We went to Arkansas!

When we left Texas (after 5 months!) we decided to take a boo at Arkansas. The first place we went was Crater of Diamonds State Park just outside of Mumfreesboro (just southwest of Little Rock). It was a nice park. Very woodsy! Crater of Diamonds Park is the only diamond mine (not operated any longer) in the U.S., and it's the only one in the world that is publicly accessible. They have some amazing records of this mine. The largest diamond found there was a 40 carat beauty found in the early 1900's. The latest large find here was a 6.8 carat diamond found in 1997. There's still one or two diamonds found every day by folks who come here. Mary enjoyed the day, but I'm quickly bored and ended up wandering around. Basically, the mine consists of a large field of dirt that people poke through to find diamonds. This is the entrance to the diamond field. Ya pay yer $7 and go lookin'. They'll rent ya shovels, screens & pails if you need 'em. This is part of the field (crater). They occasionally come in and plow the field to turn the dirt and provide new dirt to poke in. And here's folks pokin'! The thing is, ya kinda go with the idea yer pokin' through sand and it's really clay. They say the best time is right after a rain, 'cause the dirt tends to wash away and leave the diamonds (heavier) sitting on top of the dirt. Dirt won't stick to diamonds. We didn't find anything, but some lady was purported to have found a $400 stone while we were there. Yer lookin' for something anywhere from the size of a grain of sand to a small pea. Interesting, but one day was enough for me.

Arkansas is very mountainous. We left the "Crater" and went to Ouachita State Park. It's in the Ouachita mountains just outside of Hot Springs. Btw, Ouachita is pronounced "Wash-i-taw. Neither Mary, nor the truck was impressed with the drive. Very hilly, very twisty-turny. and very narrow roads with no shoulders! But, the park was georgeous! Mary finally got her campfire! Hey Tim, recognize the stick??

We walked down to the "Walk-in" tent sites and took some pics that we thought Kristi might like. Ya never know, maybe not. This is the view if you walk right up to the rocks.

This is Mary walking around the shore right by our campsite. These next three pics are taken right from our campsite (love the sunset pic).

We went into Hot Springs to take a look around. Once we took the wrong turn on the way into Hot Springs and ended up on an OLD road through the National Park to get to the city. Man, what a road. There was one part where you made a tight turn, climbed a long 25 degree hill (that's what the sign said!) with another tight turn and drop at the top. Poor Mar' was damned near hysterical by the time we got off that road! But we finally got into town. Really interesting! They've preserved all the old buildings from their "hay-days. The town was a Mecca for the elite in the '20's and '30's. Lots of famous people and the gangsters (Capone, etc.) would go there for the mineral baths. Some of these bath-houses are still in operation, and one of them has be converted to a museum so you can see what it was like in the '20's. Lots of marble, granite, statuary, and imported ceramic tile. This stained glass ceiling has over 8000 pieces in it! Snazzy after-bath lounge areas, etc. These places were the cat's meow (bee's knees???) for their time. And the water from the hot springs supposedly had (has) lots of curative powers. People still fill bottles at the public areas to drink! I don't know whether you can see the steam coming off the fountain behind Mary, but this water's hot! The story is that rain water sinks into the ground all over the area through faults in the rocks. It sinks at about 1 foot per year. it takes the water about 8000 years to desend to the 8000 foot level where it's heated to about 150 degrees f (77 deg. c) and expansion causes the hot water to ascend very quickly so it gets back to the surface at about 143 deg. f (75 deg. c). They actually have to cool it down somewhat for the baths. It was a very interesting window to the lifestyle of the wealthy in the '20's and '30's. We didn't get any pics that would show this, but we hiked to the top of Hot Springs mountain, about 3 k! Whew! But we found a real quick (and steep) 1/4 k. route down. Folks were impressed that we did the climb.

