One stop and a long day

June 10 – Our early start was about 8:30, so not bad.  The drive today was 423 miles and I was pooped.  We started out on nice two lane country roads with little traffic and lots of scenery.  Speed limits are not as high but it’s certainly more relaxing of a drive.

Captain Bill

We visited Arkansas Post National Memorial near Gillett, AR.  The Post began in 1684 when a trading post was established there by the French to trade with the Quapaw and other Native American tribes.  Over 200 years the Post changed in size, location and nationality.  The size changed due to an influx of inhabitants, some of which were soldiers. The location changed due to the course change of the Arkansas River, and the nationality changed from French to Spanish to America finally, through the Louisiana Purchase.  At one time it was the Capital of Arkansas.  The fort was destroyed during the Civil War (or War Between the States depending on what side you were on).  It has a varied and interesting story for sure.  The movie they show is very good and the displays well represent the stages the Post went through.  We also met a couple from Clermont there.

We decided to have our lunch a bit early while we were already parked and the stop was longer than we planned due to the length of the movie and the exhibitions.   Once headed back on the road we were still on country roads for a while and learned that rice is grown in Arkansas.  A surprising fact!  The company, Riceland, has facilities there and we saw rice fields in various stages.  We enjoyed the variety of farms along the way including cotton, corn, rice and wheat.  They were in various stages as well.  We saw lots of huge farming equipment at work and shared the roads with several. 

Other than a stop to run the car the required time and to get fuel, we didn’t stop until 7pm at the designated Wal-mart in Cape Giradeau, MO.  We had a quick dinner and then went in to grab a few things.  We ended up between 2 tractor trailers for the night and a 40+ foot American Eagle RV. 

Being the tired puppies we were, we both started nodding off as soon as we picked up our books.