Mammoth Goes to The Falls. The Big Ones. (And visits kids)

Tue 19 Sep 2023
Home to Village Creek State Park near Wynne AR
 

It seemed a long day driving, but we've had longer. We headed out at eight a.m., which means our actual departure time was 8:15, my fault--and arrived in the late afternoon.  Not too much road construction and no major slowdowns. The second of the two gas stops was awfully long, close to 30 minutes, because there were so many trucks in the way. Who'd expect a Love's in the podunk town of Palestine, Arkansas to have so much traffic?

But we arrived intact. The little state park (Village Creek State Park near Wynne AR) is lovely. The campground was nearly empty and very, very quiet. The parks roads, however, seem to have a constant stream of traffic. Where the traffic is coming from and going to, I do not know. I suspect people think this is a cut-through to somewhere.  All l I found was a boat ramp.

 But it's nice. No scenic view or anything, but right on Crowley's Ridge near the St. Francis river.
Some notes on that from the encyclopedia of Arkansas:
Crowley’s Ridge is an unusual geological formation that rises above the Alluvial Plain of the Mississippi Embayment (Mississippi Alluvial Plain, or Delta). The ridge contrasts sharply with the surrounding flat table land of the Delta. In terms of formation, the ridge is generally thought to have once been an island between the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. It became a long and narrow hilly ridge after the rivers changed course millions of years ago. Prior to the change in course, the Mississippi River flowed along the west side of what is now Crowley’s Ridge, with the Ohio River meandering along the east side. The work of these major rivers and their subsequent shifting in course resulted in the formation of an erosional remnant that is now Crowley’s Ridge.

Crowley’s Ridge, completely surrounded by the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, is clearly visible because it rises some 250 feet above a relatively flat landscape. The ridge is capped by a deep layer of wind-deposited (loessial) soils, a fine-grained soil created millions of years ago as glaciers moved across the continent. Extensive areas, including the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Crowley’s Ridge, were covered by windblown soil. Rivers and streams that continued to meander across the plain washed away the loessial material. On Crowley’s Ridge, however, the loess continued to collect, up to fifty feet in depth in some locations. Since loess is very easily eroded, steep slopes and deep valleys characterize much of Crowley’s Ridge.

One of the unique features of Crowley’s Ridge is its natural vegetation. Interestingly, many of the trees that make up the forest on Crowley’s Ridge are similar to those found in the western Appalachian Mountains. The ridge is covered with a lush mixed forest including oak and hickory and uncommon hardwood trees such as American beech, sugar maple, and the tulip tree or yellow poplar.

I remembered, when we got here, how much my planning for travel and fun of camping sustained me during my last miserable year of work. From the moment I started to think of retiring until the day I officially handed in my laptop, I HATED work.  But all of a sudden, I don't want to quit, because then I won't be able to do any programming (for other people). Why do I miss programming so much all of a sudden, I cannot fathom. It's true that programming, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE, is only a small portion of my work. And it was especially bad then.

I think what happened is that after I started contracting, all of the yuck work was handed off to my coworkers and I was reserved for jobs I could do offline, with little customer interaction and poorly-controlled schedules.  That was heaven, to me--programming and no interruptions!

I'm resigned to missing that, unless I can pick up a short term project or two. Who knows what will happen in a couple of years?

Anyway, that's nothing to do with the here and now. Molly and I took a long walk over to the boat ramp, a horrid, beaten-up and broken down mess.  But other than having to dodge all the traffic on the roads, it was a pleasant walk. And now supper, then after-supper stroll, then reading and then bed. I love camping.

 

Note to future self--this place is right on the borderline of being too far off the road for an overnight. Especially an overnight on such a long trip as we're undertaking. It would have made more sense to choose a KOA in Brinkley or Forrest City. But oh, how horrid that would be!  Crammed side-to-side with other RVs, people and dogs everywhere, and no place to walk! There's a tiny creek running right behind our picnic table; there's birds making funny noises in the trees; there's darkness (or will be soon, when the sunlight vanishes); and there's quiet!!!

Another note: the campsites have NO cell phone service. When I walked over to the boat ramp I found good AT&T service, and I'm told that the office has WiFi. But no phone at camp.

Love it.