Texarakana was on the border of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana until they moved Louisiana but you can still take a cliché border photo...
Cheese or just cheesy?
We stayed here for a couple of days while some rain blew over. We had some sign wavers in the rain outside our hotel. Not the Wesboro Baptists but at least they were out there.
Yep. Out there.
Apart from looking out our hotel window there must be something to do...
A quick check of trip advisor says three things... and two of these were restaurants. Off downtown to visit the Number 1 thing to do in Texarakana...
On the way. Quick stop the car...
$7500 asking price. A quick check of the pink slip and shows that he paid $895 for it. A small profit margin however ...
Under the hood... 350 V8
Number one attraction in Texarkana. The Ross Perot Theatre. Or has we came to know it,"Davo's Place.' We rocked into the booking office to see if there was anything on and were given a private tour by David. By the time we had finished the whole staff came out to meet us and thank us for dropping by...
Davo's place...Perot Theatre
It listed so high because it's the only one of a few buildings actually left or occupied in this struggling town.
Boarded up downtown Texarkana
Davo recommended the Hopkins diner... Interesting décor and good pizza. (It was also number 2 on trip advisor)
Hopkins Icehouse
We managed to finally pull ourselves away from Texarakana and headed into the Ozarks. Stopped for a fried pie from two old dears who were the epitome of Arkansas grannies...
Fried pies and a big cock out the front.
On the way through Hot Springs I made the Mustang pull over to check out a car workshop. Parked out in the yard was an F100 that...
...brought back a few memories
We've been playing "spotto" with Mustangs on the road. Finally found one that wasn't left hand drive and the Mustang could afford...
The Mustang's mustang
It was a long weekend as we headed into the Ozarks so we found a quiet place to wait out all the weekend campers in Ouachita Park...
Only one other camper here. ...and here is why...
This old generator was started at nine that night and coughed, knocked and spluttered all through the night. Time to find somewhere else...
Goat Bluff cemetery on the way...
Pulled off into a hunting zone so that the Mustang could practice in case we run into another generator to shoot...
About 5% accurate so the Ozark generators can breathe easily.
We've seen a few deer but finally got a picture of a young doe that stopped to look at us on the road
Bambi looking at us. We were waiting for a redneck truck to come roaring around the corner and take her out.
We stayed at the Army Corps camping ground at Nimrod Dam. Quite a few campers but we were able to find some nice spots to try for a bass...
Can't complain about the office.... and here's the money shot...
This first fish cost three lures and a rod tip to the snags. Most fish here were no bigger than this little 12 incher. That's about and inch undersize. It didn't stop some of the locals taking half a dozen of them despite a mercury warning being posted.
Copperhead Visitor
It was Memorial day long weekend so I bought a special pair of wading shoes to join in the celebrations.
This area is so lush that it's hard to find a cleared area to take a picture for perspective.... 
Outside the rangers office we found that the squirrels have been chewing on some strange mushrooms....
Psychedelic Squirrel Shroom?
Talk'n'shit
Time to get off the main roads with the hire car...
Horse Head creek.
This a ranger track ....
20% grade with big drops off the side.
The Mustang has loved the driving on these twisty roads and tracks...
Ayrton Senna takes a break.
Although she has been pulling over to save some of the animals stuck on the road...
Turtle love
We ended up coming out of the Ozarks at a place called Huntsville. Actually we stopped at..
...Granny's Diner and casually asked the waitress while we were ordering breakfast what town we were in. Our accents give us away here. Three shops, three shop assistants and we were asked each time, "What are you doing in Huntsville?" I might start answering that were we are looking for land to build a mosque and see what reaction I get.
We take in all the highlights.
Onwards to the Buffalo River National Park.
Look behind you
This is Simon Snake who shared our campsite with us for a day.
Been trying some different Canadian whiskies so far although...
The cup holder in our chairs is a bit small.
The Buffalo is actually set for environmental tourists and it's easy to arrange canoe hire and portage.
Paddling hard
Someone actually paddling
We planned to stop about half way to walk into "Hemmed in Hollow" to find a water fall...
Wading across to the track.
Last photo before wandering into the forest.
Buffalo Beaver ?
We actually weren't in the right place to find the waterfalls but we found a bear Cave...
There's a bear in there...
And a the set of Evil dead...
or just a cabin in the woods.
After traipsing around for a couple of hours we got back in the canoe and finally found the right place to get out and walk.
250 foot shower head.
So far we have not had any fine weather since we left Dallas. It's not surprising it is so lush but it really bucketed down the last night at Buffalo....
Come camping he said...It would be fun he said.
The clouds came down to meet the river. Arkansas has been very tropical and we've had to pack away the tent wet. Time to find a motel and a Laundromat...
We stopped at a Super8 in Harrison for a couple of days to regroup. The hotel clerk suggested going across the border to Benson, Missouri where there was going to be a car rally...
Petrol head's wet dream.
Check out King Kong in the background...
Benson is a tourist destination. Think of it like Las Vegas for God-fearing families. Lots of theatres on the "strip" with some really cheesy shows. We found one that was sort of a cross between "boys to men" and a gospel meeting call Forever Young. We laughed so hard and we weren't on prozac like the rest of the audience. They could tell that we were the most conscious there so they got the Mustang up on stage to help out...
A star is born.
A walk down the strip...
Does Clive Palmer know?
They love Ronald Reagan here ...and anyone else whose going to make America great again.
In the outdoor store...
Cammo is the new black.
Cliché Diner
Well the weather has cleared at last and we need to do some miles. That's the first month done and the Mustang had only two left so we'd better shake a tail feather.
It looks like you have been seeing the best parts of America, getting to know the small places is a true representation of who we are. Nice. Where are you off to next?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you! <3