Next morning, we continued east on LA-28 to US-84 and on to Natchez, MS. At Natchez, we took US-61 to the Natchez Trace Parkway. On the Natchez Trace, we stopped at Mount Locust, a mid-1800's era farm and lodge along the old Natchez Trace. It was an interesting hour's break on the drive. We continued up the Trace to Raymond. We then visited with Lawson's sister, brother-in-law & mother until Wednesday the 26th.

Click on the small photos to enlarge them.

On Wednesday morning, we left Raymond via MS-18 & I-55 to Canton. At Canton, we looked around Lawson's birthplace for a few hours. Then we went west on MS-16 to US-61, then north to Greenville. We spent the night at Warfield Point Park, overlooking the Mississippi River.

Thursday we crossed the Mississippi River Bridge into Arkansas, and at US-65 we continued north through more cotton & soybean fields to Pine Bluff. We spent the night at Jefferson County Regional Park on Lake Langhofer, a lake formed when the Arkansas River changed courses.

Next day we continued north on AR-15 and AR-5 through tree-covered rolling hills that are the eastern edge of the Ozark Mountains. We stopped in Mountain View at the Ozark RV Park, located next to the Ozark Folk Center State Park. That night we went downtown to the courthouse square and listened to about a dozen different impromptu bluegrass music groups that were playing around the square under the stars to a large gathering of us old folk.

Saturday we spent most of the day at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. This is an excellent theme park with demonstration of many Ozark Mountain trades, such as making brooms, lye soap, musical instruments, and woodworking. That night we attended the Arkansas fiddle contest finals and bluegrass music show.

Sunday, we traveled north from Mountain View on scenic AR-14 and stopped at Blanchard Springs Caverns. This is an excellent cave with many outstanding colorful formations. Afterwards we went down to Mirror Lake and Blanchard Spring. We then continued north on AR-14. AR-14 is a very beautiful drive on a winding, up & down hills, 2-lane road through tree-covered mountains. At US-65, we continued on north to Branson, MO where we stayed at Acorn Acres RV Park.

Monday, October 1st, we went to the Lawrence Welk Show starring the Lennon Sisters & Henry Cuesta at the Lawrence Welk Champaign Theater. It was an excellent show featuring a salute to Burt Bacharach. They performed most of the songs he wrote.

Tuesday we left Branson via MO-13, MO-86, & AR-23 to Eureka Springs AR, but the little town's parking was so poor for anyone pulling a trailer that we didn't stop but kept on going west to Bentonville, AR. Bentonville is the headquarters of Wal-Mart and we toured the Visitor Center which has a small museum of Sam Walton's life. It is located in his first Walton 5 & 10 Store on the town square. We went south on I-540 to US-412, then east to Withrow Springs State Park, where we spent the night.

Wednesday, we continued east on US-412 to Harrison, where we took Scenic AR-7 south. Near Jasper, we stopped at Buffalo National River Park. South of Jasper, we stopped several times to view Buffalo River Canyon, Arkansas' Grand Canyon, said to be the most scenic view in Arkansas. We continued south on AR-7 to Russellville, where we stayed at Lake Dardanelle State Park.

Thursday we continued south on AR-7, stopping at several Corps of Engineers parks along the way. We spent most of the afternoon at Hot Springs National Park, touring the Visitor Center and walking along Bathhouse Row. We drove up West Mountain Summit Drive and stopped at the overlooks, then drove to Lake Catherine State Park and spent the night.

Friday was a travel day, with only one brief stop for lunch in Hope, AR. {Trivia question: Who is Billy Blythe III? Answer is at the bottom of this page.} We traveled down I-30 into Texas, then US-59 south. We ran into several severe rainstorms on the way, and when we stopped in Nacogdoches at Trailer Village RV Park, we had to sit in the truck for about 15 minutes before it slowed down raining enough for us to setup camp.

Saturday we continued south on US-59 to Houston and arrived in town in the early afternoon.

This draws to a close our Arkansas Tour. We hope you enjoyed the pictures and brief descriptions of our adventures. God willing, join us again for another adventure soon.

Trivia answer: William Jefferson Clinton was born in Hope, Arkansas as William Jefferson "Billy" Blythe, III, and he used that name until about the time of his early teens. His mother married Roger Clinton, after the death of Billy's father and he was adopted by his step-father and changed his last name to Clinton.......and that's the rest of the story.

Goodbye for now,
Lawson & Kay