BIG BEND trip
Oct. 14-21 2017
PART 7
We Scholared a bit in Hope, Ark.
US 67 uses 3rd Street in Hope. As we cross Hervey Street, we pick up US 278B - US 278's business loop.
AR 29 (Main Street) in Hope. The funeral home on the left was once the site of the hospital where Bill Clinton was born.
More Scholaring in Hope.
Back north on AR 29, with the former hospital site on the right.
Main at 3rd at downtown Hope. Here we lose AR 29.
North on Pine.
West on Division.
North on Hervey. Bill Clinton's boyhood home is the house on the right. It's funny that there's a Tea Party sign right in front of Clinton's old house. Clinton was the man who led the Democrats into copying every Republican policy - which spoiled Democrats' electoral chances for years - but to hear the Tea Party talk, you'd think he was a Bolshevik. That house is where ol' Bill stood on the toilet lid and fished in the bathtub. According to the man there, Hervey Street was an unpaved road back during Clinton's childhood, and it didn't really go anywhere.
Gum Springs! Hahaha! Get it? You can blow bubbles with it! This is on I-30.
I-30 near Arkadelphia.
Scenic AR 7 between I-30 and Hot Springs.
AR 7 at DeGray Lake. This area is where Spanish explorers introduced the local Caddo people to horses. The lake was built from 1962-72.
AR 7 crosses Lake Hamilton - and 2 islands therein. The lake was formed in 1932 from the Ouachita River, which Wikipedia called "one of Arkansas's most popular rivers." Yes, I'm sure the river was eager for a yearbook mention.
South Park! Like the cartoon! AR 7 uses Central Avenue into Hot Springs.
Hot Springs needs Operation KroGum too? AR 7 continues here.
Still on AR 7 (Central Avenue) in Hot Springs. The SUV at right with the Trump/Pence sticker mars an otherwise worthwhile central city.
AR 7 continues as Central Avenue through downtown Hot Springs - a city of 35,000. Sadly, not everyone understands the essence of modern cities. Some people stared in disbelief that they saw a woman with blue hair walking down the street - as if they'd never before left the posh, sheltered exurbs.
Exchange Street. Write this 1,000 times on the chalkboard: "I will not use Helvetica on traffic signs."
It's...Hot Springs! The large, towering building at left was once a military hospital.
Hot Springs is named for the springs that sprouted the city's famous bathhouses and national park. The spring water was said to have medicinal properties, in case I wanted to cure my strabismus and crooked teeth. But I don't want to cure them, because they make me so cool. It appears as if one of the springs is visible here at right. See the steam rising up from it?
This appears to be one of the springs. Hot Springs National Park was America's only urban national park - before Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis was established in 2018. The park includes part of downtown Hot Springs.
Central Avenue again.
This statue looks like Vladimir Putin!