Whew..made to Arkansas yesterday (April 28) with many hours of driving.  Seems like whatever highway I was on there was wind...not just a breeze but WIND.  Driving through Texas and Oklahoma was interesting but pretty flat with some rolling hills.  At least this type of driving made filling up at the gas pump a little less frequent.  I stayed at the Flying J in Oklahoma City which made for an easy departure the next morning.  I had planned to leave early but the folks next to me left around 3 A.M. waking me up with their diseil engine and I couldn't get back to sleep so I finally got up and was on the road by 5:00 A.M leaving much earlier than planned. I had forgotten about the two hour time change so it probably a good thing I left early.  

The drive to Mountain View was uneventful, and with the thought that I had left early enough to arrive and the camp ground before dark was comforting and I made several stops along the way including a stop at the visitor center in Arkansas.  Here, I asked questions about what was the best road to take to Mountain View.  The assistant definitely recommended that I not take Highway 9 which looked to be the shortest route, but that I take Highway 65 and then catch 9. This turned out to be very good advise.  Highway 9 was really narrow, very windy with steep down and up grades.  Memories of California Highway 4 invaded my brain as I drove.  To complicate matters there were several oversized truck loads that lugged up the mountain at 5 mph.  So much for getting to Sylamore  campground early.  However, I did managed to get there before dark. 

Several WIN members were already here and helped me pick out a beautiful site down by the river.  Later I was told there was a possibility of flood advisories so I ended up moving on the upper level, which turned out to be a good thing.  John, one of the WINs, bless his heart, realized how tired and hungry I was and cooked me a wonderful dinner of shrimp and scallops. Yummm.  He can cook for me any day.  

This place is amazing.  First of all, I never realized there were mountains in Arkansas.  Believe me, after that hairy drive over the mountains, Arkansas has some hills that rival Nevada and California.  There is a lot to do here.  There is hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, good fishing, "mudding" (4 wheeling) and best of all lots of folk music. They have jam sessions almost every night in Mountain View.  Tonight several of us went into "town" and sat on the porch of a B&B and listened to a group of  four guitars players who sang country songs.  There must have been 20 or 30 people crammed on the porch because it was raining.  I very fun night and free too!

I am really looking forward to Kayaking the white river.  There is a creek at the campground where we can put in and then connect with river.  With the threat of thunder and lightening we will have to wait until the weather clears...hopefully soon.  Even as I write this, the rain is pouring.  Poor Sadie is freaking out with all of the noise.