The park ran a cruise on the lake, so we took it. The lake is man-made. The dam is there basically for flood control. Boy, it don't take long either. The river was originally about 6' wide. The Dam is about 75' high. And it took about 3 1/2 years for the lake which is over 20 miles long and spread out like an octopus throughout the hills. Boaters have to be somewhat careful here, 'cause the lake level fluctuates with the seasons and island appear and disappear with the seasons.

See the trees sticking up out of the water in these two pics? They used to be islands! They'll be back in the fall.

There are different rock formations throughout the lake. Lots of shale and slate and stuff. This pic is one of the places where you can find clear quartz crystals, so people boat over and climb 'em lookin'.

We stopped on a little island for a boo. Here's a pic for my kids, 'cause they LOVE my flower pics. Hey, I like it! Anyhow, we're off to Branson Missouri to take in a couple of shows for a week, then 4 more days and we're home. Later gang!

We went into Dallas!

As much as I detest big cities, seeing as to how we're in Dallas/Ft. Worth, we thought (and Kristi kept bugging us) we really should go see part of Dallas. So we headed to the "Historic" district. And here we are, the corner of Houston and Elm. This must be Dealey Plaza, where John Kennedy we shot and killed. The "X" you can see on the road was the "Head Shot" that killed Kennedy. Further up the picture (you might see it on a blown up picture) is the "X" that was the "Throat Shot" that hit Kennedy and Connally. If you look at the building in the picture, that is the book depository from which Oswald did his shooting. The highest rectangular window (below the rounded top window) on the right hand side of the picture is where Lee Harvey Oswald fired from.

Having been alive during this historic event, it was kinda eerie (moving) to actually be at this place. The conspiracy theory surrounding the Kennedy assassination has grown into a cottage industry. Everywhere you walked in Dealey plaza there was somebody trying to sell you something to promote the idea that the assassination and subsequent inquiry was a conspiracy to hide the truth. I dunno!

The Historic West End is the old part of Dallas. They have made a serious effort to preserve the buildings and feel of the area. The old Court building is beautiful and reminds me of Old City Hall in Toronto. I wonder if there's a connection. We wandered around the area for a while. It was very tight and narrow with lots of old buildings. It's actually very "Warehousy", but neat to see all the new modern buildings over the older buildings. While there I ran across this signwhich I kinda don't believe as it's permanent! Also I ran into this statue/sculpture I really don't know what it was for, but it's kinda whimsical doncha think?

All day the tv had been on about storms and tornadoes and BIG hail in the area. Nothing happened, but on the way home from Dallas we saw the weirdest cloud formations. It was very overcast and in the centre was this weird rolling patch of cloud bottoms. Local people were actually pulling over to take pictures of the clouds, so this is not a common occurance here.

I apologize for the dirty windshield, but ya gotta deal with the circumstances at the time. Anyhow, Dallas was really interesting and there's tons of other stuff I would have liked to have seen, but I HATE big cities. We're off to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas at the end of the week. That'll be our next update. Bye for now.

Dallas/Ft. Worth area

Well, here we are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (better known as DFW). This area is huge and encompasses several cities into one huge megametropolis. We're actually staying at a nice campground in Arlington.

We decided to go to the Ft. Worth Stockyards area.

It's not used anymore. It closed down with the last big cattle drive in the early 1980's. So rather than just rip it all down they decided to make it a tourist area. It was really interesting. Especially if you stay out of the stores. They are there for the tourists, and filled mostly with expensive (but interesting) dust collectors. They've even converted one of the old stock-pen buildings into a maze of little shops and eateries. They have a bunch of old cowboy stuff laying about to look at,like this old wagon. Mary's been looking for a pair of cowboy (girl) boots. This was not the place to go! Hand made boots (beautiful) that start around $200 and go well over $1000. Who pays over $1000 for boots? Not me, that's for sure!

They have a small herd of cattle that they round up and parade down the street everyday for the tourists. These are some serious horns! These are also some very docile cattle. They are raised and trained for this little march they do every day. It's not real, but it gives ya some idea what it must have been like when the stockyards were a going concern. They used to move thousands of cattle through here regularily. This map (which you need to enlarge to see) shows the routes they used to drive cattle in the big roundup days.

Oh, and while wondering around the Stockyards area we came upon this sign in an alley. It was just strange enough to take a picture of and mention.

Heading into Dallas tomorrow. Talk at ya's later.

Marble Falls - A beautiful park.

It's about time I updated the blog and told ya's about our week in Marble Falls. What a beautiful park. The sites were large and grassy. The park only has 50 sites. It's built on what is partially a huge slab of granite. So, when you walk around the park, one end is a huge slab of granite, with vegitation growing in the dips and hollows. The park is on lake LBJ (see the million dollar houses on the lakeshore), and is called "Sunset Point". Here's why. Very "Upscale". Man, there was a lot of money in this park. Some of the rigs and some of the toys people were hauling with them were eyecatching. All in all, a breathtaking park. While walking around the park I found what I think is a hunk of amber. Look at the size of this thing. It's definately a "Keeper".

Lake LBJ is one of a string of 5 lakes (somewhat man made). Each lake has a dam at the end. This stabilizes the water in the area, preventing flooding and helping in times of drought. As it is, some of these lakes are down from 11" to over 17". Texas is in a serious drought that has been going on for over 18 months. In the Marble Falls area, the week before we got there, they received a storm that produced 5" of rain in the area. This allowed a lifting of the fire ban for 1 day and then it was reinstated!

We went for a drive around the area to see the lakes and to check out an eagle's nest that has been under observation by the locals for almost 3 years! This nest is over 7' across. Unfortunately, the young are now able to fly, so the eagle family was not home when we went to visit. The whole "lakes" area is gorgeous. If you have oodles of money and wanna live in central Texas, this is the place to be.

We went to LBJ's ranch, but didn't take the tour due to time constriction . We just drove around a bit. We saw LBJ's whitehouse and a few of the older homes. They have a space in the middle where they used to put their beds at night to catch the breeze. It was interesting.

The ranch has been changed to be a learning centre for kids. It's a working ranch, but not a commercial enterprise any more. One of the things that they are doing is trying to breed their cattle back from the huge cattle they have now to cattle more like the size and type that Texas had back when it was first being settled. This is a present day "Longhorn". Man I wouldn't wanna argue with him on a bad day. They also had buffalo and deer all over the place.

We also drove to Fredricksburg a few times while there. What a beautiful town! Very touristy, very pricey. The area was originally settled by german folk. They've preserved a ton of their old buildings etc. There are all sorts of crafty type shops around. This was a large shop of "Preserves". You know, dips, rubs, salsas, etc. All with taste stations for everything. You could easily fill up (eat lunch) here. And, of course, Mary made a new friend!

While in Marble Falls we finally went and had some real Texas bbq. The meat is cooked in huge "pit" bbq's. and they had just about everything you could ask for. You select your meat, type and quantity, they cut it off the slabs they have cooking, then you take it inside and pay for it by weight, sit down and eat! Now that's a rib! The interior of the restaurant was very plain (cinder brick walls and picnic tables) but folks aren't going there for the atmosphere, they're there for the food!

This is Jan and Bill (and Rose and April in the stroller). Man , were these dogs in the stroller a people (chick) magnet. Bill doesn't mind waiting outside the stores while Jan shops one little bit (haha). These are the folks we went to Marble Falls to see. Great people! We had a lot of fun and it was because of Jan and Bill. Thanx a bunch guys!

Our last day there we went to the Flea market and had a great time. The girls Jan, Mary, and Carol, went in one truck and the men Bill, Rod, and Steve, in the other. Guys had popcorn and beer, ladies a nice lunch and shopped!! Needless to say the guys got home first:o) Saturday night we went to the main hall, listened to music played and sung by park folk. A good time was had by all.

We're off to Dallas/Ft. Worth next. We'll update again in the next few days.