An Arkansas Adventure

Driving from Texas to Arkansas there is a slow but sure change in the landscape.  At first, the green trees are confusing- where I'm from they usually lead to rivers or lakes or, well, not more flatness.  The trees didn't disappear- in fact, they increased in number and in height.  By the time I got to my first stop, Hope, they were towering over me.  Hope, of course, is known for being the birthplace of Bill Clinton, and his family home is now a National Historic Site.  I had to wait for a tour- it's not exactly a bustling tourist area, so they take people in groups- but it was an interesting look into how Clinton was raised by his mother and grandparents as a small child.

I didn't get a photo of the house.  This will have to do .  :)

I continued on to Little Rock, and after arriving at my friend (and weekend tour guide) David's apartment we quickly went to lunch to eat and catch up.  We then made our way to the Clinton Presidential Library, which unfortunately was closing in the next hour.  We were encouraged to visit the gift shop and come back in the morning, so we followed his advice.  The gift shop impressed me, not because of the typical presidential trinkets, but because of the amount of space given to international handicrafts, particularly from Haiti, that showed Clinton's current charitable work.  We also walked the new pedestrian bridge next to the library, a former train track over the Arkansas River.

Bridge and library

The Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock

Canal off of river, and left edge of library

Arkansas River

Sometime during this afternoon, David added one more thing to our to do list.  So after we drove by the state capital and Central High School (which marked the beginning of desegregation, and is a magnificent building), we went to Pinnacle Mountain.  I had seen pictures of this mountain and its overlooks of the city and its surroundings, and assumed any hiking would be reasonable.  We found a parking lot and read the trail sign- lots of words about steep and strenuous.  But David had hiked here before, and while he wasn't sure if it was this trail or not he hadn't had a difficult experience.  We had a chat about Bernal, the rock climb we did together in Mexico two years ago.  I showed him my sandals- while they were all-terrain, they were not tennis shoes.  And he promised me I'd be fine.  So we went.  At first he was right- it was a little steep but reasonable. And then all of a sudden, it was boulders, straight up.  This was not hiking, it was rock climbing. I pushed through, but I took many "picture breaks".

At some points it seemed impossible, especially in my sandals.  David, as always, was encouraging and patient.  He enjoyed telling me to be Spiderman (and in classic David style, would sing the theme).  I felt it was more realistic, and funny, to think of myself as Spiderpig.  After a long hike, and some scratched toes and nail polish, I made it to the top, where I was greeted with spectacular views of Little Rock and the Arkansas River.

Unfortunately, the long hike up meant the sun was already going down.  We decided to take the other trail down, then take the base trail back to the car.  The west trail was significantly easier, and gave a beautiful glimpse of the river at sunset.

Unfortunately, the long hike up (okay, my inability to hike at a reasonable speed) had cost us too much time, and by the time we got to the bottom it was dark.  So we had two choices- hike the base trail with no flashlight, or walk the roads.  Since we had no flashlights or bear repellent, we chose the road.  We were tired, hungry, and everything hurt, and the thought of walking two more miles on a quiet country road was miserable.  Somehow we made it- well, we got to the turn to the parking lot, and David left me at the corner so he could get the car.  There are few feelings like standing aching, hungry, and tired on a corner in rural Arkansas.  Fortunately it didn't last long.  We went home, cleaned up, and, even though we could have slept right then, we deserved some good food.  David took me to Cajun's, where we sat overlooking the river, drank their signature play-de-do, and relived our adventure.

This is a play-de-do.  It's tasty.

The next morning we were up early for a full day.  We started off with a good southern breakfast, then went back to the Clinton Library.  The building itself overlooks the Arkansas River, and is designed so you have views of the river the whole time you are there.  I learned a lot about Clinton both at the library and during the whole weekend, particularly about his youth and what he did as governor.  His work to improve the lives of his state really impressed me, and I have a better understanding of why he is so revered there.  It was also important to remember what happened during his presidency, which covered my high school and college years.  The library did a very nice job of honoring his work and legacy, but being realistic about the highs and lows.

