Slightly off the beaten path....

Sarah, my daughter who is visiting from Chicago, and I took a little trip yesterday and today, so there will  be no news from Afton Station, I'm afraid.  But I thought you might want to hear about this hidden gem we stumbled upon while driving in northwest Arkansas this afternoon.  Sarah and I love, love, love drive-through wildlife parks, but this is one we'd never heard of.  After being disgusted by traffic, miles of strip malls, and way too much Walmart influence in Springdale and Bentonville (home of Walmart), we veered off onto a less traveled road in the town of Gentry, where we saw this sign....

Naturally, we followed the directions, expecting a little unimpressive collection of potentially mistreated animals.  How very wrong we were!   This was without a doubt one of the best we've visited.   Many acres of wildness, over 4 miles of dirt roads, and hundreds and hundreds of animals and birds.  Check it out at: www.wildwildernessdrivethroughsafari.com.

Here are a few photos.  The first one was taken seconds before the camel charged the car.  No, I'm not kidding.   I put the pedal to the metal just in time and we got away from him.  

 There was a rhino, a hippo, bears, at least three tigers, a lion, a herd of zebras, and much, much more.  All the animals seemed to be extremely well taken care of and had large amounts of acreage in which to roam.  Well, all except the monkey types, who were caged. . . except a couple who managed to escape.  We had a great time!

 We also drove through Eureka Springs, an amazing town, and checked out the new and allegedly incredible Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville, but by the time we got through the traffic in the town, it was only 20 minutes from closing.  Oh well, all these attractions are less than 3 hours from Tulsa, so they can always be done in the future.

What a great 1 1/2 days on the road with my daughter!  This would be a nice side trip for Route 66 travelers, too.