Little Rock – the town and the pillow

Wooly Hollow State Park – Little Rock, AR

Well, we arrived in Little Rock yesterday – after our friend Gunnar provided personalized guide service into town and to his house. 

And it was a good thing we arrived at a real home – with real beds, outlets, wifi, and even a car for running errands. Because after biking through the Ozarks – and, really, between the hills and the distance, biking a little too far each day the last few days – we needed a real rest. Or at least I did.

Took a little stock on things yesterday. Looked at my odometer, which now reads 11,414 kilometers. Subtract the 9,295 that we started with, and we traveled 2,119 kilometers – or 1,316 miles on the first 21 days of our journey. That averages out to 62.66 miles per day – even including our “rest” day in St. Louis. No wonder I’m tired! We might need to adjust our daily goals down a little bit going forward. 60-70 miles makes for some long days, tired bodies and maybe a little grouchiness on occasion . . . We might be Type A personalities – but we’re not in that big of a rush . . .

It turns out we had accumulated a number of little things that we needed to catch up on. It is just much easier to catch up on things in a real home in a real town than it is in a tent or a motel room. 

Our laundry list included:

• Laundry (after several straight days of camping basically everything – which isn’t much really – was dirty and stinky)
• Paying some bills (can’t escape bills, even when you try . . .)
• Finding a new pillow for Diana (more on this later)
• Voting (stlll working on that but we almost have it figured out – so don’t worry, we’re on it!)
• Rotating tires on the bikes because, with all the weight on the rear tires, they wear out a lot faster than the front tires

• Figuring out some technological issues with the blog (more on this in a later post – once we spend several more hours – or, once we short circuit the process by finding a young person who can just solve things instantaneously)

But you don’t need to hear all that. 

First, a little on Gunnar and Maria. Another couple that we know mostly because of cross country skiing. Gunnar is originally from Germany and Maria from Chile, via California and Miami. They lived in Minnesota for a few years almost 25 years ago now. While Gunnar is 6’6” tall and a big guy generally, he picked up a love for skiing back then and has kept it alive through his years in North Carolina and Arkansas. We see him every year for the Birkebeiner ski marathon in Northern Wisconsin, where Gunnar is known as the Red Rocket (he used to have a red ski suit). He prides himself on being the fastest skier from Arkansas. Or maybe it’s the fastest expatriate German skier from Arkansas. I can’t remember – but it’s a lofty title in any event. 

This trip is special because we actually get to see Maria as well. She is not as much of a skier so we have not seen her for years. But she is clearly the better half of the couple and it’s exciting to see her for once. 

But let me tell you about Little Rock. 

For some level setting, let’s be honest and start with what’s in all of our heads when we think of The Natural State (Arkansas) and its capital.

Let’s face it – most of us think of Little Rock and Arkansas as a hot, humid backwater. We think of that place that refused to desegregate. And we think of Walmart and tornadoes and trailer parks. 

All of that is, of course, based in reality. But there is so much more to the place. It’s incredibly beautiful. The Ozarks and the rolling hills. The rivers. And at least right now, it’s green and verdant. 

I’m sure it’s hot and humid in the summer. But the weather we’re experiencing is ideal – highs in the 80s and lows around 60. With no bugs to speak of. 

Great recreation. Amazing hiking trails. (Gunnar brought us to Pinnacle Mountain today – breathtaking!)

We have mountain biked before in Northwest Arkansas – and the trails there are tremendous (thank you Walmart grandchildren). We have seen a ton of mountain biking on this trip as well – including a bunch in the Little Rock area. Looks fantastic. 

On the desegregation front, tomorrow we’re going to Little Rock Central High School – where the court-ordered desegregation happened some 70 years ago. That’s the kind of thing that us Minnesotans tend to be on our high horses about. 

“We would never do anything like that in Minnesota . . . We’re too enlightened for that . . .”

Easy to say. But it’s all part of Minnesota Nice, really. Don’t have any confrontation – just move to the suburbs instead, or send your children across town to that school they just have to go to. For us, that was Chinese immersion. (Don’t get me wrong – I’m not going to gloss over everything. At least Minnesotans generally want to do the right thing – but I wouldn’t say that Minnesota is killing it in terms of quality of life for minority groups, or in creating spaces where people truly mix in meaningful ways.) Point being, I guess we should maybe get off our high horses and look around in places like Arkansas before we completely write them off . . . 

Another really big thing about Arkansas – and I know this might get me in trouble – but Arkansas is the home of Bill Clinton. We went to the presidential library today. Yes, he was a louse. Terrible husband. Horrible judgment on some things . . . But, in my opinion, the reality is that he was a great president. Of course, the Clinton Library is going to paint Clinton in a positive light, but he accomplished all kinds of practical things that made the world and the country better. He grew the economy, added a ton of jobs, cut crime and poverty, and was a strong world leader.

I guess Clinton is a lot like Arkansas and Little Rock. Many great qualities. But some serious faults as well. 

Sounds like a lot of us. Even Dr. Liu – with all of her good qualities and amazing dessert-making abilities – is a serial law breaker in the water – and she buys too much butter . . .

So I told you I would come back to camp pillows. 

Can I just say that inflatable camp pillows are so bogus. Probably one of the biggest frauds perpetrated on the American people in our lifetimes. Thousands of them are purchased every day. Pretty sure it’s a conspiracy sponsored by the American Chiropractic Association. 

It seems like such a good idea. No weight. Just a little ball. Blow it up and there is what looks like a perfect pillow. Now, if your goal is to have a pillow that looks great, by all means, get a blow-up pillow. But if your goal is to sleep well and not have giant crooks in your neck, then maybe you should skip the blow-up idea. 

Because, here’s the thing. Your head rolls off blow-up pillows. You have a choice. You can apply that little bit of neck strength that it takes to keep your head on the pillow – all night. (Good luck with that – really fun to do an all-night isometric strength exercise with your neck.) Or you can wake up at 12:47 a.m. with your neck in the shape of one of those twisty straws we used to use when we were kids – and with a raging headache – because your head rolled off of the pillow. 

The upshot. Diana needed a new pillow – and that became our quest for the day. Turned out that Amazon couldn’t deliver the pillow we wanted to Gunnar and Maria’s by tomorrow – so that was out. We went to a few camp type stores, but all their pillows were pneumatic. Nice and small. And terrible at their primary purpose in life: being a comfortable pillow. 

Solution: We purchased a $3.50 regular pillow at Target, we cut it down to size, and Diana is now channeling her inner-Martha Stewart as she sews it shut and makes herself a little pillowcase. 

Final thought. So nice to have Maria’s wonderful dinners the last two nights. We might just move in for a few months. Of course, if we do that I’m going to need some new shoes. Hiking with crocs (my only non-bike shoes along on the trip) on slippery boulders can work once . . . But for the long haul I’m not so sure . . .