and not worry about the other wire.  Or maybe it was when he heard me on the phone with the freight company getting quotes on moving our belongings to Hot Springs Village.  Either way on the 8th I had both wires repaired and was putting it back together.

 Just teasing!  This wasn't Jims bike, thought I better clarify it before I have three Jim's after me.  This was our trike the week before we left.  Notice no front end, we installed a steering rake for easier steering.

      This is Jim and Layne's, thanks for sending the pictures.     We got it back together and checked out and they had a nice surprise for us.
     They took us on a tour of Hot Springs, there was a sign that said Bill Clinton was born there, however we cannot confirm or deny that.

 One of our goals when we left Minnesota was to follow Randy and Jan's advice and check out Bubba's seafood in Hot springs,  another check mark on the old bucket list. 

.


 One of the signs I seen as we walked the streets was a Strip Karaoke place, still wonder about that.

 The history of the springs was very interesting, they say that the water that is coming out today entered the earth 4000 years ago and comes out at 143 degrees, you can see Ruthie's surprise.  The others are residents that are getting their drinking water.  We went to a film about the history of it and bless Jim's heart, I know he had seen it before and his head kept bouncing off his shoulder.  What great hosts they are.
    We had a great time and hated to leave.  I learned at least three things here Arlington is where Robert E Lees home was, Blue bell is the best ice cream ( according to Jim, he hides his stash.) and it is OK to move the golf ball out of the rough when you are playing for fun ( and the clubs belong to BIG JIM)
     We will remember this stay always. 

13 Russelville

Dec 4 th Wednesday 12:24 am, slipped down to the breakfast area to write so as not to disturb Ruthie, was it the caffeine or mind full of ideas, don’t know but I am determined to get a handle on this blog and our travel notes. .  Computer, internet problems, and time seemed to be putting me further behind.
     We met  a man at the courtesy breakfast that was on his way to the local Honda dealer to pick up  his new Gold wing,  They were going to have it ready for him to ride to Texas.  We suggested that he have them put on some highway pegs,  Gold wings aren’t made for tall people and he definitely was.  Ruthie say's he was 6'5" , she gets the details.    It would give him a way to stretch out his legs.  Before we left we drove by the dealer to check it out, biggest supply of bikes and trikes we had seen.  
     While in Russelville we received a call in reply to an email from our motorcycle contact offering to put us up for an evening at Hot springs village.
     The next morning we completely unloaded our trailer to lighten the load.  We ended up sending back over forty pounds in four boxes back home.  This will help with loading and unloading.
While in Russelville we went thru all of our gear and arranged to send  40 lbs of gear back home.
      There all packed away, this is the storage area we can get to even when the tent is set up.  We try to keep the day to day things in the trike for easy access.   By the end of this trip we should have it down to a science.  
     We avoided a couple of major rain storms during our reorganization time spent in Russelville.   As we were leaving we stopped at "The Waffle House"  note it is not to be confused with "a waffle house"  one of our cycle friends Morgan back home in Minnesota likes them as well as we do.  So tradition has it that we call him when we are at one..  Since they don't seem to be available North of Arkansas this only happens every few years.  We might have to curtail the calling practice on this trip.  We told him we were at Waffle house # 867 and of course he replied oh that one is my favorite.   What a guy.
   The unfortunate part of this visit, as soon as we entered we heard conspiracy theory guy back in the corner bending someones ear.  ( didn't look at all like Mel Gibson)  Using horse training skills, turn your shoulder toward them and avoid eye contact.  ( it draws horses to you and discourages conspiracy theory guy's contact.)  And why is it always a guy?? Why not conspiracy theory gal?   One lady escaped, she said she had to use the restroom,  he went right to another person.  There voice is always a couple of decibels to loud so it is hard to ignore them.  Well great breakfast and we were on our way to Hot Springs village,  what kind of reception would we find there? 





