Eureka Springs (cont.)

Tuesday, September 29

We slept well in our little tent at the Kettle Campground.  We were up early and drove the short distance to McDonalds to grab coffee and breakfast.  It is a bit cooler today than it was yesterday so when the Goodwill Store opened Tom found himself a light windbreaker.

We then went to the Eureka Springs & North Arkansas Railway Depot to check on getting tickets for the Noon Excursion Train.  We wandered among all the old railway cars and machinery.

This old roundhouse turntable is from yesteryear!

After securing our tickets we went to the Eureka Springs Transit, purchased our $6 day pass for the Transit System.  We took the transit, then jumped off at the edge of town and proceeded on our own walking tour.  We saw this awesome sculpture/fountain in someone's yard.

Next we happened upon this incredible Music Park!  We walked under this and played the wind chimes.... 

...walked around this one and used the supplied hammer gong...

....Tom is playing the xylophone.  Too cool!

 

Then we walked up the hill to Magnetic Spring. 

There was beautiful landscaping surrounding the grotto housing the spring.

We jumped back on the Transit to go downtown to the Museum which is in one of the many really old buildings in Eureka Springs.  The history of Eureka Springs is very well presented in the museum.

The old Crescent Hotel is one of the many attractions in downtown.

We really enjoyed the usefulness of the Transit System.  We each had a $6 all-day pass and that beat having to drive and try to find a parking spot.

Once again we traveled on the City Transit back to the Depot when it was time for our train excursion.  Our Conductor/Tour Guide for our train excursion, Travis, was very knowledgeable about the history of the railroad in this area, he loved telling us lots of stories from the past, and showed obvious dedication to his job, along with having a way with the ladies!  (all in fun, of course)

These old train seat backs flipped back and forth depending on which direction the train was traveling.

As we headed away from the station we passed by what looked to be a railroad graveyard of old derelict cars.

                       This is the scenery ahead of us.

When we reached the end/turnaround point the brakeman exited the train to manually switch the rails.

The train stopped and Travis told us we could get off the train if we would like to have a little fun!

Then those that wanted to participate could lay a coin on the rail....

.....then let the train roll back over the coins to flatten them.  The before and after of Tom's nickel!  Fun stuff!

Then we re-boarded the train and headed back to the Station.

After our train excursion we left our car parked at the Train Station and caught the Transit to take us out to Lake Leatherwood City Park so we could do a short day hike.  When the Transit driver dropped us off he said he would be back in about 30-40 minutes so we figured we could walk out 15-20 minutes then turn around and come back.  We could see the Dam from the transit stop so off we went down the trail thinking we could make it to the Dam and back and catch the Transit on its second loop. 

The trail was well trodden and easy to follow, some places a little challenging but overall a pleasant walk.

Well it took us a good 45 minutes to make it to the Dam, so we knew we were going to have to hoof it pretty fast to make it back to catch the transit on its last loop of the day.

We walked as quickly as we could, up, down, and around and worked up a sweat by the time we made it back.  We had been gone an hour and ten minutes.  (Unbeknown to us we had just walked four miles on the Fuller Trail!)  Hope we haven't missed our ride!  We sat on the grass, looking out over the lake, enjoying the end of our action filled day in Eureka Springs.  Ahh, we hear the Transit coming!  Yippee!

 

When we arrived back to our car at the Train Station, we decided we were ready to head east to Mountain Home, Ark., find a hotel room, get a good night's sleep, and be ready for another day of vacation tomorrow.