Miracles never cease!

Little Rock is really on top of things when it comes to the Arkansas River Trail, a 17 mile recreation trail on both sides of the Arkansas River.  This day we parked in NLR and rode over to the Clinton Bridge. The Clinton bridge is an old railroad bridge, built in 1899 for the Rock Island Line,  that opened to the public for pedestrians and bicycles in 2011.

At the far end of the bridge is the Clinton Presidential Library.

This is the oval office from Bill Clinton's presidency.

When Clinton announced that he was building his presidential library in this dilapidated area of Little Rock, which contained old warehouses and plenty of vagrants,  it helped to revitalize the downtown area.

Miracles never cease! Leon not only entered the library for the first time but tried out Clinton's chair in the cabinet room!

We explored the River Market area downtown and stopped in for some mideastern fare for lunch. We spotted a Game and Fish Museum we did not know was downtown and had a brief tour. After strolling in the park we took the bridge elevator up to ride back across the river on the Junction Bridge, another railroad bridge which was opened to the public in 2008.

What a glorious time we had with our bikes in Little Rock. We will do it again!

Big Dam Bridge

We have at last made it to Little Rock with the bicycles to enjoy the long awaited ride on the Big Dam Bridge - the bridge to health and fitness! We rode through Two Rivers Park and crossed the Two Rivers Bridge so names for the area where the Arkansas and Maumelle Rivers meet. This newly constructed bridge provides access to the Maumelle campground and on out to Pinnacle State Park.

The Big Dam Bridge crosses the Arkansas River and connects approximately 15 miles of scenic riverside trails in North Little Rock and Little Rock.  

After 14 years in the building process the bridge opened in 2006. A favorite is the 100 miles cycling tour held each year. We felt fortunate to ride ten miles but what a pleasant ride it was alongside the banks of the Arkansas River, all level except the access to the bridges!

The bridge is only for pedestrian and bicycle traffic and spans the Murray Lock and Dam. 

In the Two Rivers Park there is a community garden which I found intriguing. Lots of little spaces all fenced with their own gates and decorations. Several people were working their gardens but it appeared that these farmers spent more time sitting than hoeing.

Old Mill

I always said that when I got old I would tour Arkansas. Maybe I am there but not yet to the exclusion of other places!  This stop was at a replica of a mill built in 1931. It is intended to be typical of mills that would have been in service in the early 1800s. In 1976 the mill was given to North Little Rock.

The Old Mill was filmed in the opening scenes of the 1939 movie Gone with the Wind. It is reported to be the only remaining structure from the movie.

Dionicio Rodriguez, who was born in 1891 in Tolucca, Mexico, specialized in creating imitation rocks, ruins, and ancient buildings. His rustico or faux bois (fake wood) work is evident throughtout this free park. 

We passed this just burned trailer alongside I 40 on the way to the mill. This is nothing something any RVer wants to see. It had traffic at a near standstill right across from Camping World.

Arkansas museum

Ka-ching! The guy called and told us he had the a/c running in the trailer so we were off and running to Little Rock and back to Maumelle campground. We will play during the weekend before Leon's Monday morning checkup at the eye doctor! The football games provided us a chance to discover Buffalo Wild Wings where they just happened to have wifi!

We strolled along the Arkansas River and toured the River Market area downtown. The revitalized area in Little Rock always seems so pleasant.

Yes, we will come back to town with our bikes and take them up the elevator and across the bridge between Little Rock and North Little Rock. 

Now this is an experienced dog walker. As we approached he quietly said stay and all the dogs halted in unison.

While in town we toured the old territorial restoration, now called the Arkansas museum. It was surprising to have one of my former students lead the tour. There are several old buildings on the property with guides dressed in period costume and a nice little museum. This building was brought from Scott to the restoration. Although it was built in the 1850s people were living in it until 1960. Life just hasn't moved that quickly in Scott, Arkansas.

Remodel phase 1

1965 called and wanted their house back. I decided it was time to do a little work and try to disguise the  place. Here I am converting the living room coat closet for storage. Oh what a collector I am! I never knew I could have such fun building shelves.

 The kitchen is ready for a fresh coat of paint. So drab! But first it needs a little orange peel texture.

Oh no! There comes the painted wallpaper off the paneling. That means there is more work to be done.

