ahschneid

Apr 166 min read

Wonderful Time in Beautiful Arkansas "The Natural State"!

We had a great time with friends and family in Arkansas! We are blessed to have such good friends and family. We arrived at Shadow Mountain RV Park in Mena AR on 4 April 2024. We set up our camper and left if there while we drove up the mountain on 5 April 2024 to stay with Carl and Michele. They have a beautiful home and graciously invited us to stay in the cabin on their property. We love that, as we are close by but don't feel like we're in their way. We got there around lunch time on the Friday and that day was a low to no wind day, so the Remote Control (RC) planes were flying at 4pm. Carl has several model rockets he launches with the group. Steve and Anita have met Carl and Michele's neighbors on previous visits, so it was nice to see them again. Carl let Steve launch his model rocket and it was certainly fun to watch! The rocket really takes off and comes gently down with a parachute. On one of the launches, the rocket even came down right into Carl's arms.

Carl and Michele have over a hundred acres and they have goats to keep the grass down. It was interesting to see the goats move together to different parts of the property grazing. Apparently that's what goats do (move as a group). They keep it all looking nice too! There are two little guys that are especially cute, named Double Stuff and Oreo. Steve got to pet them, but Anita couldn't because the day she tried, the dogs were there.

Michele walks every morning and Anita likes to join her for the 3-mile walk. It's 1.5 miles out. We bring their two dogs, Thor and Trina. Carl and Steve go fishing on their property, ride ATVs and just hang out. All of us went out on the ATVs about three times while we were there. Carl led us to a neighbors collection of old tractors and Steve liked that. We also saw an old CCA cattle dipping vat (used to dip cattle in to eradicate and/or prevent tick borne diseases) from the 1960's. Riding around on the mountain was interesting because there are many homes, but not obvious if you're not looking. They're nestled back in the trees away from the dirt road. Many of the homes are beautiful with awesome views.

On Solar Eclipse Day, 8 April 2024 we joined Carl and Michele at a pig roast at one of their neighbors. Everyone brought a dish and it was a fun time chatting and seeing the eclipse with them. We had an unobstructed view of the sun, with no trees or clouds. It was awesome to see the darkness during totality and to experience the temperature drop while the sun was hidden.

We watched mass online that weekend before the eclipse because of all the tourists in the little town of Mena. Michele is a great cook and baker, and we ate way too much during our time there. Michele and Carl have a nice life there on the mountain.

Driving up the mountain 5 April 2024

Carl and Michele's house left and our cabin on the right

Carl and Michele's house April 2024

Carl preparing rocket for Steve to launch 5 April 2024

Oops...missed the rocket, but there it went!

One of the RC Planes landing 5 Apr 2024

Steve and Carl fishing on Carl's boat (Kentucky Spotted bass) April 2024

Carl (Green sunfish)

April 2024

Green sunfish

April 2024

Solar Eclipse day 8 April 2024

Solar Eclipse day 8 April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse

8 April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse (Cell phone corrected photo to full sun)

8 April 2024

Carl and Michele April 2024

Anita and Steve on ATV April 2024

April 2024

Carl and Michele's goats April 2024

Double Stuff April 2024

Oreo April 2024

Thor the lap dog April 2024

Trina and Thor April 2024

Thor the lap dog April 2024

Anita feeding the catfish April 2024

Trina retrieving April 2024

St. Agnes Catholic Church Mena AR (Carl and Michele's church)

April 2024

Crappie at private pond at campground

10 April 2024

Bluegill at private pond at campground

10 April 2024

Crappie at private pond at campground

10 April 2024

Sunset at Shadow Mountain RV Park 10 April 2024

We drove to Gurdon Arkansas on 11 April 2024 to see Anita's niece, Jerusha and her husband David. They are empty nesters with their son Miles away for college, but Miles actually came home to see us too! We had a really great visit. Jerusha took that Friday off and we went site seeing. She took us to DeGrey Lake in Arkadelphia with a stop at Desoto Bluff Trail on the way there. It was just good being together and catching up. We walked a little at Desoto Bluff Trail and some more at DeGrey Lake in the park, so we managed to get about 3 miles in. Again at Jerusha and David's house, there was too much good cooking and baking!

Saturday, David was off work and the four of us went to Hot Springs that afternoon. Miles slept in and opted to stay home. Hot Springs was bustling with prom kids all dressed up taking pictures at many of the scenic spots in Hot Springs. Steve really wanted to soak in one of the springs, but we got to the bath house too late in the day for walk ins. Anita had been to the bath house located in the basement of the Majestic Hotel about 30 years ago and remembers it was an awesome day of pampering. The Majestic Hotel has since burned down, but there are many options for pampering on Bath House Row in Hot Springs National Park.

Wikipedia explains that the hot springs flow from the western slope of Hot Springs Mountain, part of the Ouachita Mountain range. In the park, the hot springs have not been preserved in their unaltered state as natural surface phenomena. They have been managed to conserve the production of uncontaminated hot water for public use. The mountains within the park are also managed within this conservation philosophy to preserve the hydrological system that feeds the springs.

The park includes portions of downtown Hot Springs, making it one of the most accessible national parks. There are numerous hiking trails and camping areas. Bathing in spring water is available in approved facilities at extra cost. The entire Bathhouse Row area is designated as a National Historic Landmark District; it contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America, including many outstanding examples of Gilded Age architecture. The row's Fordyce Bathhouse serves as the park's visitor center; the Buckstaff and Quapaw are the only facilities in 2015 still operating as bathhouses. Other buildings of the row are being restored or are used for other purposes.

We walked quite a bit in Hot Springs National Park. We went up in the Observation Tower and walked up stairs to a couple of the springs. The water from the springs is actually HOT, like 160 degrees! We were all a little surprised at how hot the water is. Steve collected a bottle of the spring water on our way out and it was hot too! He drank most of it the next day and Anita tried it too. We saw enough of DeGrey Lake and Hot Springs to know we need more time there.

On Sunday, we attended the service at Beech Street Baptist Church with Jerusha, David and Miles. After church, we had lunch at a local place and then Miles drove back to school (Arkansas Tech) in Russellville. We spent the rest our last day together just hanging and out talking. We said our goodbyes the Sunday night as Jerusha was going back to work and David would be leaving early Monday morning for turkey hunting. We got on the road around 8:30am headed to Lake Eufaula in Oklahoma.