and stayed overnight in a little town called Murfreesboro.
We went for dinner in a little cafe/restaurant across the street from our hotel that was completely decked out in red and white Arkansas Razorbacks gear (Go Hogs!) and just about everyone eating in the restaurant was wearing camo-hunting clothes with bright hunters orange ball caps...I gotta admit, it was kinda weird. Its clear that the only things to do in the vicinity is hunt and dig for diamonds. We were there for the diamonds.
Our hotel was nice...
Crater of Diamonds National Park was beautifully decked out in autumn colors...
We have had pretty good weather for most of the trip, and the drive along windy backroads lined with trees changing colors has been quite beautiful. I missed autumn. But today, the day we planned to walk in the middle of a dirt filled crater and search for diamonds...it rained. In fact it rained the whole evening, so by the time we got there, the search area was just one big mud pit that felt like quicksand.
And it rained the whole morning while we were diamond hunting. Got stuck a few times and lemme tell ya, this muck doesn't just fall off either, walking was treacherous and the muck added 500lbs per leg...we had to use highpressure hoses to blast the mud caked onto our shoes. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Oh well, we had to drive through AR, OK and TX to get to all the national parks anyway...so we figured we might as well try and find a diamond on our way through. Eventhough we didn't find any diamonds we had fun...and I can see how it would be more enjoyable to stay longer on a nicer day.
We drove through the rest of Arkansas to Oklahoma where we are spending the night - because we have to rest sometime.
Nick, established in 1972...
When Bad Dishonest Medecine just won't do...
Tomorrow we drive through Oklahoma to Amarillo, TX where we drive parts of Route 66 (where it exists, much of it has been replaced by I-40 and isn't quite so charming) and we have some silly roadside attractions to check out.
WOW YOu guys have done so much!!! sounds like fun! My faverite part of traveling from 1 place to another is you get differant hotel rooms.....
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