Buffalo River National Park

(By Steve)  I had the opportunity to canoe down the Buffalo River with the big girls on Saturday.  Much to my disappointment, Linda decided to stay behind because Jake was still very much sick.  She really was right to stay back with the littles though, even if I didn't think so at the time. ;)  I arrived at the Speer property at 9AM, and the crew was almost ready to leave.  Shanan and Alyssa had stayed overnight for a rare sleepover.  It was good to see how excited they were to go canoeing.  Canoeing is special to us as Linda and I spent  three summers working as canoe staff at a Christian summer camp in far Northern Minnesota from '99 to '01.  It was rewarding that our girls loved it and did well at it.

Our view from the put-in point

Greg maneuvering one of the first rapids

We quickly loaded up and headed out to the put-in point.   My truck was one of the 4 vehicles we took.   We drove about 10 miles to Ponca and dropped all our gear and most of our people there.   From there, we all drove down river about 15 miles to Kyle's Landing which was our take out point. We left our vehicles there and drove back in one to join the others.   We weren't actually on the water till about noon.

The Buffalo River is a National Park area.   The banks on both sides are all public property and often have steep bluffs.  The river is one of the few in the country that is not controlled by a dam.   The water is crystal clear; you can see every rock on the bottom, even in the deeper sections.   It was fun to spot fish as we went along.  It is a national gem, and I am ashamed to admit that I hadn't really heard of it before we came here.

The stretch of river we canoed had peaceful stretches followed by rapids.  The rapids are not that hard or dangerous but provided plenty of excitement.   I would preferred it if the river was a little higher since it was easy to get stuck on rocks. I started off taking Alyssa and Zaynah in my canoe, and Greg took Shanan and Jereme.  Thanks to Zaynah's claim on the colorful canoe, we got one of the better ones, a blue Old Town made for exactly what we were using it for. Greg wound up with a canoe with a keel, made more for lakes.   It was much heavier which wasn't an asset; it really slowed them down.

Greg, Jereme and Shanan

Alyssa and Zaynah taking a breather in my canoe. We had to do this alot when we waited for Greg to catch up.

Along the way we stopped at Hemmed-in-Hollow and hiked about a mile each way to a beautiful waterfall.  We spent the rest of the day on the river, arriving at our pickup point at about 7PM.  By the time we made it back to the RV, it was after midnight!  All in all, it was an amazing day.  One of the best I have had on this adventure!   PS.   I almost forgot to mention the amazing pulled pork that Greg Spires made and shared with everyone.   By far the best pulled pork I ever tasted!  

I think this is the tallest waterfall in the state. There wasn't much water, but it was still very beautiful.

Hanging at the bottom of the falls

The kids having a swim in the cold water

Snipe Hunting

(By Steve) We had the chance to meet up with our good friends from Texas, the Gordons, over Easter weekend.  When we were in Texas, Greg invited us to join them on the Buffalo River in Arkansas at his coworker's place, an annual Easter weekend adventure.  I was a little hesitant at first, but then I remembered that one of our mottos is to "Say Yes, unless you have a very good reason for saying No."    In other words, let "Yes" be the default response when opportunity arises.  So we made plans to meet near the town of Ponca, right on the Buffalo River.

Jake during one of his better moments that evening. Unfortunately, he was still feverish & cranky.

On Friday the 6th, we drove up from Russellville and stayed in a little RV park near Harrison.   The park was small, but we fit the pull through sites.   The people that run it are super nice, and we enjoyed our stay there.   With Passport America, it was only $13 a night!  That evening we drove the 22 miles to the property of Greg Speer, one of Greg's TI co-workers.  The trip from the RV park to the driveway is 18 miles, but the driveway is 3.5 miles back into the woods and includes crossing a creek.   The driveway was hold-on-to-your-dentures rough and takes about 15 minutes to get down.  Definitely an experience...Genna kept saying, "They should not have a road this bumpy!"   We were glad that our truck is a 4x4 even though you can make it without, depending on how much rain they've had recently.   

Alison posing in from of this old Dodge 4x4 they used for running around the property.   I had the pleasure to drive it and it was fun! Definitely a blast from the past.

That evening we met lots of people we didn't know, but everyone was very welcoming!   One fun thing that I did for all the kids was to take them for their very first snipe hunt. We didn't catch any, but we sure had fun hunting!  The kids all had snipe sticks to bang on the trees, and of course bags to catch the snipes when they run down the trees. They also practiced making the "hoo-choo-a-dooo" sound, which attracts the snipes.  I almost got one, but I was holding the bag on the wrong side of the tree ;)

Come on down snipes!

