OKLAHOMA and ARKANSAS NOVEMBER 11-17, 2024

 November 11-17, 2024

Greg and I decided on a quick trip to Arkansas and Oklahoma, hoping to catch the end of Fall colors.  We did see some here and there, but was past peak for most part.  Still an interesting, enjoyable trip.  Instead of day by day, I'll just list some highlights...

First stop was Paris, Texas to see their Eiffel Tower, and, it being Veteran's Day, the Red River Valley Veteran's Memorial.

Beaver's Bend State Park in Oklahoma.  Nice site on the water with electric. Acorn Loop.  Had heard much about this area of Oklahoma which is nicely wooded and has many lakes.  Fishing popular. The fog rolling over the lake in the morning was cool.   Lots of logging trucks. Broken Bow is name of the town and lake.

Talimena National Scenic Byway from Talihina in Oklahoma to Mena in Arkansas.  We camped at Queen Wilhelmina State Park, again with electric.  Cold evenings but Greg made good campfire.  Completely fogged-in in the morning. Went on to Mena for gas and asked a local for breakfast recommendation - Fully Baked Cafe, only so-so.

 Lots of rural roads and many, many chicken farms as we drove to Petit Jean State Park.  Crazy winding roads up and down mountains. Abandoned houses and barns and a few rural homes with yards full of "trash" - old vehicles, old appliances, etc. - real eyesores to us.

Do you think so? Duh.

 Petit Jean State Park boasted a 95' waterfalls but due to drought, water was just a trickle.  But the scenery was nice!   Trail to Rock House Cave and Turtle Rocks was cool. Some faint pictographs in the cave. 

Lots of buildings, bridges, walls built by the CCC  from stone, and this statue acknowledged that.

Next was the Arkansas Grand Canyon near Jasper.  Heavily wooded and pretty, but no visible rocks. We ate at the Cliff House Inn, overlooking the canyon.  Owner was Cajun, so we enjoyed a shrimp poorboy. 

Hiked to Plum Cove Natural Bridge and stayed at Ozone National Forest Campground in the Ozark.  8 sites total, 2 other campers.  Quiet. $1.50.  Good fire.

Onward to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.  Very nice, inside and out with various paths & scuptures.    Quite a variety of art, from Norman Rockwell, Georgia O'Keef to modern art and more.  Free entry due to Walmart support.  They are in the process of nearly doubling the size.

Also a short tour of a house by architect  Frank Lloyd Wright.                               .

We tried Devil's Den State Park where we'd camped years ago and another campground but they were both full, but it is weekend.  We are also close to the University at Fayetteville.  Ended up continuing on to Roland Cherokee Casino which had free electric hookups!  Had dinner there and Beth blew her $10!  

Back in Oklahoma, we stopped at Chickasaw National Recreation Area and the Chickasaw Culture Center.  Nice overlook, waterways, bison and a nature center. 

 The Culture Center was quite a campus that included a replica village.  We watched  a dance performance and talked to some Chickasaw folks about making moccasins,  leggings with turtle shells filled with stones or mussel shells for music. 

Our last night, we proceeded to Lake Murray State Park which is near the Texas border. The site had  electric, but we were given a lousy site very close to another camper.  Nice sunset but no fire ring on our site. (Elephant Rock #43).  Very busy place.  So what we learned was weekdays were great but weekends still very busy at State Parks.   Greg cooked burgers on the grill. This was the first night we didn't need the extra blankets!  Nice sunset!

Then the long drive, 340 miles to home.  Cloudy, overcast and rain as we got closer to home. Greg did a super job of driving throughout.