May 22, 2022 - Road trip from Houston to Fayetteville
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Driving route
to Fayetteville, AR |
The 338 mile drive north on Highway 59 toward Hog Valley RV & Treehouse Resort, where we had a tent site reserved was generally uneventful but did present a few highlights.
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Odd bottle tree. (bottles
stuck onto nails) |
Somewhere, still in Texas, we pulled off onto Blueberry Crossing which took us over some train tracks onto a small road where we found a lovely old cemetery. We walked around and enjoyed the peace, tranquility, and birdsong. Back in the car, we drove through what appeared to be a Freedman settlement possibly harking back to Civil War days. I couldn't help taking a picture of this odd tree with bottles hung on nails.
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Michael enjoying rolls
at the Longhorn Café |
An authentic Southern lunch at the Longhorn Café in Carthage, TX served up a wonderful dish of traditional fried catfish and rolls that couldn't be beat! Yummy!
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Wildflowers picked
along the road. |
We came upon signs to Carterville. Of course, I had to visit! We detoured off only to discover Carterville was barely a wide spot in the road where the only signs of life were feral dogs and cats. It looked to be a pretty bleak existence. The highlight was adding more wildflowers to our bouquet that was growing in size in the console of the car.
We finally arrived at Hog Valley RV & Treehouse Resort around 9:00PM just as dusk was turning to dark. We set up camp and the rumbling of traffic on Highway 49 lulled us to sleep.
May 23, 2022 - Tooling around Fayetteville
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Trails ridden in
Fayetteville, AR |
In spite of the traffic noise, birdsong was clear when we woke up. I grabbed my phone, fired up the Merlin bird identification application and recorded 11 birdsongs from the tent:
- Carolina Chickadee
- Northern Cardinal
- Tufted Titmouse
- Common Yellowthroat
- American Crow
- Indigo Bunting
- Chipping Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Large Roadrunner
- Northern Mockingbird
- Eastern Bluebird
Rain was again predicted but we decided to risk it and ride as far as we could. After a fabulous breakfast taco and coffee at camp, made by camp chef extraordinaire, Michael, we set off to discover Fayetteville. We missed the bike path and ended up riding the shoulder of Highway 49 for one exit, where we were able to meet up with the Cato Springs Trail that took us into town. Michael describes himself as a fearless cyclist! He didn't mind this leg on the highway. It wasn't my favorite leg of the trip, but we made it without issue!
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House Charissa was born in
68 years later.
509 Huntsville Rd.
Fayetteville, AR
|
Our first stop was the house I was born in at 509 Huntsville Rd. It definitely shows its age but it's still there after more than 70 years. I do believe, however, it was painted grey back in 1953. I have always been told that when I was a toddler, I was on the front porch playing. I apparently became quite insistent to get attention by coming to the front door and jabbering. When I finally alerted my mother, she discovered I had cornered a tarantula spider and really wanted to share my discovery! She was less excited about it but the experience led her to begin a study of spiders so she could understand them. She shared this with me and I have always had an appreciation of arachnoids.
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Razorbacks at the
University of Arkansas |
We continued to town, stopping for coffee and a wonderful chocolate scone then noodled around the town square. We started up the downtown trail when the first drops of raid began to fall. We turned around immediately, but not soon enough to avoid getting completely drenched in a cold torrential down pour. Even our shoes were soaked from rain dripping into them! The brand new matching cayenne colored Shower's Pass Elite 2.1 jackets, however, performed exactly as advertised and we were very glad to have them!
Back at Hog Valley, a hot shower warmed and rejuvenated us. We loaded the bike into the Suburban and drove back into town to explore further. Fayetteville is in the Ozark Mountains and appears to be regentrifying. It is home to the University of Arkansas and boasts miles of bike trails and other outdoor activities. U.S News and World Report rated Fayetteville the 4th best place to live in its 2021 rankings. After visiting the university campus and having lunch we took another risk of riding the bike paths. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon!
May 24, 2022 - Bentonville to Illinois River
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Walmart Museum -
Downtown Bentonville |
Tuesday took us a few miles north to Bentonville, AR, the birthplace of Walmart. Unfortunately, Crystal Bridges Museum, a renowned museum of American Art is closed on Tuesdays. We found ourselves visiting the downtown square including the Walmart Museum, the original five-and-dime store that started it all. I was sad we missed Crystal Bridges but the 21c Museum Hotel, a boutique hotel and contemporary art museum made up just a little for that loss.
The latest talk of the whole area is of a 30-acre whitewater park to be built on the Illinois River with the Walton Family Foundation providing 95% of the money for the $33 million project. When finished, it will offer recreation opportunities for kayaking, surfing, stand-up paddle boarding, and tubers of all levels.
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Michael on the bank
of the Illinois River |
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| Cabin 2 - Arrowhead Resort |
Having explored Bentonville to our satisfaction, the next stop was a resort along the Illinois River in Oklahoma. We hoped to spend a couple days canoeing and fishing. We discovered the resort where we hoped to stay was still closed for the season, probably due to recent flooding. We kept driving and happened on the Arrowhead Resort, advertised as the "Premier Resort on the Illinois River." It was still pouring rain so we were ecstatic when they were willing to rent us cabin #2 even though it was clear they were still cleaning up from recent flooding. We were the only guests even though it was only a few days before Memorial Day. They were working hard to fix recent flood damage and it appeared that Cabin #2 had been spared damage. We were very happy to not camp in a torrential downpour! Between downpours, we walked the grounds listening to the cacophony of birdsong and examining the rebuild progress happening on the resort property. Sitting on the stoop of the cabin I swore I saw some fireflies, triggering another memory from my childhood.
