Ozark Traveler- Over 100 Nights And Over 11013.1 Miles

The genesis of the Ozark Traveler began in Wisconsin on December 22, 2014. The proud parents had her wrapped up tight for the journey home to the Ozark Hills of Arkansas. Her birth certificate indicates that she is # 705. She nuzzled in quite nicely for the twelve hour ride home. The 2002 Dodge Dakota 4 x 4 performed nicely as well. What an exciting Christmas we had. We had not prepared to pick her up so close to the holidays. The neighbors were intrigued, as one worked for a boat company and said she was wrapped up the way they received boats and they were curious as to what she looked like when the covers were pulled back. I would post a picture, but some say all babies look alike and she is a 560, so she probably looks exactly like many of the ones that you have. Our trip home was eight hundred and fifty miles, meandering through, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri and into northern Arkansas. No side trips and no stops as it was snowing and almost Christmas!

Once home, we unwrapped her (that was a lot of wrapping) and snuggled her into the garage. As new parents, we had spent a lot of time reading the owner’s manual. This was a quite an investment for us. On January 24th, 2015, we just couldn’t wait any longer and we pulled her out and headed to Mt Magazine, the highest mountain in Arkansas at 2,753 – foot. Not very big in comparison to some of yours, but breathe taking! It has beautiful vistas of the river valleys, deep canyons and distant mountains. Of course it was snowing and about 20 degrees out. Sleeping was cozy as the electric blanket seemed to be about right for us. I really felt cheapish as I peeked out my window at the campers sleeping in hammocks when I was so toasty. By this time the Ozark Traveler had 1,128 miles on her. We were impressed by her performance. Proud parents to say the least.

Trip number three was on February 6, 2015 to Green Leaf State Park in Bragg, OK. The temperature was 45 degrees (much better). I was able to try my hand at Dutch oven cooking for the first time and it was quite tasty. At the end of this trip, she had 1458 miles on her.

Trip four was to Petit Jean Mountain in Central Arkansas. This is a must see adventure! Petit Jean State Park in the Natural State is an icon and a historic treasure and has welcomed visitors over decades with its beauty. It is rustic style, native log and stone facilities that were constructed by the CCC back in 1933. It has many hiking trails that lead through forest, canyons, meadows, and a natural bridge, waterfall and beautiful sculpted geometrically rocks called Turtle Rocks and caves. We were just there this past weekend and someone fell off the 95 feet high waterfall. He was the second person to have survived that fall. Ozark Traveler now has 1866 miles on her.

Trip five was March 27, 2015 to Lake Fort Smith (New Park). Wonderful facilities that have fully serviced cabins and the camp ground are pristine! By the way, across the interstate is Devils Den State Park. Although it is close to us, we have yet to camp there. Because we live in the Ozarks, you do not see or hear the interstate. You only see beauty! She has now surpassed 2000 miles.

Trip six was April 3, 2015, we wondered off into the Ozarks to visit “Roaring River State Park” in Missouri (just across the state line). Wonderful fly fishing as they have a wonderful fish hatchery there. Kinda cute, as it is set up like a hospital. It has a baby trout-nursery, pediatric trout, and adult trout and then they stock the streams!!!! Wonderful place for kids as well as adults. That is where I met “Sisters on the Fly.” If you have not heard about them, they are women who get together with small trailers, many antiques and go fly fishing or just hang out. They ususally give tours and it is quite the experience. It was started by a woman who would take her daughter fly fishing and they pulled a tiny trailer. Now it is a club that has members nationwide. Well, she now has 2102 miles.

Trip seven, is when we introduced her to our camping friends. We had kept her a secret up to this point as many of them wanted us to buy their big 40 foot trailers. I didn’t want to disappoint them and I didn’t want to buy their mansions, but the camping season had begun for them. We pulled up with our new baby and for a brief moment my husband was excited as he thought the women were staring at him. He finally had to resolve himself to the fact that they were staring at our camper! Our friends were shocked at the size of our camper and probably because they now knew we were not buying one of theirs. I thought I was going to have to do CPR on several of them. One person even had the nerve to ask us why we would buy something that small. After a grand tour, he had changed his mind. Glad I did buy one of those mansions, as several had water leaks! The miles are slowly creeping up on the Ozark Traveler.


Before I go much farther, my husband has already reprimanded me for giving away the most treasured secrets of the Ozarks

For the essence of time, I will skip some of our repeat weekend trips in the Ozark, but on Sept 26, 2015, we decided to take a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. Wide open highways, here we come. But fate, was giving us a hard time. One of the locks on the passenger door of the camper kept popping open, as we were stuck on the interstate; someone jumps out and closes it. It did that a couple of times. We lost some items in Russellville, AR as the ranger at Dardanelle; State Park told us our door was open. I had my personal journal and my camper journal that fell out. The beautiful park was at capacity, so we left and had traveled an hour or so down the highway when the ranger called and asked if I was missing some journals. An older couple had found them about a mile apart down a highway near their home. They read through our travel journal and though we were staying at the local State Park. The ranger called some of the previous states parks to find out our name and phone number as I document the dates and camp sites we stay in. I was so happy as five years of my life was in my personal journal and then there was the “Baby book- the camper journal.” We turned around and drove back. By this time hours had gone by, but the couple wanted to make sure we got those journals back. Even though the park was at full capacity, the ranger found us a place to stay. We made the trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, but we had some trouble and we called Camp Inn. They were great! So we decided to head back to Necedah for Cary and Craig to look at her. Glad we did. Oh, did I tell you that customer service is great at Camp Inn. She now has 7543 miles and we have slept in the cabin for a total of 44 nights. By the way, some of the State Park camp grounds in Tennessee are wonderful (Frozen Head, Cumberland Gap, Trace Natchez, etc.)

Well, let me skip to this year, we have finished our 56 trip on June 15, 2017, and the Ozark Traveler now has 11,013.1 miles on her. We have slept in the cabin during all four seasons with around 110 nights to her claim. This last weekend was blistering hot with the humidity at 95%, but the AC was fantastic. I have found that when we camp near the lakes, I like my door open. I found that over the two years since we have had her, there have been has at least three times in which the campgrounds had no vacancy, but they tucked us in because our camper was so small and charged us around $8.00. What a deal!

For first time campers, we have fallen in love the amenities that she provides and it is nice to know that so much thought and work has gone into such a wonderful, quality product that has enhanced our lives.
Deborah & Eddie

 

What a thought provoking documentary of your first 100+ nights! We camped all over central Arkansas in summer 2011, hoping to beat the Texas heat. Not much luck there, but we discovered some of the beautiful places you mentioned. How awesome to have all that in your backyard! We were just talking about a trip back to the Ozarks, so now that's on my wish list, and I'll refer back to this post to pick out some campground gems. Thanks for the post!

 

We go to Queen Willelmina State Park in for Labor Day. Beautiful! It is up on the top of a mountain with a beautiful view. If you go Mid to late Oct when the trees are turning, there is a 50 some mile called "Talimena Scenic Drive" that runs across the ridges of some mountains. It is stunning. We stay in the state park at Queen Willelmina and drive the ridges. The sunsets are magic. It is located in Arkansas, but close to OK. I would not stay on the OK side. If Diana likes diamonds,
Crater of Diamonds State park is a nice clean park and you can dig for diamonds. Daisy State Park is close by and I prefer it better as you can camp right on the lake. The National Buffalo River is another absolute place to visit. They just put in a camp ground, but there is not much shade, so the campground is not one of my favorites. Stop by if you are NW Arkansas. Would love to hear from you.

 

Wow! Sounds like you guys have had a ton of fun adventures in just 2 1/2 years! I'm glad to hear you like Daisy State Park as we have reservations to camp there Labor Day weekend with family & friends.....hoping to bring the kayak & enjoy the lake! We haven't made it to Arkansas with our Camp-Inn yet (Table Rock Lake near Branson is as close as we've been to AR so far), so I am excited about this trip.....and the Buffalo River is definitely on my radar for a future trip.....among many others in your area! We tent camped & mountain biked around Mena, Arkansas years ago when 3 (of our 4) kids were small.....that was our "A River Runs Through It" tent camping experience when a flash flood came through the area & we were camped near a small river and the runoff to the river ran right through our tent! Do you have ANY idea how much a 7-8lb cotton/canvas flannel lined sleeping bag weighs once it's had a river run through it?!?!?.....about 60lbs is my guess! That was the one camping trip we met all of our neighbors while hanging out at the local laundrymat trying to wring all the water out of everything we owned on the washer spin cycle & then drying it! LOL
Casandra

 

Eddie and Deborah: please send me a message (KathyBob) with your full name and address and I'll send you your 100 night pin!

Kathy Piggott