01AUG2014

The campground we stayed at last night only had pit toilets, but about ¾ of a mile away was a day use area that had restrooms and showers.  So I got all packed up and rode there, only to discover that the showers weren’t hot.  I wanted a shower, but not bad enough to unpack my stuff for a cold one.  So, Gary and I just took off.  We went back south to Helena, AR and got back on the trail, then headed west.  Most of the trail today was off road.  We started off riding through a bunch of crop fields, then started seeing signs for TAT riders to sign in up ahead.  A mile down the road, we see this old building with an old guy sitting on the porch, and a huge 4’x8’ wood sign telling TAT riders to stop and come sign in.  So we stop and this guy gets all excited and starts calling someone on the phone saying that there are riders here.  Next thing we know, a middle aged woman comes flying into the parking lot in her car.  She tells us that she’s the building owner’s daughter, and the old man we saw was his friend.  Apparently the owner is a 79 year old man, and he has the building setup as kind of a museum full of old…stuff.  Signs, bottles, antique stuff.  She said he sits on the porch all day everyday (except today because he was getting a haircut), waiting for TAT riders to come by.  He takes their picture and has them sign in.  So, his daughter took our picture and we signed in.  They told us a group of 8 from New Zealand had been through last week, and we were the first people they’d seen since then.  They had a bunch of photos of previous riders, which was pretty cool.  After visiting for a few minutes and thanking them, we were on our way.  We had a late lunch at some place called ‘The Grill’ in Beebe, AR, we kept heading west.  The terrain started to get slightly more hilly, but definitely not into the Ozarks.  We decided we weren’t going to make it to the end of this segment, so we pulled off the trail south about 10 miles to camp at Wooly Hollow State Park (http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/park-finder/campinglistings.aspx?id=35).  It’s not the most secluded campsite, and it’s pretty crowded because it’s Friday night, but the price is right and it’s a pretty area.

Google Map of today’s ride