May 25, 2022 - Tahlequah
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Cherokee National History
Museum |
The torrential downpour continued through the night and into the next morning so we skipped the canoeing and instead drove into the town of Tahlequah. Tahlequah was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839 as part of the new settlement in Indian Territory after the Cherokee Native Americans were forced west from the American southeast on the Trail of Tears. It is full of history and the town is experiencing lots of improvements in the form of urban trails and historical markers. We visited the Cherokee National History Museum, Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum, and the Territory Prison.
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Mud Valley Road
ride |
The weather started to clear a bit and we were giving consideration to attempting to find a short bike ride. We discovered a fabulous bike shop in Tahlequah called Paceline Cyclery where we met the owner, David Rogers. He was talkative and pleased to share his COVID business success story of taking his inventory on-line. He was able to expand his clientele nation wide and easily paid for the $500 monthly fee required to do it! Armed with an upgraded headlamp for the bike and a recommendation for a short bike ride and we headed to Mud Road. We snuck the ride between rain storms and were happy to cut the ride short as we were both afflicted with a sever hay fever. Post ride, we consoled ourselves with a giant homemade strawberry shortcake from Vidalia's Café and Catering. Michael harbored not so secret hopes it would be a peach cobbler, but he seemed quite satisfied with strawberry!
May 26, 2022 - Tahlequah to Tulsa
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| Boomerang Diner |
After spending another blessedly dry night in Cabin #2, we started the journey to Tulsa. Passing through Bethany, OK, a small blink and you'll miss it town. We found the Boomerang Diner and decided to stop for breakfast. Boomerang harks back to the 1950's with statutes of Elvis, pictures of Marilyn Monroe, and boomerang patterned Formica tables. Boomerang Diner is a franchise with 53 locations around the Tulsa and Oklahoma City Metro Areas, Enid and Lawton. Who knew? Our waitress, Jennifer, was as friendly as could be and very proud of her job and of the Diner.
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Inside the Philtower
building (think Phillips
Petroleum) |
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| Tulsa race Massacre sign. |
Arriving in Tulsa, we stopped for a hike along the Arkansas River then drove around to get our bearings. I've heard lots of news about the Tulsa race Massacre that took place in 1921 when mobs of white residents attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and business in the Greenwood district of Tulsa. I didn't know much else about the town other than the obvious history around oil. I was amazed to discover a hidden trove of Art Deco history in Tulsa. The old mid-century oil buildings exhibit absolutely stunning examples of the finest Art Deco you can imagine! I was also very surprised to see how deserted the downtown area was. There are very few cars or people even during the day. That made it feel a bit earie!
May 27, 2022 - Osage Prairie Trail and Dallas by way of Durant
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Goats on Osage Prairie
Trail bridge |
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| Osage Prairie Trail |
We were finally greeted by sunshine on Friday and were excited to finally accomplish a proper ride. We were only a few miles from the start of the Osage Prairie Trail so we ate a light hotel breakfast and took off! It was a great 32-mile ride that took us through Sperry and ended at Skiatook, OK. It was a former rail bed and converted to a bike trail so it was nice and flat. We enjoyed another breakfast at the Brown Cow Grill in Skiatook then navigated our way back through a herd of goats.
Satisfied by the fabulous ride, we showered, packed up, and headed for Dallas by way of Durant, OK, Michael's birthplace. We explored Durant, driving around the town and discovering that most of the homes and buildings he remembered as a child were still there more than 75 years later!
Once in Dallas, we had a lovely dinner at True Foods in the Preston shopping center before retiring to our hotel.
May 28, 2022 - White Rock Trails and a trip down Memory Lane
Saturday promised to be a hot, sunny, Texas summer day and it did not disappoint. We started early and we were able to catch the Katy Trail close to the hotel and to get a jump on the heat. We connected with the Ridgewood Trail, a 3-mile northern extension to White Rock Lake then followed the Santa Fe Detour up an aggressive hill, as the pedestrian bridge over SH 78 is closed just east of the Gaston Ave intersection. The ride on the Deep Ellum section provided views of downtown, surrounding neighborhoods, and homeless encampments. It connected to the Santa Fe Trestle Trail taking us to the Bishop Art District, our destination. The Art District shops didn't open until later in the day, but we did happen onto the Oddfellow Café, a lively and popular restaurant serving breakfast. The heat was coming on strong, so we took the shortest route back to the hotel where we cleaned up and set off to explore Dallas.
Michael's family moved to Dallas where he finished school and attended college at SMU so we spent the afternoon touring some of his old stomping grounds. We drove around White Rock Lake where he remembers participating in submarine races while attending Brian Adams High School. We drove past the High School then on to the neighborhood he grew up in. He pointed out the house where he lived and the retaining wall he built that exists to this day. He shared some history about Marina Oswald, wife of the convicted assassin of then President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald. She and her kids moved into the area at 10823 Sinclair Ave, after the JFK assignation. He has many memories of the area. His old neighborhood is still neat and well maintained though Michael was surprised to learn that homes in the area were selling for over $500,000.
May 29, 2022 - Dallas - Austin & Chris to Seattle
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| Austin-Bergstrom Airport |
National news was reporting nation wide airline cancellations and delays so we got up very early to arrive at the Austin-Bergstrom Airport with plenty of time for me to catch the flight home to Seattle and Michael to return to his life and work in Austin. As is typically the case, the return flight was mostly uneventful with a minor delay in Denver while a storm passed.
It was a fabulous trip and good to catch up with Michael. Until next time!
