We set off around 4 PM on Memorial Day hoping to get in 3-4 hours before bed and make the next days drive a bit shorter, but only made it 7 miles before we hit this intense hail storm. We powered through at 25 Mph, and eventually out ran it, but found another one with heavier winds and rain in Eastern Co. 
Over the next two days as we drove through Eastern Colorado, and Kansas we hit 4 heavy storms that required us to stop on the freeway because we couldn’t see. We stayed in Joplin, MO the second night. The topography slowly changed from flat grassland to rolling hills. The storms slowed us down a bit, but by Wednesday afternoon we had reached the steep hills of Eureka Springs, Arkansas where we stopped for lunch. Annie’s cousin Grace had told us that Eureka Springs was cute little town with a cool vibe and she was right.
After a long relaxed lunch at a Mexican restaurant (Hint: Mexican food isn’t done quite as well here as can be found in CA and CO) we walked around town for a while, before going to explore the local attractions: Thorncrest Chapel, and the huge Christ of the Ozarks Statue. Thorncrest Chapel, may be one of the most beautiful little chapels any of us had ever seen, which is saying a lot if you are familiar with how many chapels I have been in. On that note, this is Jesus country. We have seen more churches here than anywhere I’ve ever been – Also many signs imploring us to behave or we might find hell. On the same property as the Christ of the Ozarks statue there was a very large and intricate stage with seating for thousands for the Great Passion Play. It would have been fun to check out, but it was time to move on.
After Eureka Springs we traveled on to our camp site just outside Jasper, AR where we settled in for some steak on the grill, and Claire’s first lesson in starting her own fire. I did the set up, but with a little practice she managed to use the flint properly and get it to light. We have been working on her S’more technique. She’s getting pretty good.
Tomorrow we have an adventure on the river planned, so we should go to bed early……but the s’mores are just too good!
Kay Ashworth says
We’ve been to Eureka Springs. It is beautiful. How big is the engine on your Volvo?
That is a really nice camper.
Dave says
It has a turbo charged 3.0 liter 6 cylinder engine. the engine has plenty of power. We only worry about the transmission, but this is our second trip, and it has handled everything very well, and we had the transmission flushed right before we left.