Village Creek State Park, AR

 After a pleasant 5 day stay at Ft Chaffee, it was time to move further east on our trek towards Key West. Our next stop would be Village Creek State Park in East Central Arkansas, however our trip would be delayed a couple hours. While doing my pre-departure walk-around, I discovered a low tire on the drivers side rear, it just happened to be the same tire that had valve stem problems in OKC which I thought had been fixed. I couldn't get a pressure reading on the tire, so I couldn't tell if it was the valve stem was bad again or the tire was low. We knew we would need roadside assistance to fix the issue irregardless of what the problem was, however being on a military base we knew it would be a major problem to get help onto the base. We decided to limp on down to the nearest gas station just off the base and call for assistance from there. We called our roadside assistance (through our RV insurance) and they wanted to have our rig towed to the nearest tire shop to have it looked at, that seemed pretty extreme for a tire issue. We decided to call a local tire shop which said they could come out and fix our tire on site for 85.00, that sure beat the heck out of having our rig towed, so we just paid them out of pocket and had them come out. The service man was on scene within 15 minutes or so and had our tire off and fixed within 30 minutes. Turned out, when we had the valve stem worked on in OKC the tire didn't seat right on the rim when it was re-inflated (they didn't remove the tire for the fix) and it was leaking air from around the rim. Our mobile service guy took care of the valve stem problem, and seated the tire properly and had us on our way in no time. So after a couple hour delay, we were on our way.

 It was a normal travel day made long by the tire issue, but we made it into the state park by 4:00 and got all settled in. We had a nice pull through site with only a couple other site around us. As most state parks go, we had the place to ourselves during the week, but of course it filled to the brim on the weekend. The park itself was very well kept as most of the Arkansas State Parks seem to be. Pretty good for a system that does not charge an entry free into their park system.

 During our time at Village Creek, I of course had to get out and explore the area a bit. I set my sights on the St Francis National Forest about a half hour away. The forest had two main roads running through it, a portion of the Great River Road and Crowley's Ridge Scenic Byway, both portions were dirt/mud/gravel through the forest. Thank goodness for our Jeep and having 4x4 and the aggressive tires or I would have been stuck pretty good a couple of times, not the best place to explore after a good rain. However it was a great day out and an enjoyable trip through the forest.

 Village Creek State Park is contains two lakes and most of the activities are centered around them. We did get the kayak out and had a great time exploring one of the lakes, Scrappey Doo even approved as he rode in the front with Sheryl. Here are a few shots of the Lakes and the Fall colors as the leaves are just beginning to turn here.

One thing we found hard to believe, was the lack of cell service in this part of the country, hence the late posting. Hope you enjoyed the shots and we'll see you next time from Loretta Lynn's Ranch!!!