It was very quiet overnight at US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Cherokee Park. I slept soundly and we were up early. Ozark the cat was a ball of energy by 6am, racing around in the coach and finally climbing over Donna for some morning snuggles.

The wasp stings Donna suffered on Monday were red and swollen Tuesday morning. I rubbed Benadryl cream on them and she took a Benadryl tablet. She went out for a walk while I finished my blog post. I looked at routes for our short relocation. We wanted to go to another COE park near Ozark, Arkansas (map).

We programmed a route in our Rand McNally RVND 7720 GPS affectionately known as “Nally.” She rarely steers us wrong and I like the feature that allows us to input details of our rig such as height, length, weight and propane capacity. Our routes are calculated to avoid any restrictions due to size, weight and propane.

We chose a route that kept us off I-40 and we followed Arkansas State Highways through rural countryside and small towns. We were only going 80 miles, so the extra time wasn’t an issue. Once again, Ozark the cat traveled peacefully, sleeping in her crate.

As we drove through Morrilton, Donna spied a liquor store and asked if we needed to stop. I didn’t see any convenient parking and passed it by. I didn’t have any beer in the refrigerator, but I thought we would find a place to buy beer along the way.

We drove through stretches of hay fields and small towns with populations of two to three thousand. I didn’t see any stores that sold alcoholic beverages. As we approached a much larger town, Russellville, we saw convenience stores but none of them had beer signs. I was beginning to fear the worst – could we be in a dry county?

We found a Walmart in Dardanelle and stopped. Sure enough, no alcoholic beverages there. I asked a guy in the store and he said we had to go west to “Nublin” or get on I-40 toward Little Rock to exit 101.

I don’t get the dry county concept. It seems everyone knows exactly where you have to go to get alcoholic beverages and the dry county loses out on the sales and tax revenues. When people have to leave the county to make a purchase, who knows how many other purchases they make in the adjoining county?

Our route was taking us west, so I kept an eye out for the beer store he mentioned in “Nublin.” We were on AR22 driving next to Dardanelle Lake which is a reservoir created on the Arkansas River. We crossed into Logan County from Yell County. A few miles later, I saw the New Blaine beer store. In Arkansas, apparently New Blaine is pronounced “Nublin.” We made a quick stop and I have beer on board.

As we drove along, we saw areas where people appeared to be living on the brink of poverty and then occasionally, we would see well-maintained homes on estate-type properties. As we approached the town of Paris, Arkansas, I was astounded to see the Subiaco Abbey and Academy on the hill to the north of us. It looked like a medieval castle. It was built by Benedictine monks in the late 1800s. Here’s a link to a Wikipedia page.

In Paris, we turned north and made our way on CR309 to the COE Aux Arc Park. The name is interesting. It’s near the Ozark National Forest and across the lake from the town of Ozark. Early French explorers noted this area as Aux Arc on their maps. Historians differ on their opinion of the origin of this name. Some say that Aux Arc means Big Bend and it refers to the bend in the Arkansas River. Other say it translates to Big Bow and is a reference to the Quapaw Indian tribe in the area that carried exceptionally long bows. The name became anglicized as Ozark as that is how the French pronounced Aux Arc.

When we pulled in, we found this COE is run much more like a commercial RV park. There was a check-in lane and office where we paid $20 for a 50 amp electric and fresh water site. They had site maps and gave us a choice of sites. Since we’ve never been here before, they advised us to go to the “E” section and choose a site, then call and let them know what site we’re in.

We’re right on Ozark Lake which is a reservoir created by the COE Ozark Jeta-Taylor Lock and Dam – it extends 36 miles and has shoreline which includes bluffs and tree-lined beaches. Down river from here is Dardanelle Lake. We are loving the COE experience. The US Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates more than 600 dams in the USA and provides recreational access – including camping – at many sites.

The campsites here are all paved and mostly level. There are 64 sites, some with 50 amp power service, others with 30 amp.

Our shaded and spacious site

The sites are well-spaced and offer easy access to the lake and views. Some of them are open and sunny, others shaded by trees.

This is tonight’s windshield view

Speaking of windshield view, I noticed just before we left Tom Sawyer’s that our windshield has a large crack on the left portion of the driver’s side. I’m guessing that the pounding we took on I-40 east of Memphis started the crack and it grew from thermal influence or when I leveled the coach. The crack is about four feet long now, but doesn’t hinder my vision. When we’re stopped in one place for more than a week, I’ll see about getting it replaced.

Donna’s wasp stings seemed worse after we set up. I applied more Benadryl cream and she took another tablet. I’ll keep an eye on it. The Benadryl tablets make her drowsy. With the heat and humidity here – the temperature hit 91 degrees with more than 50% humidity – we weren’t up for much activity. This is not a comfortable climate for us. Neither of us like high humidity – we can stand the heat when it’s dry, but humidity is hard to take.

View northwest of the Arkansas River/Ozark Lake

We’ll continue west through Oklahoma and take a week’s break in Amarillo, Texas where the overnight temperatures are lower and the daytime humidity is bearable. Donna has a hair appointment there with a stylist who was recommended to her when we were in Mesa, Arizona. We also need to request mail forwarding.