Making Friends, Arkansas & Oklahoma

  Clarke and Elaine Hockwald happened to be parked just a few miles outside of Nashville when Suzanne and I rolled into town Thursday. Clarke & Elaine have been living full time in their beautiful vintage 1982 Newell motorcoach for six years. Clarke blogs on a regular basis - and by regular, I mean daily. I discovered Clarke's blog 3 or 4 years ago and have been a loyal reader ever since. His daily musings on 'life on the road' are well written, entertaining, educational and have been a great source of inspiration as Suzanne and I spend more and more time traveling around the country in our motorhome. Our paths have crossed a couple of times in the past few years and we met briefly when Suzanne and I were in Lake Tahoe a couple years ago. When I realized we'd be within a few miles of each other this week, I reached out to Clarke and the four of us met for breakfast Friday morning before Suzanne and I rolled out of town. We chatted for well over an hour and had a great time sharing tales of the road. We went our separate ways after exchanging handshakes and hugs and hope to see them again in a few months when, once again, our paths will cross in Southern California.
 It's always fun to meet people who share our love of this lifestyle - and when they're as friendly and as genuine as the Hockwalds, it's an extra special treat.
 
   It rained for most of our drive Friday but as we approached the Arkansas state line there was a clear north/south line of demarcation overhead where the clouds we'd been traveling under for the past four days gave way to blue, sunny skies. By the time we reached Forrest City, AK, our destination for the day, the sun was shining and it was 60 degrees.
   We did some light grocery shopping at a store within walking distance of our campsite and spent a quiet, restful evening under clear, starry Arkansas skies.

   Saturday's destination was Fort Smith, Arkansas - clear on the other (western) side of the state. We arrived at Spring Hill Campground sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon in nearby Barling, AK. Spring Hill Campground is a federally run recreational area and, with a National park Senior Pass, the nightly fee is a mere $10. It was a very nice park - and if we weren't on a schedule, we would have absolutely spent a few more days relaxing in this beautiful venue located on the banks of the Arkansas River.
   After setting up and walking the dogs, Suzanne and I drove the 6 or so miles into the town of Fort Smith to explore Historic Fort Smith. Though the visitors center and other buildings were closed, due to the partial government shut-down, we still had a fun time walking around, exploring the grounds and reading the markers. Though it wasn't filmed there, portions of the movie True Grit take place at Fort Smith. It's where John Wayne delivers his prisoners and meets up with Kim Darby and Glen Campbell. So there's that.

   After our tour of the fort we decided to have an early dinner at La Huerta Mexican restaurant, just a couple blocks away. I had the Burrito La Huerta with chicken and Suzanne had the Burrito Mexicano. Both were delicious - as were the accompanying margaritas.

   Which brings us to where we find ourselves tonight... Sayre, Oklahoma. I have nothing of any particular interest to share in regard to Sayre, Oklahoma. It's remarkably unremarkable. The RV park is nice enough... and in reaching it, we put ourselves 310 miles closer to our final destination of La Quinta, Ca.

  We did have a beautiful sunset here in Sayre...

Stay tuned!