Nomad Life - Day 55

The night was filled with a series of horrible thunderstorms and (I learned later) tornadic activity.  Fortunately, I was safe in a dry hotel and kept my eyes away from the weather reports.  Since no sirens were heard in the area, I slept well again.  Because I wanted to stay as close to my normal (i.e., east coast) routine, I'd set my alarm for 0500 - for the first time during my Nomad Life, I actually made it all the way to that wake-up without an interruption!  Almost immediately after getting out of bed, I started teleworking, although I took a break to eat breakfast at my hotel (Quality Inn I-540 in Fort Smith).  I encountered one more SNAFU - Comcast texted to ask why I hadn't turned in come of my internet service equipment.  Yikes - that's somewhere in my storage unit...  A phone call with their Customer Service department gave me hope that I could resolve everything when I reached Albuquerque (I appear to be in the middle of a Comcast "desert"). Otherwise, I teleworked continuously until I was forced to check out (1100).  Since this was my typical lunch hour, I thought it might be a good idea to try to get a flu shot at the local VA Clinic I'd seen on the map.  Normally, I'd get this shot in White River Junction so I can volunteer with the VA Adaptive Sports Team but I had to be resourceful this year.  I arrived at the clinic (located at the Fort Smith Regional Airport) and sweet talked my way through the process - it helped that everyone was extremely nice.  About 20 minutes after I'd arrived, I had completed all administrative requirements and even gotten the jab itself.  Awesome!  Afterwards (1130), I did about 30 minutes of teleworking from my car.  John T had told me about some interesting aviation activities he'd seen at the airport and I did get a few glimpses of C-130 operations (no fighters, though).  Unlike the previous few days, the outside temperatures were pleasant (mid 70s) and the overcast weather kept the sun from breaking through.  Just after noon, I decided to check out nearby Arkoma Park, located in a small sliver of Oklahoma that was sort of "marooned" east of the Poteau River.  In this unique part of the state (likely created due to the use of north-sound boundary lines and the reality of migrating rivers), I was able to park very close to the river and watch birds while I walked around a bit.  Yesterday, I noticed that Fort Smith NHS claimed it was located in both Arkansas and Oklahoma - I think the state boundary in the Arkoma area must account for this...  After about 30 more minutes of relaxation, I backtracked to the east (and into Arkansas again) so I could access I-540.  Since I still had about an hour before my next work meeting, I decided to try to join that discussion from Fayetteville (30+ minutes to the north).  To this end, I got on I-40 and briefly drove east.  Everything was going smoothly until I got stuck behind a truck that was towing a blade from one of the huge windmills in the area - geometry and the curvature of the I-49 exit ramp was not friendly to this poor drive.  Fortunately, it wasn't long before I was able to get moving quickly towards the north.  The loss of about five minutes, though, meant that I clearly couldn't reach Fayetteville in time.  Instead, I focused on just finding a good place with cell service.  The rolling hills of the Ozarks, along with a deep tunnel on the route, made that a bit more difficult than I'd hoped and it was with a great sigh of relief that I exited the Interstate in the little town of West Fork just before my meeting was supposed to begin (1330).  After some creative positioning in the parking lot for a Harps (grocery) store, I got connected.  Unfortunately, the weather posed the next challenge - dark, ominous clouds started filling the sky and it began to rain.  Soon, my laptop microphone began to exhibit disturbances that people on the call noted to me.  By that point, I began to seriously wonder if a tornado wasn't too far away...  Meanwhile, though, the local people didn't seem phased by what I was seeing - one nearby truck driver actually loaded up a car on top of his trailer (a complicated process that took over 30 minutes).  When my call ended (1445), therefore, I felt confident in resuming my drive to the north.  First, though, I stopped inside the Harps to pick up some lunch (a ready-made club sandwich).  While eating, I did a bit more telework and then drove through West Fork so I could get on US-71.  The traffic was light and this allowed me to make good time to the Air Museum at Drake Field (outskirts of Fayetteville) and take a look at the aircraft on the flight line.  John T had recommended that I visit - I didn't buy a ticket but got as close as I could to the T-2C Buckeye they had!  (Later, I checked my log book and determined that I hadn't flown that particular aircraft.)  Continuing north (1510), I followed US-71 all the way to the town of Bella Vista, where my friends (John T and Laura) lived.  They had mentioned they'd be home by 1630 so I set up in a parking lot for the Bentonville/Razorback Greenway (Lake Bella Vista section), which was located next to Lake Bella Vista.  A map I found indicated that this was just one trail allowed bikers to access what looked to be hundreds more miles of trails.  Starting at about 1545, I spent more time teleworking and took a short walk before it started raining.  By 1615, I had completed all of my required telework hours and had received confirmation from John that I had a green light to arrive.  From the parking area, it only took me about 10 more minutes to reach the beautiful home of my friends and they, along with their three little dogs (Coco, Evie and Lizzie), were very excited to see me.  We visited for a little while but then they showed me to the guest room (I should say "floor"!).  I confirmed that the internet was good for my next workday and then returned to visit with John and Laura some more.  They'd kept some mail for me, from OtterBox and Erin - the latter item, sadly, ended up being only an empty envelope (the letter must have fallen out somewhere).  Their home felt very welcoming and I could have sat in their living area and played with their dogs for hours.  John suggested that we head into town for dinner so, at about 1745, we drove a short distance to eat at Bella's Table, a pleasant venue that featured many Mediterranean dishes.  We continued our fun conversation, which was mostly about the their mountain biking hobby and my Nomad Life.  I learned that Bella Vista is considered by many to be the Mountain Bike Capital of the World and the information my friends shared seemed to support that contention.  We finished dinner just after 1900 and returned home to the dogs.  It was no longer raining so I decided to take a walk in the neighborhood.  The temps were pleasant but the terrain in the area was clearly evident - it was good to work my calves!  At 2000, it started to rain and I was barely able to reach shelter before a deluge had begun.  Back inside the house, I spent over an hour talking with John, reminiscing about our time in the same Navy Squadron (mid '00s).  Laura liked our stories and the dogs kept on asking me for attention (of course, I obliged).  At about 2130, I excused myself and headed down to relax a bit before bed time.  It was easy to get settled in the comfortable setting and I did a little reading, Duolingo, catching up with texts and emails - by 2230, I turned out the light.  Another wonderful day in Arkansas!