Blue Spring Heritage- Sunday June 7th

On our way out of Eureka Springs we went to the Blue Spring Heritage Center. The spring pours 38 million gallons of cold clear blue water out into its lagoon. It was a beautiful place...

pouring into the lagoon

The pool is 70ft in diameter at surface but 10 feet in diameter below the surface... which is about about 25 feet down.

This was the view of an area/section of the Trail of Tears of the Cherokee Indians. Some of the indians camped at Blue Spring while waiting for stragglers. There were hieroglyphs on the walls of the cave. One stated that Daniel Boone stayed there 4 nights in 1804.

Big Stuff

We went to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge to see the big cats.

These animals were rescued from some crazy situtations. Who would think of a lion or tiger as a family pet?! Brody the lion... was purchased at a fair by a woman for a pet for only $150!! She later realized this is not something you can keep as a family pet. Duh!!??
This cougar wanted Eli for dinner. She was following Eli in the stroller and then would bite the walls of her cage to gnaw towards him... scary! She was a family pet and the owners realized she wasn't a great match for them with a 2 year old. Once again... DUH??!!

We drove past the worlds largest tuned musical windchime....Celestial Windz Harmonic Bazaar

War Eagle Mill

We ventured to War Eagle Mill, about 35 miles from Eureka Springs, for breakfast the next morning. This is a working mill and restaurant. The story of the mill was in 1832 a man by the name of Sylvanus Blackburn traveled to War Eagle River to build a home and mill for his family. In 1836 it was destroyed by a flood. He rebuilt his 4 story tall mill and it was burned down by the Confederate Army. In 1873 his son rebuilt it. Once again it burned down-- in 1924. Then in 1973 it was rebuilt to preserve the history of grist milling. Man... talk about persistence!Eli and Mommy shopping for some grains
the working mill

walking the town of War Eagle streets

Eureka! Eureka!

We made it! After a full day of driving and taking as many scenic routes as Eli would allow, we made it to Eureka Springs. As soon as we got there, Eli was ready to stretch out and watch some cartoons.... our cabin
Eureka is very unique. It's almost like another "Austin Texas" but with more hills in the town...The buildings were split level for the downtown shopping area. If you went in on the 1st floor of one side, it was the 2nd floor of the other side of the building. We spent a few hours scoping out the shops.

We visited the Crescent Hotel. It was once a "health resort hospital" said to cure diseases such as cancer. People went there and many died. In the end, the founder was "found out" as a fraud and it's said that the ghosts of those who died haunt it. You can tour a haunted room in the evenings there.... not for me! I am too chicken!!

On the road again....

We took a scenic route to Eureka Springs. We saw lots of countryside... man... we did not miss the city one bit!

Eli got his feet wet in a little river/park we found

on the road again.....

One thing we noticed was how clean Arkansas roadways are. They really take great care of their state! We hardly ever saw any trash on the sides of the road.... just signs "Shine- keep Arkansas green and clean!"

Wine Wine Wine....

We took a little detour on our way to Eureka Springs to visit a couple winerys. My family use to stop by here at times when we took family vacations/visited relatives in Rogers, AR.

http://www.wiederkehrwines.com/

Jer and I did a wine tasting. Jer is not fond of wine but did it anyway. Wiederkehr had a neat little swiss estaraunt. They took the old wine cellar and turned it into a restaraunt. GREAT FOOD too!
The wait staff dressed in old swiss style dresses and the place was dark and lit with candle light and small white lights (like christmas lights).

Mommy and Eli were stuffed and snuggling

We also stopped at Post Family Winery and Vineyards for a wine tasting..... well, actually it was just me. I wanted more wine so I went in alone and the boys stayed in the car.

Russelville, AR

We stayed a night in Russelville. It is located at the crossroads of Interstate 40 and scenic Byway 7 and situated at the halfway point between Little Rock and Fort Smith. There's not much there... Arkansas Tech University... but not much else. They had a great pizza joint-- Brickhouse Pizza. If you ever land yourself in this town, check it out. The spinach artichoke dip was awesome!

Russelville was a mid point for us to stay until we reached our next destination.... Eureka Springs. It had a beautiful lake so we snapped some photos... by the way. We lucked out on the trip with weather... blue skies and perfect temps! The storms rolled in as we headed home to TX.

Cute moments with Eli

On one of our little pit stops to enjoy the scenery, I took some shots of Eli on the rocks. I am definitely the camera queen. I want to capture every moment with him. I know "they" grow fast.... so I am trying to hold on to these moments, faces, and expressions

I love how he raised his right eyebrow for this smile a tad bit

I know this isnt a pic of Eli but this was too pretty not to share.

I am not sure if you can zoom into this or not. But he has the cutest look on his face here... like he was "going to get me!"

Daddy and Eli

Mt. Nebo-- Day trip

We made a day-trip to Mt. Nebo State Park on June 3rd to check it out. Originally I wanted to stay there but Jer insisted on Petit Jean. In the end, Petit was the better choice because it had more to explore and do. Mt. Nebo has great scenery but not as many trails and differentiated scenery.

I was the "driver" while we were going in and out of mountains. I am usually one to get car sick so I drove to deter that feeling. It worked! Well... Mount Nebo's first 2 miles up the mountain are VERY steep and "crooked" as the signs warn. The speed limit for the first two miles was 10 mph. As soon as you would get thru one switchack, you were headed into another. And each one climbed up at a 45 degree angle atleast! Not kidding! At about the 5th or 6th continual switchback, the car (as I call her "Miss Pearl") sort of stalled on me. Jer yelled out "go!" and I told him that I was trying and pumping/flooring the pedal. There was a motorcylcle behind us and was struggling and popping its way up the mountain too. All I could do was fear that my car would roll backwards and into the guy! Yes, I know... Brakes... but still. Anyways, after a minute the car finally skid out and took off. The only explanation we can think of is that the gas must have shifted back in the tank as we climbed... sloshed around to the back. We made it up Nebo... needless to say I was a bit too nervous to drive it back down. I had Jer do it. Even with the car in low gear he had to ride the brakes some... atleast he didnt burn up the brakes though... if it were me, I probably would have. Here are a couple pics from Nebo.

These lizards were everywhere. I am sure there are ones like this in Texas but I havent seen them. It reminded me of my ol iguana, Dino.

This is the view from a cabin. It was so peaceful.... makes you want to sit back and so nothing.... watch the days go by.
Jer teased that this would be my next vehicle

a pic of a switchback. It doesnt do it justice and show the angle... but you get the idea.