6/12 Natchez, MS to Russellville, AR

On the road again, we pulled out of Natchez and crossed the Mississippi, this time for good, into Louisiana and headed north on US 425 for the Arkansas border. We wanted to get to Little Rock in time to spend a couple hours touring the Clinton Presidential Library – but there was also time to stick to the smaller highways, which we took through the Louisiana countryside.

We continued on into Arkansas, sticking with the back roads until we got to Pine Bluff – there we hopped on Interstate 530 for the ride into Little Rock, and the GPS led us to the library on Clinton Avenue. I could see why some critics have referred to its architectural style as similar to a single wide on stilts, but the official explanation is it’s modeled to depict the Bridge to the 21st Century, the Clinton campaign theme. In any regard, it is nicely done and the exhibits are nicely done as well. When we entered we were routed through an airport like security gate, although we kept our shoes on. We emptied our pockets to pass the contents through the X-ray machine, and my pocket knife drew some attention. I thought I’d be making a trip back to the car, but the guard decided that between my good character and the length of the blade I could continue on in. I didn’t tell him that Leatherman tool opened into a pair of scissors.

Ticket prices were very reasonable - $7 for Erin and $5 for the old guy. The first exhibit, and the only one where we could use a flash for pictures, was a scale model of the White House and West Wing. It was there for a three month exhibition – don’t know where it’s going next. I Googled it and found that it’s a one inch to one foot scale model, and took 32 years to construct. All the furnishings were carved to scale, chandeliers had miniature working lights, dining tables were set with china and silverware, and some rooms in the residence floor actually had tiny working television sets. The outer wall was off so you could see the details of each room. It was very nicely done.

There were three floors of exhibits in the library, and the upper two floors contained racks with volumes of presidential papers in holders, with exhibits detailing milestones of the Clinton presidency, as well as his early life and that of governor of Arkansas. We saw a collection of memorabilia, several saxophones that were given to Clinton as gifts, documents and letters, accounts and photos of major events, as well as video clips of various speeches and meetings. There was a full size replica of the cabinet room, and of course we posed in the president’s chair there. There was also a full size replica of the oval office, but for our viewing pleasure only – no sitting at the desk.

We took a shuttle for a 5 minute ride down the street to the gift shop, where we browsed and picked up a few souvenirs. They were nicer and more reasonably priced than the Elvis souvenirs – I’m now the owner of an Air Force One baseball cap and a Clinton yo-yo.

We were anxious to get back to some scenic country driving, and since it was nearing rush hour in Little Rock, we hopped on I-30 westbound for about 25 miles to get out of town. Fortunately the backups were in the opposite lanes. We exited near Hot Springs National Park, where we found state highway 7 heading north through the Ouachita Mountains. What a contrast to the city – there were few towns and they were relatively far between. But, there must be quite a few people out here, because we came upon a Wal-Mart store in the wilderness. As we passed through the mountains, the curves and switchbacks made this an ideal motorcycle road, although the 95 degree heat made it an ideal air conditioned ride in the PT Cruiser.

We are now in Russellville, and plan to continue north on highway 7 tomorrow through the Boston Mountains and on into the Ozarks.