Arkansas

November, 2016

My first destination in Arkansas was Fayetteville because Comet was there. Comet, from the Bibbulman Track in Australia. She's a grad student there and of course I went to spend some time with her. Trouble is, grad students teaching and taking courses don't have a lot of extra time for visitors. But that's okay. I needed down time too. She shares a house with a couple of guys, Nick and Rohan, who are also so students.

Fayetteville is a charming college town, home of the Razorbacks. Quite hilly and leafy. Loved seeing fall colors everywhere after dusty, treeless Oklahoma…that’s for sure. Comet and I were able to carve out time from her busy schedule teaching, attending classes, and grading papers to go to a play and attend a college girls volleyball game. And go out for pizza and Korean food! It was a great change of pace since on the bike I don’t really get much night life. I’m typically asleep by 9 pm most nights:)

I had decided to stay there through the election which gave me nearly a week and I have some hiking friends up in Columbia Missouri who offered to drive down with new baby on their busy weekend to see me. Why don’t I rent a car and come up? And that’s what I did. I’m sure I’ve said this before, and I’m saying it again, I’d rather bike for 6 days to get some place than drive for 6 hours! The 6 days will be most enjoyable. The six hours is pure torture! Everything goes by too fast and you don’t really see anything. You don’t meet any of the locals. You don’t smell the woods. People traveling in cars are deprived of so much. They just get there faster and more miserable. But time was an issue. Need to get south before the snow flies, so I drove.

Bacon and Meander I met on the PCT in 2010. They finished. I didn’t. But we’ve managed to stay in touch in each others lives. I’ve visited them when they lived up in Wisconsin with their families when I drove to Wyoming in 2011. So it’s been a few years. And they’ve gotten married and had a baby in the meantime.

That's baby Zinnia

   

Bacon and Zinnia checking out the mules

So lots to catch up on. They live in a darling rental house out in the country close to town and their landlord and his wife, who live next door, have become a members of the family.  The landlord, Tom Stewart, has a mule breeding and training farm.  And I got to go on a mule ride!

It was a beautiful fall day.  We helped to hitch up the mules...omg, those harnesses are heavy!  I think there's a market in ultralight harnesses.  Think how much happier your horses and mules would be!

All hitched up!

Tom Stewart, mule master

Off we go!

Look who's coming up the rear!

Tom and fellow mule master...

 I can't believe I didn't take one picture of Fayetteville or Comet and her roomies.  Where is my head sometimes I wonder?  I guess I just took the week off...I was on vacation:))

I got back to Fayetteville after my delightful stay with Bacon and Meander...so nice to see them again!  Now I had a few days (and a car) to wander around the town.  Much impressed, I must say!  They were busy decorating the town square for Christmas.  Yup, I could live there!  A few days to run errands, gather supplies, enjoy time with Comet, get depressed over the election results, and I was on my way.

Terra Studios Art Park, most unusual place to camp

The first night out from Fayetteville some locals sent me to an Art Park as a place to camp for the night.  What were they thinking?  No camping was allowed even though they had a lovely picnic area.  I talked with the folks in the gallery and they called the owner who agreed to my being able  to camp near the toilets if I made a $10 donation.  As it was nearing sunset, I opted to stay.  One of the more unusual places to camp, that's for sure!

My more typical camping spot in the woods

Cowboys and church, great combination

Camping under a full moon in an open field

Arkansas is such a beautiful state

So I camped on that lake, Cove Lake near Mt. Magazine

One of my favorite camping spots so far

Waking up to this, who wouldn't love it?!?

Ahhhh!!!!

This was first!

