Graceland to Hot Springs DETOUR

Friday May 6, 2011

From Graceland RV Park, Tennessee

to

Lake Catherine State Park, Arkansas

We left Graceland RV Park expecting a 213 mile trip to Hot Springs.

That length is above my usual comfort zone

but we do have a June 2nd deadline

to be at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

so I'm trying to be a good sport.

We were concerned, considering all the flooding, 

about crossing the Mississippi River

to move from Tennessee to Arkansas

Or I should say, I was concerned.

David doesn't have a concerned button.

He relies on me to do it.

Nice for him to have a designated worrier.

And though the water was definitely coming up, up, up,

we made it just fine.

Or thought we did until we got into

eastern Arkansas and ran into this

sign on I-40.

DETOUR!!

I-40 is CLOSED.

Merge NOW!

End of the road.

So here we go down narrow two lane

roads with 18 wheelers on both sides.

We sat in traffic with the engine

off  while three guys let first one direction and then the

other go.  All were lined up for a mile down the road.

It took us over 15 minutes to get this far up in line.

With hands on hips, he only looks slightly

less frustrated than we were.

Once we turned the corner,

this was the line waiting to turn from

that direction.

These are some of the things I saw

out my window while driving along.

Eastern Arkansas has also been hit hard by this flooding.

Notice the house under water in the background

and the wires near the water in the foreground.

Click to enlarge the pictures.

These folks apparently backed their

boat trailer into their driveway to use

their boat to get to the house.

Sorry I took this through the passenger's side window screen.

Trees buried, water nearly up to the road.

The detour added an extra 52 miles bringing our total to

265 miles.  

With all the lines and back ups it added over an hour

to our already too long trip.

We were pushing it in the first place and

were frazzled and exhausted by the time we finally

arrived and got set up in another Site 18

This time at Lake Catherine State Park.

But we were dry.

And so was the park, at least where we were.

Looks like the further west we go, the less flooding.

We're certainly glad to have this day's drive over.