LITTLE ROCK REDUX

Homeward bound, we’re retracing some of our steps, and Little Rock was enough driving for the day.  We opted to stay in a bizarre rv “park” that was smack dab downtown so that we wouldn’t have to offload the scoot in order to get around.  It’s bizarre because it’s just an asphalt parking lot with hookup posts.  It IS right on the river, and Loni had a few thoughts about flash flooding, but this is the Arkansas River, not a canyon trap like happened earlier this month.  As soon as we pulled in, though, it started to rain (amping up the distaff anxiety) and came down in buckets.  An hour later, however, and it was blue skies (and humidity).

We set out to cross the river to the main part of town.  We’re actually in “North Little Rock,” a somewhat dodgy part of town that they’re trying to revitalize by making it part of a biking and jogging route.  They have a ways to go on this side.  There are 5 or 6 bridges that cross the river, at least two of which are defunct and, like this one, turned into pedestrian/bike crossings.  At the raised portion, you either climb five flights of stairs or take the elevator.  The one on our side worked; the one coming back did not.

Once on the bridge you have an excellent view of downtown, including some of the revitalizing parkway along the river in the foreground.  There’s a trolley for the tourists that you can see on the other bridge, and one of the local attractions is the submarine, Skipjack, anchored just below.  Having toured subs in Honolulu, San Francisco, and in New England somewhere, we passed on this opportunity.

The parkway area above is a kid’s delight, with all sorts of climbing areas (well padded below), tunnels, and a nifty fountain area that had programmed spurts which kept the kids screaming and running around.  Given the heat, we should have joined them.  The toddler in the pink shoes was about 1 1/2 years old and she was a panic to watch.  Absolutely fearless, even when she got a snootfull. 

Alas, no ice cream this time.  Back to the rig before the next cloudburst hits.  From the far corner of our parking lot there was this view of the Clinton Presidential Museum jutting out over the river.  See our earlier post on visiting here in May.