Day 27 – Gay Pareee

13th July 2018

Change of plan… am now heading for Hot Springs in Arkansas, by way of Paris Texas. As usual I am avoiding the interstate so it takes a while. I pass through Honey Grove, what a great name I hope they have a water tower… yep they do

I arrive in Paris, it’s a very quaint place…

Two water towers, I’m impressed. However, I would have thought they had their own Eiffel Tower but I’m not seeing anything… odd, but maybe they didn’t want to copy the real Paris. I check out google and there’s a Harley dealers here so I make my way there.

There’s a very cool bike sitting outside…

A bit on the spooky side tho.

I pick up the poker chip and just as I pay the woman starts chatting… where am I from?, where am I going?, have you seen our tower? Tower, No I haven’t, I was wondering where it was. She proceeds to tell me where it is and how to get there.

I jump back on the bike and make my way there…. is that it??? They’ve obviously been playing with a meccano set… but a bit further on and here it actually is…

I love the hat on the top. It is a lot smaller than the real one, but cute all the same.

Back on the road towards Hot Springs…

Is the last train still headed here?

should be entering Arkansas soon… hold up…

Oklahoma!!! What the hells going on? I stop and check the map on the phone. I have been using Waze and so far it has been very good, especially for avoiding interstates. It has routed me NE instead I’d due East… oh well… so it’s TaTa Texas, Okay Oklahoma.

I enter the Choctaw Nation… a few miles on and I see this sign,

I must check this out later.

Occasionally there’s also this signpost

I definitely need to find out about this later.

I pass through, Idalou, Broken Bow, Eagleton and very soon…

So… outta here Oklahoma.. ‘Allo Arkansas.

I have to turn around just before Bonnerdale to capture this…

A full size truck half buried in someone’s garden… what’s that about?? Luckily there’s an answer

Oh! It’s a fire engine and the letterbox is a miniature of it

How sweet and what a fantastic tribute.

Finally into Hot Springs… and yes it’s hot!! The ride since Paris has been getting progressively greener, it’s a lovely change of scenery after weeks of desert.

It’s been a long day and I arrive at my hotel, the Shamrock no less, at 9.30pm much later than usual. The reception door is locked and a man behind the desk bangs on the window and points to a hand written notice which says to check in at the window after 10pm… mmm it’s not 10 yet, but whatever. The man is quite rude and there’s a neon ‘open’ sign flashing in my face… annoying or what. Eventually after having to repeat himself several times, he comes to the door where we can have a proper conversation. All sorted and as a passing shot I suggest that he switches the flashing neon sign off when people are at the window, it’s given me a headache.

I ride over to my room and park up, a couple of doors down is a door labelled ‘Laundry’… oh good I can get my washing done. I unpack the bike and go to investigate the laundry. It’s locked with a big padlock… mmm I go back to the flashing window man, he immediately comes to the door… well trained there Pogs. I ask what time the laundry is open… it’s not in use but there is a laundromat just down the road.

So, the plan for tomorrow is to do my washing, wash the bike and make my way to Memphis, Tennessee.

P.S. Trail of Tears.. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears