Day 20-Our last day of aimless sightseeing

Today, the sky was blue, the sun was shining brightly, the temperature reached 78 degrees.  It was a beautiful day for a scenic drive.  When planning for our 3-week trip, I read several sources that recommended great drives in Arkansas.  I highlighted all of them on my map, and today we chose a couple of them for our ride.  We drove south from beautiful Mt. Magazine to Hot Springs, best known for the natural spring water that gives it its name, flowing out of the ground at a temperature of 147 degrees.  About a million gallons of this naturally sterile, purified, 4,000-year old water flow from the springs each day.  Well, the water isn’t 4,000 years old, of course; the water is ageless.  But the purification process takes about 4,000 years.  The water is available and free for use by everyone.  I filled up my water jug from one of the spigots.  (Thanks, Joe.)  It wasn’t hot, though, which I was happy about, but don’t understand.  We drove by Bathhouse Row, where eight beautiful, turn-of-the-century bathhouses stand.  Two of them are still in use.  Within the city of Hot Springs is the Hot Springs National Park, which we drove through on a very twisty road.  From there, we made our way back north to Mt. Magazine.  Altogether, we were on the road for about 7 hours.  We saw some pretty scenery, but the best view of all is right outside the front of this lodge.  Have I mentioned how much I like it here?  :-)  Reluctantly, we realize that tomorrow we’ll begin driving toward Michigan.  This will take us a couple of days. 

Our picture was taken by a group of 8 bikers we met up with.  This is a popular area for bikers.  We aren't sorry we don't have our bike, but it would be fun to ride around here on these twisty roads.