Day 22 on the road: Soaking in Hot Springs N.P., hanging by a wire

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – We visited our second national park on the RV trip during our time in
Arkansas, the unique Hot Springs N.P. located about 50 miles southwest of
Little Rock. We arrived at J&J’s RV Park on Saturday in heavy rain and with
warning lights flashing on the dashboard (more on that below), but the weather
soon cleared for us to enjoy this beautiful spot in God’s creation.

Yesterday we hiked three miles in Lake Catherine State Park, located about 15 miles
southeast of the town and recommended to us by someone we met at a local PCA
church on Sunday. Mile for mile, these were some of the loveliest trails I’ve been
on. We hiked past rushing streams, rock outcroppings, and Falls Creek Falls. We
took the Falls Branch Trail loop and then up and back on the Horseshoe Mountain
Trail.

We rewarded ourselves afterwards with a 20-minute soak at the Quapaw Baths along
the famous Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs. The bath houses here are fed
by hot springs that discharge huge amounts of water at 143 degrees Fahrenheit.
You can pay to soak in public baths or you can pay a bit more for a private
room with a large tub, where they can add bath salts. The two of the nine original
bathhouses that were open during our stay were Quapaw and Buckstaff.

What makes Hot Springs unique is that it’s an urban-centered national park (the only one
containing a micro-brewery!) Congress first brought the hot springs under
federal management in 1832, and then made it a national park exactly 100 years
ago, in 1921. In the early 20^th century, the springs attracted professional
baseball players who came here to train and also to drink and gamble. Hanging out
at the same gambling clubs were mobsters such as Al Capone. No gambling today,
but lots of shops and restaurants on Central Avenue.

***

Our brush with trouble came on our drive Saturday from Memphis. In hooking up the trailer
to the truck at the Graceland RV park, I somehow managed to leave the electrical
cord from the truck to the RV hanging too low under the hitch. The cord charges
the RV battery, controls the trailer brake and turn signal lights, and—most importantly—applies the brakes on the RV tires whenever the driver brakes the truck. As we traveled the 200 miles to Hot Springs, the cord gradually wore away as it bumped along the pavement at 65 mph.

About 20 miles out from the Hot Springs campground, a warning light flashed on the
dashboard that the right turn signal was no longer working. A few minutes later
another message came up, “Trailer disconnected.” I could see the trailer was
still fully connected physically, but it was no longer fully connected electronically.
We managed to pull into the campground and get set up without any trouble, but
it was only then that Elizabeth noticed the partly severed cable. On closer
inspection, three of the six wires inside had been cut.

On Monday morning, after a day of rest and a bit of worrying and self-flagellation over
my rookie mistake, I visited a local RV dealer, which recommended an experienced
local mechanic specializing in RV repair. This morning Mark Weatherford, owner of
On the Mark Repairs and Service, came out to our RV site and in an hour had
expertly patched up the three severed wires. He then attached the cord to the
hitch in a way that made it still able to reach the truck but unable to reach
the ground. An hour after that we were on our way to a campground in Texas. If
you ever run into RV trouble in the Hot Springs area, you’ll know who to call!

***

The night before we left Memphis, we parked downtown and strolled through Beale Street,
the famous music district, and hung out in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel. It
was raining that night, and it made me think of the 1990s song “Walking in Memphis,” by Marc Cohn:

Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain …

[Chorus]
Then I’m walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?

Rain has been a theme of our three weeks on the road so far. We managed to dodge the ice
and snow of recent weeks, but I would guess we’ve experienced a good eight
inches of rain in the places we’ve visited so far.

Dashboard: Days on the road: 22; Miles towing the RV: 1,466; RV parks stayed at: 8;
National parks visited: 2

The road ahead (Lord willing): The great state of Texas!