Paw Paw’s Pecan Farm

We drove through eastern Oklahoma and into Arkansas:

The drive was so pretty- green and full of trees and wildflowers (and cows):

We had a long day of driving (almost 6 hours, which is a long drive with a trailer), and our next stop was Paw Paw’s Pecan Farm in Atkins, Arkansas:

This is a Harvest Host property.  These are farms, museums, wineries, breweries, etc., that allow you to stay for free.  There is no electricity or water, but you get an opportunity to talk to the owners, learn about what they do, and usually buy some of their products.  Last year we stayed at an alpaca farm.  This time we stayed at Paw Paw’s Pecan Farm! 

They have the most beautiful house, fashioned after Oak Alley in Louisiana:

Billy and his wife have 600 acres of pecan trees, and we learned about how he got into the business (he has his masters in nursing and ran the nursing department at the hospital previously… and had a chicken farm where they raised 20,000 chickens every 6 weeks for Tysons… and now he has a pecan farm and a bed and breakfast in their beautiful home, and they host campers!) Billy told us about the different types of pecans, how he cares for the orchard, etc.- INTERESTING!  We bought some pecans and some delicious fudge from them!  Billy’s wife quilts and has a huge quilting room, with a giant quilting machine and an entire wall of bolts of fabric in every color you can imagine.  Billy gave us a tour of the house, and they have the most amazing kitchen I have ever seen- miles of counter space- I am so envious!

Luckily we have a generator, which we ran for a bit to get some air conditioning as it was a tad warm and humid (87%- yikes!)

The next day I took some early morning pictures in the orchard before we hooked up and headed out:

And we saw more wildflowers on the way to Tennessee:

Now on to Tennessee!