It had rained through the night. It continued raining most of the day. We drove 200 miles under gray weepy skies, and there were raindrops on all my photos. I had to time the click with the windshield wipers. We crossed the Mighty Mississippi and into Arkansas, our fifth state on this trip.
Arkansas is flat, with pinky-red soil. We passed miles and miles of farms on either side of I-40, and crossed several smaller rivers along the way. Other than that, there wasn't much else to see today except for wet roadway.
About 40 miles from our exit, we began to see a few smaller hills. Cows appeared in pastures every so often now.The gray skies began to lighten eventually and the rain was not as heavy.
It was Walmart day today - we needed a few fresh veggies and Michael was interested in seeing a ladder. They didn't have the ladder but we found most other things on the list.
We pulled in to Ivy's Cove Retreat RV Park just outside Russellville. It must have rained here a lot too because there were puddles everywhere.
Setting up is an easy routine now that we have got used to it. We each have our jobs and once the electricity is turned on, I switch the kettle on for tea. That ritual always comes first after arriving at an RV park.
I cooked again tonight - it was a veggie scramble, with salad. The beer Michael chose tonight was delicious - Shockolate Wheat. I think it has become my new favorite. And while dinner was cooking, I did a couple of loads of laundry. This little European model washer/dryer has come in very handy so far. And it saves me having to lug laundry to the laundromats and keep track of when to return to load things into the dryer, then return one more time to fold and collect the washing.
Michael reprogrammed GPS Ginny last night so she now displays a different window which we agree we can see better. Before we set off, we had Ginny give us a preview of her route. It all looked good and correct. Ginny is tied to Rand McNally maps and the Good Sam site. Good Sam is like the RV-er's bible of camping and traveling. Ginny also has the ability to keep track of mileage, fill-ups, trip routes and all stops. She is quite sophisticated and can store a lot of information. Eventually we may get to trust her!
One more item of interest. I read the AAA guide while we were driving. I like reading about the states as we drive through them and always pick up something interesting. I didn't know that this is the Diamond State. Just as I did not realized that there were French explorers in this area and obviously met up with the Ugukhpah Indians, also known as Quapaw, Arkansas and Arkansa. Two French explorers who explored the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, referred to this area in their journals as Akansea. de la Harpe's 1722 map referred to this area as Arkansas. Later, Pike spelled it Arkansaw.
Pronunciation became confusing so the General Assembly, in 1881, passed a resolution that the state be spelled Arkansas but pronounced Arkansaw.
So now we all know! Arkansaw it is out loud, and Arkansas on paper.
The same is true of the origin of Little Rock, which also had French origins. It was de la Harpe again who is credited for the name. He heard from the local Native Americans that a large emerald stone sat along the Arkansas River. All he and his party found was a small rock, greenish in hue, which he called "la petite roche", and thus we have Little Rock, which also happens to be the largest city.
That's what you get when there is a French influence on names and naming!