Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 21 & 22 – July 30th & 31st:

Today we have officially been traveling for 3-weeks. I got everything packed up and we headed west on US 62 to Rogers, Arkansas. I stopped at the McDonald’s for breakfast, and then took US 71 south to Mena, Arkansas.

We stopped at a park along the way to stretch, and then again at the Wendy’s in Mena for lunch. From Mena, we took SR 88 west to the Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The park is about 4 to 4-1/2 hours north of the Dallas Texas area.

The park is situated along the Talimena Scenic Byway, which is ranked as one of the top 10 scenic drives in the United States. I had traveled the Talimena Scenic Byway back in the spring. I saw they had a campground here, and wanted to eventually camp in it. I decided to include it as our final stop on this roadtrip.

The road (SR 88) leading up to Queen Wilhelmina State Park offers great views.

The Rich Mountain Fire Tower sits along this road overlooking the Ouachita National Forest. The tower is no longer used, but the grounds are a popular picnic area.

We finally arrived at the Queen Wilhelmina State Park. You have to go in to the lodge to pay for your campsite. The lodge’s restaurant and hearth room (think massive family room) are open to campers.

The lodge has a beautiful overlook right out front.

Spacious campsites.

Oh, and this is bear country. I can can vouch for that. I saw one along the road not far from here back in the spring.

The park has a miniature railroad that will take visitors for a ride around the park.

It crosses through the campground where the stop sign is in the photo below.

I decided to try the restaurant at the lodge and got a steak and shrimp dinner, followed by some cherry cobbler. The food was not only great, but reasonably priced.

This is the hearth room. It was a very comfortable room to relax in.

This is Marley’s “Please tell me you’re not taking down the tent?” face.

Followed by the “I’m so sad you took the down the tent” face.

So after 22 days of traveling through places like Colorado and Montana, my only bear scare came here (say that 3x’s fast). On my second night, I woke up to what sounded like something trying to get in the nearby dumpster. And since nobody was camping near me, I figured it was an animal. I could tell that there was something outside, and I know there’s bears in this area. I hit the lock button on my truck remote to make the lights flash. I hoped it would scare off whatever was outside. When I did, I heard what sounded like a dissatisfied grunt. I waited for a moment, and then decided to hit the lock button twice to make the horn chirp.

I don’t ever take food or drinks in my tent. I know that it’s pretty unlikely that the bear is going to bother me. Still, it can be difficult to fall back to sleep when you feel like there’s a black bear walking around your tent.

I decided to get dressed and sleep in the truck. After checking outside with a flashlight, Marley and I went and got in the truck.

When morning came I was glad to leave. Not because of the bear, but because I was tired of camping and sleeping in the truck.

Once everything was packed up, Marley and I headed south to Texas.

It’s been an interesting 3-weeks. I had no idea where we would end up, or where we would sleep, but it all turned out great. I discovered that I loved Colorado, and will likely visit again. I also enjoyed the Oregon coast, but didn’t care for some of the wide open areas I had to go through to get there.

Thanks for following along. I hope this journey will inspire someone else to get out and take a roadtrip.

Safe Travels
Links:

Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Main Page