St. Louis to Hot Springs KOA

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Sunday, June 28 (St. Louis West KOA to Hot Springs KOA):
Well, another day of mostly travel. We left St. Louis a bit after 8am, stopped at a TA Travel Center for a very good lunch at their Country Pride Restaurant, then continued on to Hot Springs, Arkansas. This KOA is a bit different, in that it is laid out on a series of hills. Very nice though, with a big office/store, a pool, game room, two laundry rooms, and a separate mini golf area. After checking in, we decided to head into Hot Springs to find a good place to eat dinner. The road we entered town on was Grand Ave., straight from the KOA, and until we got near the center of town and Central Ave., it seemed like a ghost town. Granted, it is Sunday, but very few people and very few places open. Central Ave. was a good bit busier, with both a historic district on the north end and a more modern area with a Wal-Mart, etc. on the southern end. After passing a number of potential places for dinner, we spotted a place called Salsa’s. Since they appeared to have a decent number of cars outside, and we hadn’t had real Mexican food this trip (since you can’t really count Taco Bell), we decided to give it a try. We walked in and were greeted with a pretty big crowd and a mariachi band. After looking at the fairly extensive, but inexpensive menu, we settled on a special dinner plate for the two of us, and fried ice cream for dessert. The special dinner plate was a taco, chili relleno, tamale, guacamole salad, enchilada, rice, and refried beans. Everything was very good, probably the best we’ve had, and the band was quite entertaining. On the way back to the KOA, we stopped at a Wal-Mart for another DVD from Red Box, this time, Revolutionary Road. The movie was ok, but rather sad, especially the ending. Tomorrow we head to the Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro to attempt to find some real diamonds. Keep your fingers crossed.

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Photos

Hot Springs KOA
The Hot Springs KOA Office and Pool near Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Our Kabin at Hot Springs
The little group our Kabin was in. Ours is the 2nd from the left.

Salsa’s Mexican Restaurant
Salsa’s Mexican Restaurant in Hot Springs.

Manoli & the Fried Ice Cream
Manoli eating her share of fried ice cream… with glee.

Mariachi Band
The mariachi band at Salsa’s.