Will we manage to Leave Arkansas??
Well, we were still in Arkansas! We actually love the state, so why try and leave Arkansas? Being travelers, we like to move around. Being in one state for this long ….
Here’s the deal…
We travel in the bus… but we pull a vehicle also! From the start it was a 1991 Ford Ranger … Zach also had a Dodge pickup that was parked at a friends house in Georgia. Only need one vehicle, so Zach had to make the decision on which truck to keep. For many reasons, he chose the Dodge.
So now comes the swap. Zach needed to sell the ranger and pick up the dodge, however that worked out. Well, it worked out perfectly that the friend who was housing the dodge, wanted to buy the Ranger.
Solo Road Trip for Zach. Or was it ?
Nah, he took our dog Louie for the ride. He’s a good companion on the road. Or mostly he sleeps and ya talk to yourself, but he’s there for you to pull over and walk him. And stops on a road trip aren’t always bad!
Road Trippin’ It
So, 850ish miles one way. I didn’t envy him. I don’t mind road trips, but not by myself!
He did it in 48 hours.
That gave me 48 hours to totally reorganize the under floor storage in the bus! It was just a mess! I bake a lot, I mean A LOT, so I have lots of supplies. I also really love to cook, so lots of stuff for that too. I knew the one compartment was all on me, but the other 2 were Zach’s areas of WHAT THE ….???
I got so much organized, that I did the entire front of the bus. Closet, above the bathroom, drawers, cabinets and under the floor. Once I got started, it was actually easy to organize!
The first pic is completely done, and while there is room for improvement, I fit every baking and cooking need in that space. Everything in a findable location! Always a work in progress!
Back to Zach and his 1600 mile marathon run in 2 days. All went well! He got back and he thought Jemma (our other dog) would be thrilled to see him, but it was Louie she was excited to see. She did zoomies for that boy 
Spent some more time exploring Mt Ida when Zach got back! After that, we really didn’t have a game plan, so we didn’t rush leaving! Looked at trails, did some geocaching, riding, hiking, walking, whatever! Just took in the scenery.
We tried to Leave Arkansas, really…
Then we tried to leave. And the bus wasn’t having it with pulling the dodge. It was just too heavy. Stop. Rethink. Couldn’t go far unless I drove the truck separately, which neither of us wanted.
We hightailed it back to the Alma area until we figured it out. Zach’s parents are close by, so why not park there and spend more time with them!
Follow That Bus!
I ended up having to drive the truck behind him in the bus. Sounds easy enough, until he is struggling up a hill and I’m struggling because I’m driving a manual, up a hill, behind a bus 🙂
Zach ended up trading his truck for a teeny tiny car!
It’s cute, and completely functional! The gas mileage is out of this world, and it’s super light!
….Still In Arkansas….
Here’s the thing though – we were stuck in Arkansas until we could get all the vehicle stuff transferred from Oklahoma (where the car came from) to Florida (Zach’s residential state). So for a few weeks, we just did much of the same as the last time we were in the area.
Revisited A to Z, same grocery stores, a bit boring.
Until I found this guy ~ in Fort Smith ~ not sure how we missed him the first time around, but I’m glad we came back!!
Now this is me sitting with “the little nut”, 
Check out the Big Nut here! 
Zach took the stationary time and made us a curtain for our most intrusive window. Intrusive by lights anyway, headlights, morning light, there was always something blinding us ! So he made adjustable curtains. We can have them all the way, halfway down, or all the way up! Genius !
They are also reversible so we can change up the pattern! And now we have a prototype for the other windows!
Guess what, he wasn’t done there! He designed a yarn storage area for the brow. It’s his yarn, by the way 
He knits hats, scarves, dog sweaters, and lots more! Click here < > to see his work!
There was a very fine line between the wall of the brow and the bed, so when it is in the driving position, it has to come up to about the shelf level. That’s about 8″ of space 
But it fits perfectly!
Ready to Leave Arkansas?
Here is the bed in the driving position, under the bed is the drivers seat, so it goes up enough for Zach to drive and me to sit next to him
Bed in the parked position.
This concludes our time in Arkansas! 
Overall, we love the state! The weather got a bit hot, but we were there in the middle of their hottest time of year! Zach and I just needed to move on to a new state, so we hopped over to Oklahoma!
Till Next Time….
Missed a few parts of the story?? Catch up here!!
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7