Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Gorgeous Talimena Scenic Drive






After a delightful breakfast of pancakes and sausage at the trailer we left the campground around 9:00 for our day on the Talimena Scenic Drive. Before we left Hot Springs, Randall was determined that we were going to find a bakery where we might find a cake or pie. Grocery stores are very scarce around Hot Springs for some reason. We went by Cracker Barrell and they said they don’t carry the pies and cakes until November. So we continued to look and found a San Francisco Bread Company. We thought we had hit the jack pot, but it ended up they did not have whole cakes and pies but did large muffins, carrot cake slices and cheese cake slices. So we bought them.

By the time we did all of this, we left Hot Springs to travel to Mena, AR where the Talimena Scenic Drive begins. The drive to Mena takes about 1 hr. 45 min. We left H.S. around 9:45. We stopped and got gas in Mt. Ida. We only needed ½ tank, but went ahead and filled up because there are no gas stations along the Talimena S.D.

After our disappointing drive yesterday on the Scenic 7, I truly hoped this one would be better. My hopes came true. This drive was absolutely beautiful! Our day started off mostly sunny and went between totally cloudy to partly sunny. Even in the clouds the overlooks were fantastic. The leaves in this area had more color than any we have seen so far. I think they are near peak in the highest altitudes we were in today. This drive was well worth the time. As I said before, the drive starts in Arkansas and goes all the way to Oklahoma. We didn’t complete the whole route, but did most of it.

We took food with us to picnic, but it was so cold and windy in the area we were in around 12:00 that we decided we would have to eat in the car. But wouldn’t you know that God provided a wonderful place for us to eat right at 12:00. At 12:10, we came upon the Queen Wilhelmina State Park where they had a beautiful restaurant. This is the only restaurant on the whole drive and we came to it right at lunch time and we didn’t even plan it. That’s just like God! We really enjoyed this buffet lunch with a wonderful dessert bar and fabulous coffee!

We arrived back at our camp around 4:30. We are expecting rain as the cold front comes through tonight and in the morning. Since we are leaving here in the morning and going to Harrison, AR, we decided to go ahead when we got back this afternoon to do as much of our breaking down camp and hooking up things as we could in case it is raining in the morning.

We are really enjoying our vacation! We enjoyed the Hot Springs area. Now we look forward to seeing what adventures Harrison holds for us.

Love to all of you back at home!

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