Another Day in Hot Springs, AR

Another Day in Hot Springs, AR

Monday, November 6, 2006

 

It was another day in Hot Springs.  The morning was foggy, and it was not a good day for the Ozarks.   The weather report is predicted to be 70+ Wednesday and Thursday, so I decided to stick around town for another day.  Met some interesting people and saw new things:

• There are 47 springs in Hot Springs – and I thought I ought to fill up on some of that healing water, so pulled up to a cold water spring.   Small area with 4 facets coming out of the ground and space for only 3 cars to park.  There was a man filling up multiple jugs at the same time.   He glanced at my license plate and asked "you from Virginia?", yep I answered. "What Part?" northern I answered.  "What town?"   Arlington.  "Isn't that the capitol?"  Nope I answered, I think that's Richmond.  "Oh, yes, I traveled there once" yea? How's that?   "I met a woman over the internet and went out to meet her – but she wasn't what I wanted".  Emm, interesting how that works out so many times.   I looked at his trunk full of bottles and asked how long that would last him----"month or two" he replied. He mentioned that he preferred the cold over the hot springs – said it had a better taste.
• I then decided to walk the Grand Promenade, an inlaid wide brick walkway, overlook the city that winds behind Bathhouse row.   It offered a different perspective on the city and allowed me to have a closer look at the vantage architecture.
• As I dropped down and walked back alone the street on Bathhouse row, I tested each fountain I passed.   The first was a hot one.  A woman drove up and started filling all her bottles, and of course asked where I was from – does my accent give me away?   We started talking and I learned:
• she's a died in the wool Republican. And wanted to know if I was voting for Allen or the other one – I informed her I had already voted and had indeed voted for Webb.
• She preferred the hot springs.  Originally she preferred the cold ones, but about a year ago the government made them add Ozone to make it safe.  Emmmm….ozone, that was a real puzzeler for me but I decided not to pursue it
• She worked at the Election Board and was so happy that they had a good Christian man running for Governor.
• The next fountain was behind one of the historic Bathhouses.   Hot, about 144 degrees, coming right out of the hill side.
• The last spring was at the city park, with a big water fall as the hot springs came right out of the hill side.  I alternating my hands feet in the hot water.  For over an hour, just enjoying the scenery, the people that passed by, and the warm water.
• On my way back to my car I decided to walk in and see one of these grand old hotels.   I liked The Park (others had names like The Majestic and The Arlington), it had a sign in the window that said "Eat Drink Sleep", I liked the clarity and conciseness of that and decided to check it out.   It was a narrow building, but still magnificent.  As I walked in,  I saw that the ceilings were easily 15 feet, the floors were a beige, brown, black and white tile mosaic  – the old style maybe 2" X 2" tile, the walls were solid concrete, the banister railings going up the stairway was brass, a black and while photo of Marilyn Monroe hung over the staircase near where it joined the lobby,
• The bar tender seemed friendly and I decided to sit and have a beer.   There were only a couple of people in the place, a small, maybe 8-stool bar adjoining an Italian restaurant off the lobby.  After several interactions with both the bar tender and what must have been someone associated with the hotel, I learned that the Bar Tender used to be a respiratory therapist.   That the city is expected to get legalized gambling in the near future, and from another local person passing by I learned:  she had never voted, (she must have been in her mid to late 30's) when I asked why, she mentioned that she'd never been taught, and that it scared her, when I asked why she was scared of voting she said it was because it was government and that scared her.   DON'T BE SCARED – VOTE TOMORROW – ALL OF YOU

 

Another Great, relaxing day in Hot Springs!