   Another pretty lake...Nimrod Lake

   Rain was coming.  I needed to stay put.  Found this federal campground, 1/2 price Senior Pass applied, showers and power, I'm in heaven! Practically the only one there.  On my way here, I came down miles of dirt road, my favorite road to ride, when a truck came up behind me.  I was on the left biking because it was smoother so he passed me on the right, waving his arms out the window yelling and smiling away.  He stops.  He and his wife get out to chat.  Turns out they had seen me pass through town the other day and were excited to see me again and be able to talk to me.  They had told a friend of theirs "now there's the kind of woman you need...she can take care of herself!  A real woman?"  This guy was Gomer Pyle if there ever was one.  Wish I'd gotten a pic.  But so sweet and so sincere.  His wife said he loves to live in the woods and knows all the names of plants and trees.  One of those special moments only a bike traveler gets to have.

Another beautiful sunset.  And even though I see many, I never lose the wonder.

The rain in that campground turned to hail...glad I wasn't on the road then.

And another night as I'm nearing Hot Springs, I got hit with a heavy frost!  Brrr!!!

The next day I cycled into Hot Springs.  This is a town I spent a lot of time in before I retired from Xerox 10 years ago.  I was designing an automated billing system for our scanning services center there.  This was definitely a destination for me.  First, I wanted to see if I could meet up with some of the woman I worked with when I was here.  Then I wanted to see the owners of the Inn I used to stay at.  I accomplished both.  Yet again, no photos of Kat and Amy, and our lunch together in town that Sunday.  I was so delighted they were able to come together last minute and catch me up on their lives.

From there I cycled out to Lookout Point Lakeside Inn on Lake Hamilton to reconnect with Ray and Kristi Rosset, the owners.  This place is truly a sanctuary.  I felt right at home being back there!  

Lookout Point Lakeside Inn, Hot Springs, Arkansas

How's this for a view?

Lake Hamilton, Arkansas early morning fog

After leaving the comforts of the Inn...and that's always a bit of challenge :), the next big event was Thanksgiving Day.  I really wanted to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, best would be with a small family gathering if that should evolve.  First thing that happened that day was my finding a woman's wallet on the side of the road with the credit cards and cash still in tact.  Unable to find her phone number in it, I called 911 and we made plans for me to meet an officer up the road at a gas station.  I got there early and had time to meet some of the locals.

These guys were just in awe of what I was doing!

And then a young man, who's only job was to get ice, stopped by finding the ice machine empty.  Luckily they still had some in the back so while he waited for the ice.  We chatted.  He ended up inviting me to his family party where some 30+ people would be in attendance.  I just wasn't feeling up to a crowd and since it wasn't on my route,  I declined.  I wasn't feeling the greatest that day because of groin pain and thought it better if I not make my day any more difficult.  So after meeting the cop and handing over the wallet, I continued south.  Finding a leafy, woodsy, roadside spot in an enclave of houses to camp for the night, I stopped a bit early.  I just wanted to sit and soak up some of the setting sun.  It's winter and setting so early.  While sitting there, a neighbor in his truck swung by and asked if I needed any food.  Nope, I'm good.  What about leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner?, he asks.  I won't say No!

And so I got turkey, deep fried okra, sweet potato casserole, rolls, sweet tea, and chocolate cream pie.  

What is the pink/purple paint on all the trees?, I asked myself.  Googled it and found out it defines Private Property boundaries...interesting.

Starting to see bayous 

Feeling a bit like an animal in the zoo:))

Coming across Arkansas I saw the most beautiful forests and cycled lovely rolling hills.  I even met an Olympian, a young lady just back from Rio after medaling in Modern Pentathlon.  It was her 3rd Olympics and she's in her twenties!

Another day I found a wallet on the side of the road with money and credit cards in tact.  After a call to 911, I met up with a police officer at a gas station up the road.  He said most people wouldn't turn it in.  I begged to differ...I think most people would.  I told him that he just sees more of the bad side of people and I get to see all the goodness.  

