Day 2.24: Hot Springs, AR to Oklahoma City, OK

We hadn’t planned to get up in time for breakfast but since we were up to try to leave we went down right before it closed. It was even more disappointing than the day before, though Abe did like the biscuit quite a bit. We found our car untouched in the mostly empty garage down the street, loaded up, and hit the road. We expected to be getting back on the highway but instead took the Route 7 Scenic Byway for about 60 miles through the Ouchita National Forest. We saw a sign that said “Next 3.5 miles - very crooked and steep,” and were perplexed because most of the road was about that windy (and the use of word crooked seemed odd). We saw a bunch of abandoned, shelled-out homes and buildings along the side of the road through our tour of rural Arkansas. Eventually, we got back to Interstate 40 and drove until we crossed into Oklahoma (state #43 for Arielle), where we saw signs about state law to not “impede the left lane,” and stopped just at the next exit in Roland.

We ate at the 4 Star Diner, on a road actually called “Paw Paw Rd,” where we asked about the “chocolate gravy” and were given a “sample” by the waitress of what is essentially delicious and hot chocolate pudding over two biscuits, and she didn’t even charge us! Obviously, we ate the whole thing. Abe was intrigued by the veal cutlet, which the waitress said not to get because it was frozen, but moreso by the side options, pictured below, which included peaches and jello. He opted instead for the French toast, which was delicious, and Arielle enjoyed her grilled cheese. She got hashbrowns on the side which we shared and both loved. The whole meal cost $16 including tip! This is a highly recommended stop for those crossing the border between Arkansas and Oklahoma.

We drove a few more miles to the welcome center, which featured a chandelier seemingly made out of antlers.

We had spoken to our host in Oklahoma City, who had warned of 20-degree temperatures and black ice on the roads, and within 30 minutes of leaving Roland, the temperature had indeed dropped from 61 degrees to 31 degrees. More frighteningly, as we approached Oklahoma City, the windshield started to ice over and got bad enough that we pulled off at a travel stop to try to get an ice scraper, which they didn’t have.

Stopping for a few minutes made it better, and while it did start to ice over a bit more, it didn’t get as bad as we continued the remaining twenty minutes or so into the city. Special shout-out to Dave for being on the phone with us as it happened and trying to safely and calmly coach us through it. We arrived at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum at around 4:30pm, exiting the car to frigid temperatures and pulling out coats and gloves we hadn’t used since being in Utah a month earlier. We walked through the meaningful monument that Abe had visited twice before while touring with USY on Wheels only to find that the museum, which advertised online as selling its last ticket at 5pm before closing at 6pm, was completely locked and unstaffed. A security guard showed up a few minutes later and told us that the museum had closed at 3pm because of the cold and icy weather, so we wouldn’t have been able to go in even if we had gotten there a bit earlier. We spent a few minutes touring the outside memorial before heading back to our car, and planned to come back to the museum in the future.

We drove about twenty minutes to the home of Helene, who Arielle and Abe had met at the Kavod V’Nichum Jewish Funeral and Burial Conference in Bethesda last June. She was an incredible host, letting us help prepare some sides for a delicious salmon dinner she made. The food was topped only by the presentation, which included chilled salad plates, baked apples for dessert, and a plate of assorted cookies which we assumed were store-bought because they were so beautiful and perfect but which she had made herself.

We enjoyed a lovely evening together, and Arielle was delighted by Helene’s suggestion that she take a bath, something she had been yearning to do since seeing the bathhouses the day before. It was relaxing and a wonderful way to close out a homey experience.

Approximate number of miles covered: 317