May 10

Carol dropped us off at Bud's Liquor Store  early this morning and we headed for Malvern. We soon passed by Reynolds Aluminum Continuous Rolling Plant at Magnet Cove. A fixture in Magnet Cove ever since Carol and I moved to Hot Springs.

 

We stopped for a break at a convenience store in Jones Mills and then kept on going. It was single file walking today. Very narrow shoulder.

 

We walked up a very steep hill, and just before we  crossed Interstate 30, a woman was on the side of the road taking our picture. She didn't say anything until we walked up to her and discovered she was a photographer for the Malvern Daily Record. More fame, I don't know if we can handle it.

 

We stopped at a Fina station for a short break. John bought us both a Fudgesickle and as we were leaving, a man stopped us. It was an old schoolmate of Johns, Doyle Loy. We chatted for a while as our Fudgesickles were melting, but Doyle came to our rescue with paper towels. John explained that Doyle drove him and his cousin to school each morning.

 

On we walked until a voice rang out, "Are you Johnny?" It was another schoolmate of John's, J.R. Hardage. J.R. drives a truck over the road to Amarillo, TX every other day and has Fridays and Saturdays off. Ruth also knows J.R.

 

We crossed over the bridge and saw the Amtrak Station below. John said years ago, that this was the spot that Ruth won 1st place in the hog raising competition.

 

We walked pasted the old ice house and Ruth was waiting for us. We found 2 American flags, an Arkansas license plate and .32 cents. Stay tuned .....