Team effort

Alyssa and her best friend Zaynah hanging around the campfire

Mount Nebo State Park

There was no way we could camp on Mount Nebo as trailers over 24 feet are prohibited.  Having made the trek up the mountain sans trailer, I can honestly say that I wouldn't even want to bring a trailer 24 feet or shorter!  Wow!!!  We have an awesome truck, but those switchbacks with an 18% grade are nothing to sneeze at!  The campground at the top was completely empty!  I think if I returned here for camping it would likely be tent camping.

Bench Overlook

The view from Mount Nebo is pretty awesome on a clear day.  We hiked the 3-1/2 mile Rim Trail that supposedly should take approximately two hours according to the hiking guide.  Ummm...we're usually pretty spot on with hiking estimates with our motley crew, but we were way off!  It started to feel like the hike that never ends! We did take the strenuous side trail to the very unimpressive Nebo Springs...totally not worth the time or effort it took to hike down & back up for it!  The views are indeed nice, and the wildflowers and butterflies were beautiful, though not as plentiful as on Mount Magazine.  If you are in a hurry or just not in the mood for hiking, you can just drive to the lookout points without losing much of the experience of Mount Nebo.  There were several nice playgrounds, and we of course had to visit one!  Poor Jake ran a fever all day, but even so, he was unable to resist the lure of the playground!

We hiked down to this spring and it was totally NOT worth the effort.

We had views like this along the rim trail

Some of us (Dad) enjoyed the view better than others (everyone else)

Tree made for sitting

Russellville, Arkansas

Dardenelle State Park visitor center

We left Petit Jean State Park on Sunday, with a whole lot less drama than when we arrived, thank goodness!!  It was nice to have a short drive to our next stop, Old Post Road Corps of Engineers Park in Russellville, AR.  This is another nice COE park; our site was spacious with extra vehicle parking next to the rig and a great big shade tree!  The day use area was just a short walk from our campsite; it had several great playgrounds as well as a pond with turtles & catfish for feeding. 

Jake really enjoyed the fish tanks

Lake Dardanelle State Park was a short drive from the COE park, so we visited.  Steve originally considered staying here, but having seen both, the COE campground is nicer.  There really isn't anything special about the park itself, but it does have a really awesome visitor center, with large fish tanks and lots of hands-on stuff for the little kids.   After hanging out at the visitor center, we hung out at the playground; Arkansas state parks seem to always have at least one great playground.

We also checked out the Arkansas River visitors center as it was just a mile or so from where we camped.   There is not much to see or do there, but the kids had fun nonetheless.   We thought that they would have more info about how the locks work.   When we left, we drove down by the river and were pleased to see a barge coming up the river to enter the lock. We watched until they had closed the doors and then saw the barge rise higher and higher.

Please touch table at the Arkansas River visitor center

Kids had fun in this tiny visitor center.  It was just a mile down from where we were staying.

Since a barge was coming, we went down to the river and watched it go through the lock.

We used this chance to discuss how a lock worked as well as why they had to be used.

These two enjoyed having a slow day!

Yumminess!! Pear and Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Okay, the truth is that I have a reputation in my family for being somewhat of a foodie.  I will admit that the RV lifestyle does indeed cramp my style a bit in this area, but I'm coping. ;)  And...the RV lifestyle does not prohibit eating good food, after all.  It does inhibit my ability to have lots of cool kitchen gadgets though!  I just had to share this recipe I stumbled upon for brie and pear grilled cheese sandwiches the other day in my quest for something to make with the brie I found on sale.  Oh my, this was so yummy!  I was unsure how it would go over when I saw the ingredients, but I plunged ahead.  The only one unimpressed was Genna; even Jake was a huge fan!  Here's my adapted version, since I had slightly different ingredients on hand, of course.

Pear and Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich:
Herbed Double Creme Brie, sliced
Thinly sliced sweet onion
Thinly sliced pear
Green leaf lettuce
Freshly ground black pepper
Bread
Butter

Just layer all the ingredients except the lettuce, and butter the outside of the bread before grilling.  It's helpful to add a plate and can on top of the sandwich as it cooks to help it melt and smoosh together nicely.  Of course, save the lettuce to add at the end, though!  No one likes limp lettuce. :)  I can only imagine how phenomenal this would taste with homemade bread.  All I had was unimpressive store bought bread, and it still turned out great!

Lousy Laundromats & Divine Appointments

I have to say, laundromats have really done nothing to enhance my feelings for laundry.  When Steve asked for laundromat recommendations in Russellville, the response  was Janie's Kwik Way Coin Laundry.  My first attempt was a resounding Fail, as they close at 8 pm.  Seriously??  Guess we’re officially city folk ‘cause it never crossed my mind it would close that early!!  Can I tell you how much I loved coming back home to unload the still-dirty laundry & reload it into the RV…and re-make my bed with our still-dirty sheets….yeah, we just have one set.

