Day 7: Hot Spring, AR to Lubbock, TX 600 miles

What a difference a day makes! I don't have any pictures to share today, because I could never find a good, safe place to stop to get out the camera. I'll have to try to describe all that I saw.

I was awake early, so decided to skip the hotel breakfast and head out. I was on the road before 6am. I figured since I was there, I might as well check out the Hot Springs National Park, the oldest in the national park system. There is a 3.5 mile loop road that climbs up within the park. I was hoping for some sunrise pictures. So up I drive, make the very sharp right turn onto the Park road and slam on the brakes. The road is gated around a blind corner. The road is too narrow to turn around in, so I very gingerly start backing down. Meantime 5-6 cars have had the same idea as me and are in the same predicament. Finally, we all get out and I head back through town, happy to leave Hot Springs behind. It was already 85 degrees, so I was worried about how far I could get today.

As soon as I got out of the city, heading west on US-70, the temperature dropped almost 15 degrees. It stayed cool until after noon, and then only got to 85 late in the day as I neared Lubbock, TX. I again chose to stay off the interstate and am so glad I did. Route 70 passes through many small towns where the speed limits are slow, but between towns, the limit is 70 and I encountered very little traffic. I had not looked forward to my crossing of Texas. The solution for me was to travel in Oklahoma instead!

There are subtle differences that I observed that indicate I was heading west. Through western Arkansas, it is heavily wooded with rolling hills. This continues in eastern Oklahoma where I was travelling through the Choctaw Reservation. For a portion, US-70 is marked as the Chocktaw-Chippewa Trail of Tears Memorial Highway. I'm sure there is a blot on our history there. Pretty rapidly, the trees thin out into what is properly called chaparral in a region referred to as the southern plains. I crossed over the immense Lake Texoma and many miles later the Red River which serves as the border between Oklahoma and Texas. Once into Texas, the road straightens out, the chaparral thins out to true prairie and the farms are more properly called ranches. I finally turned off US-70 which had been my companion for about 500 miles. I headed south and west on US-62 to reach Lubbock.