Because Eternity Matters

Ava, MO – Mountain Home, AR

Last night we did our usual prep for today’s ride. Destination? Weather? Place to stay? Roads? Stops along the way? We have to analyze all of this to make a plan . . .

I’ll spend more time on the details here, because they come back into the story later, and you might appreciate the context . . .

The destination was pretty obvious: Mountain Home, Arkansas. About 60 miles away and right on the way to Little Rock. 

Next question was lodging. Of course the choice of lodging is interwined with the weather forecast. We’ve been staying in motels the last few days because of rain and/or the threat of storms. Today was supposed to be the rainiest day, but it looked like the rain would be over during the day and it would clear out overnight. If we could, it would be nice to camp again. Given all that, we decided to see if we could find camping in Mountain Home. 

Now, there is plenty of camping “in” Mountain Home. But that is with a broad automobile-focused interpretation of the word “in.” People will see there is camping “in” a town – but what they really mean is that there is camping within a half hour drive of the town – because in a car that distance doesn’t matter . . . 

(I guess it’s appropriate to be parsing the meaning of prepositions here because, after all, we are in the land of Bill Clinton now – the president with the temerity to say: “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”) With a more realistic, bike-focused meaning of the word “in” it turns out that it is much less obvious that there is camping “in” Mountain Home. Reality is we have very little interest in biking seven miles down a dirt road to find a quaint campsite off the beaten path – only to have to wake up in the morning and bike that same seven miles back out before we even start to make forward progress . . .

With this more narrow definition of “in” we didn’t find any camping in Mountain Home on first inspection. However, we have a multitude of resources for this type of thing now, and a relatively new (to us) app called The Dyrt told us that the Oak Tree Mobile Home Park had tent camping – and The Dyrt invited us to be the first to post a review. We looked at the website type thing that accompanied this listing and it talked about having a mile of land along the creek. Admittedly, the “Mobile Home” part of the listing didn’t sound perfect for our snooty middle class sensibilities, but otherwise this seemed to fit the bill: a place in town where you could camp along a creek. 

Okay, so that’s the background you need . . . We’re off on our journey now. Still looks like it might rain on us – and maybe some severe thunderstorms, especially late in the afternoon. So we take off early with the idea of arriving in Mountain Home in time to set up camp before the storms and then head out to dinner in town while the storms abate . . .

The thing is, it turns out that the biking was amazing. First half of the day on old trusty Highway 5. Yes, hilly. But so pretty. Big vistas. Eye candy rewards at the top of every climb, and amazing descents along the way . . .

And as I look at some of these vistas I’m thinking: “This is where I find my spirituality.”

The funny thing is – spirituality seems to be everywhere out here. There are SO MANY signs for various churches and congregations. Seems like more churches than people. And they seem to be so competitive that they have catchy phrases to try to attract the few remaining nonbelievers along the way:

• One was something like “God’s falling for you. He’s not leaving” (playing off of the season, I guess.)
• And another – our favorite for the day – read, in relevant part: “Because ETERNITY MATTERS!” (With the clear implication that you ought to join the church if you don’t want to spend a lot of time in Hell).

I guess I agree that eternity matters. But the interesting thing is, I’ve been thinking along these lines with a little different bent than I think they meant here . . . 

I’ve been thinking about some of the horrible lakes and streams we’ve seen. I’ve been thinking about the corn and soybean monoculture. And I guess I can’t help feeling like we need to get a grip on farm policy and practices in this world. We just can’t keep on going with genetically modified crops (it kind of makes you sick after a while to see every row of corn labeled with some big seed company logo), and the fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides that are destroying our water. Especially when these same farms are pumping up water to irrigate at a furious pace, drying up what little water we have left. (Even in Minnesota our aquifers are going bad . . .) 

I’ve been thinking all this because ETERNITY MATTERS – and it seems to me that it may be an eternity before we are able to restore our groundwater and clean up our lakes and rivers. 

There I go again – interrupting a perfectly good story with opinions . . . Sorry about that. 

I’m going to skip ahead. I could go on about how pretty and how hilly the riding was today – but I’ll let the pictures try to speak to that . . .(although I will say that they really don’t do the beauty justice . . .)

So we’re almost to Mountain Home. I’ve been feeling good and we have just climbed a two-mile ascent. I’m a little ahead of Diana at this point so I decide to pull over into a cemetery along the road to check out the old tombstones. Interesting to see people that were born in Civil War times or that fought in World War I or II. Gertrude and Herbert and Winnifred types.

Diana pulls up and we go on (she doesn’t like to stop unnecessarily). 

