Dardanelle Lock and Dam

The expansive river was covered in a blanket of fog this morning. I sat out front sipping tea then walked over to the boat ramp to check it out. I asked a couple of locals launching a boat what they thought about paddling the river. They seemed a little skeptical of the idea, considering the current, giant barges and all.

I returned to camp but was feeling antsy. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. There’s a scene where the bounty hunter goes into the bar looking for Wales. Clint Eastwood says “you don’t have to do this, you can walk right out the door”. The guy walks out, but a few minutes later he walks back in. “I had to come back” the gunman says. “I know” replies Eastwood before blasting him with a set of giant pistols. I felt kind of like that guy. I had to go back.

I started paddling upriver and was able to make decent progress, just no slacking off. Went up to the locks and dam and gave them a close inspection before turning downriver and gliding with the current. Did a little turn back near the boat ramp to make sure I could go upstream okay then continued down to the bridge then crossed over to the eastern shore to pump my way back to the boat ramp. The wind had come up a little and gave me a boost for the paddle home. Good, challenging outing.

Relaxed in the shade, had a bite to eat then the need to explore the area raised me up from my rocking chair. Unhitched the bike and went riding around the neighborhood. There was a bike trail by the park so I took it. It led over to the paper manufacturer. That was the zone where the endless droning sound emanates. That and the Olin chloro alkali and vinyl plant. The smell in the air was the chemical scent I had noticed when I dipped into the river earlier to cool off.

From there, I rode towards town but traffic got busier and there was no shoulder to speak of. I turned back and ended up at a big park area overlooking the other side of the dam. Explored around a bit as it started raining, sending me scurrying back to camp.

Crawled under the RV to change out the O2 sensor in the late afternoon. Got the old one out then realized that the one they sold me had a different electrical connector. O’Reilly’s. Put the old one back in and will have to postpone. I had no better luck trying to do a hard reset on the Accurite weather monitor. Can’t get the outside sensor to sync up. Four years of sitting does an RV no good.

Lots of new campers setting up replacing the old neighbors from yesterday. Back on the road tomorrow.