HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
TRAVEL DAY: POCAHONTAS, ARKANSAS TO SALESVILLE, ARKANSAS.
Day 45 – It rained most of the night and was still raining when we got up – 54 degrees. Today we’re driving west to Lake Norfork, which is a large lake with a large dam and an Army Corps of Engineer’s (ACE) campground. We’ve found that ACE-designed campgrounds are often not busy, not very expensive, clean, and well-maintained. There aren’t many in the northeast, but we are now entering areas which have them. Salesville is the city closest to the campground at the southern end of the lake.
We departed Davidsonville Historic State Park at 10:20 a.m. It was 52 degrees with light rain and it was windy. One of the reasons we decided to leave was that the weather was so crummy, so why not drive somewhere else. We stopped once for gas in the RV, (only $2.999!), otherwise driving straight through and having lunch after we arrived at our destination.
The first half of the trip it was dark and dreary out, but the sun came out later and the rain completely stopped. We drove through parts of the Ozark Mountains, so the terrain was not always flat farmland. But on the farms we did pass, we saw horses, lambs, and cows – some with magnificent horns. We went through a few very old, run-down towns that looked like they were getting ready to disappear, like Davidsonville. Other medium-sized towns seemed to be doing okay, but the areas we drove by certainly were not hugely populated. We watched the car thermometer drop into the forties, so we were glad the sun was out. It’s supposed to be 25 degrees at our campground tonight. As we turned onto the road approaching the campground, there was a huge dam in front of us – quite a feat, building this dam!
We arrived shortly thereafter at the Dam-Quarry ACE Campground, near the base of the dam. Being Thanksgiving, no one was at the Park to check us in. We drove through the two loops and chose a campsite. We paid for the site by reserving it online after we settled in. The first loop had campsites overlooking the river below the dam, and most of those were full. We drove to the second loop which looked at the dam and picked a site there. Only one other trailer was situated in this loop. We had our lunch and unpacked, looking out over three beautiful bald cypress trees near our site.
We took a drive after we got everything settled in the RV. We drove to the Lake and over the dam, around the campground, and to a boat launch and one of the marinas. Obviously this place must be a zoo in the summer with so many places for storing RVs and boats. It reminded us a little of Lake Powell (without the red cliffs and rocks).
We’ll do some trip planning tonight in preparation for tomorrow’s drive. Our next couple of stops will include wildlife refuges. These stops are before reaching the Buffalo. Can’t wait! We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
For more information about Dam-Quarry Army Corps of Engineer Campground,click here.