On to Harrison, AR 9/3/2010

Well we had a long long drive of 30 miles down RT 65 to our next stop in Harrison, AR so we were up really early and getting packed up. Yeah right. No big hurry this morning as we had a leisurely breakfast and dawdled around before we starting packing up to get on the road. We left about 10:30 after we had a short conversation with the owner as we had to tell him what a GREAT campground he had. Everything was perfect here or as near as you could get it. Then we were off and the start of the trip contained a little oops. We followed our GPS and turned right when we should have turned left and I'm not sure why it had us routed the way it did but we ended up going up, down and around hairpin turns and ending up on some dead end roads down by a lake. Well luckily I was able to find a wide intersection that I could maneuver the coach back and forth and get turned around without taking the car off. Then we were off the right way to our destination. We got there about 11:45, checked in, set up and as luck has it there is a RV service shop located next to the campgrounds and they give priority service to people staying here. So we discussed it and decided to see if we could get the slide out repaired. I drove over to the shop and they really were closed until Tuesday because of the holiday but as luck had it one of the fellas that works there was hanging around doing some work on his own truck so he came over and looked at the problem and said they could take care of it first thing Tuesday. So I called and got the authorization I needed and gave him the OK to start Tuesday. We are going to have to stay a few more days than we had planned but that's OK as we had no reservations after our stay here. And besides there is a hot air balloon festival here that starts next Friday so we are staying until at least Saturday. It will be nice to get it fixed so we don't have to push it in and out by hand. After we got that taken care of we had lunch and headed down into Harrison to take a look around. It had a nice small historic district with a lot of older buildings and a lovely town square. We did stop at an old mill that was now a bakery and cafe and has a great selection of home made baked goods. Then it was back to the coach for the day. We are staying at Parker's RV Park about 5 miles outside of Harrison. It's small campground but very very nice. The bathrooms are large and very clean, sites are large with grass all around them, lots of cable TV stations and the owner is very friendly and helpful and of course the plus of the repair shop next door. Well that's about all for today so until tomorrow we miss and love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick



Harrison is a city in Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is the county seat. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 13,108. Boone County was organized in 1869, during reconstruction after the civil war. Harrison was platted and made the county seat. It is named after L. LaRue Harrison, a Union officer who surveyed and platted the town.
Indians were the first inhabitants of the area, the first probably being the "Bluff Dweller", who lived in caves in the bluffs along the rivers. In later times, the Osage, a branch of the Sioux, was the main tribe in the Ozarks and one of their larger villages is thought to have been to the east of the present site of Harrison. The Shawnees, Quapaws, and Caddo Indians were also familiar to the area.
The Cherokee arrived around 1816 and could not get along with the Osage. This hostility erupted into a full scale Indian war in the Ozark Mountains. By the 1830s both tribes were removed to Oklahoma. Some historians contend that the first white man to visit the area were some forty followers of Hernando Desota and that they camped at an Indian village on the White River at the mouth of Bear Creek. It is more probable that the first white men were French hunters or trappers who followed the course of the White River.
Harrison is home to the general office of FedEx Freight and the second Wal-Mart store ever opened. The courthouse, opened in 1909, serves as the heart of the downtown district.
Harrison serves as the National Park Service's Buffalo National River headquarters. The park was established in the 1970s, and was the nation’s first National River. The river flows for 135 miles and there are over 60 different species of fish in it.
Crooked Creek, a nationally recognized[citation needed] “Blue Ribbon” smallmouth bass fishery flows through Harrison.
Hemmed-in-Hollow, at 209 feet the tallest waterfall between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians, is near Harrison. On the same bluff line is Diamond Falls, at 148 feet the second tallest in the state.
The historic Lyric Theatre is now used for plays, community events, old movies and other gatherings. It was originally opened as a movie theater in 1929.
Harrison hosts the annual Arkansas Hot Air Balloon races each September, Crawdad Day's Music Festival each May, a Harvest Homecoming festival each October, and Christmas celebration in December.
The Harrison Police Department has had two officers killed in the line of duty, both by gunfire and both within a year of one another. The first was officer Ed Williams, killed on a disturbance call on May 25, 1934. The second was Chief of Police Burr Robertson, killed while arresting a murder suspect at the railroad station on March 27, 1935.
Gracie Pfost, first woman elected to Congress from Idaho, was born in Harrison.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has recognized the Harrison Courthouse Square Historic District. It contains a large number of the city's original commercial and governmental structures, including the still-used courthouse in the center of the square, the recently refurbished Lyric theater, and the beautiful 1929 Hotel Seville, which underwent a complete restoration in 2008.
Harrison was the home of All-American Offensive Lineman Brandon Burlsworth. He played for the Arkansas Razorbacks in the late 1990s. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL Draft, but was killed in a car accident just 11 days later.
In 2008 F.S. Garrison Stadium was opened after almost six years of fund-raising by Kim Rosson and the Goblin Booster Club. It is currently the largest privately-funded athletic facility in Arkansas.[citation needed] Over $7 million was raised for it.