Tuesday 4-5 Beautiful Spring Day

 

Beautiful Spring Day

It rained all day yesterday and finally stopped sometime after midnight. When we woke up the power was out and it did not come back until after lunch time. Today was beautiful with lots of sunshine and a high in the 70s.

We didn't have any power but our refrigerator works on either electricity or propane and our oven works on propane. For breakfast we had cinnamon french toast sticks which are cooked in the oven. After breakfast we went on a walk for an hour and a half. We walked to the trailhead at the end of our loop, it looked pretty wet, maybe tomorrow. Instead we walked the park roads. We walked to the Visitor Center and to the trailhead sign for the Boston Mountain Trail. Larry read the sign and looked at the trail, it is a two loop trail, A & B for 5.4 miles. From the sign we walked the road to the Black Bear Dining Hall, the Wild Turkey Lodge and Kingfisher Lodge. We took part of the Warren Hollow trail to the cabins. We walked around the cabin area and looked at the cabins. We climbed a few steps to get back on the Warren Hollow trail, the trail took us through the trees and over a big wooden bridge that went over a creek. While hiking we had to watch out for rocks. Warren Hollow met up with the multi-use trail, we continued hiking Warren Hollow to the lake. Then we walked over a dike back to the main road. The dike is a small fishing area. Then we walked back to the visitor center. We walked around the center and read a couple of signs about the history of the lake. There actually were two lakes that were combined to make one. In 1936 Lake Fort Smith was made by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. As the population grew in 1956 Lake Shepherd Springs was built two miles upstream. In 2002 they started working on combining the two lakes, the project was finished in 2006. 

The creek flowing through the campground

 

Back of the visitor center

 

The bridge we took over the creek

 

The observation point at the visitor center

We hung around the site the rest of the day. I did two walks to get my steps done. The first one was for two hours I did the same route we did in the morning except I added the day area and boat ramp. I did the whole Warren Hollow trail of 1.5 miles. I also walked around the camping area a couple of times. After dinner I walked around for a half hour to complete 29,600 steps, which put me in 5th place. 

While I did my walks Larry sat outside and enjoyed the campsite with a book. When I wasn't walking I read. When the power came on I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I ended the Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 11 minutes and 49 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group.      

Monday 4-4 Rainy Day

Camping at Lake Fort Smith State Park

Rain came in early in the morning while we were sleeping. It stayed around all day. We didn't do anything other than keep dry.

I did play my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong and the Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 3 hours, 18 minutes and 10 seconds. It took me a couple of hours to complete the 19th Expert game. This put me in 16th place in my group.

Larry and I spent the day reading on our Kindles. I finished the eighth book of Guido Brunetti and started the ninth book. Larry finished a book he started yesterday and finished another one that he started today.

The rain was steady but it was ok, we knew the rain was coming so we made sure we were staying somewhere with power, we also have cell service so we can connect to the internet. Most areas need the rain so I'm not complaining.

Since I mentioned cell service,,, our cell phone is on Verizon and so far this trip it has not been reliable. We have not had Verizon service in most of the campgrounds, fortunately our hotspot is on AT&T and it has had service in most places. In our current campground once again Verizon does not work but our hotspot on AT&T does. This is why we like to have access to both services, sometimes one works and the other doesn't.

I ended up doing only 7,000 steps, which put me in 7th place in my group. I have a lot of catching up to do to get to 175,000 steps for the week. 

We had a relaxing day.

Keeping dry with a good book

 

Sunday 4-3 Mountainburg & Lake Fort Smith State Park

 

Beautiful Day

We had a beautiful day with sunshine and the temperature got in the 70s.

I woke up and made blueberry muffins for breakfast. We didn't leave the park until after lunch because our next  destination was only 40 miles away, Lake Fort Smith State Park.

While we were hanging around Springhill park I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Then I did the Event: East Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 27 minutes and 49 second, which put me in 10th place in my group.

Our drive was through the mountain and very nice. Our route roughly followed the same path as our train did yesterday. We went through Chester, over creeks, Mountainburg and other points of interest the conductor talked about yesterday. We stopped in Mountainburg to visit their city park. The park has a neat playground, they have three dinosaurs (Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and T-rex), that were originally built to be climbed on but now only one is available. The park also has dragons and a circular swing where two people can sit in. There was a train depot and a creek that flows through the park. There are bridges over the creek. We parked in the parking lot at the City Hall, Police Station and Fire Station. There was an old fire truck. It was a beautiful park and there were some locals using it.

Brontosaurus

T-rex

 

Triceratops

Dragon 

 

The train depot

 

Old fire truck

We arrived at Lake Fort Smith State Park around 12:30. We stopped at the visitor center to check in and get our senior discount of 25%. When we received the reservation confirmation Larry noticed it indicated our site was an ADA site, he asked the lady if she could change our site because we didn't really want to prevent someone else from using the site who may need it. She said no problem. She moved us to the site across from it. Before leaving the visitor center we walked around the museum, it had displays of the history of the park. We also watched a movie. Right next to the visitor center there is a swimming pool and water park. After walking around we went to our site. It was occupied but they were leaving so we only had to wait a few minutes. Then we setup the Minnie for three nights.

