Warning: Please grab a seat and a cup of coffee as I am predicting this is going to be a trophy winner for longest blog post.
-Gas gets cheaper as you drive south. Cheapest was 3.27 in MO
-Baptist Churches get more elaborate as you drive south. This was in Ozark, MO and I am not too sure what goes on in here. This town also had the church with the biggest "wow factor" but I can't seem to find it online to show a picture. There is a pretty good one in Conway that I will show you later.
People must drive from all over to attend the Stained Glass Theatre shows because there is a trailer park right across the street.
-MO has many gorgeous houses that are atop hills like this.
-UCA (University of Central AR) has a beautiful campus even on a misty day. Every building looks like the one in this picture.
-Southern version of Taco Bell = Taco Bueno. Translated-Good Taco
-My Mom thought Brad Paisley's put a little "Mud on the Tires" was really put a little love on the fire.
-Southern version of Kwik Trip = QuikTrip
-Missouri and Iowa drivers don't understand that the left lane is for faster traffic
-If the person driving in front of you is from MN and you are in MO they really don't care as much as you do
-The Arkansas River is about 4 miles from my place. This is the Toad Suck Lock and Damn. Barges are already navigating the river down here. More pictures are due to come next week as the river valley is stunning down here and the sun wasn't out.
-They put coleslaw on their BBQ sandwiches down here and it is delicious.
-Lake Conway is about 6 miles from my place in the opposite direction and has left me the most confused I have ever been. The whole lake is filled with trees as you can see in these pictures. It is supposedly one of the top places in the US for bass fishing and I now see why. I am going to find out what the trees are about though-definitely not seen in the north.
This was taken at a secluded campsite right on the lake with a nice little private launch.
MYSTERY SOLVED:
At 6,700-acres, Lake Conway is the largest man-made game and fish commission lake in the United States. Construction of the lake began in 1948, with its waters coming from the runoff of Stone Dam Creek, Gold Creek, Palarm Creek, Little Cypress Creek and Panther Creek. Its average depth is six feet, with a maximum depth of 18 feet. The lake is approximately eight miles long with 52 miles of shoreline.
Fishing: Known as an excellent fishing lake, Conway is stocked with bass, catfish, bream and crappie. Several free public launch areas are maintained by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission; boat rentals are available at several commercial docks on the lake. Adams', Brannon's, Bream's Nest, Gold Creek, Highway, Lawrence, Martin's Northshore, Palarm Creek, Paradise, Pierce Creek and Sevier's are the landings with boat ramps. Old creek channels that can be found on all sides of the lake are some of the best places to bass fish. Lake Conway is home to the Crappie Master’s State Tournament in the spring.
Fishing: Known as an excellent fishing lake, Conway is stocked with bass, catfish, bream and crappie. Several free public launch areas are maintained by the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission; boat rentals are available at several commercial docks on the lake. Adams', Brannon's, Bream's Nest, Gold Creek, Highway, Lawrence, Martin's Northshore, Palarm Creek, Paradise, Pierce Creek and Sevier's are the landings with boat ramps. Old creek channels that can be found on all sides of the lake are some of the best places to bass fish. Lake Conway is home to the Crappie Master’s State Tournament in the spring.
http://www.arkansas.com/lakes-rivers/lake.aspx?id=4
-There is a diamond on the AR license plate because..
Arkansas designated diamond as the official state gem in 1967 (the same legislation, Act 128, recognizes quartz crystal as the state mineral and bauxite as the state rock). Arkansas is one of the few places in North America where diamonds are present and the only place where tourists may hunt for them.
http://www.statesymbolsusa.org/Arkansas/gem_diamond.html
The fall season here is going to make me twiddle my fingers in excitement. The hills go on forever!
-The MN accent is thick and noticable even if you think it isn't, and you can easily play this up by answering "YOU BETCHA" when someone asks if you are from the north.
-Be prepared to have your ears pop every 5 minutes when driving through northern AR from the crazy beautiful hills.
-AR people make MN nice seem like New York yuppy
-Visit El Parian if you would like to be waited on by 3 waiters who can carry 6 plates on their an arm at a time, serve margaritas with a full upside down corona bottle in the glass, RUN instead of walk, all while listening to live country music. This may not be a complete sentence but just go with it.
-The U of AR Razorbacks must be a bigger deal than I thought. This is where they play baseball.
-My Mom and I thought this is where they play their football games and we were impressed...
-Little did we know that this was just Fayetteville's High School stadium and further up the road was this...
-Mom, tell Mason that if he gets a scholarship here I will give him my scooter for a congratulatory gift, only if he lets me take my stereo to AR. (as he thought he gained ownership when he moved into my room)
-You can make it through the entire state of Iowa in 3 hours.
-P.S. Conway is only 770 miles away (12 hour drive), we did a lot of off-the-route traveling.
