Upon leaving Tupelo, Mississippi, we continued to listen to musicians from each state we drove through. Did you know that apart from Elvis…Britney Spears, Nate Dogg, and Diplo were born there? Adam was eager to play Johnny Cash, one of his favorite artists, the moment we crossed into AR. Erinn worked for most of this leg (did I mention this girl HUSTLES?). Also apparently Arkansas has the most well-paved roads of all the states we’ve driven to thus far. You can thank Adam for that fun fact.
On the way out of Tupelo, we stopped by the one and only Cracker Barrell, because what screams “all American road trip” more than fried foods, biscuits and apple butter? They even had a store that they force you to walk through when you arrive and exit, so the pleas of a 2.5 year old are not for the weak-hearted (Note: we walked out of there with a stuffed cow and a Frozen coloring book; Erinn grabbed some Christmas decor).
Less than 4 hours later, we found ourselves at Crystal Springs Campground, just west of the famous Hot Springs. This was probably my least favorite camping setup to-date — instead of being tucked away in the corner of the site or lake front, we were wedged smack dab in the middle of a small peninsula jutting out into the lake. Confederate and Trump/Pence flags were sprinkled all around us. That said, the couple people we encountered right when we arrived were super friendly and helped us find our spot for the evening, and some older kids ran around with glow sticks as night fell.
That’s one thing I’ve noticed more and more as we make our way through the South. People are just FRIENDLIER than they are on the East coast (or the bubble of DC for that matter).
First order of business: get the toddler out of the RV and go on a walk. The small playground was nestled on the campground beach but surrounded with hot pink tape indicating that it was closed. This was the first major COVID-related closing we’ve seen since being in the south. So instead, we did some yoga on the beach and played in the sand. Nobody in sight, it was like our own private play area.
Steak and veggies for dinner was divine, many thanks to Adam and his new mini tabletop grill. I found myself falling asleep with Maia around 8:30, she wiggled around til almost 10! I know she was restless from being cooped up in the RV all afternoon, and no nap to boot.
Woke up the next morning bright and early to fresh lake air and the sound of boats zipping by. Maia and I went for another stroll to the beach, but this time she decided that skinny dipping was in order. Nobody around, I let her be free as I watched proudly 🙂
As we prepared for the next leg of our trip, a hotel in Tulsa, OK, I frantically packed some overnight bags in advance of driving into our first ‘major’ city. Little did I know the debacle that was about to unfold the moment we stepped foot in Tulsa…
The Welshs Voyage West! 