We are at the end of our two week stay here near Bentonville Arkansas. We’ve seen some glorious Fall color and some beautiful cool and clear days. But we’ve also had quite a few gray, cold and rainy days – which reminds us just why we abandoned the Midwest in our youth!
The gray and rainy days weren’t all bad though. It gave us time to catch up on inside tasks. Jeff had some business affairs to manage for his Dad’s Trust. I painted a new batch of inspirational rocks and worked on a knitting project. I cooked, stocking the freezer with chili and baked ziti. We saw (and loved) the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I visited a local church on Sunday morning. There’s always something to do!
On the beautiful days, we took full advantage of the fantastic trail system that has been constructed in this area. We explored a couple of different sections of the paved Razorback Greenway trail by bicycle (one day 15 miles, another day 20 miles). The trails interconnect parks with amenities such as bathrooms, bicycle repair tools, and water fountains. The trail is clearly marked, always segregated from traffic, and wide enough for pedestrians as well as bicycles. There are even interesting sculptures interspersed along the way. The Walton Foundation and other supporting towns/organizations have done a stellar job putting this together – I wish other towns would take notes!! It is our favorite feature of this area.
I also love that the mountain bike trails are interconnected with the paved multi-use trails. So when Jeff went out mountain biking, I went too, and we each would do our own thing. I had started ramping up my walking mileage on the nice trail around our Santa Fe campground, but really increased the mileage here. When Jeff went off mountain biking, I walked the rolling paved trail: 9 miles one day, 6 miles another day, and then finally a 12 miler. It’s been quite a while since I went that distance and it’s nice to know I’ve still got it. I haven’t given up the idea of doing another half marathon some day, who knows? I’d have to seriously work on my speed though.
We also had the opportunity to stop in at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Founded by Sam Walton’s daughter Alice (and funded by the Walton Foundation), this free museum’s collection spans 5 centuries of American art from Colonial days to the present. Organized by era, it is a stroll through artists perception as shaped by their times. The display is as much outdoors as in, with 3.5 miles of sculpture-strewn trails. We had already explored those on our bicycles.
One beautiful sculpture sits just outside the entrance. Although it appears to be a stainless steel tree, it’s actually a depiction of a dendrite (neural cell). Cool! Another favorite exhibit is the pile of gold-wrapped candy mints. Yes, you can eat one and yes, I did! Or the realistic “guy on a bench”. It made me look twice! (Eerily lifelike.) Altogether, a beautiful museum in a beautiful setting, and definitely worth a visit.
Now we’re off to Memphis for some needed repairs (again) and Graceland!
We parked in downtown Bentonville and headed north, exploring the northernmost 8 miles of the trail. Along the way, we passed through parts of downtown and by homes creatively decorated for Halloween. We also meandered through the grounds of the 
As a chemist, the sculpture I was most taken with is the Buckyball. What is a buckyball, you say? Short for Buckminsterfullerene, it is a spherical nanoparticle made of 60 carbon molecules. Postulated in the late 1960’s, the molecule was first created in 1984 by scientists who used a laser a laser to vaporize carbon in a supersonic helium beam. Aren’t you glad you asked? The sculpture is an artist’s rendition of a super-giant molecule. Or, it’s a soccer ball skeleton. Whatever floats your boat.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost 