Friday, April 30, 2010
End of the thirtieth day. And it was wet.
Today was a wet day. Very wet. We started out our ride in a humid, Arkansas morning. The sky looked a little bit bleak, but we kept our fingers crossed that the rain would hold off until we arrived at our destination. 
We had a short ride today, so we were (mildly) hopeful. The rain started around mile 9 or so. And it kept going the entire ride. At times the rain would let up a little, but it never stopped. And most of the time it was completely pouring. 
When we were going downhill, the rain became bullet-like. It wasn’t the most pleasant feeling. But we all arrived safe and sound (albeit quite drenched) in Hot Springs. 
After warming up and drying off, we went in to town to explore Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It was a pretty cute little town. And, as it turns out, the town is also a National Park. Probably the least nature-like National Parks I have ever been to. The Park collects 700,000 gallons of water a day from the hot springs for use in the public drinking fountains and bath houses. The water from the springs is 143*F. Very hot. It’s pretty neat to see (nearly) boiling-hot water coming out of a fountain or running through a creek.
We explored the downtown area a little bit. Apparently Al Capone loved Hot Springs, Arkansas and was known to frequent the bath houses. We went to one of the oldest hotels in the area and saw his car in the main lobby.
We all went to one of the bath houses in the afternoon.
It was splendid. It was great to relax in the water and ease some of the tension and pain out of our over-used muscles. No, the water is NOT 143*F in the bath houses. They cool it down to different temperatures, because I’m pretty sure someone could get some pretty bad scalding burns if they stayed in 143*F water for too long. Our bath house had four different pools: 92*F, 95*F, 100*F, and 104*F. It was so relaxing.
I’m not sitting here watching the weather channel for tomorrow. Storms are definitely near by and on their way here. There are already a few rain drops falling outside. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow…
We had a short ride today, so we were (mildly) hopeful. The rain started around mile 9 or so. And it kept going the entire ride. At times the rain would let up a little, but it never stopped. And most of the time it was completely pouring. When we were going downhill, the rain became bullet-like. It wasn’t the most pleasant feeling. But we all arrived safe and sound (albeit quite drenched) in Hot Springs. After warming up and drying off, we went in to town to explore Hot Springs, Arkansas.
It was a pretty cute little town. And, as it turns out, the town is also a National Park. Probably the least nature-like National Parks I have ever been to. The Park collects 700,000 gallons of water a day from the hot springs for use in the public drinking fountains and bath houses. The water from the springs is 143*F. Very hot. It’s pretty neat to see (nearly) boiling-hot water coming out of a fountain or running through a creek.We explored the downtown area a little bit. Apparently Al Capone loved Hot Springs, Arkansas and was known to frequent the bath houses. We went to one of the oldest hotels in the area and saw his car in the main lobby.
We all went to one of the bath houses in the afternoon.
It was splendid. It was great to relax in the water and ease some of the tension and pain out of our over-used muscles. No, the water is NOT 143*F in the bath houses. They cool it down to different temperatures, because I’m pretty sure someone could get some pretty bad scalding burns if they stayed in 143*F water for too long. Our bath house had four different pools: 92*F, 95*F, 100*F, and 104*F. It was so relaxing.I’m not sitting here watching the weather channel for tomorrow. Storms are definitely near by and on their way here. There are already a few rain drops falling outside. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow…
End of the thirtieth day. And it was wet.
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