March 29, 2008I almost changed my plan to go to Arkansas due to the forecast. There were stories of rivers cresting and more rain on the way. The Mississippi was very flooded but it was not raining so I decided to head out staying on the interstate to avoid problems. South of Little Rock I took Route 70 to Hot Springs. I decided I was tired and that I would try the national park campground. It was a beautiful place with a waterfall right out my back window - a shame there was no sunlight. I ran on battery power for the night as a light drizzle started at sunset, I hoped for paintable weather the following day.Bad plan. The next day was even more grey so I decided to go a little more southwest. I was chasing the light but never really caught it. I finally painted a pasture scene adding some of my own sun. I stopped in DeQueen, just a few miles from the OK border. There is a man made lake that had very nice campsites so I settled in for what I thought was a quiet evening. The storms began about 1 AM. Ferocious hail storms moved in at about 2 AM and thunder and lightning continued till 4. I could not see the size of the hail but it sounded like a load of stones were being dumped on top of us. I bunked with Holly and Boo, not sure who was comforting who.In the morning I was sure I would see dents, but even my bike which I had left outside was unharmed. The campers across from me had their skylight broken and I counted myself lucky.On to Texas.
Arkansas
March 29, 2008I almost changed my plan to go to Arkansas due to the forecast. There were stories of rivers cresting and more rain on the way. The Mississippi was very flooded but it was not raining so I decided to head out staying on the interstate to avoid problems. South of Little Rock I took Route 70 to Hot Springs. I decided I was tired and that I would try the national park campground. It was a beautiful place with a waterfall right out my back window - a shame there was no sunlight. I ran on battery power for the night as a light drizzle started at sunset, I hoped for paintable weather the following day.Bad plan. The next day was even more grey so I decided to go a little more southwest. I was chasing the light but never really caught it. I finally painted a pasture scene adding some of my own sun. I stopped in DeQueen, just a few miles from the OK border. There is a man made lake that had very nice campsites so I settled in for what I thought was a quiet evening. The storms began about 1 AM. Ferocious hail storms moved in at about 2 AM and thunder and lightning continued till 4. I could not see the size of the hail but it sounded like a load of stones were being dumped on top of us. I bunked with Holly and Boo, not sure who was comforting who.In the morning I was sure I would see dents, but even my bike which I had left outside was unharmed. The campers across from me had their skylight broken and I counted myself lucky.On to Texas.
