Lost in Space

On Tuesday, May 15, we left Memphis and headed for Hot Springs, Ark., Bill Clinton's boyhood home and a black hole in cyberspace. Arkansas has no Verizon, very little Cingular, and lots of Alltel. The interface they provide, RoamAmerica, or something like that didn't work well. After giving them $20 for a pin#, I found that after punching in the pin and the call# twice, that getting connected was about a 1 in 20 shot. And one of the calls, a voice mail to Grant, he never received. I hold Bill and Hill personally responsible for this travisty.
The trip from Memphis on Rt. 79 and 270 was easy with hardly a car on the road. We crossed the Grand Prairie of Arkansas, a vast, flat agricultural area that went on for a long ways. They grow a lot of rice there. We pulled into the Hot Springs area and found our camp ground at Cloud Nine CG just east of town on rt 70. Right on top of a ridge and very nice. Had some boomers and down pours that late afternoon and night.
Wed. am, we headed over to Garvin Gardens, a very pretty spot left to and maintained by the U of Ark. It was about a 3 hour self guided tour. If you get here, don't miss it. We then headed east of town and drove the ten miles to Hot Springs Village, one of the largest planned communities in the country. You've probably seen Eric Estrada pitching it on tv. We stopped in the real eastate office and took the full blown tour. It was started in the '70's and so far about 8,000 of a total of 32,000 homes have been built. It's about 17 miles long and gated, with many services inside the village. It was actually very appealing. The realtor company we dealt with is not associated with the Eastrada outfit. She said that the company he pitches for bought up a bunch of previously sold lots from distressed investors and sells them at inflated prices. They fly folks into Little Rock and house them at the airport. Prospects can't rent cars or do any looking around on their own. They are shown the sight and if they don't buy, it's back to the airport. Anybody know somebody who's done this?
Thursday we did the Hot Springs National Park, the Park within a town. The Springs are amazing, coming out of the ground at about 140 degrees. For years the bathhouses flourished as a health spa. People soak in it and drink it. It also became known first for the resorts and recreational facilities around it and then for gambling and all sorts of deprived behavior. Al Capone had a place there and a casino. All this was overt and winked at by authorities who threatened to shut them down when money was needed. It wasn't until one of the Rockefeller's became governor in the early '70's that they were all shut down. I never remember this being a big story up our way, but it sure was down here. We took a Duck Boat tour of the area and then checked out the National Park area, and drove up to the Park's observation tower overlooking town. That was the most interesting thing about Hot Springs.
Yesterday we drove north on Rt. 7, designated as some sort of scenic byway. It was a great drive with little traffic. We looked over the Grand Canyon of Arkansas and eventually pulled into the town of Blue Eye, Ark. Blue Eye has about 39 people who live on the Ark. side and 129 who live on the Missouri side. We are staying at Ozarks RV Resort, operated by Outdoor resorts of America. The sight is on Table Rock Lake, which is huge. It winds all the way to Branson, Mo. These folks sell luxory camp sites, which they will rent for you when you're not there. Sites here go for a base of $30,000 and up to over $100,000 for lake front. The same company has sites across the country at exclusive spots. Our one neighbor is spending his first summer here, arriving May 1 and leaving Oct. 1. He has a boat and the rights to one of the 20 boat slips being constructed. People really doll up their sites, within guidelines. It's gated and patrolled at all times. Tents, pop-ups, and van conversions and anything with canvas sides are prohibited. Will post some pix soon.
It's great to be back. We missed all of you.