Day 21 - Queen Wilhelmina Lodge to Arkadelphia

Arkadelphia, city of brotherly arks? Actually it stands for the arc of brotherly love... apparently.

I pressed the reset button again this morning. Instead of riding with the fast Hofstra's I decided to take it a bit easier today. Cue many photo stops and even a stop for ice cream and soda in between our usual sag stops.

Looking at the weather channel this morning, it predicted weather in the mid 90's with 98% humidity. Lovely. At least the weather man didn't disappoint us. It was really humid. 15 seconds after leaving the lodge, I was soaked through.

Mid morning and my wee band of slackers (young Greg, Lori and Tom who wasn't feeling well) passed by somebody's house who had a big inflatable type pool. We weer all tempted to jump in.

Most of today was spent lallygagging and taking pictures of random stuff. The Looney family reunion, Our Way street sign, vintage cars and bird houses. On the road into lunch, I rode on my own for a while and listening to some music. Playing the blues seemed the most appropriate for the South. John Lee Hooker and R.L. Burnside weer cued up. I know songs about Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia but, if anyone knows any about Arkansas, please let me know.

After lunch we got off of State Hwy 8 and get onto to some really quiet country roads. We rolled along some tree lined (and shaded) roads before descending down towards Arkadelphia. Just before the final turn off towards town, we crossed over the DeGray Lake / dam. That was when I realised that I'd actually been here earlier on this year already. When I ran the Little Rock marathon in March, I drove out to Hot Springs, AR afterwards and did some touring before picking up I-30 just outside Arkadelphia. Little did I know I'd be back a few months later.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I found that I had a care package. The vultures usually start to swoop in at this point as it usually means food. Fortunately most people were inside because of the heat and humidity. Saying that, I still had to share. Ann, thank you for the dessert bars, brownies and chocolate. I will share everything except the white chocolate.

As it was a short day today (101 miles), I had the opportunity to burn my forehead and back by sitting in the pool. Deep joy.

Tonight we had the option of Waffle House or Fat Boys BBQ for dinner. I chose the ribs. Greg couldn't decide so he went for 2 dinners. He's excited that Waffle House is open all night so I expect to hear him sneak out during the night.

Tomorrow is the last of our short days (90 miles). We're off to Pine Bluff which is famous for being rated the 'most dangerous metro area in the US' as well as being the 'worst place to live' and one of the US Army's major sites for demolition of chemical weapons. After Queen Wilhelmina Lodge.. oh how the mighty have fallen.

Pictures are here.