Sometimes it feels like there are so many stories, too many to share.  Some days I capture well with lots of photos.  Some days I'm so caught up in living the moment that I take not a one.  This life is rich with people encounters, and that, for me, is the best part of the journey.  But that's not to belittle those quiet nights under the stars that I crave.  I sometimes ponder "what next?".  I've mentally tried on getting a small van and driving around the US, and Central and South America.  But the journey wouldn't be the same.  I'd be locked in a vehicle seeing the world from behind the glass, disconnected from my environment.  I wouldn't have the people encounters, the rescues, the acts of kindness, the rich conversations.  I'd be challenged by finding a place to park it.  A parked car creates much more concern and suspicion than a bicycle and a tent.  Now I would have gas, and insurance, and park fees.   And for a frugal person, I cringe at the additional costs.  So, I guess that's not the answer. 

 I'll keep cycling and keep pondering...

Oklahoma!

"Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain..."  

You got that right!  Wind...unbelievable winds...and no place to hide.  Much like I experienced in southwest Colorado.  It continued.  But the countryside became bleaker, more industrial.  The source of our food should look bucolic, not industrial.  Just seemed all so unhealthy.  There were more long buildings, side by side.  I knew they housed animals by the smell, but I didn't know what.  Pigs.  Tortured pigs.  Every piece of meat you eat (unless it's been pasture raised) has lived a tortured existence.  And many of you eat meat and then espouse about animal rights.  Far more animals are tortured in the name of FOOD than all the others in research and abuse situations.  Think about that, please, the next time you bite into that hamburger, wings, or BLT.    It's not okay.  And if they're tortured, there are toxins being released into their meat...how healthy can that be to be ingesting?  Not to mention the hormones injected to keep them alive until slaughtered.  Sorry for this rant, but I hurt every time I cycled past those barns...and I biked past a lot of them.  And the stench, if the wind was blowing my way, made it unbreathable.  And they're living in those conditions. Until killed.  That's they're lucky day.  Namaste.  I said it every time I passed by.  How are they different from humans being tortured?  Why do they deserve less humane treatment?  For me, the pain and impotence is the same.

The Panhandle of Oklahoma has an interesting history, if I remember it right.  The land used to be part of the Republic of Texas.  There also was the Indian Territory and the Oklahoma Territory in this area.  When Texas wanted to become a state, they wanted to be a slave state.  But no slaves were allowed above the 36' 30" parallel, so they chopped off that piece.  It became "No Man's Land", not belonging to anyone.  Hence, there was to law and order there either, so that's where the "bad guys" went to avoid the sheriff.  When Oklahoma wanted to become a state, they were forced to tack that parcel on.  It's very, very, very flat there.  And no trees.  Nada.  Not naturally.  Any trees were clustered around the farmhouse where they could be watered or they died.  No rivers crossed through there.  Water was from digging down to the aquifer.  Many areas reminded me of Australia with the windmill water pumps.

A heatwave was forecasted to come blazing through the panhandle while I was crossing it.  Temps over 100* and gusting winds up to 40 + mph.  I didn't want any part of it.  So I checked Google to find the nearest town with a motel I could hide out in.

 Beaver was 60 miles away.  I'm heading there!  As I got close to town, I came upon a park.  Hadn't seen one in quite awhile.  Picnic tables, campground, mowed lawns, and lovely lake.  Right next to these major sand dunes...with dune buggies ripping around all day.  But I figured if I spent the night there, that was one less night in a motel room.  And it was so lovely there.  Who wouldn't want to stay?  So I did.  I love downtime.  I think because I'm always moving, always packing up, unpacking, pedaling, talking to new people, I treasure some unstructured time.  And I feel like I have little of it.  (Even now, in town, staying with a friend, I'm busy doing this.  I want a vacation!)  

Sweet spot, heh?

In order to work on my trike derailleur I need to prop up the back end and pedal and shift from the front...I found a picnic bench solved my problem and I was able to get that derailleur re-aligned.




