On our 1997 road trip, Arkansas was our gateway to the west, and was the second state on our trip that we visited on two occasions. The first time around, we headed out of Memphis over the Mississippi and made it to Little Rock by ten p.m. to stay at a friend’s place, our first real bed in a real house on the whole trip. We spent the next day in Little Rock, drying out our tents, doing laundry, driving around town, and watching Con Air at the theater – those were the days…

The next morning, we drove west through Arkadelphia, Malvern, and Hope, and on to Texarkana, where we ate at another Roadfood recommendation, Bryce’s Cafeteria. We filled up on classic cafeteria food – reminded me of going to Furr’s with Aunt Milly – and made our way onward towards Dallas, our goal for the evening.

After Dallas and a stop in Tulsa, we headed northeast towards Missouri via Eureka Springs and Beaver, where we enjoyed the magic and mystery of the Ozarks. We walked the narrow streets of Eureka Springs and enjoyed the Victorian buildings, and found the last place in town serving dinner after 9. We saw Christ of the Ozarks and a piece of the Berlin Wall by moonlight – it was all pretty strange and unexpected. The next morning, on our way to Branson, we stopped in at Dinosaur World (formerly known as John Agar’s Land of Kong!) in Beaver, and toured the rusting dinosaur sculptures from the safety of our car.

In the summer of 2006, as Aimee and I were on our way out to California, we stopped in Eureka Springs again and enjoyed lunch at Sparky’s, complete with a bowling scene on the ceiling, and a terrific photobooth.