Our plan was to move from Hot Springs, AR to Memphis, TN. So, we packed up the trailer and disconnected the utilities and took one last look around a very nice campground.



The state highway from Hot Springs out to the Interstate was mostly a four-lane highway. Once on the Interstate, we sailed along pretty smoothly. Once we reached Little Rock, we exited the freeway to see the state capitol building, Little Rock Central High School and of course, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center.



Our first stop was at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site Visitor Center. We saw a short film on the civil rights history that took place at the high school in September 1957. The plaque describes what happened when 9 African American students tried to attend high school at Little Rock's Central High. The Supreme Court had ruled that segregation was unconstitutional, but on this day, the governor decided to defy the Supreme Court and used the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the 9 students from entering the school. It wasn't until 2 weeks later that a federal judge ruled that the governor had acted illegally in using the National Guard to prevent the students from attending school. President Eisenhower called out the Army's 101st Airborne Division to escort the students into the high school and keep the peace. It was amazing to stand there and see how segregated the U.S. was at that time.



Since classes are still held at the school, we were only allowed to walk around the neighborhood and on the sidewalks around the school grounds. Park rangers told us that we were not to try to enter the school building. Little did they know that high school was the LAST place I wanted to be!!!! As you can see there is a restored Mobil gas station to her 1957 glory. We could hear contractors and workers restoring an old house that is right across from the high school. We're not sure if they were restoring it as part of the National Historic Site, or the owner was restoring the exterior and upgrading the interiors. But there was definitely some activity going on.



From there, we drove around the city to the Arkansas state capitol building. Not far from there is the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. While I was walking Roxie, Sharon decided to try the pedestrian bridge that crossed over the Arkansas River. She had some great views of Little Rock and of course, the river. As we pulled away from the Presidential Center, there was a building called the "School of Public Service, University of Arkansas" and the sign hanging on the portico said "Clinton School of Public Service".

The rest of the drive through Arkansas was very pleasant. There were rolling, forested hills beside the freeway. It was very green from all the rain. Soon, we came to the Mississippi River and crossed over from Arkansas to Memphis, Tennessee. This was our third time to cross the Mighty Mississippi (except when we were in New Orleans ~ we crossed everyday to get into the city)!



Soon, we turned south and drove through an industrial area and finally out a country road to the T.O. Parker State Park campground. When we were checking in at the ranger station, they had two live owls on display. Both had been hurt and are recovering. We parked the trailer, got set up and went out for some good Memphis barbeque! Then it is bedtime and prepare for a big day tomorrow in Memphis.