  

12 Pig's Trail & 7

     We had toured most of the morning and it was time to put some miles on to get to our next motorcycle road. We headed down #71  south until we hit Interstate 40 taking that East until we arrived at 23, the start of the Pig's Trail

 

      We started up the pigs trail stopping at the Turner bend  trading post it was one of the stops that Tom and Gail from Eureka had suggested, we had hoped to spend the night however that was not to be.  We purchased riding gloves, treats and were on our way.  I remember one of the things Gail wondered about was our comfort while riding with the wind, rain and exposure to the elements.  Yet she competes in marathons and I know I couldn't do that.  I guess we all give up some degree of comfort to participate in what we enjoy.  Otherwise we would be in our climate controlled couch.  . 

Steep and dangerous curves ( gotta love it)    Just after this sign there was one that said "Warning gravity assisted vehicles", ( aren’t we all? )  A little help here, not even the locals knew what the sign was referring to.
    It was getting late and we were anxious to get settled.  Night travel in a strange area is not the best, to many animals trying to cross the road.  We had not been able to reach the next campground by phone luckily there was a note on the door.
Arrangements were made and we had a spot for the

night.  Mulberry Mountain campsite,  There were only a couple of campers when we arrived it was getting dusk and we wanted to get the camper set up.
     A few minutes later a group of all terrain vehicles arrived at the campground, within minutes they had loaded them on trailers and were leaving.  Guess they all had work on Monday.  There was one nice motor home parked but we never seen anybody. Looks like we were alone here.   A nice quiet evening, nice showers and restrooms.  The next morning a light breakfast yogurt, breakfast bars and milk.  On the way out we stopped at the office to ask about the sign we had seen the night before, blank looks was all we got. 

   We headed north on 23 and near Huntsville we took the 412 pass to Harrison,   we stopped at a McDonald's for of course hot chocolate.   As we went in we overheard a couple talking "wow I wouldn't want to be riding cycle today.  It was 65 degrees.  Our friends in Minnesota would love to be riding, I think last I talked to them it was 15 degrees.

 When we hit Harrison we picked up #7, another scenic road.  On the way we went thru Jasper AR a quaint little town home of Emma's museum and junk store.   Luckily Ruthie isn't much of a shopper and she didn't seem anxious to stop.  Besides our space was limited.   At the next little village a subway  2 dollar specials caught our eye.  As we were leaving a gas truck pulled in.   The driver Dave had met us on the road earlier and wanted to say Hi.  He rode a 1800 Honda VTX and his wife a unique 1999 Kawasaki Vulcan one of only 25 black ones made.   Of course he got Ruthie talking trikes, luckily we

 don’t have a time frame.  Her career as a phlebotomist provided her with a captive audience as it was difficult for them to leave with a needle in their arm.  However Dave was a willing listener as he was interested in trikes and traveling.  Sometimes it is difficult to get back on the road.. I think I am finally learning some patience skills.
   


     We stopped at the Buffalo National Park to rest take a break and look at the river.  Beautiful bluff country.

      Resuming on 7 we were on our way to Russelville,  their was rain forecast.  Our plan was to re-organize and plan for the next few days, where to ride, where to stay? 

   

11 Bella Vista

     It was a nice ride to Bella Vista, we were on our way to stay with Barb and Warren,  neighbors from our Minnesota prairie home. Warren had been a teacher and football coach so we got a lot of insight into the emphasis of football in the local high schools.  Barb had cooked a wonderful meal and afterward we were having what we thought was a good time playing euchre until Barb threatened to remove Ruthie's tongue to prevent her from bidding. Ruthie is a little competitive and I do have to agree, I was getting a little tired of it also.   

      They live in a very nice home in a Cooper  community. ( make note of that) and one of the reasons they live there is the weather and golfing.  They gave us a lot of great hints on things to see as we left.  One of the things that Barb mentioned that we will have to see another time is the mule jumping contest.  Funny as it sounds it is an annual event and quite interesting.  We had the opportunity to see one at a horse show in Chatfield Mn.   A mule has the unique ability to stand in front of a fence gather itself and jump almost straight up and over a fence,  I had heard that they had been used for coon hunting for years, because the rider could come up to a fence lay blanket on it to give visibility to the fence and the mule will jump over it .  There is one that has jumped over 70 inches.  When we left that morning they were amazed at how we packed all our things into the trike.   And evidently there were no hard feelings over the card game the night before because Barb snapped this picture of us as we were  ready to leave and emailed it to us. 

