Eureka Springs

The morning we left our little Ozarks cabin, Dale and Rose ran around, sucking it in as much as they could before getting in the car for our long haul home.

 

 

After a lovely drive and a fabulous pottery stop in Osage, where I FINALLY got a salad bowl that I adore, we landed at the Mud St. Cafe in Eureka Springs.  It was an interesting joint.  It was an interesting town, to say the least.

 

This is a smile, believe it or not.

Pre-lunch cuddles.

 

We only had enough time to eat lunch and take a short stroll through downtown.  There was so much to look at, lots of old buildings and shops and restaurants, but we spent most of our time in Basin Spring park enjoying the fall leaves and the people passing by.

I love this sculpture named "Aza."  She looked amazing against the fall leaves.

This bench was carved with a chainsaw from an old Sycamore tree that used to stand in the park.

Eureka Springs was completely quirky and colorful.  I felt rushed through my time there, so I'm not checking it off the list.  See you again some day, Eureka Springs!

All Over and Back Again

Also on our Arkansas agenda was visiting a cavern.  Closest to us was the Mystic Caverns, a place that was creepy in a bible-belt-Arkansas kind of way.

 

 

It was definitely fun and interesting, but the tours were too long for our little ones.

 

The kids preferred sitting outside with leaves and tree branches, munching on M & Ms.

 

 Lunchtime took us to the Cliff House, a restaurant looming above the gorgeous hills of Northwest Arkansas.

 

While we waited for a free table, Dale tied this plant in knots.

 

 This restaurant had great old fashioned southern food.  Rose loved the fried green beans.

 

 

Feeling a renewed sense of energy, (fried chicken and biscuits with honey will do that to ya), we went straight from lunch to a gem of a spot hiding just behind the Steel Creek Campground.

 

Steel Creek is a section of the Buffalo National River that lingers below Roark Bluff, making for a ideal and picturesque place to toss rocks into the water.  I do believe this spot ended up being the kids' favorite place to hang out.  It was nice and relaxing, and I was even able to sit down for a few minutes.

 

Yes, that sure is mud on Rose's face.

 

It was such a nice stop, but we soon needed to head out once again.  Our next stop was Beechwoods Cemetery.  Because who doesn't take their children to old cemeteries on vacation?

 

Most of the graves belonged to members of the Villines family, but there were a lot of interesting unmarked headstones and rocks, and there were even a few graves from the Civil War.

I think of visiting cemeteries like social field trips.  There is so much history resting in one small area, so much to wonder about, to learn about.  I'm certainly not afraid of visiting old graves, and I am teaching my children to have that same anthropological curiosity.  Go ahead, explore.

 

We left Beechwoods Cemetery just in time to see the Boxley elk herd wander across the valley.  Us and everyone else in the state of Arkansas.  Actually it wasn't that bad.  No more than us former Coloradans could handle.

 

 It was a beautiful fall evening, and the kids really enjoyed getting out of the car to see the elk one more time before we headed back toward the the cows and rolling hills of Kansas.

 

No, Rose isn't smiling at the elk this time.  She sees her big brother.

I love that Dale wanted to stand with Mommy and watch the elk.

For the last night at our peaceful cabin, we ate Doritos (oops, forgot about dinner) and watched the cabin provided movie, Snow Buddies.  Dale and Rose were in vacation heaven, and if the kids are happy, so are we.

All Over the Ozarks

After such an outstanding hike, we stopped at the Lost Valley Canoe & Lodging General Store in teeny tiny Ponca, AR, for some yummy nummy ice cream treats.  The Ponca area is unique and full of character.  We fit right in.

 

 

At the store we were told to head down the street to the Boxley Grist Mill that is only open a handful of times a year and just happened to be open that day.  We were not disappointed.  Mommy likey old historic buildings.

 

This particular old historic building dates back to 1869, and it was built by the Villines family, a prominent family name in the area.
The Grist Mill restoration was started in the 1980's by the National Park Service and is now being restored by a grant from the Gorgas Science Foundation.  Thank you, rich people who love history.

 

 

Crazy full day, yes.  That's right.  We really pack it in, because we want our children to do this:

 

So we can sit here:

And look at this:

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Once everyone got rested up, we were off again to stare at elk in the nearby Boxley Valley.

 

This is the face of a girl in awe over the majestic elk in front of her.

Our cabin was tucked away from the world, so we had to drive a bit to eat dinner.  We chose a fabulous little town called Jasper and ate at a seriously dusty but interesting joint called the Ozark Cafe.

We stuffed nearly every second of this day with fun.  By the end of the day, everyone was more than ready for bed.

Nighty night.

 

Lost Valley Trail

Number one on our Arkansas vacation agenda was hiking, and we happened to be super close to one of the state's most popular hiking trails.  Lost Valley Trail is a gorgeous easy trek through tall beech trees that runs parallel to the creek for most of the trip.

 

 

Daddy got quite a workout carrying Rose for much of the excursion.  But I don't think he minded.

  

When Rose wasn't in Daddy's arms, she was glued to my leg.  It took her a while to warm up to the idea of trampling through a forest.  We did our best to distract her with all the pretty leaves.

 

The hike takes you to Eden Falls, but it was mostly dry, so we explored the nearby creepy Cob Cave instead.

 

 

Wandering through the cavern made the kids so happy that they allowed me to photograph them.

 

 

Finally Rose walked on her own and even felt comfortable exploring a bit.

 

Beech trees are cool!

Perhaps the neatest part of Lost Valley Trail is the Natural Bridge and the awesome reflective pool below it.

Daddy climbed through the Natural Bridge while I watched the kids throw rocks into the pool.  They loved it.

The trail is roughly 2.4 miles round trip, and Rose hiked on her own about half of it.  Good for her!

 

 And our little explorer Dale hiked the whole trail with no complaints.  We were so proud of him.