Laundry take two…the big girls and I take off during the appropriate hours. I wasn’t delighted with the selection of washers or the prices, but alas, it had to be done!  Normally, I can do our wash for $12-$15, sometimes as low as $10.  Here, it cost over $20…not loving this place!  To make matters worse, when one of the dryers was clearly not heating properly at all,  the customer service was entirely lacking.  Yep, her words were, “See, look in there (mind you, on my tippy toes, I could barely see); it’s orange.  If it fires up, there’s nothing I can do!”  And she just walked away.  This place had no Google reviews, but there will be now, for sure! 

My goal was to finish the laundry as quickly as possible & get out.  The one redeeming quality about the joint was the collection of cooking magazines the girls were scouring for recipes.  Meanwhile, I see an older gentleman place his laundry in the very same dryer I determined wasn't working.  Although I warned him, he gave it a whirl anyways.  His luck was no better than mine, so he, too, spoke to the attendant.  She gave him the same exact pat answer she gave me. Seriously, two consecutive customers log the same exact complaint on the same exact dryer, and she does nothing.  No out-of-order sign, no apologies to the customer, and no refunds!  I spoke with the gentleman afterwards about her lack of concern, and he commented that the dryers are worse than slot machines!!  A few minutes later, she returns & without speaking to him, she removes his jeans from the dryer and places them in another dryer.  Then she turns and asks him how much money he has put in.  He doesn’t know, but I am pretty sure he’s paid for three cycles at least & offer my input.  Yeah, she ignores me, but you probably knew that already. ;)

Sooo…at this point, this gentleman & I have bonded over poor customer service, and a conversation ensues.  Mr. “Dub” Hill is a widower who lost his “babydoll” about a year ago and since then, just can’t stay in one place. “I know it’s kinda silly, but I just drive.”  He admonished me, “If you love one another, treat each other well!”  Good advice, I say!  He was full of questions about my family as he was intrigued by the large quantity of laundry I was working on and my two big girl helpers.  “It’s awfully uncommon, ma’am, but you look like you’re 15!”  He was super flattering, in a very sincere kind of way.  He was just speaking from the heart, and it was awfully sweet.   He talked about becoming a Christian at age 45, and he seemed to hold some regrets for life lived before that.  He was curious about my family of origin, and whether they are Christians.  His summation, “You have the perfect family!”  Ha, ha…it’s all about perspective, isn’t it??  Truthfully though, I am indeed blessed to come from a family of believers and have the ability to pass that legacy on to my own children!  He was full of praise and encouragement for both my husband and for me and the job I’m doing raising my family.  On the one hand I was highly amused, as he clearly didn’t know me, but at the same time, it was like it was meant just for me.

Honestly, I detested this laundromat, but I’m sooo glad we did our laundry here when we did.  It just seemed like it was a divine appointment, and I think we both benefitted.  He was lonely and appreciated the chance to chat, and I honestly don’t remember the last time I met someone with such genuine, heartfelt interest in my life and my salvation.  It was one of those “warm fuzzy” kind of experiences.  I’m looking forward to the time when we meet again, Mr. Dub, and in the meantime, I’m praying for peace for you as you wait for the chance to meet your Lord & Savior and reunite with your “babydoll.”  You made my day!  

Magazine Mountain State Park - Highest Point in Arkansas

Steve chose Russellville as a home base for daytripping to more Arkansas State Parks.  We looove that there are no admission fees to visit state parks here!  Our first stop was Magazine Mountain State Park, Arkansas's newest state park.  We chose not to camp here, despite the great reviews, and driving up the mountain reinforced our choice.  We totally could have done it, but it wouldn't have been smart to come up and need to go back down for laundry & groceries.  With that said, if we hadn't just had a great camping experience at Petit Jean, we might have been bummed to miss out on camping here.

The view from near the top of Mount Magazine  

It was apparent that we were all a little tired from all of our Petit Jean hiking and frolicking.  I'm not sure there are words to describe just how whiny Genna was the entire day!  Despite eating & eating, she kept complaining about being hungry, so I finally clued in that she must have hit another growth spurt, which at least helped to explain her irrational behavior.  This is a beautiful park, but we just had no energy for hiking!  Nonetheless, we still enjoyed enjoyed ourselves here.  The wildflowers and butterflies were a-m-a-z-i-n-g; I don't think I've ever seen that many butterflies in the wild!  All the wildflowers reminded me of our trips to the Alps in the springtime back in the day!

This dwarf-crested iris is just one of many beautiful wildflowers we saw! 

We checked out the new lodge and told the kids maybe we'd come back without them sometime for our anniversary.  Of course they insisted that we could never go anywhere without them!

The Mount Magazine Lodge

We pushed the kids over the cliff so we could have some time to ourselves ...

... but they managed to hold on somehow