Oklahoma City OK, Poteau AR, and Hot Springs AR

Continuing east we stopped in Oklahoma City and stayed in the 2^nd B&B, hosted by Bill and Kathryn. We got acquainted over wine & cheese and later John & Joyce enjoyed a soothing soak in the hot tube. Their place was outside the city, covering about 65 acres, and remote enough that no other houses were in sight. Deer were sometimes seen on the property. Extensive tornado damage had recently been done in the nearby town of Moore.  We did some sightseeing in Oklahoma City and visited the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum. Here are some sculptures we especially liked.

 

Leaving Oklahoma City we traveled southwest, leaving the Interstate highway to visit a small town we read about with mountain scenery. Who knew Oklahoma even had moutains! The town was named Poteau (called “Po-to” by the locals) but probably had a French pronunciation because French fur trappers had explored the area during colonial days.

Locals claimed that even earlier, Vikings had explored the area, as evidenced by the existence of a runestone on display at a local State Park. Another claim was that Poteau had  the world’s tallest hill. We were curious about this – how do you measure the height of a hill? Unlike a mountain, measured as elevation above sea level, a hill is measured as height above its base. But how do you establish the base? We didn’t find the answer to that question, and decided not to pursue it further

Anyway, the area was scenic and we stayed 3 days, one of them (July 4^th) being John’s 75^th birthday.  

 

 

Onward to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for our 3^rd B&B, with Isabelle.  We planned the stop in Hot Springs to see Hot Springs National Park.  It encompasses a large portion of the downtown area.  At present Park Services owns all the historic bath houses, but only 2 are actually in service.  We were disappointed to learn that all the hot springs are in these bath houses and none outdoors, which we expected.  Last year we visited Pagosa Springs in Colorado, and their hot springs are outdoors where you can enjoy all the beautiful scenery surrounding them.

 

One day we took a Duck Boat tour on one of the several lakes around town. Another day we visited a beautiful botanical garden with a blown glass display.