Counting The Blessings: Trip To Arkansas: Days 1 and 2

We started planning our trip to Arkansas shortly after Christmas.

My cousin Amy and her son Indigo hopped on board shortly after, deciding to take one vehicle and share gas expenses.

We left at 4am Tuesday morning (April 19th).

We stopped for breakfast and a quick snack down the road a ways. I love getting out of my own territory and seeing new sites, Like this train picnic table at a McDonald's in Southern PA.

In West Virginia, we saw a sign for a Dam just a 1/2 mile out of our way, so we opted for a little detour.

On the other side of the dam were many houseboats. I had to laugh because a few of them looked like campers on top of pontoons, but I'd still stay in one.

Niyah found a deceased butterfly at one of our gas stops. He/She was perfectly preserved. We wondered what happened to him. Niyah decided to bring him along for the ride to draw his picture.

These crosses dotted the landscape from West Virginia until we reached our destination. When I saw the first set, I just thought that someone living up on a hill had installed them on their property for Easter and hadn't taken them down yet. From the distance, I didn't realize that they are BIG (made from telephone poles) and permanent.

After seeing another dozen sets, I looked up their history.

"They were put up by a man named Bernard Coffindaffer, who was born in Craigsville, West Virginia. At 42 years of age, Mr. Coffindaffer became a Christian and had a vision to "plant crosses". He raised and spent $3,000,000 planting 1,864 trios of crosses in 29 states, Zambia and the Philippines. West Virginia has 352 sets of crosses, the most of any state. The crosses are for everyone, he said. Not for saints or sinners, but for everyone, just a reminder of Jesus as you drive by. You can't see it from the highway, but the crosses have three nails in them, symbolic of where a body would be. Mr. Coffindaffer died at his home in 1993. His crosses are now cared for by the people who own the land, or by nearby churches who "adopt" the crosses."

(Text from http://activerain.com/blogsview/66512/three-crosses-along-the-highway)

It was obvious when we hit the Kentucky border...horse farms everywhere! Beautiful farms with gorgeous white, wooden fences. And right in the middle of all those horse farms was a castle!

I thought it must be some historical site, but it was actually built in the late 1960's and is now available to be rented out for weddings and other occasions.

We crossed both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at the Junction in Cairo, Il.

The Ohio was first.

We stopped at Fort Defiance State Park, which is situated between the two rivers for a little break from riding in the car.

While walking around, we saw many barges and tug boats.

The bridge over the Mississippi River.

Which brought on long, not very melodious choruses of

The Mighty Mississippi song from Veggie Tales.

View from the look out tower.

This sculpture and plaque commemorates the stop made at the location by the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The Lewis and Clark Connection "On November 14, 1803 Captain Meriwether Lewis noted in his journal that “this evening landed on the point at which the Ohio and Mississippi form there junchon.” The Corps of Discovery stayed for six days at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers one of the longest stops made by the expedition. The captains noted the mistletoe on the large timber and to their surprise, caught a 128 pound blue catfish. Their stay allowed Lewis to teach Captain William C. Clark the use of the navigational equipment; a compass and sextant. Because the 3rd Principal Meridian begins at the mouth of the Ohio, astronomical observations at this point were crucial."

(Text from http://www.greatriverroad.com/meetohio/fortdefiance.htm)