So having an afternoon off in that park was sweet...until someone stops by to talk and eats up my afternoon.  Oh well...  But the view of the lake, not having seen water in a long, long time, was soothing in itself.  It's surprising how the view of water, any water, is missed when you don't have it.  I need water.  A lake, river, ocean...need it!  The next morning the Ranger stopped by.  He told me if I decided to stay another night (and I was thinking about it), I needed to move to the campground (which was nowhere near the bathroom block...how crazy).  Why?  Because sprinklers will come on! In the fall they're set for every other day.  I had gotten lucky the night I camped on the picnic area.  Sure didn't look like sprinkled grass.  A mix of brown and barely green.  Well, that decided it.  Go to Beaver and get a room.

But before I left, I met a mom and her daughter who had come to the park after church to spend some time together.  The daughter, Samantha, was about 8 I'd guess and before they left she had drawn me a picture (but of course it won't upload...c'est la vie) .  These are the treats I cycle for.  

Beaver, like most of the towns I cycled through in Oklahoma had the bare essentials: bank, grocery, hardware, church, post office,  gas station, and Pizza Hut.  Subway too, thank goodness.  And houses.  Neat houses.  Manicured lawns.  A sense of pride.  And a quaint motel called The Duster Inn.

What a quaint place to hold up out of the heat and wind.

And everyone gets their picture taken in front of the big beaver!

Coming across Oklahoma, I decided to drop down to the middle of the state hoping to hit more back roads and avoid the more popular ones.  This meant I missed Enid.  I lived in Oklahoma in my early 20’s when my husband was drafted into the Army and sent here for training at Fort Sill.  A very lonely time as my husband’s alcoholism kept him out all night.  I was only 20, away from home, knew no one, and my husband was never around taking the only car when he left on binges for days at a time.  This sheltered little girl was quickly learning to grow up.   So Oklahoma didn’t have fond memories for me. But I have no idea why Enid sticks in my mind.  Perhaps my brother was stationed at the air force base here.  I’ll have to ask him.  I think that’s the connection.  But I didn’t see Enid…or Fort Sill.  

But I did see thorns…goathead thorns…puncture vine….stickers…whatever you want to call them.  Rampant across the middle of the state.  And i learned to read the grass.  Mowed lawns, like churches where I often camp, are the worst.  I think the mowing makes them grow thicker.  I noticed if I walked around the lawn sometimes I could find areas that had a different kind of grass where the thorns didn’t grow as much.  Like in a cow pasture!

What a struggle every night.  I’d find the spot with the least thorns, put up my tent on the tyvek ground cloth, then gently crawl into the tent feeling for the ouch of a thorn puncturing through and reach under the tyvek to remove it.  I did this all around the tent.  Then I laid down every bit of extra clothing, jacket, towel, bandana I had to make a bed for my air mattress.  I figured if there were any still there they’d puncture into the cloth and save my mattress from deflating.  And it worked!

So one morning as I was leaving the tiny crossroads of Lacey where I camped near the community building, I found my rear tire was flat.  The last rear flat I had in Colorado.  The tire is bald so I’m really not surprised.  But as I went to patch it, no pump!  Oh, no!  I must have left it by the roadside the last time I changed that flat.  What am I going to do now?  This is a predicament, for sure!  How do I get myself into these spots?  How do I get myself out of them?  A friendly farmer stopped and I explained my predicament.  He said he usually carried a compressor but this truck was new and he hadn’t put it in it yet.  But he was sure one of the neighbors nearby by had one and he’d go see what he could find.  And he found one.  So I was able to replace the tube, pump it up and be on my way.  Sadly though, I couldn’t find the cause of the flat and I never like that.  It means the problem probably hasn’t been fixed.  I passed through the next town after stopping at the grocery store and 500 feet outside of town…flat!  Same tire.  Dang!  Narrow road.  No shoulder.  Big trucks.  Can’t push it or it will destroy the tire.  Wave down a truck.  He takes me to a gas station.  I figure I’ll get it patched (no more tubes), blow it up, and be on my way.  The air costs $1.75  each time you use it.  Really?!?!  I need to use it to find the hole then again to blow up the tire.  And I’ve never used station air pumps before because they scare me that they’ll blow up the tire.  I’m talking to anyone who’ll listen about the cost of the air, when this guy filling a trailer full of gas cans says he works across the street and they have a compressor I can borrow.  Gee thanks.  So they bring it over.  I patch the tire, this time the hole was on the inside.  Weird.  Different spot from the last.  I take the compressor back to the shop and the guys there say they can check the amount of air in the tire and cap it off for me.  Boom!  He blows my new tube.  I laugh.  It’s all just part of the adventure. 

