Bicycling Florida to Texas
Through
Alabama, Mississippi,
Arkansas & Oklahoma
2008 - May - June
Friday, June 13, 2008
Dermott to Warren AR
Distance: 44.5 Miles
Today we woke up at a sub-standard motel, ate a cold cereal breakfast in the lobby before we loaded the bicycle and headed out. We encountered some hills, nothing very hard, but we could tell we were leaving the Delta.
We passed large fields of rice and wheat, fields and then started entering the Timberlands of Arkansas. We arrived in Warren in time to attend the 52nd annual Pink Tomato Festival. We did not see any tomatoes growing along the route. The motel is just a couple of blocks from the festival.
A local festival is a great tradition for a lot of small American towns, with local contests; (we watched them packing a box of tomatoes in 27 seconds,) cutest dog contest, etc. Plus lots of good food, carnival rides, bands playing and dancing in the street. We made three trips to the Pink Tomato Festival as the heat made it hard to sit for long periods of time. It was great to share the time with local people.
We also visited the Bradley County Veterans Museum. About 15 men have donated their time to fix up a building that was falling down, added new siding, wood interior floors, etc. They are gathering pictures of ever person that has ever resided in the county and served in the armed forces. They have over 2200 pictures, a huge undertaking. All the pictures are on a wall with their name under them in 8 X 10 wood frames. They also maintain a database on each name and what wall their picture is located on. It covers all the wars from WWI to the present. The museum is open 7 days a week, all run with volunteers. The men who work there are really dedicated to what they are accomplishing. I have never seen such an undertaking.
|
