August 20, 2021-Northwest Arkansas Adventures

(click for today's pictures) 

I feel like some days we just pack a lot into a day, and this was one of those days for sure. I woke up to the sound of rain pitter pattering on the top of the camper. Oh, it was a wonderful sound to hear for sure. I also felt someone laying on my leg so I knew that it was morning time and that Bentley was already back in bed with us. 

Robby said that it had only rained for a little bit right after they came back in this morning. We laid there for a bit, when the rain did stop. We took that as our sign to get ourselves up and start the day. Since we are mostly "city camping" we didn't set up anything outside nor did we cook any meals here. So for breakfast we made sausage biscuits (biscuits cooked at home and sausages heated in the microwave.) Not everyone had that-Reagan had a cornbread cookie, Campbell had cereal, and Keaton and Whitman had poptarts.

Before we left, we loaded up and loaded up the car. Robby and I were sticking so many things in the car, that the kids asked how long we were going to be gone. We just wanted to have everything that we needed. (Before we left the house, I did put towels and masks in all of the cars-gracious, we used the towel today and had to wear silly masks tonight at Target)

Anyhow, our first drive this morning was about an hour. We went to Winthrow Springs state park. We went to the visitor's center were Whitman had to have a bracelet and Reagan bought a shirt and also a bracelet. We drove about that campground-things seemed a bit spread out. We even ventured down a gravel road while we were looking for our trail.

We found the War Eagle trail and stopped. The sign said that one section of the trail was .25 miles. We had to walk about a quarter of a mile to get to where the trail started. Then we walked the .25 miles down the hill which mean that we had to climb straight back up the side of that mountain when we hiked back up. So the .25 trail was actually more like a mile. 

Either way though, it was certainly a pretty trail. Once we got to the bluff, there were overlooks the entire time. It was quite a view. When we made it to the bottom, there was a beautiful flowing river with rock formations on each side. 

Some of the kids took off their shoes and walked in the water. Whitman had fallen on the way down, so he had to rinse his legs and arms in the creek. It would have been a nice creek to tube in or even kayak in but the water was pretty low in some places so that probably wouldn't have worked today.

After the trail, we went back to the visitor's center for a bathroom stop. Next we headed towards Hobbs State Park. On the way I realized that we were close to War Eagle Mill. We have always heard of it, but had never been there. We were quite pleased to realize that we would drive right by it n the way.

We first went over the one lane bridge beside the mill. Then we looked at the mill and finally went inside the store. We looked and shopped and browsed and even sampled, but only bought a jar of peach salsa. It would definitely be something to see when they have the big craft fair there.

Just a few miles from that is Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area. It had a massive visitor's center and a beautiful pavilion. Our first stop was that pavilion where we pulled out all of our lunch stuff and had ourselves a picnic. Then we walked the short paved nature trail around a little loop before going into the visitor's center.

Next up was a Van Winkle trail where there used to another old mill. It was just markers and a trail. It was kind of interesting, and Robby kept mentioning how he would want his house right there as well. It would have been a pretty site for a house. That house is actually rebuilt now somewhere in Oklahoma which is now on our list of things to see.

Somewhere on this hike, Graham realized that he had bugs crawling all over him, They were tiny-super tiny. They were so small that I could barely see them. I tried to reassure him that it was just dirt on him, but after seeing them crawling I started to help him wipe them off. 

At the end of the trail and back at the car, I made him take of his shirt, shoes and socks and sprayed him down with bug spray. I am not too sure if bug spray helps after a bug is on you or not, but it was all that I had. Hopefully, I smothered them. Then Robby and I tried to scrape the rest off of him. (He was the first in the shower when we made it back, and he doesn't really seem like he was bit by anything.)

After the trail, we headed towards Rogers and stopped at a Susie Qs Malt Shop where we all got ourselves some ice cream. I had a peanut butter shake. Most folks had butterfinger shakes. Reagan had a raspberry shake while Graham had a root beer float. Whitman had an ice cream cone, and Keaton had a coke. And Bentley, who had been a pretty good dog on our adventure so far, had herself some ice cream with doggie bones in it. 

Actually Bentley is a great dog-except when she is on trails. She is a crazy dog then. She pulls and pulls until she is exhausted! I guess we are going to have to go on some more trails so she can figure things out. She actually had a big day today-while we were on a walk this afternoon at the campsite, she met a dog that was 120 pounds (like the dog from the movie Turner and Hooch). She, of course, laid right down when she saw the dog coming. But she did get in a few tail wags as she sniffed her new friend.

We had a bit of downtime this evening before meeting the WIlsons at the Catfish Hole for supper. Apparently it is a Fayetteville institution that we had not yet been to. It was crowded, but we didn't really have to wait for a table. 

The catfish was catfish, but the fun thing was the continuous supply of hush puppies that they kept bringing to our table. I by continuous, I really mean continuous-they just kept coming. The kids could have filled up on those instead of supper-I almost did. 

After we ate, we all headed back to the campground and walked the loop with the WIlsons. It is pretty interesting to walk around this place and see all of the different sites. Some folks have added fences, some have flag poles, others have fancy fireplaces. It is just something, and I would love to see it on a game day. However, to have a spot here during football games means donating a chunk of change to the university for years until a spot opens up. Then you have to continue that plus a yearly fee for years while you have a spot on a parking lot until a premium spot on the hill opens up. That is not for us right now...or probably ever.

We did pull out the Blue Bell tonight. It was pretty melty-our freezer just can't keep ice cream really cold. It was still good. When the Wilsons did leave, all of us but Anderson and Whitman did hop in the car and drive to Target. Reagan had the itch to go and do something, so we went there.

We knew this, but by the time that we made it we only had 30 minutes to shop. In that time, I did find somethings for our next trip to Disney (a year and a half away), Keaton found a dress and Reagan found a jacket. We can do some speed shopping. 

Back at the camper, it was time for bed for the crew. Tomorrow is an early morning...for us at least.


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