Northwest Arkansas

We've enjoyed our week in Northwest Arkansas. Our home in the trees at Hickory Creek COE Campground in Lowell has been the perfect place to kick back and relax.

With a view like this from our "porch", what's not to like? We're on the shore of Beaver Lake. But, this year, the shore is much farther away than normal. The severe drought has resulted in extremely low lake levels. But, it's out there. Really!

See! There is some water in the lake!

We've enjoyed hiking around this beautiful campground and seeing the sights. The fall colors are just starting to show. But, these cheerful flowers at the marina are in their full glory!

Wednesday we made a day trip to the opposite side of Beaver Lake to visit Eureka Springs. Neither of us had ever been, so we just had to check out this quaint Victorian town just south of the Missouri border. Carved out of the Ozark Mountains, the town streets and walking paths are steep and winding. The challenging terrain has earned Eureka Springs the moniker "The Stairstep Town."

As its name implies, Eureka Springs "sprung up" around natural springs, which were believed to have magical powers.  In the mid-to-late 1800s, the town grew from a rural village to the state's second largest city. Visitors flocked to town to bathe in the healing waters. Many gathered in Basin Spring Park, which was the source of the "Balm of Life."

Today, Basin Spring Park is "protected" by this mosaic princess, which looks down from the bluff.

Modern day visitors come to Eureka Springs more for the shopping than bathing. There are plenty of places in which to poke around. This blessings bowl was a lovely touch in one shop.

One reason for our visit to town was to complete the second of three stops in our Great Arkansas BBQ Tour. We stopped in Bubba's for a delicious pulled pork sandwich.

From Eureka Springs, we headed north to check out Holiday Island, a very laid back community on Table Rock Lake. As we continued our loop back to Hickory Creek, we crossed this very interesting (and narrow and low) bridge. Rocky made this crossing with no problem. But, this is a route Bullwinkle will never know.

There's a bit of Kansas in Arkansas. (Think about it.) So, we were pleased to see our beloved Jayhawk enjoying some out-of-state shelf space at Macadoodle's, our favorite wine and spirits purveyor in the state.

There's a chill in the air here in Northwest Arkansas, and we love it. For the first time in a long time, we spent an evening by a campfire. What a treat! Tomorrow, we're heading south - and up - to the highest point in the Natural State. But, we look forward to a return visit to this lovely little corner of Arkansas.

Bentonville

Of the several towns that dot northwest Arkansas, Bentonville was first on our list to explore. We started today’s visit with a quick lunch at Whole Hog Cafe, which offers a selection of six barbecue sauces to top their tasty smoked meats. After sampling each with our pulled pork sandwiches, we elected #6 our favorite.

After lunch we made our way “downtown” to the quite charming town square. In its center, a statue of Confederate Soldier, US Senator and Arkansas Governor James H. Berry pays homage to the Civil War. The Benton County Courthouse dominates one side of the square.

Opposite the courthouse sits the humble beginnings of the world’s largest retailer. Sam Walton purchased this original Five and Dime in May 1950. By the time of his death in 1992, Walton’s retailing empire had expanded to nearly 2,000 Wal-Marts, Sam’s Clubs and Supercenters employing 380,000 people generating annual sales of nearly $50 billion. And, it’s kept growing since. Today, the original store houses the Walmart Visitors Center.

We thought this would be a quick stop, but our visit was surprisingly captivating. We watched a short film about “Mr. Sam” and the story of Walmart. Then, we perused several displays about the man and his stores. This display depicts Walton’s office on the day he died. The office was photographed, cataloged, moved and carefully recreated here at the center. The exhibit notes that the most realistic thing about this display is that Walton isn’t in it, because he was rarely in his office.

Despite being one of the world’s wealthiest men, Walton drove this 1979 Ford F150 truck until the day he died. We enjoyed learning a bit more about this interesting leader, successful capitalist and proud American.

From the square, we made our way to the Art Trail and took a very peaceful half-mile hike past Compton Gardens toward a place we’d never heard about until last week, when Paul’s cousin and his wife told us not to miss it. We weren’t really sure what we were in for, but we were enjoying the walk!

A simple sign directed the way to the place we were here to see. We were getting close to Crystal Bridges, the not-quite-one-year-old American Art Museum founded by Sam Walton’s daughter Alice.

Taking a long walk is a wonderful way to approach a museum. Several pieces of sculpture lined the path. The back doors to the museum were just beyond Bentonville’s own version of Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture. You can find versions of this pop artist’s most famous work in New York, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Tokyo and now Bentonville. We knew we were in for something special.

