I spent the last several days riding most of the length of US Route 270, which runs from the Kansas-Oklahoma border to south-central Arkansas. I picked this road because it offered a reasonably direct route from SE Colorado to Oklahoma City, where I spent yesterday visiting a dear friend. As I was route planning today, I realized that sticking to 270 would point me in the general direction of Hot Springs / Little Rock – the area I’d identified as a likely stopping point for the night.
This pick paid off in two ways. First, I got to see my first flooded area in the aftermath of last week’s storms. Just outside the town of Wister, OK, close to the AR border, 270 runs across the length of the Wister Lake dam. However, the lake has burst its banks and the road is covered in what looked at a glance to be at least 3-5′ of water. When I noticed the detour signs, I decided it was time for some food and coffee, so I stopped in a little roadside cafe. While there, I asked a local guy about the condition of the road – he said it was in fact closed, but there was a easy detour (different from the official detour that would’ve added 20 miles or more). Instead of crossing the dam, I’d just go across the lower spillway, through the state park, then an easy 1/4 mile of dirt road. True to his word, this diversion worked perfectly.
The second payoff was some glorious riding through the Ouachita National Forest in the Ozarks. Lots of fun sweepers – easy 50+ mile bends up and down gently rolling hills, through forest into meadow then back to forest. The best bit of the road, though, was captured well by a single sign which read “CROOKED AND STEEP NEXT 3 MILES. DRIVE WITH CARE.” I can’t say I drove with care, but didn’t make it quite all the way to joyful reckless abandon, either. And I was grinning the whole time.
As an aside, an observation about knowing you’ve made it into The South: In Oklahoma, almost every bridge crossing had the obligatory sign stating “BRIDGE ICES BEFORE ROADWAY”. Through the Arkansas Ozarks, the equivalent sign read “BRIDGE MAY BE ICY IN COLD WEATHER”. Which is to say – it rarely will get cold enough for the roads to ice up, even here in a lovely old mountain range. Made me smile to realize. I’ve been smiling a lot lately.