By Shelby
This week had much warmer weather than last week. With the temperature in Kansas being in the 70s and sunny (warm enough for ice cream!), it was hard to believe we had been skiing in the mountains last week. Kansas is also home to Dodge City, which is the windiest city in the US. The whole state seemed very windy to us.
Monday, we worked from a public library in Wichita. It was pretty tiny and very loud. We decided to go to a different library the rest of the week. After work, we went to the park next to the library to make dinner. We wanted something summery because of the warm weather, so we made pesto pasta and a fruit bowl that had raspberries, blueberries, grapes, and blackberries. It was very good. After dinner, and whenever we had free time this week, we played some video games.
We worked from the Wichita State University library Tuesday. Fortunately, we were able to park there for free and without a permit, which isn’t very common for universities. The library was much bigger than the public library we had been to and much quieter. Wichita State is also where Pizza Hut was founded. They have the original building on their campus, which is run by students as a museum now. After work, we went to a laundromat and did laundry. That night, a severe thunderstorm blew through. We stayed up later to keep an eye on it. Tornadoes are more common during thunderstorms and it was pretty windy, so we were a little worried. But the storm passed by with no issues.
Wednesday, Spencer wasn’t feeling well, so he took a sick day. We spent the day relaxing. Since Pizza Hut was founded in Wichita, we got it for lunch. After lunch and grocery shopping, we drove 3 hours south down to Oklahoma City where we slept at Planet Fitness.
The next morning, we drove another hour south to Chickasaw National Recreation Area to do some hiking. We hiked up to a viewpoint on top of a hill and then walked a loop around the park. There was a small herd of bison in the park, but we didn’t see any.
We also checked out Little Niagara Falls, a nice swimming area in the river with a couple of waterfalls. It looked like a great place to swim in warmer weather. We had lunch at Vendome Well, a fountain that sprayed out natural spring water. It didn’t even need a pump to make the water spray out, which was interesting.
We decided to drive to Dallas to check it out since we were only a couple hours away. The traffic going into Dallas was pretty crazy. I couldn’t believe how many cars there were. There were lots of very tall bridges crossing over the highway. It made me think of the Jetsons, with the flying car highways.
When we got into Dallas, we went to a rooftop bar to get a drink and see the city skyline. There was a really nice infinity pool on the roof too. A photography networking event was going on while we were there, so there were people with cameras everywhere. We decided not to stay on the roof for sunset. We went back to the car and had leftover pizza for dinner. Then we drove to a Planet Fitness in a Dallas suburb to sleep for the night.
Friday, we drove out of Texas into Arkansas. On the way out of Texas, we stopped at a Buc-ees, a famous, massive gas station chain. There were rows and rows of fuel stations and the store was much bigger than a normal gas station convenience store. There was a bakery, a place where they made jerky, home goods, souvenirs, and a ton more. Spencer got a brisket taco to try since we never got bbq in Texas. We were glad we had the chance to stop at a Buc-ees since we had missed it the first time we went through Texas.
Our next stop was Hot Springs, Arkansas, which is home to Hot Springs National Park. Unfortunately, despite its name, there are no hot springs you can go into outside. We filled up a jar with hot spring water from one of the free water fountains in town. It was hot and steamy right out of the fountain. The town constantly tests the water to make sure it’s safe to drink.
We walked through town, along Bathhouse Row, a series of old bathhouses turned into museums. These were part of the national park. There were two bathhouses still in use today as spas. We checked out one of them that had a pool of hot spring water, but it looked crowded and not very relaxing. There were a couple of natural hot springs in town you can still touch, but not go in. The water felt very hot. I don’t think I would want to go in water that hot. They looked very pretty.
We returned to the car after our walk through town. The town was very touristy, with local shops lining the road. It was very busy too, probably because of the holiday weekend. We drove up a scenic loop road into the mountain the town was built near. We stopped at an overlook with a view of the hills. It was very green. We ate dinner there before going to the Planet Fitness in Hot Springs for the night.
Saturday, we had planned on driving 3 hours to Memphis and going into the city to explore, but I was feeling tired of all the driving and things we’ve been doing. We decided to push off exploring Memphis until next week. Instead, we still drove to Memphis, but along the way, we stopped at a rest area to relax for a few hours and make dinner before moving on.
It seemed like Spring was in full bloom in Arkansas. The weather was warm and sunny and all the trees and grass were green. There were wildflowers along the interstate. It all looked very nice. We stayed at a Planet Fitness in Olive Branch, Mississippi, just a half hour from Memphis. We’d heard Memphis is a dangerous city, so we thought it would be better to stay in a suburb.
Easter Sunday, we played a game with Spencer’s family and called mine. We bought some candy to celebrate and relaxed in a local park. We played video games for most of the day. The weather was warm and a little cloudy, but it got sunnier as the day went on. It was a nice and relaxing day. Next week we plan on going into Memphis before moving on to Nashville and then the Great Smokey Mountains. We’re excited to explore our last state of the trip!
Fun Facts from Week 50:
- Hot Springs National Park is the smallest national park in the US at 5,550 acres.
- The water in Hot Springs National Park does not smell like sulfur because it is not heated by volcanic activity, unlike the water at Yellowstone National Park. It is heated by geothermal action instead.
