Monday, May 18 was a travel day.  We left the Graceland campground around 10:30 AM and headed to our second leg of the trip - Withrow Springs State Park in Huntsville, AR.  It's in the NW section of the state.  We drove along just enjoying the ride expecting a five-hour drive.  We stopped for fuel at the Flying J.  I made sandwiches and we continued on our way.  I drove as we left. Buck slept and rested.  We knew we would stop at a rest area- MM 36 to change drivers since the next exit, exit 35, would be an exit to a two-lane state road AK 23.  Buck handles that type road better than I.

So we stopped at the rest area and we changed drivers.  Buck was driving when his phone rang.  I answered and hung up on the telemarketer.  As I did, I noticed that Buck didn't take Exit 35.  He went right by it.  The next exit was 10 miles away.  Would Buck take that exit or turn around and go back 10 miles?  What would you do? He took the exit - AR 215.  It looked fine - a good state two-lane road, and the GPS started re-calculating our route to that road. So here we go.

As we progressed the road changed to a dirt road.  OK, that won't last long, right? NO, it stayed a dirt road and became narrow and hilly and curvy.  We were then on a county road that was not state-maintained.  AND we were climbing a mountain, sometimes on the narrow edge with obvious drop-offs.  We could tell that a storm was ahead of us by the looks of the sky as well as the water in the road.  We came to strange dirt intersections and fortunately made right choices.  We crossed two one-lane bridges that only had a six-inch side railing on each side.  We drove through debris from the storm, and then the ultimate fear was realized - we came up on a rushing creek with NO bridge.  We could not turn around and we knew (from the GPS) that we were within a mile of entering the beloved AR 23.So we joined hands and prayed together for safety and Buck drove us through it. It was as wide as our motor home is long - 40 feet.   I didn't know it at the time, but there was a concerte pad under the water, so at least we didn't drive in the creek bed. When we got to AR 23, Buck first went to the bathroom, then got out of the motor home to see what kind of damage we had.  He removed small tree branches and leaves from mirrors but found no further damages other than a few scratches and lots of mud.  The truck, yes, we were towing our GMC truck, looked like it had been mud-bogging - well, it had been! We prayed again and thanked God for bringing us through this frightening adventure.

After that experience, Withrow Springs State Park was a little boring.  But it gave us time to regroup our thoughts and emotions.  It rained most of the time we were there.  I did learn about some Withrow ancestors who settled the area after coming from North Carolina.  Richard Withrow, Jr. came in 1832 and built the first gristmill in the area.  The springs which come from a huge cave are named for him.  His family lived in the area until 1872 when he moved his family to Texas.  Before he left, a school and a church in the area were named for him.  His homestead still stands a few miles south of the springs. We could see it from AR 23.

The marker reads, "Withrow Springs was named for Richard Withrow, who homesteaded this site in 1832.  Here he erected the first gristmill in this area.  This was a family-owned and operated business until in the early years of the twentieth century.  His many descendants share with you their proud heritage of this beautiful state park."

While we were there we took a day trip to Eurika Springs, just north of the state park.  It was one of those towns that "back in the day" was truly a tourist town.  Tiny shops lined the small narrow streets.  Outside the town was a Passion Play" facility where the story of Jesus's life and death are portrayed in an outside drama.  It was to start for the season on Friday, May 22, but we will already be in Branson, MO  by then.  I have included a picture of a church I admired along the way, the entrance to the Passion Play,  and one of Buck and me at the Withrow Springs State Park entrance.  See ya in Branson soon!