We checked in at the desk inside the door. Admission is free, thanks to a $20 million gift from Walmart. (Thanks, Walmart!) As we walked a long corridor toward the permanent collection, we caught a glimpse of this gorgeous place. It’s name comes from the impressive bridge-like pavillions that span Bentonville’s Crystal Creek.

When it comes to art, we are no aficianados. We’ve passed by more art museums than we’ve passed through. But, there is something about this place.

The space itself is a stunning work of art, from the outside in. Even the title of the museum’s permanent collection, Celebrating the American Spirit, is inviting.

The more than 400 works in the collection are arranged in roughly chronological order, which makes your visit literally a walk through American art history since the Colonial Era.

Name an American artist and chances are you’ll find at least one example of his or her work here. We found four pieces from one of our favorites, and Bentonville’s namesake, Thomas Hart Benton.

Much of the collection is illustrated with interesting stories, which bring the pieces to life. This porcelain teapot was used in William Henry Harrison’s presidential campaign to appeal to women. (Of course, in 1840, women were not yet allowed to vote!)

Norman Rockwell brought Rosie the Riveter home to Americans with this painting, which made the cover of the popular Saturday Evening Post in May 1943. Seeing the larger than life image up close we could almost feel the sense of indomitable strength Rockwell captured. Alice Walton acquired this famous painting in 2009 for $4.9 million. What a treat to see it...for free.

Our artistic tastes tend to lean toward the more modern. So, we especially enjoyed the Contemporary collection, which included works by Lichtenstein, Calder and Warhol.

Ultra-realist Max Ferguson’s oil painting titled Time tells a compelling story about the passage of its namesake.

One of the most fascinating pieces (for us, anyway) was Devorah Sperber’s recreation of a famous work of art using hanging spools of thread and a viewing sphere. (We won’t spoil the surprise!)

Several pieces of sculpture are included in the collection, but this one is definitely the most realistic. The title of Canadian sculptor Evan Penny’s slightly larger than life bust says it all: Old Self: Portrait of the Artist as he Will (Not) Be. Yep. It’s all that, and a little creepy.

Have we told you lately how much we love this space? In spaces like this that house priceless works of art, light is the enemy. But, here it’s welcome. Corridors washed in natural light surround the exhibit spaces.

These walls of windows bring the outside in and allow visitors, like Paul, to appreciate the beauty beyond its walls.

The architecture of Moshe Safdie in his design of Crystal Bridges made quite an impression on us. We love it! Some have called his designs “artitectural”. After seeing his work here (and at the stunning new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City), we certainly agree.

We look forward to our next visit!

Dogwood Canyon

With all the activity of Sedalia behind us, we headed south Saturday to quiet, peaceful Monett. We have a long-standing joke with family in this small southwest Missouri town that Monett is the “Crossroads to Everywhere.” This week marks our fifth stop here since beginning our rolling travels, so it’s definitely a crossroads for us!

Yesterday, cousin John and Melissa treated us to a scenic drive to a lovely bicycle path along the Missouri-Arkansas border.

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, in Lampe, is a 10,000-acre slice of the scenic Ozarks. A beautiful trout stream winds through this private preserve, which is operated by the owners of Bass Pro Shops.

A 6.4-mile round-trip hike and bike path runs along, and sometimes over, the stream. We walked our bikes across this wooden bridge constructed by members of a Missouri Amish community with wood salvaged from a century-old warehouse in Chicago.

The bike path is lined with high stone bluffs, Indian burial sites and a bear cave. But, our most frequent sightings were waterfalls. With a drop of 60 feet, Thunder Falls is one of the most impressive.

This waterfall spilling over a striking bluff into a well-stocked trout pool is aptly named the Great Spirit Rock Shelter. The story is that the oldest human remains ever found in Missouri were discovered here. Found 8,000 years ago, the great spirit is old!

The Butterfly Garden was doing its job during our visit, attracting many butterflies. I managed to capture not only one...

..but two!

Glory Hole combines a waterfall, cave and beautiful pool in one picturesque spot.

Wish Bowl Falls marked the turnaround point on the trail. This was one of those out-and-back trails that was so scenic it was a treat to see everything twice.

Thanks to John and Melissa for a wonderful day and your warm hospitality during our stay.

We’ve especially enjoyed our visits with Aunt Martha here in Monett. We caught up with her and cousin Nancy over dinner Sunday. Knowing how much of a cat lover Martha is, we took a special guest along with us on our visit today. Our boy kitty was a big hit! Martha and several of her neighbors enjoyed visiting with him. He was so good, he brought out the cat lover in everybody. We are so proud! He’s already “asked” to return. So, we’ll certainly do that again before we leave Saturday.

