A slight detour...

So, we did this thing... or I guess I should say, Val did this thing...

We were leaving Dead River, with no idea where we were heading. We canceled our New Orleans plans and had to come up with something & somewhere to be for 6 nights until our first reservation in Texas. Mike wanted to avoid Louisiana all together due to the plague. I was in agreement. We spent many tense hours on Sunday trying to come up with a plan, with no success. So Monday, we drove out of our campground at noon, with a general direction of Jackson Mississippi.

As a little background, once we get moving, Mike becomes extremely focused on driving,  because, well, it takes a lot of concentration. So, I knew whatever plan I came up with would be accepted, without much, if any, objection.

So that's when I did the thing...I navigated us to the Ozarks.

I had seen pictures the day before (plus, we're big fans of the Netflix series) and I really wanted to go. I knew Mike would object because it was way off our planned route ("And gas ain't cheap Val when you're towing at 7 mpg"). But in my favor was the fact that his navigation doesn't show the whole route, only where you are currently. So he wouldn't really realize how far north we were going until it was to late to turn back.

After a call to Buffalo Point campground, in Yellville, Arkansas, and another call to the National Park Service, I had us all set for 4 nights on the edge of the Ozarks overlooking Buffalo National River.

It took us 2 (long) days of driving and travel through 5 states (FL, AL, MS, TN, & AR) to get there,  and boy was it worth it! And I was right, Mike didn't realize how far north we had gone until we had camp all set up and he had time to look at his phone. AND, I was ALSO right, he said he never would have agreed to go that far out of the way. Oh well!

BUT... it was SO worth it. The weather was perfect; warm during the day & cool at night... We had a fantastic site; grassy, roomy, and close to the river... It truly felt like a camping vacation at home.

Callie and I scavenged for firewood in the woods and found enough for a great fire, our first since leaving New England. There must have been cedar trees around us, because some of the fallen branches we used were cedar, making the fire smell amazing. I even remembered to pick up marshmallows. Yum!

Oh yeah, then the was the view.....

Some fun facts:

1. Buffalo Point Campground was created in the 30's by the Civilian Concervation Corp (CCC) as a state park.

(https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps)

2. In 1972, the Department of the Interior named the Buffalo River the nation's first ever National river, making Buffalo Point a National Park campground.

National park campgrounds usually have no water, sewer, or electric at the sites for RV camping. Sometimes there's a shared water spigot between sites.

Since this was a state park turned national park, we had water and our choice of 110v, 30 and 50 amp electric. Nice!

3. This area of Arkansas was know for its zinc mines, an important natural resource prior to and during WWII. After WWII, demand stopped, and the little boom towns scattered throughout the Ozarks were mostly abandoned. The earth is slowly taking back the towns as buildings, homes, and barns crumble and trees grow in and among them.

4. Today, the area is sparsely populated by self proclaimed hillbillies, who continue to make moonshine that "you can both drink and use as fuel in your vehicle," according to a couple of locals we talked with.  We never did find any moonshine to sample though.

5. If you travel here, bring in all your food, beverages and other necessities. And make sure you have enough gas to get back out to civilization too. There's no grocery stores, there's no restaurants, no fast food and only one option for gas. There's just one little store that mostly serves as a vendor for canoe, kayak, and rafting trips, "Wild Bill Outfitters." They have kitschy souvenirs, ice, wood, snacks, and 2 kinds of gas, 87 (regular) & diesel. The pumps are so old... think back to the pumps of the early 90's...

Stay tuned for more adventures!

A few more pictures for you...