From the 90's to the 30's- Degrees That Is! Arkansas to Maryland

Friday, October 31, 2014

Tonight we are camped at Fort Frederick State Park near Hancock, Maryland, just off of I-70. We escaped in time to miss the big snow as we traveled east back to Maryland. A week ago found us camping at Dead Indian Lake in Oklahoma. It was in the 90's and dry. We spent the next night at Kaw Lake in Oklahoma, warm again, and traveled across Oklahoma into Arkansas. I wasn't sad to finally be done with northern Oklahoma. Hot, dry, not very interesting terrain, and dying towns.


We entered Arkansas near Bentonville, headquarters of WalMart, at rush hour. Kind of a bit of culture shock. We had a good night's sleep at the Army Corps of Engineers campground at Kaw Lake, close to the suburbs. The next morning we decided to explore the Ozarks and drove southeast a short distance to the Buffalo National River, one of the few undammed rivers in the U.S. It is popular for canoeing trips. We approached it on the west end, had a short drive near it, and then had to head back cross country to find another river crossing. We wound our way along the ridges and down into the river valley several times.

Driving under a limestone ledge near the Missouri, Oklahoma border

Buffalo River

It was a beautiful, scenic area, and we passed through many small isolated towns. Finally we reached the Tyler Bend area near the river. It contains the visitor center and a nice campground. We pulled in for the evening to a non- hook-up campsite, with enough time to walk to the visitor center and down to the river. The river had a nice limestone cliff, and some Fall colors, but nothing spectacular. I think the appeal of the Buffalo River is an easy float through the unpopulated areas.

Buffalo National River

Buffalo River near our camp

Fierce wildlife broke into the RV

The next day we got a good taste of the Ozarks as we wound our way through them to finish crossing northern Arkansas. By evening we had reached the “Bootheel” of Missouri and crossed into the northwest corner of Tennessee. We found the Blue Basin of Reelfoot Lake and a very nice state park campground and set up in the rain along the shores of the cypress stump bordered lake. The weather caught up with us, and as we checked the extended forecast we discovered that we were being chased by a front that was predicted to dump snow on the parts of Kentucky and West Virginia we were headed for.

The Mighty Mississippi from I-165

Reelfoot Lake

Time to speed up our travels and get ahead of it. Working our way across the southern part of Kentucky we made Mammoth Cave National Park by dark. A half priced national park campground suited us for the night. No hook-ups, but lots of empty sites in the hardwood trees. We had to chase the deer out of our site. It was a cold night, especially after the high temperatures a few days before!

Very quiet campground at Mammoth Caves

Thursday found us back on the interstate and eating up the miles driving east. Frankly, we hate the interstate, but if driving the interstate meant staying out of snow, so be it. After a day of “Zombie Driving” through the rest of Kentucky and half of West Virginia, we found a small Army Corps campground near Sutton on I-79. We paid our $4 for a non-hook-up site and had a quiet night in the campground in the woods, all to ourselves.


This morning we woke to fog and damp and set off down the road to Maryland. More “Zombie Driving” brought us across the border accompanied by overcast skies, but no rain or snow. By the time we reached Hancock, we were far enough east and south to escape the coming weather. Only rain is forecast here for tonight and tomorrow. We decided to eat a late lunch at the Park and Dine restaurant where we began our travels with breakfast last Spring, six months and one week ago. It was Greg's favorite stop for breakfast for many years, before bike rides on the C&O Canal.


Nearby is Fort Frederick State Park with a nice 30 site campground along the Potomac River. Only a few RV's here, so it is very quiet, except for the trains running across the river. We took a walk around the area and up to the fort and had a nice conversation with two young interpreters just closing up. Got a quick history lesson and a tour of the barracks. The fort was built to defend the frontier during the French and Indian War and played a role in the Revolutionary War. It has been nicely restored. Today it seems strange to think that this area was once the frontier after spending six months out west on the frontier. But, going back far enough in the history of our country, this area was raging wilderness. I had ancestors that settled not too far from here in the early 1700's.

Fall Colors

The campground is located between the CSX line on the north and Norfolk Southern on the West Virginia side of the Potomac.

The barracks inside Fort Frederick

Fort Frederick gate

The CCC Museum outside the walls

One of the C&O Canal locks

The C&O Towpath

What is inside an Osage Orange?

No one volunteered to taste it.

The Big Pool of Big Pool, Maryland

Tonight we are settled on the shores of the “Patowmak” and hope for a peaceful, if cold night's sleep. Tomorrow we head for civilization for some reunions with family and some TCB. The blog should be back up in two weeks or so as we head south again!