Within about 30 seconds I realize that I am massively hungry. And that’s when it hits me that I’ve made a big mistake. Rather than detouring into the cemetery to look at random tombstones, I should have been eating the granola bars I grabbed from the breakfast bar this morning. Now it’s too late . . .

We’re just about to town now, so I casually ask, “Hey Hon, what do you think of stopping for lunch before we go to the campground?”

“No, let’s just get there. I just want to finish and then relax.”

”Okay,” I mumble, disconsolately. (I don’t have enough energy left to mount a real campaign – and I wouldn’t win anyway . . . I just put my head down and keep pedaling . . .)

And then, like a miracle, I see “Denbro’s Coffee & Custard” right along the side of the road. 

I remember that last night Diana, with her planning acumen, had pointed out that there was a custard place in Mountain Home. I had paid no attention at the time, but my animal brain does some quick computations and concludes that it is at least worth a try.

”Do you want custard?” I throw out, hopefully . . .

”Yes, that sounds good.”

Like I say – it was like a miracle. 

And it gets better. Because really, I had no interest in custard, but they had lunch stuff. A minute later I’m eating a buffalo chicken wrap and the black hole that is my stomach is satiated and happy once again. 

Now back to the beginning: we’re off to the Oak Tree Mobile Home Park before the predicted storms come. Because, as everyone knows, there is no better place to be in a storm in Arkansas than in a mobile home park . . .

We get there and confirm that it’s a mobile home park alright. But there are a few RVs scattered around as well, and a sign that says “Office.” As we approach, there is another sign, this one with some simple questions: 

1. Have you been in jail/prison?  Yes ( )  No ( )
2. Are A (sic.) Pedophile?             Yes ( )  No ( )
3. Are you too lazy to take your garbage to dumpster?   Yes ( )  No ( )
4. Do you use drugs or have friends who use illegal drugs?   Yes ( )  No ( )

If you answer YES to any of these questions keep going we do not want you. 

We’re feeling pretty good at this point. I mean, other than the trespassing offense Diana had when she was in college – when she climbed the fence and started swimming laps in the Ithaca Town Pool even though they were closed – we’re good. I mean I might be too lazy to bring my garbage to the dumpster, but no worries – Diana will take care of it. 

Unfortunately, the office is closed. In fact, it looks like it hasn’t been open in a long time. There’s one of those “We’ll Be Back” clocks on the door, indicating that they’ll be back at like 4:30 – which is 90 minutes from now. But hard to say how long that clock has been there . . .

We wander around the “park” looking for anyone who might be able to provide information. After nearly circling the whole place we see two people and motion to them.

”You don’t know anything about staying here, do you?” I ask.

”Well, I’m the manager,” says a good looking young man. The other guy just wanders off . . .

We explain that we’re looking for a tent site.

”We don’t do camping,” he says. 

We must look pretty down, because he quickly changes course.

”I guess you could camp in that field over by the creek,” he offers.

”But you don’t have any showers or bathrooms?” Diana asks – getting right to the point . . .

”No, no we don’t. Our people stay in their own RVs or mobile homes. They have their own bathrooms because they live here.”

(This is not going in a good direction . . .)

”Wait, where are you from?” he asks Diana. (This is about the fifth time today someone has asked Diana this – and I think we’ve only talked to six people . . . Pretty clear that there are not a lot of Asians in this part of Arkansas . . .)

As usual, Diana starts out saying she’s from New York, but that is quickly brushed aside. “No, where are you really from?”

Soon we have introduced ourselves and the manager introduces himself as J.R. – the leader of the Oak Tree Mobile Home Park. As it turns out, J.R. is engaged to a young woman from the Phillipines and she is just getting her visa and will be here in the U.S. soon. J.R. met his fiancée through some Filippino residents of the mobile home park – the girl’s aunt and uncle. J.R. and his fiancee corresponded over the web for a while and then J.R. went to visit last year, met her and her relatives, and then they were engaged.

After this discussion – and the connection to Diana’s Asian-ness – J.R. suggests that we can use the mobile home that he has just cleaned out in order to take a shower and go to the bathroom. The power is off, but there is hot water left in the tank and we can use a cell phone flashlight to see in the shower. No problem. J.R. gives us a tour of the mobile home facility, tells us where to camp, and refuses to take any money. He is super impressed with our bikes and our trip generally. 

So that’s how we came to stay in the Oak Tree Mobile Home Park next to a nice stream – where I was able to bathe while Diana was in the mobile home shower. 

After setting up camp, we went to town, had dinner and now we’re back in our cozy tent waiting out the last of the rain . . .

Despite the rain and the lack of “real” camping, it’s been a great day. Great riding. Beautiful views – that feel like a window on eternity. Good people. A border crossing. The generosity of individuals. And some fun stories.

Onto, I think, Mountain View tomorrow . . .