Arkansas State Parks(10-29-11)

                                                                       The last two places we stayed in were Arkansas State Parks, and I must say, they have some of the best I have seen.  Full Hookup, nice hardtop driveways that are long, and easily accessible.  The last one we were in, Crater of Diamonds State Park, even had great Wi-fi!  Devil’s Den State Park did not, however.  I didn’t even have cell signal.  We had to drive to the top of the hill to make calls and check email.  That situation was the straw that broke the camel’s back, for me, but I’ll get into that in the next post. So…..
Devil’s Den State Park:
According to the Ranger,, no one really knows why this park was named Devil’s Den.  I am guessing it has to do with some of the unique rock formations or caves, but that’s just a guess.
     There are a few reasonably short hikes in the park so our first day here we decided to do several of them.  We kind of put them all together to make one 8 mile hike.  In fact, we started at the campsite, so we didn’t even have to drive.  After hiking the Yellow Rock Trail with an elevation gain of about 400 ft, we continued on with the Devil’s Den Trail, which, we found out after we got there, is an interpretive trail, with numbered displays along the trail.  Of course, you have to buy the booklet in order to know what you are looking at, and the Visitors Center was too far away for us to bother going to buy one, so we just hiked the trail.
   
Usually there is a lake here, but it’s been drained in order to make repairs to the dam.  The pedestrian walkway over the river is also closed- and it’s clear that although the river is very low right now, it was flooded at one time, because the debris is still on the walkway that the flooding demolished.  Oh, and the caves are closed as well, due to the threat of White Nose disease- a disease that is wiping out bat populations all over the country.
     Our second day in the park was our “big hike” day.  We had to register with the Ranger in order to hike the Butterfield Trail.  They wanted all kinds of information from us, including wanting to know what we are carrying for safety equipment, (cell phone, GPS, flashlight) and they also gave us tips- like, “shut off your cell phone (since there is no service) to conserve the battery in case you get lost”.  The hike loosely connects with the route that the Butterfield Stage Coach line took back in the early days, and most of the trail is in the Ozark National Forest, not the state park.  We loved the sign at the entrance assuring hikers they will get lost if they don’t have a map.  And they really aren’t kidding.  We lost the trail 2 or 3 times and had to refer to the map and the GPS repeatedly.  By the time the day was over, we had hiked about 9 miles.  It was a really difficult trail for me because so much of the trail was loose rock which is tough on my foot, and a little slow going because it would be so easy to twist an ankle.  It’s hikes like this that make me glad I have really good high profile hiking boots! 
    There were some interesting rock formations along the way and several “unofficial” campsites, like the one in the picture.  Sorta made us wish we had a tent, but then, the temperature went down to 32 degrees that night, so maybe not.
Crater of Diamonds State Park:
    
        Since we’re already in Arkansas, we figured we’d check out this park.  It’s one of those unique experiences that you take advantage of because you happen to be there and it’s available.  Crater of Diamonds is literally a crater that is full of diamonds.  It’s the only diamond field in the U.S  where the public can dig for diamonds, and keep what they find.   They charge about $7 per person to dig for the day.  The day that we were there, there were at least 3 diamonds found, and since it became a state park  in 1972, there have been over 29,000 diamonds found by park visitors.  Did we find one? Nope, but the 10 year old girl we met did.  In fact, she found two.  We did have some fun trying, having gone there with the understanding that it was  going to be a muddy, dirty day. There are two methods of diamond sifting-the dry method and the wet method.  We chose the wet method because you can sift the dirt faster.  They plow the field once a month to stir up the dirt, and it seemed pretty clear that after the plowing, or after a rainfall, would be the best time to look for diamonds, but we’re not going to stick around that long.
       Of course, most of the diamonds found here are small, or reasonably flawed, but there have been many that were over 5 carats, and one of the diamonds here was rated as a “D” perfect diamond,  a one in a billion diamond, the likes of which most gemologists never see in their lifetime.