The guys who helped me fix my flat!

 I still have the tube I removed this morning.  I can patch that and use it.  So I do that.  And leave.  600 feet down the same road and it’s flat again.  I’m deflated and defeated now.  I was on my way to Stillwater to stay with Warmshowers hosts Susan and Jeff Walker.  I’d called her about my issues though I wasn’t due to arrive until tomorrow.  She said if need be she could come the 50 miles to pick me up.  So when this last flat happened, I called Susan.  What a kind and sympathetic soul!!  I hope she knows how grateful I was for her rescuing me.  

Stillwater is the home of Oklahoma State University and quite a college town.  It was nearing Halloween when I was there and one day I was browsing on Main St and commented to a shop owner about what a big holiday Halloween was here…what with orange decoration in every shop window.  He said, Orange is the OSU color!!!  Ohhhh! :))  I’m so bright.

Susan and Jeff have a beautiful house out in the country.  So rustic inside and out!  Just my taste!  And they were kind enough to let me stay 3 nights.  That gave me time to get my tube properly replaced in the back, although even though the last flat was an inside puncture I never figured it out.  I just had to trust that all would be well.  I got a pump so I was braver leaving there.  Susan gave me a tour of the area too.  Always nice to see more than I can from the bike.  And the best part was they let me win at Upwards, a game they play during dinner every night.  Two college English professors and I’d never played before…they treat their guests right….but just for one night!  Susan is a kindred spirit having toured cross the US several times with various groups as well as several other tours including one in Alaska with her daughter.  She’s even written a book about her adventures.  The other effort she made that was much appreciated was she found me a host in Tulsa, my next stop.  Warmshowers hosts weren’t working out so she contacted a friend who couldn’t help but reached out to others.

Fixing that back tire...and it worked!

Playing Upwards at dinner with Susan and Jeff

I love hanging laundry and I love pictures of wash on the line...now I have a picture of MY wash on the line:)

And that’s how I ended up staying with Kay and Steve and her daughter Sara.  And Tulsa was a big surprise.  What an eclectic city.  Beautiful older neighborhoods with manicured lawns and freshly painted surfaces.  Each house was a different style unlike the neighborhoods today where each house looks like the one next door.  And downtown was Art Deco.  A great mix of old and new.  Well done, Tulsa!

And I got to go to Tulsa traditional blowout Halloween party in an old downtown theater with Kay and Steve…and wouldn’t ya know I forgot my camera!  Steve got a pic of us and another of some of the costumes.  But some people go all out for this party.  Wow!  I was showing my age though…I had wished I’d brought  my ear pugs.  With hearing loss in one ear, I try to preserve the other so I was walking around with a finger in one ear.  The music sounded better that way:)

Kay does massage and taught me more things about caring for my body.  I always love to learn more care for these aging overworked muscles.  She had a lumpy roller that she showed me to use from my feet to my toes.  OMG!  It was fabulous!  Found some tender spots around my butt…surprise…surprise!  If you can get your hands on one of those your body will thank you.  

And again, I had to say goodbye:(   It’s never easy after making friends, once again, but I guess I’m getting used to it.  

And on to Arkansas!!!!  But I won’t forget Oklahoma and the winds, the sand, the heat, and the wonderful people. 

And some more random photos...Oklahoma got greener as I got further east.

Gotta love Oklahoma!

Camped at a dump:)

The view the other way was delightful!

Good thing I could fit under 

Artsy shot!

Layering my clothes under my air pad to prevent punctures

Not every spot I camp is picturesque:)