Arkansas

Little Rock looks like too large a city to explore in a limited time so we opt instead for Hot Springs. The travel information office suggests a scenic route - Highway 7 - to take us from I-40 to Hot Springs. It is not a route that we think will impress people from BC. It is picturesque and winding but there are no view points. Maybe we are just too blase after the stunning scenery of Oregon and the scenery we see every day in BC. The leaves have begun turning so this adds a feature that we haven't seen on this trip.

We locate ourselves in the nicest KOA we have seen, set up on several different treed levels so there is lots of privacy. Next morning we set off to see some of Hot Springs starting with the exterior of the house where Clinton spent much of his youth and the Baptist church where he apparently went each Sunday on his own.

In the historic center of the city it quickly becomes apparent that Hot Springs has been developed from a perspective and philosophy that is very different from Banff National Park. With the exception of a small reserved area, free enterprise has ruled the day.

Some of the smaller buildings remind us of Banff, but the overall impression is of a larger scale and more freedom for unfettered development.

There are over 40 hot springs flowing from the mountain and each has been used at one time or another for commercial bath houses. The natural temperature of each spring is 56 Celsius - stick your hand in water like that - it is hot , so hot that only a few have been left open for public access. In the baths, cold water is blended with the hot to make them safe and bearable.

Looking for a washroom we find a large, opulent though somewhat faded hotel - The Arlington - and end up staying for lunch.

While taking Mari-Claire's picture, Roger is asked by this lady if he'd like her picture too. It turns out that Helen is a retired psychologist from near Laguna Beach, Calif. who has travelled alone by train from California to Michigan to visist a son and then down to Arkansas and plans to stay in the Arlington for 2-3 months. She has many interesting tales to tell and talks about the rougness of the right-of-way and how she was thrown off her feet at one point.

We wear off lunch by climbing Hot Springs Mountain for the view and then coming back down to the main street to explore more of the springs.

The park headquarters is located in a former bath house - The Fordyce - that has been preserved and is open to the public.

It has all the amenities we would have expected and many more.

There is marble everywhere - bath tubs, shower enclosures, floors, stairs, tables etcetera - enough to sink a ship. Lots of stained glass, steam cabinets, retiring rooms, parlours for the ladies and a billiard room for the men, dressing rooms, podiatry rooms, massage rooms - hand, electric and mechanical. A Beauty parlour for the ladies. Everything that the beginning of the 20th century could imagine for the "cure".

If yoou're a fan of Banff these shots will demonstrate the radically different approach that has been taken around this hot springs national park and the level of commercial development. Coincidentally we ended up sharing a hibachi table in a Japanese restaurant that evening with a developer and his family. Roger bit his tounge in his efforts to be a good guest of their national park.

Tomorrow it is on to the mighty Mississippi, bold in Roger's memory from his childhood reading of Tom Sawyer and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Come to think of it he subjected his own children to the same bedside stories.