1142  62,051 miles    66°  1211 ft

Choosing a homeward bound route through Arkansas yielded some interesting town names.  This state welcome center had clean restrooms and lots of tourism information.

1230  62,085 miles  66°  722 ft

Pulled over in Yellville, as I can’t pass up the combination of a railroad station and caboose. 

They turned out to be part of a pleasant hillside town park and picnic area. A sign on the door showed the Marion County Arkansas Heritage Society is open Tues, Wed, Thur, from 10 to 2. Despite not being open, historical signage showed that the name came from Arkansas’s second governor Archibald Yell. We were really hoping for a more colorful history.

Shade in the picnic area was provided by Eastern Red Cedar trees. Actually Junipers, the trees were fruiting with interesting blue berries. Looked up the tree and discovered that the berries are a favorite food and reason behind the name of the gorgeous Cedar Waxwing birds. 

Crossing the White River in Flippin, Beth snapped a quick photo just so we would remember the unique name. Wikipedia taught us it “was named for the military service of SGT Thomas H. Flippin of Captain Hugh Brown’s Company, 1st Regiment, Kentucky Mounted Militia during the War of 1812.” Prior to being incorporated as a town, the area was known as “Goatville” so Flippin might be considered an improvement.

1355  62,118 miles  70°

We picked Site 85 in Robinson Point Campground. If you look way down at the end of the point you might find our silver van on the left. Although perfect in October, I wouldn’t want any of these sites in the heat of summer as there isn’t any real shade.

COE (US Army Corp of Engineers) campgrounds are some of our favorite places because they are reasonably priced, clean, and often on the water. This was $26 ($13 for senior pass holders) with 50 amp electric and water hook-ups and no street lights.

A few of the sites were set-up in an X for sharing. We hadn’t seen this design before. It would be perfect for two families that wanted to spend time together.

Water levels were low. The tree between us and the lake was evidence that they had been higher.

The lack of streetlights was welcome after sunset when Beth went out to view the night skies.  Our neighbors were thrilled when she shared this photo of their RV with the eerie blue glow.

She sets an iPhone 13 on a tripod and uses her watch to trigger the exposure. A few satellites were passing in front of the milky way in this view.

She even captured a photo of the van under starry skies after I had fallen asleep. 

Today’s Route

A relaxing 101 miles across northern Arkansas