May 27, to Mountain View, Arkansas

Welcome to Arkansas. We are traveling off the freeway now, using the highways and getting into some minor road. We are using a GPS system, but since there is construction on the main highway we are one the path of the highway has been changed ant the GPS shows us traveling off to the sides of the highway. This really confuses the GPS which wants us to "make a U turn as soon as it can be done safely. At the Visitors' Center we get some good help. With a map of Arkansas having the rout we need to follow highlighted we can now turn off the GPS and find the place we are headed.

Today we are heading to Mountain View where the Ozark Foll Center State Park is. This is a place where several huts house artisans doing things the way they were done in the 1800's and early 1900's. The craftspeople demonstrate and explain their craft. This should be very interesting.

We are hungry and happen to be driving through a town named Marshall. We stop in front of a little drug store. There are no shoulders on the roads in Arkansas, and the parking lots in Marshall are small with narrow driveway entrances. The drug store is the first that seems to have a big enough parking lot to accommodate our rig. After we finish our lunch we head for the van to get back on the road. Across the street is this True Value hardware store, and we just happen to need a few things that can be found in a hardware store. For those of you who are not family, the significance of the name of this town and the name on the store to us is that Linda's mother's maiden name is Marshall.

We have finally arrived at the Fiddlers Valley RV Resort in Mountain View, Arkansas, proclaimed the Blue Grass Music capital of the U.S. The office looks like a backwoods home one would consider typical of the Ozark Mountains. The proprietor is very cheerful and friendly, and so is he dog, Pumpkin. She says to take our pick of any of the available space and come back to the office at our convenience to pay for the space.

You just can't resist sitting in the rocker and living the relaxed life of the local people. There really are people sitting on the porches of the houses and in front of some of the shops visiting and enjoying the evening in a relaxed manner. We are on our way to Main Street to have dinner in a cafe that is a local favorite. The atmosphere of such places is more friendly and relaxed.

City Hall

The music store, full of stringed instruments used by Blue Grass, Country and folk musicians. There is also a nice selection of song books, instruction books, and CD's of the above mentioned music genre.

this is our space for two nights. We are way off the beaten path and it will be nice and quiet here at night. We can walk to Main Street where most of the shops, cafes and activity is. We have been told by the proprietor of this park that people come to Mountain View from all over the U.S. to sit in with other musician and play Blue Grass and folk music.

Lukas Pool, an exceptional musician, his lesson on the "three finger" and "claw hammer" banjo techniques is very interesting. He plays in a group called "Out of the Blue", a Blue Grass band. He is 17 year old and will be attending the Berkley School of Music in Boston, the MIT of schools for Musicians. So, let's buy one of his CD and get his autograph since we enjoy Blue Grass music and follow his career. He also gives banjo lessons at the music store. This place is full of stringed instruments used in Blue Grass music.

A couple of pics of Main Street Mountain View

An impromptu group of "pickers" (as they are called in this genre) in front of the music store. There are chairs and benches in groupings in several places in town for listeners to sit and enjoy the music. Many of the people are bringing their own chairs so they can be ensured of a comfortable seat. The musicians sit facing each other and jam. It is amazing how they can play along even if the selection is not familiar to them. Every genre has it's set of chord progressions, rhythm, harmony patterns, and rules, so any one well versed in the genre can easily join in on a number they don't know. This is the fifth group of musicians we have listened to tonight. One group that played at the other side of the music store included a hammered dulcimer, a very interesting sounding instrument. If I had the space and time at home I would buy one for myself.

The Music Store at sunset as we head back to the camp ground to retire for the night. On the walk back we see a fire fly hovering above a bush in someone's front yard. Linda has never seen one before, but Dan saw them when he was in Brazil many, many years ago. It is only a single firefly, but it is still exciting.