Lobster and blues

We enjoy blues music and decided to give some support to the Spa City Blues folks by attending the 3rd annual lobster cookout complete with fun people and good music (CloverBlue from Little Rock) - a winning combination.

Not enough good things can be said about David who does so much to promote the blues in Hot Springs.

Now this is what I am talking about!

The recently upgraded farmers' market is a perfect place to hold an event like this and I hope we will see more going on down near the transportation depot (the old train station) in the future.

With our bellies full and our heads full of music we headed back to Crystal Springs.

Crystal Springs

We were so enjoying the beautiful weather and the camping experience that we decided to move over to Crystal Springs, a Corps of Engineers' campground also on Lake Ouachita. Don went with us - OH! where is Don?

We had a lot of laughs as we always do. 

Don couldn't believe the steep and winding dirt mountain that we were caching our way along until we reached the summit. We did want to share a view of Lake Ouachita with him.

We even convinced Arkekey to come geocache with us one day.

We loved site #53 and our view of the lake filled with plenty of privacy. Most of the campers seemed to be there for turkey season.

We got out the old camping equipment and burned some grilled cheese sandwiches over the fire with the back log.

I even tried my hand at some chicken pot pie in the dutch oven. 

It was still quite chilly at night and we sure enjoyed our fires!

Swagville 2012

April 13 provided a new twist to the 3rd annual SWAG (Southwest Arkansas Geocachers) event. For the second year in a row this was held at Jessieville, north of Hot Springs. Friday the 13th provided the theme for most of the events. Enter if you dare!

Mike, Sandy, Kay, Kay, and Sharon are ready for folks to show up. We had a nice turnout; not a huge group, but a good group of cachers.

There were prizes, and drawings, and games, and from the look on Layne's face a pretty good lunch.

Don seems happy in the back of the pickup accompanying the other cachers on a hayride; where else but down the main haul road, an old logging road once used by Weyerhauser.

After everyone was exhausted from a day of caching we had a hot dog roast and marshmallows. Some went on a night cache but we went back to the campground.

Lake Ouachita State Park

We decided to go north and camp near Jessieville for our annual geocaching event. Lake Ouachita State Park is much closer and it would be fun to pick up some of the other caches in the area. We were excited to learn that our friend, Don, would be coming down from Tulsa and camping with us.

Much of our time was spent geocaching in the area. Leon likes to climb in the rocks so he went after this one.

Don, stay in there while I log this for you.

Don relaxes around the campfire after a long day in the woods. The weather was chilly at night and pleasant during the day - perfect for camping!

From the end of our point in the tent area was this morning view of Lake Ouachita. I think it must be magnificent at sunset but we never seemed to return in time to capture it.

Once in awhile someone would leave us a reminder that we are still in Arkansas.

This is typical of some of the dirt roads through the Ouachita National Forest. 

Three Sister Springs is in an area homesteaded by John McFadden in 1875 and named for his 3 daughters. The three different springs are thought to heal different maladies. Later the area, about 12 miles north of Hot Springs, included cottages, a bottling plant, and a springhouse. This is now in the state park on land leased from the Corps of Engineers.

Yep, we are still in Arkansas.

Petit Jean

We made a daytrip to Petit Jean State Park, the first state park in Arkansas and one of my favorites. It was Leon's first time to view the Arkansas River Valley from atop the mountain.

There are lots of hiking trails but since it was a hot day we chose the shorter ones; such as, this hike to across the turtle rocks to the rock house.

There was a also a nice short hike down to the Cedar Falls overlook. The last time I camped here I made the steep hike down to the base of the falls. With all the recent rain, there was quite a good volume of water flowing.

The woods were such a lush spring green as seen in this view from the rock house. 

Play ball

Reid's team came to Hot Springs for a tournament. I believe we went to five games in two days - I lost count! Reid shows his form on the pitcher's mound.

So does he hit it or not?

Kay and I enjoyed lunch on the bleachers. I believe this was the first 90 degree day of the year! 

Jaycee Park in Hot Springs hasn't changed much over the years but I believe this is the spot where the swimming pool once was, or close, anyway.

The champions were a little surprised to get posters instead of trophies!

Garvan Gardens again

I am a little behind in my blogging but am changing the dates to reflect the actual events. We almost missed the azaleas at Garvan Gardens but still found the place beautiful and serene.

I am usually just on the bridge but decided to explore from below on this day.

Oh, I think I was being watched!

Hot Springs and baseball

I have always been aware of the role that Hot Springs played in the development of baseball and the fact that before Florida this was the place for spring training. Recently the city decided to bring this history to the forefront with new plaques around town. We decided to take a look.

I am amazed that the remains of the concrete bleachers are still evident in the background. From this spot folks watched Babe Ruth hit his home run across the street into the Alligator Farm.

We picked up a brochure at the visitor's center and followed some of the trail around town. This should be of interest to baseball fans and is well done. Each plaque has a phone number to call and a qr code that gives access to information on a smart phone.

Adam' s Day

I was late for the Adam Brown 5k held at Lake Hamilton High School but with my ski injury to my toe there was no need to rush! It was such a treat to be there to honor a true hero who lost his life in Afghanistan. Adam was one of my student council kids and was quite often in the library visiting. His stories then of body surfing on the car or jumping off the bridge into the lake were amazing, but I am sure they paled in comparison to later ones.

Rachel was a fellow student who I suppose put this all together. Our football coach played his guitar and sang while we ate barbq after the run/walk along Adam Brown Road.

It is always a pleasure to visit with Adam's dad.

Many friends and fellow students showed up from near and far for this special day and what a delight to visit with them and meet their families.

The balloon release was a special moment that Adam's son and I seemed to capture on film at the same time.

We never knew what the future held for these teenagers when they were in high school. We only knew that each was special in his or her own way. I would not have imagined that Jeff and Adam, best friends, would one day stand together on the Afghanistan border or that I would only see one of them again.