October in Arkansas!

The Texas heat is slowly giving up, but to help it along, we're moseying north to Arkansas. 

 Backing up a day, Erica was in her patrol car Tuesday night helping a stranded motorist. With lights flashing, she used her car to shield the stranded motorist from traffic. Fortunately for the motorist, a driver hit the patrol car with Erica in it, instead of the lady filling her gas tank. Erica hit her head on the window, causing a concussion, but says she'll be fine. We had the truck and Airstream loaded up on Tuesday, and took Makayla back to Mansfield Wednesday morning. Erica is still sore, but still insists she is fine, and seeing Makayla's reaction to her and Damon is priceless. We drove through Dallas and east on I30, with plans on making it to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. With only about 5 hours of sleep Tuesday, I was tired, and probably a little cranky. Shelly would probably take out the probably. We saw a sign for Bob Sandlin state park, and took that exit. After driving south for about 15 minutes, we realized we missed the turn to the state park, and drove 15 minutes back to where we should have turned, and finally got to the park about 4:30. Broken Bow can wait till tomorrow. 

Thursday, October 1

Yea! It's October! I took Sadie for a jog this morning on the trail to the trout pond. She kept up, but I wasn't breaking any speed records. And it was less than two miles. The morning was cool and clear, and a good way to wake up. We stopped in Broken Bow at the Choctaw casino, and had fun watching the spinning wheels for a few hours. We decided on staying in Daisy state park in Arkansas, but a few miles before we got to the park we checked out a corps of engineers park on the Missouri River. It is a nice, scenic park, and only $5 a night; with the only drawback of being too close to the highway.

We had the camp to ourselves, and hiked down an abandoned road. It had warmed up to about 80 today, but cooled down nice in the evening.

 Shelly and Sadie on the abandoned road. 

We played gin until bedtime. 

Friday, October 2

Woke up to a cool 50* morning. Took a three mile hike on the abandoned road again.

Calm water

Morning camp

 Moon in the blue.

We made it to Petit Jean about 12:30, and got one of the last campsites available. #89 is in the middle loop, and next to the bathroom. Two nights are $44. At 6:00 we drove to the rock cave for an interpretive night tour of the cave, which was interesting, but slightly crowded with 40 people. I learned what a sassafras tree looks like! We also drove on the red bluff drive, which we have never done before. Now, we are wondering why we never went there before, as it has two beautiful overlooks. 

Saturday, October 3

The park is just about full, but the crowds are unusually quiet. I hiked with Sadie down to the lake, and then up by the tennis courts, and swimming pool I didn't know was here. I'm learning a lot this trip. We drove to Morrilton for a few groceries, and stopped at a junk store in Oppello. I bought a small Rockwell industrial router for $35. We ate at a Mexican food restaurant in Morrilton, and split an order of fajitas. They were delicious, and even though we split a single order, we still had leftovers. Back in camp, I drove to bear cave and climbed on the rocks. I hiked down to the waterfall, and enjoyed the hike.

The high today was 71*, and a great day for hiking. We read books in the afternoon, and played cards at night. 

Sunday, October 4

I hiked down Cedar creek trail, and instead of crossing the creek on the trail, I walked down th creek toward the waterfall. As I tried to take a picture, the camera told me I was an idiot, and forgot to put the sd card back in. I hiked to the top of the waterfall, and decided I wanted a picture of this. I got to hike back to the log cabin, drive back to camp, put the sd card in the camera, tell Shelly how dumb I am, drive back to the cabin, and hike back down to the waterfall just for a picture that doesn't do it justice. 

 There are two people in the picture behind the rock

This is a close up of the same shot. There are still two people in the picture. 

This is the same picture enlarged to see the two people. 

The old log cabin, and the dovetailed corners. 

Looks like a waterfall in fall

We packed up and drove north to Blanchard Springs, stopping in Clinton at an antique mall. We set up camp in site 19, and found out the price dropped from $12, two years ago, to $10 a night. Shelly and I hiked on the trail over the mountain to the swimming area, and walked on the road back to camp. We had to wade across the creek barefoot to get to camp, and decided the water is much too cold to swim.

The creek below our site.

Shelly is reading Fifty Shades of Grey. 

Monday, October 5

I hiked up the Sylamore creek trail about two miles each way. Sadie walked with me, and kept up great. Erica texted while I was on the trail, since I had reception on the top of the mountain. It was cool and overcast, but a great day for hiking. Shelly and I drove to Gunner pool camp, where we camped three years ago, and walked down to the swimming area on the creek. Even though the sun was out now, it is 60*, and we did not swim. We threw rocks and tried to land them on a submerged boulder.

We stopped at Blanchard springs cavern to see if they still offered the wild cave tour. They were going to add a safety rope on a slippery area, and would be a few months before they toured again. I had done the tour three years ago, and wanted to go again. Maybe next year. We had a relaxing afternoon, until we got new neighbors with yappy dogs. Then the neighbors would yell loudly at the dogs, which didn't stop the dogs from yapping. But they got quiet at night, and we never heard a sound after we went to bed. 

Tuesday, October 6

Shelly dropped me off at the Allison trailhead on her way into Mountain View. She washed clothes, while I got to take a 5 mile hike back to camp. We both think we got the better deal. It took me 3&1/2 hours to go about 5 miles. 

 Near the Allison trailhead

A selfie! Just to prove I was there!

 

 A dry waterfall. It is probably even prettier in the spring

Maidenhair ferns on a bluff

He was scared of me

 A pretty purple flower

A funny looking moss. A great spot for a snack break.

 Another rock

 Sylamore creek near the swimming area

We relaxed again in the afternoon, and played cards at night. Shelly even let me win a game. 

Wednesday, October 7

We drove south on the winding roads and ended up at lake Greeson again. We were planning on the $5 a night Star of the West camp, but came to Jim Wylie recreation first. It is just down the road from Star of the West, and across the road. The sites are all overlooking the lake, and very similar to Daisy state park, but are only $13 a night for electric only sites. Site 47 had water also, and was $16 a night, but the view was better in 48, and we had enough water in the tank. We were the only campers in the park, but it seems the bathrooms are popular with the locals. There were several people who came to use the showers and bathroom. We talked with both Erica and Tyler, and made plans to make it home tomorrow. We read books and enjoyed the view of the lake until dark. 

Thursday, October 8

We stopped in Broken Bow to try our luck again, and actually came out ahead almost enough to make up for our loss the first time. It is more fun when you are winning. We made it home about 4:00, and unpacked. Time to start thinking about a vacation.