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Fort Smith, AR

Fort Smith, AR

Fort Smith, Arkansas, has a fascinating history as a frontier military post, a gateway during Indian removal, and later as the seat of federal law on the edge of the “Wild West.” Fort Smith truly is where America’s frontier, wartime upheaval, federal law enforcement, and Native American history converge.

Today, Fort Smith is a cool blend of small-city charm and growing vibrancy. With about 90,500 people (a slight increase since 2020) it’s the third-largest city in Arkansas and anchors a metro area of nearly 300,000 across Arkansas and Oklahoma. Fort Smith feels lively—rooted in its frontier history, with a growing arts and food scene, solid economy, friendly neighborhoods, and a nice base for both families and young professionals. It’s a spot where history and opportunity sit side by side.

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Catherine’s Landing, Hot Springs, AR

Catherine’s Landing, Hot Springs, AR

Hot Springs is a popular resort city located in the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas. The springs popularly believed for centuries to possess healing properties are preserved today as Hot Springs National Park. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town. Incorporated January 10, 1851, the city has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, illegal gambling, speakeasies and gangsters such as Al Capone, horse racing at Oaklawn Park, the Army and Navy Hospital, and 42nd President Bill Clinton.

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Ozarks RV Resort on Table Rock Lake, Oak Grove, AR

Ozarks RV Resort on Table Rock Lake, Oak Grove, AR

Ozarks RV Resort is primarily a park for people to buy a lot. If you don’t own a lot, you can stay there if an owner has a lot available when you want to stay and has it open for renting. Because they are owner properties, the amenities for each lot can vary greatly, however, most are pretty nice. We were one of four Augusta Luxe RV’s in the park – the most we have seen in any one place. Two of them were dark blue and were owned by someone in Canada. We hear they come down to the lake for only a couple of weeks every year.

Across the lake from Ozarks RV Resort is the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena. This is a 20,000 seat nature amphitheater owned by Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shop fame. While we were there they had one of their first concerts featuring Garth Brooks. Even though we could see the amphitheater from the park, Anna was disappointed that we really couldn’t hear the music very well. We did get a good view of the daily air shows that opened each of the three concerts however.

Park Review – Ozarks RV Resort on Table Rock Lake

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2+
Location:  Oak Grove, AR
Site Quality / Amenities: Asphalt roads and concrete sites.
Type: Commercial Park
Access: From US-65 south of Branson/Hollister take Missouri state highway 86 to Missouri state highway 13 to Arkansas state highway 21. Right after entering take Arkansas highway 311 to county road 663 to the entrance.
Staff: Friendly family owned park.
Cellular/WiFi: Good AT&T and Verizon service.
Restaurants: Table Rock Coffee Roasters on Missouri 86 had good coffee. Branson has lots of restaurants and stores but it is a tourist area and can get very busy.
Nearby parks: We didn’t look at any other parks in the area.
What we liked: Clean, well run, nicely landscaped park.
What we didn’t like: A bit far off the beaten path. It’s a good 30 minutes or more to any large grocery store or restaurant. You have to go into Branson, MO or Berryville, AR. There was a boil water notice while we were there and the only notice was at the main office so we never knew about it.
Verdict: This is a very nice park for a week or more when travelling through the area and we’d stay here again.

Arkansas in December

Arkansas in December

We’ve gotten some questions from friends and family about the lack of blog postings from us lately. We are still on the road and we are still maintaining our blog but we have been taking some time off just to relax. For 2022, we’re planning to return to some places we’ve already been as well as spend some more time with family so I suspect that posts will be few and far between for a while. But it’s time to catch everyone up on what we’ve been up to.

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White Oak Lake State Park

White Oak Lake State Park

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Location:  Bluff City, Arkansas
Site Quality:  Asphalt roads and pads throughout the park. Mostly 30A back in spots but there are 5 pull through sites. Only 3 sites are 50A (A1, B25 and C27).   
Type:  State Park
Access:  From Interstate 30 go east on either Arkansas 53 or 24 to Arkansas 387. Some smaller roads but pretty easy even for a larger rig.
Staff:  The park attendant who checked us in was very helpful and friendly.
Amenities:  Water and electric only. Bath house in the camping area was clean.  Dump station, Fishing pier and boat dock. Boat rentals on site including fishing boats, canoes, kayaks and pedal boats. You can also rent fishing gear as well as bicycles. Several hiking and bicycle trails of various lengths.
Cellular/WiFi:  AT&T and Verizon 3 bars but we had data issues using the amplifier and MiFi devices but our phones worked pretty well without amplification. 
What we liked: Gorgeous park with lots of trees. Spacious sites. Site B25 had good satellite reception (C27 likely would as well) but many of the other sites likely wouldn’t due to trees. Hiking trails. 
What we didn’t like: Only a few 50A sites. Some roads were a bit narrow for our rig but they were manageable. No sewer hookups. Cellular data was inconsistent. Lots of bugs.

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