July 13.
This was an interesting day. We got to cycle in three different states going from Idabel, OK to Texarkana. We started, of course, in Oklahoma. The total ride was about 75 miles and at mile 29 we crossed into Arkansas. Then at mile 63.8 we went back into Texas, and 0.8 miles further on, we were back in Arkansas again! In Texarkana, one post office serves both Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas. Texarkana, Arkansas is the larger of the two cities. There is one road in town where you can walk on one side of the street and be in Texas, but on the other side of the street you are in Arkansas. I had heard of Texarkana before, but I thought it was a region rather than a city (or two)
In the place where we were in Texas just briefly, we could see the Arkansas welcome center from the same place where we could see the Texas welcome sign. It seemed a bit odd.
When we rode along Route 66 and ran into some less than ideal pavement, Henry declared that “Smooth Pavement Appreciation Day.” There were a few miles on this day when we could have declared “Pavement Appreciation Day.” There was a short section of chip and seal that had just been put down, so it was pretty much like loose gravel. Then there was another place where we passed a sign saying “County Maintenance ends here.” It was pretty clear that no one was maintaining that section! There were a couple of places where the gravel was pretty deep.
