Eureka!

A really lovely ride today took us through Arkansas' Ozark Mountain region, which included a pitstop at the old soda house in Calico Rock, and a look at the Wolf House (above). We stopped in the middle of the Ozark National Forest to have lunch in Gastons restaurant which overlooks the beautiful White River. Unusually, the place is full of bicycles, hung from the ceiling (!), and the restaurant is dominated by the stunning panoramic view of the river, from floor to ceiling picture windows, where you can sit and eat and watch people in boats fishing and pottering about on the river, and the loveliest thing of all is the little dishes of treats hung outside the windows for the hummingbirds to come and take. They are delightful little birds to watch as they flit about. The food was good there! If I'm ever in that region again, its a must re-visit!

After lunch we carried on with a lovely afternoon ride, and spent the night in the historic town of Eureka Springs.

We ended up in the Cat House (read- historic whore house!!!) where the beer flowed, the steaks were amazing, the locals were game to party, and a great time was had by all.

The very lovely Kathy, who can charm the birds right out of the trees, had the locals driving us all over town, and after enough beer we even had Red Dog dancing!!! I found it a little sad when it came time to say goodbye to those two lovely people. They had gone out on several limbs for me, and had shown me their Arkansas - a hidden jewel in America's heartland that I had previously known nothing about. They have told me I'll get the chance to do the same for them when they turn up in New Zealand. They have no idea how much I'm looking forward to that.