Seeking recommendations - AR/southern MO

planning a trip in feb  hopefully water is up      i cant stop .   hogone

We have been "camping" of some sort most of our 32 1/2 years of marriage. We started with a pick-up with a camper shell and an air mattress on a platform. Have owned 3 pop ups and 3 different travel trailers before we bought our Pod. Through all these units, we have finally figured out what is most important to us when we camp. Most importantly is discovering another part of the US and being in the outdoors and being unplugged. But we also discovered that we enjoy it more when we have just enough of "home comforts" to keep us rested. Like a nice warm (or cool) bed, the ability to cook indoors if necessary and a somewhat comfortable place to lounge when the weather is crappy. My feeling about it is - just do it. If that means a 500k super motorhome or a 2 man tent. Just enjoy. And don't think your way is the only way.

no need for two toothbrushes.  all you need is a pine tree branch and start scrubbing/brushing!!  oh yes, I have mellowed tremoundously over the years, thats why i bought the pod.  love the comfys of home.  and i agree missybuck, when were traveling and pull into a cracker barrel/rest area, its camping just in a different setting.  i will say though i do still really love solitude and the less people the better.  hogone

Originally posted by techntrek Originally posted by MissyBuck ...  I guess what we techincally do is travel while sleeping in a travel trailer rather than a hotel, but we like to call it camping.   ...    There's all kinds of uses for campers.  Camping, traveling, "hoteling", spare bedroom, we've done all of it.   I would say camping is when you go to enjoy the outdoors at a specific location.  When traveling it is used more like a hotel room - stops for museums, parks, events, etc.

The reason I define our camping that way is I have been criticized by peeps who do the hardcore camping. And I agree, to me camping is also about enjoying being in the outdoors and enjoying nature.

missybuck:  ok, i need to rethink this.  you will encounter rapids on these rivers.  several years ago i was on my first day of a 6 day 78 miler  on the upper jacks (which flows into the current).  this river is pretty narrow and flowing good!! on the upper section, came flying around a bend and yep, a root wad/tree right in the middle.  absolutely no time to react, hit that baby  and wrapped my canoe around this thing.  first thought was save the gear(which i do not tie in for this exact reason), which we did entirely with the exception of one paddle(which i always bring 4 of).  now was the time to salvage the canoe which i thought was shot.  and yes, we are in the middle of no where.  well after some serious planning, we got the canoe out and threw it on shore.  after about an hour of bending, twisting, pounding, bracing with some wood (oh ya, duct tape), patching with marine puddy; we thru the gear in and six days later pulled out in van buren.  oh ya, also found the lost paddle!!!  so long story short, depending on water level, you will experience rapids of various degrees however mostly 1's and 2's. i've experience rises of over 12 feet on the current (yes while i was on it).  i am not trying to steer you from these areas, just being honest of there potential.   i will be thinking and posting other options of the area as well.  hogone