I really had no plan for Arkansas other than see the Ozarks, in the NW corner of the state. Arkansas is the state I probably know the least about. I was impressed by the visitors center and the very friendly lady there who helped me plan a half day of seeing the best of the ozarks, with a nice town to stop in for dinner before heading back north. It involved about 10 miles of dirt roads, but would allow me to go deep into the Ozark national forest and see a great overlook. I was stoked - sounded perfect!
I headed into the forest only to find the roads had detours. I ended up on dirt roads much sooner than expected and went many many miles out of the way before finding the overlook. Granted, the overlook was TERRIFIC - and the ride was beautiful, I was tired of driving, the roads were horrible - but worst, I was running out of gas!!! I went without A/C to save fuel, but since it was at least 110 degrees that meant I was sooo over heated, feeling dehydrated and weak. I pushed through, knowing it was only 10 miles from the overlook to the main road and next town. 10 miles - no problem, right? After doing about 3000 already on the trip???
After the overlook, I found the cut through road, made it about 8 miles down it, only to find it was blocked off!!! YIKES! Gas light on, so many back windy roads behind me to get to that spot, and I can't go any further! I'm exhausted, dehydrated, and so worried that I'll run out of gas in the middle of the forest. I decided I was only a few miles from the town - my best bet was to push forward, USING the closed road, and at worst I'd have a few miles walking to get help if I couldn't get the car through. I moved the barriers and pushed forward. I was happy to see there were tire tracks so someone had been there recently. There was a downed tree - but it had been mostly cleared, the tire tracks went past it and so did I. Thinks were looking good. About one mile to go I saw the real reason for the road closure - the road was BROKEN OFF! It was barely wide enough for me to pass with my little economy rental car - but the tracks I was following had done it, and I figured I could to - so I held my breath and pressed on.
I soon came to the other end of the road block, passed through (good think those signs aren't heavy - they were easy to move aside then put back in place!!) and found the main road and town. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. Now for a gas station - but WAIT! None in the town! Yikes. So I had two choices - push north and hope for a gas station, or head back south on the main road (toward where I had started had I not gone on the forest roads) knowing the interstate wasn't far. I reluctantly backtracked and headed south - to find, to my sheer delight, a small fishing stop and single gas pump just outside of the town. I got a rehydrating drink, filled the tank and took a little breather. Somewhat recovered from my fiasco, I started back north.
The recommended town of Eureka Springs was indeed quite cute, and I was very happy to settle into what looked like a decent restaurant with live music and have an ice cold beer. (If you know me well, you know this is NOT my norm - but that beer was SOOO needed and OH SO good!) I was rattled, tired, and ready to go home. After dinner I drove north until I couldn't drive anymore, stopped at a hotel for ease and slept. The next morning I packed up all my things and headed back to the Omaha airport. Much easier trip north, knowing the Iowa side was washed out - so I took back Kansas roads and it was smooth going... I was VERY happy to reach the airport and get back to Oregon safe and sound that night!!
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