One of the many streams that run through the park

We spent what turned out to be our final two nights of camping at Petit Jean State Park near Conway, Ark. Petit Jean is the oldest state park in Arkansas, having been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930’s. The CCC company was composed of World War I veterans.

This chimney is the remains of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp

This bridge, created by Mexican-born artist Dionicio Rodriguez, originally spanned a goldfish pond

Teddy on the trail

Because we were there on a weekend, the park was hopping’. The campgrounds were full, and there was lots of traffic on the roads. Still it was a fun place to be. We went on a walk that took us to Cedar Falls and the CCC-built Mather Lodge.

Cedar Falls

Mather Lodge, built by the CCC

A CCC water tower

It rained our final night at Petit Jean, and the forecast called for continued rain for the rest of our trip, so we dropped our plans to camp in Tennessee, booked a motel, and chopped two days off the end of the trip, arriving in North Carolina on Monday instead of Wednesday.

Here are the final trip statistics:

• Miles driven: 3,662
• Average speed: 58 mph
• Days on  the road: 18
• Driving time: 62 hours, 39 minutes
• States traversed: 11 (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina)
• License plates seen: 45 states (all except Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wyoming, and, of course, Hawaii) and six provinces (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec)