Arkansas Fall Vacation

I have always said that life is too short to get up in the morning and go to a job you do not enjoy.  Tom has been doing this for quite a while now.  But the tipping point came about when the company owner's young son-in-law laid out a new plan in which salaries were cut in half, then implemented a commission based pay scale instead.  Shortly after, Tom gave his notice.  After more than 16 years working there, Tom let them know that this new program was not a good fit for him.   His last day there would be the end of September.

So the third week of September we went on a vacation!  Yeah!

Our first stop on this vacation was to check out our adopted section on the Ouachita Trail, which is about an hour north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma.  We watched the sunrise on the drive north as it rained on us some but the rain stopped about the time we made to the Big Cedar Trailhead.

Our adopted section of trail did not require a lot of trimming or lopping and we were so proud that there was not any litter along the way or at the parking area!  We soon made it to the end of our adopted section and stopped for a break before we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

I love looking up thru the tall canopy of trees!

 And the views along the trail are awesome!

As always we had to rock hop across Big Cedar Creek which was flowing good due to the recent rain.

After we finished maintaining our 2+ mile section of the Ouachita Trail, just for fun we drove up to the Talimena Scenic Drive and over to the Winding Stair Mountain Trailhead where we left our car and walked the mile up to the top of Winding Stair Mtn. where Tom placed a rock onto the massive rock cairn.

We then walked over to the Winding Stair Shelter to rest for a few minutes and have a snack.

We were sad to see how "grown up/weedy" it was around the shelter!

Next we drove over to the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge which sits atop Rich Mountain (3,000 feet above sea level) where we had a reservation for the night.

The first lodge was built in 1898 by the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad and was designed as a mountain retreat for passengers on the line.  The three story structure became known as the "Castle in the Sky".  Several years later it fell into ruin.  In 1957 the area was acquired for development as a state park, a new lodge was completed in 1963, destroyed by fire in 1973, but a new lodge was built by 1975 and operated for three decades before closing for a short few months for a major renovation resulting in how it is today. 

The Queen Wilhelmina Miniature Train was operating when we arrived but we did not ride on it.  Maybe next time. 

                          The lodge was really awesome! 

The rooms were spacious with all modern amenities as you would expect in a 4-5 star hotel.

                We even saw a black bear!  Yikes!  In the lobby!

The following morning we made our way further eastward into the mountainous terrain of northwestern Arkansas.  Our next stop was at Mount Magazine to check out the scenery and the Lodge.

 The Lodge atop Mount Magazine is much, much larger than the one at Queen Wilhelmina.

                            There are awesome views from the Lodge.

 Inside it was very spacious but also with a cozy feel.  Definitely a place we might visit again sometime.

 The mountain road leading up to and away from the Lodge was bordered with an array of wildflowers. 

We left there and headed eastward to Petit Jean State Park, Arkansas's very first State Park.

 We booked a campsite, got our tent set up with our cots and sleeping bags inside, and decided to go for a short walk.  We headed over to the Cedar Falls Overlook Trail.  {Tomorrow we will actually hike down the canyon to the bottom of Cedar Falls.}

I sure thought I took a photo of our tent set up but guess what, I just thought I did, but I did not.  Duh!

However I did take a photo the following morning of my little 4-cup percolator plugged into the electrical outlet at our campsite!  Ahhhh...luxury in the woods!  EVERY campsite in Petit Jean State Park has water and electric.  Nice.

Even though it was warmer than we would have liked for camping, we both slept well.  We enjoyed breakfast at our campsite and then decided to walk the paved bike/hike path.....

                             .....and saw this unusual mushroom!......

to the Petit Jean Lodge to access the Cedar Falls Trail.  We then headed down the steep trail to the base of Cedar Falls.

.....more about that in my next post.........

 

So Much Has Happened!

I have read that in order to be a good writer you must write everyday, make it a daily habit, write down your thoughts, write down what is going on around you, write down something everyday, making it second nature, not even having to plan to do it, just write.

Well I guess that is why I am not a very good writer.  I do NOT write something every day however I do think about it every day but the thoughts never make it from my brain to my fingers to tap it out on this keyboard.  So.....I have much to say or show you in pictures because so much has transpired since I last sat down to record my thoughts on this blog.  So here goes!

My Mom turned 90 in June!  I love her dearly!

She is such an inspiration to me, so kind and gentle and soft spoken, and she still handles life on her own in her own home, I can only hope to be doing that well when I am 90.

We were all so glad that my younger brother Wendall was able to make the trip down to Texas from Indiana for our Mom's 90th birthday.   

Wendall had lost a lot of weight during the past two years and was suffering from a lot of abdominal pain in June at our Mom's 90th however he had not been to a doctor in years!  Silly boy!

 

Well when he got back to Indiana he did go to see a doctor......and received some pretty frightening news.  Cancerous mass filling most of his stomach and upward into his esophagus.  Not a good prognosis.

 

We immediately began to plan a trip up to Indiana to visit with him.  I rented a 7-passenger Dodge Durango, picked up my Mom, my sisters Norma, Sharon, Ginny, and Ginny's husband Tom, and away we went on a road trip to Bluffton, Indiana.

 

Here we all are, after we met up with my brother Don and his wife Beth, at a Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

 

We traveled through Arkansas making our way north to the tiny town of Rector, Ark. where we lived for a time when I was four years old.  While living there we lost my baby brother, Delbert, at 10 days old, so on this trip we went to the Rector Cemetery to place flowers on Delbert's grave.

 {Besides losing Delbert, we have also lost my brother Roger (age 18 months) and my brother Lyndon (at age 49).}

While in Rector we took our Mom to see a couple, Norman & Louise Shelton, she knew from more than 60 years ago, who still lives there in Rector, Ark.

 We then headed north to Cairo, Illinois to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

What an amazing site to see these two mighty rivers merging together!

Norma and Don are standing directly above the confluence of these two rivers.  Norma is the oldest, and Don is second oldest, and I am third in the lineup of our Mom's 10 children.

I wonder how many storms and high water this beautiful tree has withstood.

Looking upstream, this is the bridge over the Ohio River.

 Looking in the other direction, this is the bridge over the Mississippi River.  We just drove over this bridge to reach this Confluence Park.

 As you can see these two rivers are busy shipping channels!

 

All along the way through northeastern Arkansas, eastern tip of Missouri, southern Illinois, and then over into Indiana there was farmland, rich green crops awaiting harvest, as far the eye could see, massive farms growing food and feed, cornstalks growing so thick and looked to be 10 feet tall, lush tall soy bean plants, and I don't know what else, but everywhere we looked it was endless rows of something growing all the way to the horizon. 

 

My younger sister, Donna, who lives in Greybull, Wy. flew into Indianapolis where she met up with us.  The next day we all made it to Bluffton, and had a good visit with our brother Wendall, who was now on a feeding tube 24/7 directly into his intestine, but remains upbeat and plans to enjoy every moment of every day he has.

 

[front: Ginny, Mom, Donna  back: Wendall, Norma, Sharon, Erma, Don]

 

The following day we picked up Wendall and we went on a drive over into Ohio to see Lake Erie.

 It was a beautiful day to be outdoors, the drive was thru verdant farmland, but it was a long day for Wendall, I think we wore him out, but so glad we could all be together for an excursion.

 

Wendall was staying with his oldest daughter Rachel and her family.

This is Wendall's younger daughter, Jessica, and her family.

Rachel and Bill have their hands full with their own family but really made us feel welcome and one day they even set up tables, chairs, and awnings in their backyard and had a big cookout for everyone.

 

We were sad for the reason for this trip however we really enjoyed our time together with family.  All we can do now is pray for Wendall.  His doctors don't give him much hope.  Sadly he waited too long before going to the doctor and getting his abdominal pain checked out.

 

{Update on Wendall today Oct.10: he is currently back in the hospital, cancer has now spread into his intestines.  One day at a time.}