Hi all,

Sunday, Oct. 19
We packed up camp and drove both motorhomes back to Fred and Judy's this morning.  After about a 2 1/2 hour drive, we arrived just before noon.

It was a slow day, with some work on his computer networking again.  It turned out that he had a Norton firewall running on one computer which we had successfully disabled, and McAfee on the other which we had "disabled", but which was really still working.  Once we truly disabled both, the network worked!

We did some planning for the next several days, and some "what-if's" regarding different scenarios on our car.

Monday, Oct. 20
I called Saturn about 10 this morning.  Chris said all the remaining parts had arrived this morning and re-assembly was well underway.  The mechanic estimated he would have it complete and test driven by about 2 this afternoon.  We decided I should call back at about 12 to update the status.  As it is a 1 1/2 hour drive down to pick it up (and the same to return), we could save some time by leaving before it is complete.  We had discussed leaving as soon as we got back with the car.

At 12, Chris said it would be done between 2 and 2:15.   I went down to the house to report the latest and was told we would not be leaving until tomorrow morning anyway.  Judy's mother had decided to go home!  Judy and one of her sisters had agreed to meet about half way to transport her home.  That meant a little over a 3 hour drive one way for Judy.  We saw them off and left for North Little Rock a few minutes later.

The car was ready! 
W E   H A V E   O U R   S A T U R N   B A C K  ! ! ! ! ! ! !

It runs well, shifts well, and drives well.  Our 70 mile trip home did a pretty good job of checking it out.

There is one problem, though.  When we got home, I turned off the engine and tried to remove the key.  It would not come out!  The first several times I removed the key at stops on our way home, there was a little "catch", but it came out.  You have to put the car into PARK to remove the key.  I think the linkage is a little off and it is looking for a little past PARK.  After a bunch of fiddling, I got the key out.  I'll worry about that later.

Judy came home around 7 tonight after a successful trip and we had a planning session.  We head to Eureka Springs tomorrow morning, and Branson on Thursday.

Tuesday, Oct. 21 
We headed toward Eureka Springs about 8:30 this morning.  It was about a 3 hour drive.  Part way here we called the park where we were planning to stay; they were full!  Judy called other parks in the area and found one for us on the other side of town.

Betty and I did some exploring this afternoon working our way toward the end of town where we had passed a Super Walmart.  The town is sprawled out along a series of twisty, hilly roads which wind through the Ozarks.  I think we are approaching the peak time for the tree colors.  While there are still a lot of green trees, and some have gone directly to brown, there are some that are absolutely gorgeous!  There are bright oranges, intense yellows, flaming reds, and vivid purples.  It was exciting to go around each bend to see what colors we would see there.  We had seen some of these same colors at Fred and Judy's, but on a smaller scale.

We arrived at Walmart and restocked our provisions, then came back by the location where they present The Passion Play.  There they have a huge statue of Jesus called The Christ of the Ozarks.  We hurried back to meed Fred and Judy to head out to dinner then a Jamboree.  The show was a lot of fun with music and comedy aplenty. 

Wednesday, Oct. 22 
We decided to look for the War Eagle Caverns this morning.  The AAA write up on it said it is wheelchair accessible.  The four of us headed out in the Saturn with an approximate location for the caverns.  We started seeing signs and had no problem finding them.  When we got there, the path down to the ticket house was quite rough and steep.  Inside, the lady said that the caverns are quite level and not hard for a wheelchair.  The path down is another matter.  She said the path down was left rough intentionally.  If a person is comfortable with that path they can handle the rest.  We decided against it.

We then went several miles down the road to the War Eagle Mill.  This is the fourth mill on this site.  The original was built in 1932, it was destroyed by a flood several years later.  Its replacement was burned down by retreating Confederate troops, its replacement was destroyed by fire in 1924.  The mill we saw was built almost 50 years later to the design of the original mill.  While we were there, the mill was running, but no corn or grain was being processed.  The store shelves were stocked with various flowers and meals ground here.

The mill is powered by the only undershot waterwheel in the United States.  This drives the mill through 3 stages of 4 foot pulleys driving 1 foot pulleys for an overall ratio of 64 to one.  This means the grinding wheel turns 64 turns for each turn of the waterwheel.  The stones that actually do the grinding are 30 inches in diameter.

We looked at the map and found we were quite close to Bentonville, the home of Walmart.  Fred and Judy had heard there were tours available for the automated distribution center.  With the help of several local people, we found the home office.  There we found that the only tours they give are pre-arranged, but that going to the Walmart visitor center was supposed to be highly desirable.  We followed the directions of the greeter at the home office (Yes, they have a greeter also.)  I commented on the many, many "medals" on his blue vest and he said this was only one of four vests he has.  Most of the others were more heavily loaded.  He also said he had been working for Walmart for only 2 1/2 years.  (The medals are mostly advertisements for the many vendors who sell to Walmart.)

We found the visitor's center.  It is the re-located five and dime store which was the first Sam Walton and his wife Helen owned.  The greeter here had even more medals on his vest than the previous one.  Inside was a full museum containing many photographs, displays representing the growth of the chain, videos of important events, and an entire side devoted to Sam and his family.  It even contained his famous and well used pickup truck.  It was a very interesting visit.  On our way back to camp we found a Dixie Cafe and had an excellent meal.  We then detoured slightly and drove across the Beaver Lake dam, checked out the campground, and enjoyed the sights.

Tomorrow we head to Branson.

I have posted some photos at:

http://myweb.cableone.net/rsmason/arkansas03.htm

Till next time,

Dick