First Day on The Road 11/1/06

After weeks of preparation.....Gabby and I started out today. I must acknowledge a few people who really helped get me ready for this point:
I'd have no connectivity without all of Patrick's guidance and many hours of couching and time in computer stores and installations. That includes: a laptop that I can connect via my cell phone or Hot Spots, a new cell phone, Bluetooth adaptor for phone, an inverter that plugs into my cigarette lighter and can power any electronic (saves buying a different adapter for each appliance)...Thank you Patrick
Matt thanks for hel;ping me buy the external hard drive
Ildevert, thanks for helping me buy the thumb drive
Tony thanks for lunch and doing your best to get me to understand all this wireless stuff
Henry, thanks for the idea about XM Radio - I LOVE it, it's so cool to have such music, comedy, news, BBC, NPR, traffic, etc. As I travel the highways
Margo, thanks for figuring out how to work that complicated radio in the van! It paid off, I'm enjoying the XM radio (which wouldn't have been possible had I not been able to dial to empty stations. I keep your documentation close by and use it often.
Paul, Kathy, Ann, Kate, Margo: Thanks for the Departure Dinner and send off - what a great way to start my big adventure
THANKS to the P&T Team at Peace Corps who called today to wish me well - what fun. Please, do it again!
Thanks to whoever sent the text message today - I will get better, I've never used text, in fact I didn't think I could get them because I didn't pay for the service. And for future reference, please include your name on any text message I pulled away from my house at 10am on a clear, bright blue sky day. The GW Parkway was glorious! I think the leaves in that area are at peak - get out and see them! Even the Beltway was beautiful---and that says a lot. I'd forgotten how hilly and beautiful Cumberland, MD was. I proceeded to Morgantown and then started south on I-79. Through the mountains the leaves had already fallen, the skies turned gray and it started to rain. And then a song by Cream came on "I'm So Glad" yep, I thought that's me! I decided to pop into Clarksburg and see what I could find to eat and give Gabby a stretch of the legs. I think a good infusion of capitol could greatly enhance that town....It's better day got up and left a long time ago.
My goals was to camp in the New River Gorge area near Beckley, WV, so at Sutton, I left the interstate and got on 19 South - what a beautiful area. West VA truly is a beautiful state. Lots of places I'd like to come back to in the summer - big mountains, lakes, resorts, ...a must for a return. I pulled off at Hico, WV because I thought my dog friendly hotel was there and I wanted to get directions. I wasn't up for camping my first night on the road in the rain. I pulled into a "Man Area" lots of pick-ups, a store and a gas station..it must have been a transfer point because there were LOTS of trucks. I was enjoying the flavor of their WV accents, walking Gabby, when I saw a bunch of good ol boys hanging around a pickup. It was quite a sight - all looked like they'd seen their last bath several months ago, beards were down to mid chest, teeth were sparse (ohmygod, am I describing a stereotype here?) but they were right friendly. As I came closer, I noticed that they had a black bear on the back of the truck with a couple of hunting dogs tied closely to the cab. I walked up and had myself a good look...emm, nice bear I thought. So I asked, "Who got that bear", the guy closest to me motioned his head to the guy next to him, ( a younger guy without a beard). I asked this younger guy how far he had to carry it out, he said it was a good bit, when I continued to looked at him, he continued that it took him about 6 hours to pack the bear out. I motioned to the dogs and asked if they helped. He said they found the bear and treed him. I didn't ask any more questions, but was disappointed I didn't ask for their photo - I'm sure they'd of been proud to pose. Anyway, I walked away with this very clear visual of dogs treeing a bear and then the guy coming and shooting it out of the tree----and I wondered at the sport in that? Oh well, it was still fun, not something I see everyday! My first cultural experience. I crossed the New River Gorge Bridge just before sunset, a VERY high bridge spanning the huge go=rge of the New River - what a beautiful sight. The "Tacky Girls Club" did a white water trip in this area and it's definitely worth a visit. I found my hotel in Fayetteville, with my AARP discount it came to $54 for the night. I thought I'd find a cute place to eat in town.....but unless I blinked when I passed the restaurant, I missed it. "Town" is about 3 blocks long populated primarily by rafting trip outfitters - - which makes it a very quiet town this time of year. Of the food options in a shopping center, I decided on Bob Evans - golly, were they ever polite, helpful, kind!!!! Really! And with my 55 and older menu my dinner (it was really breakfast) came, with tax, to $5.62. All in all - a GREAT first day on the road!