Welcome sign

 

A gorgeous building to the swimming pool

 

Visitor Center

Larry filled the water tank. Then we relaxed with a book until it was time for dinner. 

Larry barbecued sausages for dinner. After dinner I went for an hour and a half walk. I walked to the Black Bear Dining Hall, Wild Turkey Lodge and Kingfisher Lodge, originally all the structures were built by the WPA but due to increasing the size of the lake all the facilities had to be rebuilt. I peaked in the window of the dining hall, it had gorgeous polished concrete floors, wood window frames and rock pillars. It had a huge fireplace outside and a porch that wrapped around the building with beautiful views of the mountains. The lodges were gorgeous, they didn't have a porch in the back but they had big windows that allowed folks to look at the mountains and lake. Next I walked to the cabins, they were very nice with beautiful fireplaces. The park provides the cabins with firewood. There were 10 cabins and 4 were rented out. They were fully furnished and had a kitchen. Then I walked to the day area, marina and boat ramp. The day area had sites with picnic tables, some of them were covered and they had grills. They have a great view of the lake. There a playground and a beautiful Pavilion with a fireplace. Next I walked to the marina and boat ramp. The marina was small but very nice. Before I got to the marina I saw a fishing pier that went over an arm of the lake. The boat ramp had two lanes and a very nice dock to load and unload. After taking pictures I headed back. I walked around the campground, which has two loops. One loop is on the lake with 50 amps and full hookups and the other loop where we're staying has 30 amps with water. Each loop has a very nice restroom with showers. I had a great walk. I walked the road but I had to walk up and down a couple of steep hills. There was a nice creek that ran through the campground and off the mountain.

Black Bear Dining Hall

Wild Turkey Lodge

 

Kingfisher Lodge

Outside fireplace at the dining hall

Inside of the dining hall

One of the cabins

Fishing pier and walkway to the other side of the lake

 

 

Pavilion

 

Pavilion fireplace

 

Fort Smith Lake

I ended up doing 21,000 steps for the day, which put me in 5th place in my group for the week with 178,638. I didn't get my daily goal but I went over my weekly goal of 175,000 steps.

  

    

Saturday 4-2 Train Ride & Tolley Ride

 

I'm excited

A front came in last night at 11:00, it brought rain and didn't leave until 7:30 this morning. 

Due to last nights rain it would have been too wet to hike but fortunately Larry had something else planned. He had booked us tickets on a train ride from Van Buren to Winslow.

The train depot was only about 8 miles from where we are camped and luckily we found a terrific parking spot in a small park right next to the depot. Before the train ride we walked around the train depot, War Memorial and the park by the depot.

Cool clock in Van Buren

Splash Park

 

First Responders in the Memorial Park

The ride was for three hours, about 70 miles. Our train car was on an old Frisco car that was built in the 20's, it was beautifully restored. The ride was through the Boston Mountains of the Ozarks. As we rode on the train we had a conductor telling the history of the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad route. He talked about the history of the old railroad towns and explained things like the difference between trestles and bridges. Trestles don't have any side railings and we drove over three different ones. If you look out the window you can see how high up you are. We saw beautiful creeks, waterfalls, deer in the trees and a lot of cattle. When we went by the cattle they ran off. Right before Winslow we drove through a tunnel, it was 1,000 feet long and very dark. We drove by three crosses commemorating 300 railroad workers who died of small pox when they were building the railroad. The train seats were very comfortable, the restoration of the wood and everything inside was beautiful. They had a snack cart, where everything was a dollar. The conductor was excellent. The server was friendly and nice. Towards the end of the ride a couple of crew members put out items you can purchase, they don't have a gift shop in Van Buren. We had a great ride.

Frisco Train Depot

 

The train

 

Woodwork inside

 

Comfortable seats

The coach we were in

 

Memorial of the crew members

 

End of the line

After our train ride we took a Trolley ride. The driver took us through the historic downtown of Van Buren. As we rode she told the history of Van Buren. She stopped a few times for us to see a few sites. One was an old one room school house. They had a beautiful old Courthouse, which is the oldest courthouse in state. She was very knowledgeable and did a great job. 

Old schoolhouse

 

The trolley

We had a wonderful afternoon in Van Buren. 

By the time we got to the park it was almost dinner time. We had been staying in a host site for two nights but when we got back there was someone there. We drove around and found that the tent that had been on the site we had reserved was gone. We setup the Minnie for another night.

For dinner I barbecued hamburgers. After dinner I walked around for an hour and a half. I walked to the boat ramp and day area a couple of times and I did three laps around the campground. By the end of the night I had done 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

After doing my steps I played my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I did the Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 34 minutes and 55 seconds, which put me in 8th place in my group.

 

       

Friday 4-1 April Fools' Day & Hiking

 

Happy April Fools' Day. Did you play jokes on anyone? I didn't, it was just another day.

The day started out cold with the temperature of 32 degrees but no wind. We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and the high of 68 degrees.

