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Camp is all set up at the Crystal Mines in Jessieville (just before sunset). |
Last night was good. We woke up early again and folded up camp. This would be our last visit to Branson for awhile. We may decide to bounce back through here for one night on the way back. The trouble is that it is just far enough off the path home to make it worthwhile (especially when we were already there earlier on the same trip). We'll decide later.
First thing in the morning I decided to head up to the showers to get all fresh and stuff. After all that camping and hiking I thought it might make the trip south more fun. When I arrived at the showerhouse I noticed that the door was locked up tight and there was an "out of order" sign on the door. Previously they had just one stall out of order in there. Now it was the entire mens room. That doesn't fly. Those guys do have a little "mean" in them.
The ladies room was just fine. The camp ground was pretty vacant and it probably wouldn't of mattered much if I went in the ladies room but I utilized a nice tree in the forest instead. They really didn't leave me much choice. Which tree it was I'm just not saying.
Anyway I marked my campsite (36.66712 N & 93.32566W) and pulled out. On our way out of town we drove through the "non-tourist" area and low and behold you wouldn't believe what I found. Yes, you guessed it, an autoparts store. That figures. I drove right past as I already had my cheap-o battery charger from Wal-Mart and it is working fine (for now anyway).
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At the scenic lookout on HWY 7 (35.97402 N & 93.16744 W) |
South on 65 we go. Eventually we turn onto one of my favorite drives...good ol' HWY 7. I was a little concerned how the Tundra would pull that trailer through there and now I was about to find out. Once you pass the Subway in Harrison, Ar, you are on your way. Last time through here we stopped in at the Subway and of all things to order, she orders a meatball sandwhich. Picture a curvy drive through the mountains while trying to eat a meatball sandwhich. Need I say more?
Just South of Jasper you start this uphill climb that lasts for a long time. It's keeps going and going and going. Then eventually at the top of the hill (35.97402 N & 93.16744 W) you come to this pull off where you can look out and see lots of trees down there (and other stuff). There is a small gift shop up there and we always stop and have lunch. We did it this time too. It's a nice break. Then off we go again.
The drive through the mountains was effortless with the trailer for the Tundra. We actually made pretty good time. There were times when I even forgot the thing was back there. Then I'd look in the rear view mirror and see the wing giving me that evil eye. I know what you're thinking but I wouldn't want to make Laura drive the Tundra through the mountains.
It wouldn't be long before we made our next rest area. This again is a place we love to visit when we come this way. It's a little turn off just north of Jessieville, Ar. I can never remember exactly where it is so I end up watching for it for miles before it actually comes. This time I marked the sucker on the GPS map so I can find it next time.
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This rest area is one of our favorites. It's just North of Russleville on HWY 7. |
Again, I don't know why we stopped here the first time but it is a really neat little park. The first time we were here Laura found a bunch of butterflies in a huddle. She thought that was pretty cool. This time I wandered away a little ways and found myself a 4 pack of those armadillos. Laura had always wanted to see a live one (they are always legs up on the side of the road). It's no wonder that they are always found dead on the side of the road because we got within a few feet of those things and they were totally unaware we were even there.
Anyway we had a little snack, took some pictures of on the road we went again. We didn't realize just how close we were to our next campsite. When I called ahead to secure the campsite the previous week, the nice guy on the other end gave me the GPS coordinates to find (34.67084N & 93.21244W). Boy did those sure come in handy.
I pre-configured the GPS to locate this spot and off I went on the back highway. At first the drive was fine and I had made plans in my head to unload the wing and head back up HWY 7 for some riding later on. Laura would perfectly fine digging for crystals for a few extra hours. Unfortunately the closer to the location we got the more coarse the roads got. Eventually we headed up this hill which, at first, seemed innocent enough but the further we went up the hill the higher the grade went. Finally the truck starting spinning tires a little on the gravel (it was like driving on marbles) and I popped it into 4WD. No more problems and the hill finally revealed the crystal mine.
When we got there the nice man on the phone greeted us (I recall his name being John but not certain now) and explained to us how the digging works. He let us poke around for a bit but we were unable to do much because they were getting ready to do two blasts. We waited for the better part of an hour and eventually we heard the first blast. This was followed by a big puff of smoke and then large rocks falling from the sky. The second blast was just the same.
Shortly thereafter John showed us our campsite (34.67022N & 93.21478W) and I unloaded the wing and set up camp while Laura poked around in the mine. Later she returned and cooked me up some fish (no lakes around but we stopped at Wal-Mart in Russleville) and potatoes. Man that was really good too. Later we called it a night.
TO BE CONTINUED...