      And we were on our way to their suggested stops, it doesn't take much to alter our plans.  First stop was the Cooper Chapel built by her family to honor the wife of the founder of the cooper communities.   Built out of steel and glass.  It is beautiful. 

   Remember now,  we are in Walmart country home of Sam Walton so a trip to Bentonville AR to see where it all started.   Ever wonder what makes one person strive to do more than the next?   Was it education?    Ambition? 

What ever it is, it all started here and as they say the rest is history.   From their we traveled just out side of town to the Crystal Bridges museum.  The museum was the dream of Alice Walton daughter of Sam and Helen.  It is a non profit foundation started but not associated with Walmart even though admission is free because of them.   We are not your typical museum visitor.  However we spent three enjoyable hours touring it.  It is dedicated to American artists.   One of the areas had information and models of  other buildings created by the architect of this museum Moshe Safdie  they are some of the most unique buildings I have ever seen.  Here are a few pictures of and inside the museum.

         I had to include the next two because it was so different.  986 thread spools so arranged that when viewed thru a viewing sphere it creates an image.

      Time to get on the road again.  It was an interesting day, thank you Barb and Warren for the travel tips.

10 Touring Eureka

     Look very close,  from the lookout we seen a unique building and it changed all our plans of budgeting tonight.  It was the Crescent hotel.  We called and started negotiating with Katy ( great name) at the hotel.  We got a little discount and then we found out if we didn't do the breakfast we could save $40.00 ( must be some breakfast) well we still had oatmeal and yogurt so we were on our way.  Now how do you get from here to there?  Next time we will ask.  Our GPS took us the shortest way and I apologize to the cycle for what I put it thru.  With streets that went almost striaght up and stop signs on the brink of the hill it was more than we should ask a cycle to do pulling a 700 lb plus trailer.

     Built in 1886 just think of the history here, who has walked these halls?   We were on the fourth floor over looking Eureka Springs in the valley below.   Fortunately we had arrived on the day of their annual Christmas Parade.  A seasoned long distant rider had stopped to visit and mentioned when packing to only pack up to 80 % of available space,  I think we were at 105 % plus all the bulky warm clothing we were wearing.   It will be tough to spend four months with this lack of space.  The hotel staff always gets a kick when we take the luggage cart out to the cycle and start pulling things out to take to our room.
     Daughter Michelle had mentioned that we should visit Bubba's BBQ, just in time I might add, they were closing for the winter and this was their last weekend,  hard for us to understand as it was 70 degrees.                                  
   Out side of the Restaurant we were approached by a couple Robert and Noreen from South Dakota, they were inquiring about the food inside and wanted to know all about our travels and the trike.  Sometimes it takes a while to get to our next location, especially if Ruthie pulls out the photo albums.
     I probably should mention that Ruthie has had some accident problems,  a pinched finger, opening 

a door into her chest and tonight she fell getting out of the bathtub,  cracked rib or just a bad bruise only time will tell.  
       I think it was worth it to spend the extra money for one evening,  The special room, Christmas parade, the view of the town and valley below.  A special stay indeed, even with no breakfast.

     After the downtown Christmas parade we wandered the streets looking at  some of the shops in town.  We had a couple of peices fo chocolate and hot beverage.  Met a couple from Little Rock, Tom and Gail,  They had a summer place on the Pigs trial one of our destinations,  had a nice visit with them and learned of some more sights to see.  It seemed they were curious about our retirement plans and the trip.  You meet the nicest people sometimes. 

      Eureka springs is mentioned in Ripley's believe it or not more than any other place on earth.

      



   One of the places he mention's is the Saint Elizabeth Chapel, built in 1904 to honor a mother.  ( haven't found many to honor fathers? Don't understand the favoritism. )  One of the things that make it unique is that you enter thru the bell tower.

We could spend more time, roads and streets to wander.  However there is still the threat of colder weather so we had better move on to Bella Vista.  I am sure we will be back some day.