Hot Springs, Arkansas

Good morning, my friends, and yahoo!!! Yesterday I added a new state to the side of the RV. It's been months since I added anything to the map. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay? Please hold your applause for a bit. 

It was an easy drive from Mt. Pleasant, Texas, to Hot Springs, Arkansas. This was our view for most of the day. We are still surprised at how green it is in this part of Texas. I might have thought we were driving in Michigan or Minnesota.

We're still seeing plenty of wildflowers. Yellow was the color of the day yesterday.

And we saw plenty of the morning primroses in the center median.

We've seen this red clover all along the way, but we saw bigger swaths of it yesterday.

These next two pictures were taken back home during one of my walks. I wanted you to see what it looks like close-up.

The farmers often plant fields of it to add nitrogen to the soil. After it blooms, they harvest the seed.

But let's just get back to Texas again. I saw a few barns, but none I could capture with my camera. I liked this little structure. Not sure of its purpose.

About halfway into our journey, we crossed the state line into Arkansas...or "Bark-'n-paw," as it's pronounced in Catonese.

Before we'd finished our drive for the day, we'd passed through Hope, Arkansas, which is the birthplace of President Bill Clinton. Hope is off the road, and we didn't exactly drive through it. I found this image in the public domain.

(Image credit: "Hope, Arkansas, Family Council" by jaycross is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

Now here's a question we ask ourselves every time we're on a road trip. What the heck is the deal with all the orange cones? We'll see a "work zone" sign, and then miles and miles and miles of orange cones. There is no equipment, nor anything else to indicate any sort of "work" is going on. Maybe one of you has some idea about this.

It has occurred to me that by putting out the signs and the cones, a state can lay claim to or "reserve" federal road construction dollars. Then, I inquired of The Google yesterday. There was an answer related to union requirements. One poster said some unions require cones two miles before and one mile after any project. But there's no project here...just cones. It's baffling, I tell you. And it's an annoying eyesore to boot.

Moving on, we were nearing our final destination when we passed through Malvern, Arkansas. 

Malvern is a city in, and the county seat of, Hot Spring County, Arkansas. It was founded as a railroad stop at the eastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains. The community's history and economy have been dependent on available agricultural and mineral resources. The production of bricks from locally available clay has earned the city the nickname, "The Brick Capital of the World." 

It also happens to be the birthplace of one of my favorite actors, Billy Bob Thornton. 

(Image credit: "Billy Bob Thornton 2017 (cropped)" by 

Emmanuelle CHOUSSY is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.)

From there, it was just a few more miles to reach Hot Springs. We encountered this sign just as we were making the last turn down the road leading to the RV park.

Okay, now, here comes the part that's going to blast you right out of your chair. You might want to buckle up for this. At the very least, you'll want to put on your protective head gear. Here's the state of the states:

And here it is again. Arkansas goes up on the big board. Yay for you, Arkansas!

Sadie could barely stand the celebration. With all the hooting and hollering going on, she headed out onto her catio, and that's where she stayed for most of the afternoon and evening. 

Okay, so that was a pretty good day of driving. Today we'll head just a couple of miles down the road to see Hot Springs National Park. We'll stroll along "Bathhouse Row," and then we'll take the scenic drive through the park. I'm looking forward to it. We'll be moving on again tomorrow, and I think there's a pretty good chance a quilt shop in the mix.