Buffalo River National Park, AR (10-25-11)

                                                             There’s nothing better than spending a day on the water, and that’s what we did Tuesday, when the weather was beautiful-sunny with temperatures in the 80s. .  We rented canoes with an outfitter that also provides a shuttle service, and off we went,  canoeing 4.5 miles down the Buffalo River.  Paul took the steering position, which left me in the “just paddle when I tell you to” position. Along the way we took breaks to eat lunch and to just enjoy the day.  We got a glimpse of a Bald Eagle, soaring among the many vultures that flew overhead.  We tried sneaking up on the turtles as they were sunning themselves on the rocks, but weren’t very successful at it.                   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

          Lest we get bored,  every once in a while we would come upon some “rapids”.  I use the term loosely, but there was some swift moving water that required some planning on how we were going to get through it.  Several times it involved Paul yelling “paddle!! No, on the other side!!”  So much fun!The water was crystal clear and beautiful, which allowed us to watch the turtles and fish and sometimes made it easy to dodge the many boulders lurking just beneath the surface.

Because we took the short trip, we had time to hike in the afternoon.  We did the relatively short hike (3.5 miles) to the Indian Natural House, basically a cliff overhang that was used by Indians so many years ago.

 

We knew the weather would be taking a turn for the worse soon, so we got up early the next day to do the other hike that we were really interested in doing.  Armed with our cheat sheet of where the building and mine ruins are located, we headed to Rush, the local ghost town.  A town that was founded based on the zinc that was discovered underground. A town quickly built up in the early 1900s, and during World War I, zinc mining reached it’s pinnacle here in Rush.  Unfortunately, after the war, the price of zinc plummeted, which sadly caused the mine to close and townspeople to slowly drift away.  In the 1950s the last store closed, leaving a handful of residents to cope on their own, until the last of them left in the 1960s.


Apparently I forgot to take pictures yesterday.  I think it was because I was too busy looking at the GPS because we kept losing the trail. Everything is quite overgrown, and the terrain is very hilly and wooded. Twice we had to turn around. Well, once it was because I refused to cross over the steep hill of loose gravel that looked like a landslide waiting to happen.  I did get one shot, of Paul exploring a mine opening.




True to the weather forecast, the rain arrived late yesterday and has not left the area yet, so today was spent doing projects.  Paul’s project list is back up to 14 items, so he was anxious to start tackling something.  With no TV, cell phone or internet, I spent my day going through all the pictures from our trip over the last 2 years, deleting the ones I don’t need to keep.  Believe it or not, it took me all day. Tonight I tried a recipe I have for microwave brownies and it actually worked pretty well!  It only takes 6 minutes to cook them!

S.O.I.T.C. (Grove, OK 10-20-11)

  Suite Owners International Travel Club- that’s the club for people who own the same brand  of 5th wheel (DRV, which makes Mobile Suites and Elite Suites)  that Paul and I have.  We scooted out of Arkansas to attend a rally here in Grove, OK, which was only 80 miles away from where we were.    For the last few days we’ve been mingling with other owners, hearing their stories, and sharing ours.  The first 2 hours we were here were a whirlwind.  We have one of the newest rigs, so quite a few  people showed up at the door in the first few hours to check it out. 
  
      There have been several organized activities in the last several days, plus some time for us to explore on our own.  Friday the weather improved to the point that we decided to go on the organized two hour boat trip around Grand Lake on the  Cherokee Queen.  It was a beautiful day to be on the lake, but it wasn’t a very exciting trip.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Saturday we checked out a place called Har-Ber Village.  Its a pretty unique collection of almost anything you can think of.  It’s set up like a village, with walking paths that weave in and around the exhibits.   Each building contains a collection of antiques of some kind, including dolls, toys, china, medical equipment, and tools.      

                                                                                                             

  

One of the exhibits was what MUST be the world’s most extensive display of barbed wire.  Who knew that there were over 900 Styles of barbed wire fencing?

I sure am glad that we have modern technology when it comes to curling and drying hair!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I really liked the animal exhibit.  the information about this bear explains that he is a Kodiak Bear, found on Kodiak Island in Alaska.  He weighed in at 1600 lbs and is over 8 feet tall.  He was shot with a .357 magnum rifle. It took 5 shots to kill him, and typically with this type of animal, a hunter will wait at least 2 hours before approaching the carcass, because if there is any life left in the bear, he will attack and try to kill the hunter.

The last night of the rally we had a pot luck dinner and over 50 prizes were given away. Paul and I won a $25 gift card to IHOP, and some Christmas decorations.

There were 25 rigs here at the rally, plus representatives from a DRV dealership, and a Vice President of DRV. I guess the trip here was worthwhile for the dealer, since one of the two rigs he brought to show was sold to one of the couples at the rally.