Temp at departure: 65 degrees

Howdy all! It's been a very good day on our trip across western Arkansas.

We started our morning at 7:10 A.M. in Clinton, AR. Within 15 miles, we were traveling on gravel roads within the Ozark National Forest. Temps were cool and the views were great. There seemed to be an endless amount of roads to

travel west on. For the greater part of the morning we moved west through green forests. In places, the trees had been clear cut.

Like in Texas, conditions are fairly dry, so roads are a tad dusty, but not dusty enough to be a hinderance.

By lunch time, we came to the community of Oark, Arkansas, next to the blue-hued Mulberry River. From what I could tell, Oark is a collection of a few houses, a general store, and a school.

Lunch was at the Oark General Store/Cafe. Like the store in Olive Hill, Tennessee, it is still 1940 in Oark (well 1940, plus a chip rack and a Little Debbie rack). But we got the feeling that Oark is working to hold on to the past. All the "old timey" stuff was a little contrived and they didn't serve sandwiches made on the counter. It seems to us that most baby boomers just spend their retirement going from one "old timey" store to another.

While we were eating, we saw a framed magazine article detailing the highlights of a visit to Oark; there were two.

First, the restaurant in the General Store was good in that Cracker Barrel sort of way. We were just happy to have a good place to eat during the middle of the day.

The second highlight was what the locals called the "swinging bridge". In a nutshell, the swinging bridge was a homemade suspension bridge across the Mulberry River a few miles out of town. When you walked across thebridge, it definitely swung back and forth.

The real attraction was the river though. The river had the prettiest blue color we've seen since our Alaska trip.

After we had a nice lunch, we were back on the trail, crossing more "mountains" via gravel roads. More fantastic views were seen.

As we approached our destination for the day, Alma, AR, we turned onto the famed(if you've read much about the Trans-Am trail), and aptly named, Warloop Road.

From previous readings, I'd heard about this road, known for its mud holes and rocky downhills. As we rode down it, the mudholes revealed themselves. Luckily, the dry weather kept them to a minimum and we were able to ride around them, barely. Then the downhill started. We picked our way through the rocks, slowly and steadily. Meredith did an excellent job on her first stretch of technical riding.

A half mile later we had completed Warloop Road and were back onto a normal road. I feel bad that I have no pictures, but my hands were full the whole time!

Around 4 P.M. we came to our destination, Alma, AR. Alma is on Interstate 40, right outside Ft. Smith.

Tomorrow, the trail moves northwest into Oklahoma and out of the Ozarks. We will be sorry to see them go because the temperatures will soar once we're out on the plains. Oh, well. We gotta cross them to get to the mountains!

See you down the trail!

Daily Mileage: 178.31

Total Mileage: 1235

Money spent: $100

June 11