Now the hall, dining room and kitchen have been stripped of wallpaper and Neil is in the process of patching the paneling.

A ghost house! After the walls have been sprayed. Oh what a mess not to mention it is hard to breathe. 

I decided to move the dining room to the living room. Away we go! Leon says, "Wait, I can help," but his eye doctor told him not to move heavy furniture after his cataract surgery.

There is nothing like friends when it comes to a project. Especially an art teacher who can paint a straight line!

Chris was excellent help and finished stripping wallpaper from the living room (now dining room) wall!

Cissy checked in for moral support and suggestions.

This isn't Leon's first rodeo when it comes to building shelves. 

Now that my dining room table was my library table it was time to shop. I stood right in the Home Again store and sold a lady those chairs that I didn't want while we hauled out that table. Everything just seemed to come together so nicely. And boy, have I gone green!

Pinnacle Mountain State Park

Finally it was time for the cataract surgery for Leon in Little Rock, but first, we should explore Pinnacle Mountain State Park. After a short hike up a small hill I was afforded a beautiful view of  the Arkansas River. 

And there is the mountain the park is named for. Some day we might hike that but perhaps not all the way to the top. This is in such a beautiful area just west of Little Rock but town is coming that way fast!

Since the 5th wheel is still getting the a/c repaired we opted to return to Little Rock in the van and be in close proximity to the University of Arkansas Medical School for Leon's 6 a.m. appointment. The nice shuttle driver led us to the War Memorial Stadium parking lot where the employees park. Not only could we stay there but a shuttle runs about 4 times an hour if we needed it.  OH! I forgot to put water in the van. Before we go out to dinner let me take care of that but alas, I forgot to put the drain plug back on also! 

We then headed over to the Starving Artists' Cafe in the Argenta District in North Little Rock to meet Darla and Chris.  The Salty Dog band entertained us while we sipped martinis and dined and then we enjoyed the taping of a live radio show featuring tales from the south. We were happy to not have to drive back to Hot Springs. 

The cataract surgery went very well and Leon is amazed at how much better he can see. Then he looked in the mirror and realized it wasn't all good! An older guy was looking back at him.

Exploring Scott, AR

It was beginning to feel like fall and Leon had an early doctor appointment so why not go camping nearby. We got all set up in Maumelle campground along the banks of the Arkansas River on the outskirts of Little Rock and planned to explore the area for a few days first. What?! The a/c doesn't work? Well it didn't feel enough like fall that we would camp without it so away we went to Scott, population 72, to get it repaired. After trying out a new unit we left the trailer and headed off to play! Seems there was a problem with the wiring that would have to be researched.

First,  we might as well get the two geocaches in Scott. What fun! We stopped at Toltec Mounds just down the road. This archeological park has a small museum where we learned more about the early inhabitants of the area. They weren't actually Toltec Indians from Mexico but Indians of the Plum Bayou culture who lived in the area from 600 to 1050.

The 18 mound complex was the gathering site for the Indians who lived in sturdy houses and farmed, gathered wild plants, fished, and hunted. The mounds were there social and religious centers. I hope they had a way to deal with all the mosquitos we encountered in the area.

Just a couple more miles down the road we visited the Plantation Agriculture museum.   In another day on  this flat land alongside the Arkansas River were farms aplenty fourteen miles from Little Rock. The display had a plethora of old farm machinery...

 and cotton was king. Much of the equipment in the area was brought to the park to share this technology no longer seen.  I found the cotton gin building to be most interesting. I don't recall ever seeing a cotton gin. First, the tractor or mules would pull the loaded wagons up to a chute that sucked the cotton up into the building.

 The Dortch Gin building has a fully restored ginning system that was operated by the Dortch Gin Company. The gin was powered by steam in 1919 and later Dortch added a diesel engine, new gin stand feeders, and electric motors.

Seeds from the cotton were harvested and sold also. The seed warehouse, built in 1948, was constructed to accommodate huge piles of seeds which were stored and bagged for the Robert L. Dortch Seed Farms.  There was a cotton belt railroad spur at the side of the building.

Back in the museum we saw all sorts of items from the cotton days and Leon reflected upon how he used to pick cotton!

We didn't stay long enough to use the spinning wheel but Leon was off to a good start. It was time to go to the house.