I made cinnamon french toast sticks for breakfast. Then we hiked half of the Frontier Force Trail. It is a 9.4 mile bike/hike trail through the park. It goes along the banks of the Arkansas River, around both loops A & B, we're staying in loop B. We picked up the trail by the playground and headed towards the James W. Trimble Lock and Dam. The trail is very flat, it weaves through trees, goes up and down small hills, goes through arms of the river and was wet at places. We had a lot of rain a couple of days ago but you can get around the wet spots. There is a long bridge at a creek so you can get across it. This bridge makes it very challenging because it's not too wide. There are small bridges at some of the wet places, I think it's because it's always wet at those places. 

When we got near the lock we heard a signal horn and saw a barge getting ready to go through the lock. We walked across the road to a parking lot to get a closer look at the tugboat and barge come through the lock. As the tugboat was coming out we saw a gentleman cooking breakfast on a grill and another talking to him. I waved at them and one of them waved back. We always like watching boats going through the locks, especially at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. In Sault Ste. Marie, they have a lot of ships go through their locks. They have a huge observation deck and a schedule showing when a certain ship is coming through and how big the ship is. We have only seen tugs and barges going through the locks on the Arkansas River. The barge today was about 600 feet long. We had a nice hike. By the time we got back to the Minnie we had hiked for two hours and went 4.5 miles.  

The control building for lock and dam

 

Barge coming out of the lock

 

Tugboat pushing the barge

 

The long bridge that went over the swamp area

After lunch I played my computer games. I did the Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 5 games. It took me 10 minutes and 21 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group. Then I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges of five different games of each. 

While I played my games Larry read. When I finished I read. 

At mid-afternoon we went on an hour walk. Larry walked with me down to the day area and then I walked another half hour.

For dinner I barbecued seasoned pork. Afterwards I went for another hour walk. I walked to the day area and boat ramp then a couple more times around the campground. By the time I got back I had done 28,500 steps. This put me in 4th place in my group. I finished reading A Noble Radiance. I'll started the next book in the series called Fatal Remedies.

I'm enjoying walking around the campground, I don't have fight roosters. When I was walking around Ozark Campground there were two roosters by the boat ramp. One of them came after me and started pecking at my legs. I was glad I was wearing jeans. I screamed at it to go away but it wasn't scared at all. I ended up kicking at it but it still didn't leave. The next lap I stopped at the parking lot of the ramp and turned around. I guess the rooster won. 

     

Thursday 3-31 Alma & Springhill Park

 

 

We started the day out with sunshine and no wind. By the time we left the wind came up and the temperature started to drop. It got cold. Supposed to get down to freezing tonight.

I made mini waffles for breakfast. We're moving on to another campground but it was only 30 miles away. We got the Minnie ready to go but we didn't leave until 9:30.

The route we took went through the small town of Ozark. Larry filled the Minnie with gas, the prices are up and it cost just under $100. We also stopped at the local Walmart, it was very small so we could only buy a couple of items we were getting low on. We continued on to the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest to Shores Lake campground. It was a first come first serve no reservation campground. The road to the campground was very narrow and through the mountains, it was very pretty with beautiful pines. When we got there there were just two people camping. Some of the sites had power. We parked the Minnie in one of the sites but the power did not work. Larry checked a number of sites and only one had working power. There was no cell coverage and the bathrooms were locked up. It appeared the campground was not yet ready for use. We decided to have lunch and move on.

The next destination was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park called Springhill. It was 31 miles away. On our way we stopped at a larger Walmart where we finished our shopping and Larry got on the computer to see if the site he had already reserved for the weekend was also available for tonight, it was so he booked it.

Larry had read that Alma had a Popeye statue. We found the statue in a beautiful park with a nice mural of the city dated from 1871 to 2009. Popeye actually was a fountain. Back in April of 2017 we visited Chester, Illinois, where they had a Popeye museum. They had a map that showed where to locate 12 different Popeye Characters around the city. We had a great time finding all twelve characters.  

    

Downtown Mural of Alma

 

Popeye in Alma

Popeye in Chester

After visiting Alma we went to Springhill park. When we arrived there was no one at the guard house so we went to where our site was. It was occupied but we were early so we drove to the playground and parked the Minnie and waited. We weren't there five minutes when the park host came by asked us if he could help us. He said that they have been trying to get in touch with the person in the site all day but couldn't reach him. He told us we could use the volunteer full hookup site for the night. We said no problem. We parked the Minnie and relaxed.

I did my computer games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong before I went to bed last night. I started the event before we left in the morning and finished them this afternoon. The event was: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Klondike and 5 Spider). It took me 1 hour, 15 minutes and 35 seconds, which put me in 22nd place in my group.

For dinner I heated up leftovers. After dinner we bundled up and went for a walk around the camping area. Larry walked with me around our camping loop. I continued walking another hour and 15 minutes. I walked around the loop a few times and I walked down to the day area and boat ramp. The boat ramp is very steep. The views of the Arkansas River aren't too pretty. I walked by the trailhead of the hike & bike trail in the park. By the end of the night I did 25,645 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

Camping at Springhill

 

Boat ramp

 

The bridge we took crossing the Arkansas River

 

Bike wash at the trailhead