I love Christmas Decorations

Gaylord Texan

Everything here is made of ice. It took twelve hour days for about five weeks to complete the sculptures. Even the ice was sculpted to look like ice. It was nine degrees in the room and the hotel gave us blue parkas to wear.

TEXAS The Lone Star State

Just meandering through small towns, heading to Dallas to meet the kids for Thanksgiving. Stopped in Paris TX for a night and found the Eiffel Tower Texas style. I love it!!!

Arrowhead Mines

Today we went to Arrowhead mines to find some more quartz crystal. When we got there we were given all kinds of instructions concerning safety, where to dig and what to look for. The guy noticed that I was wearing Bruce's army shirt and asked if I was in the service or Bruce. It was Bruce of course. He then went on about how he admires all the men who serve the country and thanked Bruce. He handed Bruce this cluster of quartz as a thank you. We spent four hours digging around and didn't find anything as big as this but did find some smaller quartz. Maybe I'll make some jewelry out of it.

Hot Springs

Hot Springs has a lot of history behind it. It was almost "Vegas" untill Roosevelt came in and cleaned up the sex, drugs, crime and illegal gambling.
Hot Springs National Park is surrounded by city in some areas. It was the first park type federal reservation in 1832, the smallest National Park and will be the first on a new series of quarters that will be minted. We took a walk along Bathhouse Row and went for a tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse.

There are 47 springs in the park and the water rises from the ground at 143 degrees. We saw people filling jugs from a fountain for that purpose. Most of the springs are capped to prevent contamination. The hot waters were used for medicinal purposes until medication was developed.

You cannot come to Hot Springs without the experience of a mineral bath. So yesterday I went to Buckstaff Bathhouse www.buckstaffbaths.com for my mineral bath. When you check in they lock your valuables up and hand you the key. Next you are taken to a dressing room where you undress and are wrapped in a sheet Roman Style. The first step is the hot whirlpool bath. The water is kept at 100 degrees and the whirlpool is started. After 20 minutes your attendant comes in and scrubs your legs and back. She then wraps the sheet around you and you go sit in a sitz bath for 10 minutes. Of course the sheet is just covering the front of you. Next step is the vapor cabinet. It is literally a box you sit in with your head out. The attendant wraps a sheet around the opening so the steam doesn't get out. After five minutes of dripping sweat and vapors you are taken out. Next stop is where the attendant wraps extremely hot towels around your shoulders, back, and legs. She also puts an ice cold towel around your face. I felt like a mummy and once the towels cooled down I think I figured out why babies cry to get their diapers changed. You lay there on a lounge for about ten minutes. Some people fall asleep at this point. Each step was more awesome then the one before!!! Finally the last step was a needle shower. Just a rinse off, I guess. All the equipment here is from 1912. I couldn't help but wonder what famous person sat in the same tub as I did.
The attendents have 100 hours of training which includes CPR. She told me some people pass out.

After my mineral bath Bruce and I hiked up to the observation tower, took the elevator up and got a birds eye veiw of Hot Springs.
"I think I could live here"

It's a Small World!!!

What are the chances of climbing a mile up a mountain to go rock- hounding for quartz crystals and who should be sitting there, but a young man from Rocky Point LI NY. One town away from where I came from. When we said hi and asked how they were doing, I thought I heard the LI accent. He said he almost moved to Ithaca for awhile but didn't. His parents fought to keep the power plant in Shoreham from going on line and said he liked North Country Road. A friend of his has a gem shop on Broadway in Rocky Point.

Mt Ida, Arkansas is the quartz crystal capitol of the world. Today we went to the reclaimed mine of Crystal Vista to try our hand at rock hounding. A local miner and the Forest Service worked together and instead of rehabilitating the old mine site they made it into a recreational area for the public. They stabilized the slopes and planted grass seed to prevent erosion. Anything you find is yours to keep but you cannot sell it. Tomorrow we are going to a commercial mine to dig around some more.

Pinnacle Mountain State Park Arkansas

This is Pinnacle Mountain that we hiked up yesterday (Nov.8 09). We started at 300 ft above sea level and hiked up to 1011 ft above sea level. Some of it was a challenge. I had to get on my hands and knees to get up over some boulders because my legs are to short. It sounds scarier than it was. We hiked up the east side and hiked down the west side which was easier to do. Then we had to hike 2 miles around the base trail to get to our car.

Today we did an easier hike of about three miles round trip on mostly level ground. We started playing around with the camera and took close ups of nature. It was fun getting really close to get a pictures of the different textures.

Tomorrow we are heading to Hot Springs. There are therapeutic springs here. Maybe I'll get in one, to ease my aches from all the hiking we did.

William J.Clinton Presidential Center Little Rock AR

Today we visited Little Rock AR and spent about two hours in Clinton's Presidential Center on the Arkansas River. It isn't the prettiest but it was bright and very interesting. Presidents have quite the challenge being in office. There is a special exhibit of gifts about 12 Presidents have received during their term in office. Art work, sculpturs, sneakers and cowboy boots with the Presidential seal on them, ivory carvings, jewelry, and a pin John Jr left at the grave of his dad. There was even a drawing of the map of the United States from the 1700's painted in Hungary

I've never been in a Presidential library. I think I'll go whenever we are near one of them. They are very educational.

Hiking and Biking in Arkansas

Big Dam Pedestrian and Bike Bridge

Bruce and I took an 18 mile bike ride today that included this bridge. It is the second largest pedestrian and bike bridge in the US. It challenged my fear of heights only slightly. I stayed in the center. The bridge is spectacular!! It crosses the Arkansas River from Little Rock to North Little Rock over the Murray Lock and Dam.

Bruce and I also did some hiking at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. It took us 30 minutes to hike up .75 of a mile only to find some guys who had done it in 15 minutes. They live in the area and hike the trail every other day.

Arkansas The Natural State

Our first stop in Arkansas was West Memphis. It's on the west side of the Mississippi River, across from Memphis TN. We stayed at a campground 200 feet from the Mississippi River. There were huge barges passing and it reminded me of our cruising days when we did Americas Great Loop. "One whistle or two whistles". When we met a barge we needed to call and ask which side he wanted us to be on. One whistle was starboard or right side, two whistles was port side or left side. It was their choice usually, because they had to get around the corners and are less maneuverable than our catamaran. Trust me we went where we were told.
In the morning we were awakened by torrential rain and wind. The wind was making the motorhome move and that reminded me of some rough anchorages we had experienced, hoping that the anchor would hold through the storm.

The next three days we stayed at the Ozark RV Park in Mountain View. Mountain View is the Folk Music Capitol of the world. Every where you go around town someone is picking or strumming on a guitar, violin, bass and other string instruments I didn't recognize. This was especially true during the Beanfest. The reason we came here was to visit the Beanfest and Outhouse Races. This was a hoot!!! or should I say "toot". It has been going on for 27 years to get tourists in the town. On Saturday morning they have 20 or more kettles started with 1800 pounds of pinto beans. Different groups in costumes prepare their recipe to be judged. Some costumes there were Elvis, Hippies, Mickey Mouse, Nurses, An Indian, and Squirrel Hunters. After the judging everyone gets as many beans as they can eat or want.

We learned that the Foodnetwork channel was there. Adam Gertler was there during the races and he rode in an outhouse. His show is "Will Work for Food". After the races he interviewed the winners using a plunger as a mic. He is pretty funny. He is from Commack LI and went to Syracuse University.

The courthouse front steps had lots of Folk Music groups and we watched the Ozark River Cloggers.
It was sunny beautiful day for a Beanfest and Outhouse Race.