Ozark, Arkansas

We left West Memphis Monday morning and arrived here in Ozark, Arkansas after 275 miles on I-40 and are camped at the Aux Arc Corp of Engineers campground right on the Arkansas River. This park is a hidden jewel with wonderful large paved sites, shelters over the picnic tables, and for $10/night (old fart pass again) is a steal. Somewhere on the east side of Little Rock, traffic came to a complete stop and I-40 looked like a parking lot!  As it turned out a large dump truck loaded with sand had turned over and had the entire west bound lanes blocked. I don't think anyone was hurt, but it had traffic backed up for miles.

This part of Arkansas reminds me very much of eastern Tennessee with lush green rolling hills and is very rural. There is a dam and lock here across the river that is used for flood control as well as generating electricity and is a way of passage for boats and barges navigating the Arkansas River. The facility is operated by the Army Corp of Engineers. The locals tell me the fishing here is good.

Thankfully, the temperatures have moderated with highs in the low 90's. The high predicted today is 87. The humidity is still high, but is bearable. Looks like it's going to get hot again as we head further west. Speaking of leaving, we're pulling out in the morning, after 3 nights here, and headed  for Oklahoma City for one night.  From there we plan to visit Amarillo, Tx. for 3 nights where we plan to hook up with our Texas buddy, Bob Curry. We're not looking forward to the rough road conditions on I-40 in Oklahoma.

This large dump truck loaded with sand turned over in the middle of I-40.

Quite a mess.

Our location.

Google map view of dam  and lock. White building on left is power generating plant, the center section are gates used for flood control, and on the far right is the lock used for navigation. The red push pin in upper left is the campground.

Our camp site, F-10. The first 14 campsites are non-reservable and are first come first serve. The park has another section that is partially riverfront with large hard wood trees, but we liked these sites better. Getting satellite TV had something to do with the decision. 

We don't have morning shade, but do have good afternoon shade.

Panoramic Shot of river and dam 

This shot taken from Reed Mountain on the north side of the river. If you look real hard, you can see our camper on the far side of the river.

Here's our camper at full zoom.

The Crepe Myrtle's here are especially pretty.