Today we dithered around between the two states, crossing the state border a few times in our drive down from the mountains.
Before leaving Eureka Springs we stopped in to see the beautiful Thorncrown Chapel, it’s a soaring piece of stunning architecture nestled in the woods and constructed almost entirely of glass walls on a timber frame. It’s won a number of awards and is, not surprisingly, an extremely popular wedding location. We had a friendly chat to the gentleman presiding over the entrance and swapped notes about other great examples of architecture ( as soon as he realised we were Australian, he asked about the Opera House!)
From there we drove down through more pretty mountain scenery on part of the “Boston Mountain Scenic Byway” to Devils Den State Park. Most of the facilities, such as campground and store, were closed which seems strange when the weather is still so warm and beautiful. However, very few people seem to be on vacation after Labour Day and we felt like we had the place to ourselves.
The gorgeous stone dam and many of the pathways were constructed by workers of the The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of Franklin. D Roosevelt’s, “New Deal”. A program to give employment during the depression. Many of the structures in the National Parks were also built by the CCC and here they had a statue commemorating the work they did.
From there we drove on the Fort Smith ( with a brief detour into Oklahom on the way!). Fort Smith was originally established in 1817 as a military post, was abandoned for a time and then re-occupied by the military during the time of the resettlement of the Choctaw Indians. It sits on the confluence of the Poteau and Arkansas river and was a nice green spot for our coffee and snack.
As usual on our American trips we’ve seen many squirrels running around parks and forests. This little guy was just lying around having a rest, it’s unusual to see them NOT in constant motion 🙂
Then we drove down through more pretty farmland and forest area of Arkansas before finally crossing the border back into Oklahoma for the night. ON the way we stopped in to see something you don’t expect to see in Oklahoma, Viking runes carved in a rock! The runestone was discovered a long time ago and is reputed to be a genuine result of a by Vikings in ancient times.
Our final stop before getting to the hotel was a brief stop at Walmart. Neil just couldn’t resist buying himself a camo cap… ‘Merica!