Me and David in front of the Oval Office

From there was our major task of the day, a visit to wine country.  We did the direct route there, which took us through the landscape until we were approaching the Ozarks.  As we turned onto the road that led into the town of Altus, we found our first winery, Chateau Aux Arc, a small but high quality winery where I had my first of many tastes of the southern wine known as muscadine.  From there we went to Wiederkehr, a Swiss winery that was much larger and had a good variety, though I do not recommend wine with Splenda (unless you want your wine to taste like Kool-Aid).  Next was the largest and nicest of the wineries, Post Familie (as I learned, the Post family runs many things in the area).  After many tastings, it was time to head into Altus for lunch.  It also happened to be the weekend of the Altus Grape Festival.  First we ate at the only open restaurant in the city square, an Irish pub.  After some water and sandwiches, we walked over to the festival.  It was your typical small town festival- a band and lots of vendors, ranging from dog clothes to confederate merchandise of all types (this is the south, after all).  The shopping was, um, quick, but we stopped at the tent for the last winery on our list, Mount Bethel.  I got a gig'em from a fellow Aggie (yes, I wore Aggie gear in Arkansas), and the man who served us from Mount Bethel was an Aggie dad.  We did a quick tasting of whatever was left, then decided to visit the winery itself before heading home, which had a nice variety of fruit wines.

Grapes at Chateau Aux Arc

On the drive home we took a scenic route, so I could see as much of the Ozarks as possible.  The roads were winding, the overlooks were stunning, and it was exactly what I had asked for.

Before the day ended, we went to (slightly late) dinner at the house of a doctor David works with.  I got to meet some of the people from the hospital and have some good food.  I also learned that a) Filipinos believe that parties should end with karaoke and b) eventually people will figure out I can sorta sing and put a microphone in front of my face.  It was a really fun ending to a long day.

On the final day we started with a short walk on a trail by David's apartment, where we couldn't find bunnies or any other animals, but at least we got a nice view of the woods.

We then drove to Hot Springs National Park.  We took a walk around the historical district, and then, with no sign of the two friends who were going to meet us there, decided to take the shuttle up to the observation tower which overlooks the city and the Ouachita Mountains.  The shuttle, which is supposed to arrive every half hour, did not come for an hour.  When it finally arrived, we were joined by a family of at least 12 people.  Part of the group was still missing, so we waited for them.  Bus driver Jerry was perfectly willing to cater to them, which explains why the shuttle was late.  The last three finally arrived and we went up the mountain, stopping once at an overlook (which meant lots of pictures for the family, of course).  The tower itself was a neat way to see the mountains and the city and learn about the history of Hot Springs.

Historic Hot Springs

Ouachita Mountains

We finished just in time for the shuttle... and the family was on it again.  The drive down was quick, except that the family had to stop and fill a dozen milk jugs with spring water before we make it back to the city.  By the time we got off the shuttle David's friends Grady and Carrick were waiting at the bar of the Arlington Hotel.  We had a drink, mostly so David could work out his stress over driver Jerry's casualness, and then we finally had lunch.  We found Rolando's, one of the best Latin American restaurants I've ever been to (yes, that's including all the ones in Texas).  Life starts getting better once your cheese is set on fire.

Queso flameante and a margarita

At this point it was time to experience the bathhouses.  We got our bathing suits and walked over to the houses run by the park.  Two things happened simultaneously- we found out the houses had closed two hours earlier, and it started pouring.  We took in the moment and decided to just play in the rain.  Seeing an open building, though, we went in, and it ended up being the museum, where we could walk around an original bathhouse.  It was quite magnificent- marble everywhere and stained glass decorations, as in the height of their popularity the bathhouses were in competition to attract guests for relaxation and healing.

Steam cabinets.  No thanks.

Stained glass ceiling in men's area

Sculpture in men's area

By the time we were done the rain had slowed down.  We walked some more, taking note of the springs still open in the city.  Soon it was time for me to head back to Texas- I probably should have left hours earlier, but it was so much fun being with friends and being in such a unique environment.

Previous spring, from above

The road back to the interstate was another scenic route, so I had one final hour to savor the landscape as I left the mountains.  As I left Hot Springs I drove over Lake Hamilton, and then later I couldn't resist turning in as I saw the sign for Lake DeGray State Park.  It was a beautiful lake, especially at sunset.

A yurt!

I found animals, finally :)

I finally make it onto the interstate and returned home, watching the trees get smaller and the roads get straighter.  Even though it was a full weekend with little rest, it was wonderful being in the trees and mountains with such a good friend.  The perfect escape before entering the real world.


*as always, full gallery can be found at my Photobucket page