Arkansas

Arkansas has always been one of our favorite states. It earns its nickname, The Natural State, with so many beautiful and varied state parks. We didn’t have much time there this trip - mostly just driving through yesterday and today - but we saw friends and family and stayed in a gorgeous state park.

We camped last night at Lake Fort Smith State Park (new to us and apparently newly renovated). It has about 30 campsites, almost all with a view of the lake. Ours was huge, surrounded by pines and birdsong - very peaceful.

We drove to Fayetteville to meet family for dinner at Penguin Ed’s BBQ. Very tasty BBQ, which we’ve now eaten in GA, TX, OK, and AR! It was wonderful to be together again and enjoy their company.

We hated to leave that beautiful place this morning, but we had a long day of driving ahead. Western Arkansas is very hilly, and eastern Arkansas is completely flat! We finished our first audio book of the trip today.

We stopped for lunch in Little Rock and met up with old friends we hadn’t seen in 15 years! It was great to see them again and catch up.

Now, we’re almost to Memphis for a late arrival at T.O. Fuller State Park and a quick overnight.

I’m grateful to our son for watching our house while we’re away and sending me photos of the flowers just starting to bud in our yard! Big difference from what we’ve seen down south!