Matt's New Mexico (Formerly Airstream) Adventure

[Matt]

That’s funny.  We remember seeing you guys.  Yeah, Arkansas is actually better than some of our last spots.  We did see that it was a hot spot though before we left TN and things seem to be better further south.

We may scrap our plan to go the Buffalo River.  We thought it was closer but we looked and it appears to be a 2.5 hr drive.  That’s a little outside our comfort zone for a day trip.  What do you recommend, besides Hot Springs?  We already have a few days blocked off for that.

[NickyB]

Hot Springs is probably the best bet that within an hour. Most the cool stuff is in Northwest Arkansas and is about 2.5-3 hours away. The Toltec mounts are right over there real close to y’all.

[NickyB]

Y’all should checkout Garvan gardens while you’re in hot springs. I don’t know if mid-America museum is open, but it’s pretty fun for the little ones.

[Matt]

Toltec is where the girls were returning from when you drove by.  They had fun.  Thanks for the tips on HS.  I’m looking forward to checking it out.  Our next Natl Park isn’t  until Big Bend which is a ways off.

I think we’ll do Pinnacle Mnt State Pk instead of Buffalo River.  That looks cool and is much closer.

[NickyB]

Pinnacle’s fun. I’m definitely jealous of y’all’s lifestyle. Looks like a blast.

[NickyB]

And if y’all have time after pinnacle 2 rivers park has some nice very flat bike paths.

[jayaytee]

Just wanted to say this thread is awesome. No way in a million years I'd be brave enough to take on anything like this, but following along here is fun anyway.

Also making me want to take more holidays in the US…

[Matt]

There’s certainly no shortage of interesting things to see here @jayaytee.

My two weeks is up today and I feel 100% so we decided to check out Hot Springs.  It’s definitely a different kind of park.  The town of Hot Springs was built around the natural springs so Bathhouse Row's a big feature…

[Matt]

Here’s Superior Bathhouse, the only brewery located inside a National Park…

We’ll check that out later…

[Matt]

Hot Springs is considered by many to be the first USNP.  It was not the first to be officially designated as one by name, but was the first land to be set aside for preservation by the federal government.  The bathhouses were very popular spa resorts in the 19th century.

[Giles]

Wow, that architecture, a real mix of beautiful influences…..

Apart from the giveaway Stars n Stripes, I would not have guessed most of those buildings were in The USA....

Oh, and whoops, many congrats with getting through your 14 days, and feeling good....

[Matt]

Heavily influenced by Spanish style.

[Matt]

Unfortunately many of the ones normally open to the public are COVOD closed.  There should be lots of interior photos online for those of you with interest.

Check this fascinating tidbit out…

[Matt]

A hot spring…

[Matt]

These are thermal fountains fed by the springs…

[Matt]

This one’s  the park’s visitor center…

[Matt]

These are open springs…

[Matt]

[Matt]

The average temp of these open springs is 134 F.

[Matt]