Our first week of this adventure was in Jasper, Arkansas. Besides a quick test trip to Walmart (10 minutes from our house), this was the first time we had taken the travel trailer on the road. The trip went very well. We got into our campground and got everything set up. Before an extended trip, you spend so much time preparing and trying to get everything in order…but you just have to get out there and see how things go and make adjustments as necessary.
We enjoyed a few days of nice weather. We were near the Buffalo National River. We did a few short hikes and a couple of drives. There were so many signs for Crooked and Steep roads. I have to say winding through those mountain roads at 20-35 mph we got really good gas mileage. We knew there was challenging weather in the forecast so on a nice afternoon we went and explored an area called Lost Valley. We hiked into a waterfall and then went to a cave and crawled into a cave with headlamps to see the 35 foot waterfall inside. We so enjoy seeing God’s beautiful creation. Then Tuesday night we got to experience some storms. For the next three days we experienced tornado watches, tornado warnings, many thunderstorms and lots of rain. I am happy to report that after the awnings were put away, our little travel trailer did very well and didn’t leak. We also learned that a12 foot trailer feels small with two people when you are stuck inside. We were thankful to be warm and dry! Saturday morning we packed up in the rain and headed to Bella Vista which is just north of Bentonville. This was an unexpected addition to our plans. We had planned to head west, but a snow storm in Amarillo, Texas, was encouragement to delay and go when the weather was warmer. We enjoyed getting to stop at Pea Ridge where a Civil War battle was fought. We also visited the Walmart museum (Bentonville was the birthplace of Walmart) and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. They had beautiful displays inside, lovely grounds and a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
Then we made a long drive to Amarillo, Texas. We met up with one of Darrel’s co-workers and her husband for a steak dinner.
We then moved on to Pena Blanca, New Mexico, where we met up with a couple more of Darrel’s co-workers who also work remote. It is way more fun to get together in person rather than just meet virtually! We enjoyed walking down and seeing the Rio Grande and exploring the area. Our next stop was visiting friends in Glenwood. It is a really remote area…we are told they only have 2600 people in the whole county. We got to visit the Catwalk which is that area’s claim to fame. It is a beautiful canyon where gold and silver were found in the Mogollon Mountains.
Then we moved on to Cottonwood, AZ where we were able to get reservations for 4 days in the Dead Horse Ranch State Park. We really enjoyed exploring…driving up to Jerome (an old mining town) and visiting the Tuzigoot National Monument.
We were also able to get in a hike at Bell Rock and around Courthouse Butte in Sedona. We came home with so much red dirt on our shoes and legs…you would have thought we had gotten sunburned. We were thankful for showers because it is warm here!
We then made our way down to Black Canyon City to visit relatives. Tomorrow we head to Utah…Kanab for several days and then on to Salt Lake City to visit our son Ben.
One of the great joys of this mobile life is the opportunity to meet up with friends and family as we travel. We are thankful for the many visits we have had these past couple of weeks and the ones that will happen in the next month as we continue to make our way towards Montana.
This is what working remote has looked like for Darrel these last weeks…