Sedalia: Our First Escapade

After our short (for us, anyway) visit in Kansas City, we pointed the moose east Saturday morning for the quick 90-minute drive to Sedalia. Our mission was to attend an Escapade, a rally hosted by the Escapees RV Club. Although this would be the Escapees' 52nd Escapade, it was our first! As Escapade "newbies", we looked forward to an exciting week.

We weren't alone when we arrived at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. The awesome Escapade parking team was making quick work of taking care of new arrivals.

When we checked in, we immediately saw a familiar face! Fellow fulltimer John escorted us to our spot between buddies Mark and Dortha and Keith and Donna. Thanks for the outstanding directions, John!

John's lovely wife Bridget arrived moments after we arrived. It's been too long since we've seen these two. It was great to see them again. With almost 600 rigs to park in just a few days, John and Bridget and their team were on the run.

With more than 1,000 attendees at this year's rally, we were looking forward to seeing lots of friends, old and new. Cathy and Steve arrived Sunday. Although it was a busy week for us all, we made time to get together with these special folks. It was great to be with them again. We're looking forward to spending some quality time with them this Fall in Arkansas and Kansas City.

The Escapade provided a wonderful opportunity for us to meet several "virtual" friends for the first time. Sam and Donna hosted a happy hour, which provided a great chance for several fellow bloggers to meet the faces behind their words and pictures. It was great to meet them...

...and their dog Riggins, too! Like many blogger dogs, "Riggs" is a celebrity of sorts in the RVing blogging world. (And, he's a nudist, too!)

We've been wanting to meet fellow fulltimers Angela and Kenny for a long while. It was such a pleasure to finally meet them. These two are based in Kansas City for now. So, we look forward to getting together again when we're in our old hometown.

We enjoyed meeting fellow fulltimers Len and Phyllis, who were lucky winners this week. They turned a free oil change into a major investment in new tires. The Sedalia Chamber of Commerce thanks you!

We also had the great pleasure of meeting Facebook friends and fellow fulltimers Sylvia and Glenn. Glenn missed the pooch parade. But, if you look carefully, you'll find him in another photo.

It's been nearly two years since we met Ken, Cindy and their pups in Tennessee. It was great to catch up with them, too!

The Escapade also provided us a chance to meet virtual friends Ginger and Jesse. I didn't get a picture of the two of them, but I tried my best to get a shot of their "boys". Nice to meet y'all!

Besides being attendees at our first Escapade, we had a couple of jobs to do. My big job on the Escapade staff was a photographer. During the week, I snapped nearly 1,000 pictures of Escapees....

Opening...

...Saluting...

...Parading...

...Cooking (And, believe me there was LOTS of eating!)...

...Crafting...

...Cheering...

...Changing (Thanks so much!)...

...Dog Walking...

...and Riding...

...Hula-ing (Hey Marcia and Donna!!)...

....Pickin'...

...and Grinning...

...Weighing...

...and Winning!

And, of course, there was lots of that thing Escapees do best: Hugging!

But, sometimes those happy Escapees were going every which way! (Look! Just behind the man bending over in the lower right corner. There's Glenn! And, Sylvia, too!)

Amongst all that fun, there were many seminars where teachers were teaching...

...and attendees were learning.

At a very interesting session on Geocaching the leader passed around this itty bitty cache container. (It's sitting on my knee.) Isn't it cute? We may need to hide a few of these!

The other job we had this week was leading our session on "The Myths of Fulltime RVing". (Thanks Sam and Donna for sharing this pic.) We had fun with a great group of attendees that were so engaged and asked great questions. We especially loved the laughter. Thanks!

As an Escapade photographer, of course I had to take photos of our wonderful audience. This is just a few of the smiling faces we had in our session. They were the best!

After all that learning, every good Escapee needs to be entertained. As an official photographer I had the privilege of going back stage before the Sunday night performance of Yakov Smirnoff. Here's the star with his son, wife, Escapade Assistant Directors Wallace and Wanda Lewis, and our friends Escapade Directors Molly and Bob Pinner.

Yakov brought a bit of his Branson show to Sedalia. He had everyone laughing.

Monday night's entertainer was straight from Branson, as well. Talented tenor George Dyer entertained and involved the audience during his spirited performance.

These folks look like they're playing, but don't let that fool you. The Escapade staff of Norm and Mary Scherer, Bob and Molly, Wallace and Wanda, and Mark and Dortha Hall worked hard to make sure the week went off without a hitch. 

Who is this cute little devil? It's Escapees Co-Founder Kay Peterson raising money for CARE, the Escapees Adult Day Care Center in Livingston, during the first annual(?) Chili Cookoff.

A week of sharing, caring, fun and food all came to an end last night with the Escapade's Closing Ceremonies. After an awesome week, we have just one thing to say: "That's a wrap!"