April 2nd: Our Pendleton Bend Anniversary Getaway

 

This year marked our 32nd wedding anniversary—such a meaningful milestone—and we decided to celebrate it a little differently. Instead of adding more “stuff” as we continue to downsize, we chose to invest in something that feels far more valuable these days: time, rest, and shared experiences.

Anyone who knows us knows this was an easy decision. Jim is happiest with a fishing rod in hand, and I’m perfectly content with a good book and a quiet place to settle in. So we planned our anniversary around exactly that.

We booked a campsite at Pendleton Park along the Arkansas River and spent a long, peaceful weekend doing what we love most. Jim headed out each day to explore different fishing spots, while I stayed back at camp, soaking up the calm, catching up on reading, and enjoying the rare gift of minimal distractions.

We also took some time to ride our e-bike and e-trike, which added a fun twist to the weekend. I’ll admit, after years of riding a 10-speed in my younger days, the trike still takes a bit of getting used to! But these days, I’m all about choosing the safer option—and

honestly, I think I’ve earned it. I may just need to add some battery-powered LED lights to the wheels… because why not embrace looking like a cool old lady?

One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was the wildlife. The campground was full of busy squirrels, beautiful butterflies, and some truly lovely birds. It made everything feel even more

peaceful and connected to nature.

When I described the trip to someone the following week, I told them it was about as “off-grid” as I want to get—quiet and unplugged, but still with electricity and running water. For us, it was the perfect balance.

All in all, it was exactly the kind of anniversary we needed—simple, meaningful, and wonderfully relaxing.

 

A Little Valentine's weekend trip.

Since my husband had to bowl in Hot Springs on Sunday, we decided to turn it into a little weekend getaway. Now, I have to be upfront—this wasn’t a camping trip. However, I’ve already found an awesome campsite that I’m planning to visit later this spring.

Right now, our camper is still winterized, and with the unpredictable weather, we didn’t want to risk any issues with frozen water lines. But when the tulips bloom at Garvan Woodland Gardens, I’m hoping to book a spot at Gulpha Gorge Campground. We stopped there for lunch at the picnic area and took a walk through the campground. The sites look great, and there’s a beautiful little creek running alongside the area—perfect for a future camping trip!

 Later that afternoon, we took a scenic drive up the mountain road in Hot Springs and visited the observation tower. Even though I’ve lived in Arkansas my whole life, this was my first time going up there. We took some great photos and enjoyed the incredible views!

The next day, we visited the Gangster Museum—a must-see if you’re interested in the history of Hot Springs and, by extension, Arkansas. Some aspects of Hot Springs’ past had a significant influence on the state's political climate between the early 1920s and the mid-1960s, making it a fascinating place to explore.

Of course, the museum also has some really cool artifacts. Hubby couldn’t resist snapping a picture with the Tommy gun!

I’m really looking forward to camping season this year. I’d love to take some short trips around the state and check out a few new spots. There are several state parks and Corps of Engineers campgrounds within a 5-6 hour drive that we haven’t camped at yet, and I can’t wait to explore them!

July 2024 Updates

 July 4th Holiday weekend.

I just have to say, July has been very busy!!  Between family trips, rock concerts, and camping, it has been practically non-stop.  But I have enjoyed every minute.  The first thing I want to do is give a shout out to my great-nephew.  Over the 4th of July holiday weekend we went to Franklin to celebrate his successful completion of boot camp with the Marines.  I could see instantly that the experience had added a layer of maturity.  In the picture below he is with his Grandpa in the middle and a good friend of Eddie's on the right named Ron.  Ron was a former Marine as well and he presented Zach, my great nephew with a challenge coin that he had received from a General that he served with.  It was very cool to watch how much Zach treasured that.

July 25th -- July 29th

Now, I don't think I will ever outgrow, or get tired of going to see the bands that I grew up listening to.  This was a picture taken at the Three Dog Night concert on July 25h.  I have to tell you that for guys that are in their late 70's they still are rock the house.

So, the next morning, in spite of being a little short on sleep we got up and got the camper ready to go and off we went to the Corp of Engineers park at Gamaliel, AR.  This campground is on Lake Norfork, which is a managed lake from the Norfork river dam.  I like Corp of Engineer site for numerous reasons, they have the needed amenities but are not as expensive as State parks, especially with my discount.

I would absolutely stay at this campground again, but the next time we go to this area I am probably going to look at some of the other Corp sites as well.

The next day, the 27th, we drove over to where the White River joins the Norfork River so that Jim could fish for trout.   He caught a few small ones that he released back into the river. The point you see on the right is where the two rivers meet. Me, I chilled on the bank with a book :-)

Now that brings this post to the bird story.  I have never seen this happen before, but I guess there is always a first time for anything.

This little bird was hysterical. In this picture it is maybe 6 inches from my feet.  He hung out in camp with us for at least half an hour.  Jim got out a small piece of bread and offered him a little bit of it.  The bird literally flew up and took it from his fingers.  It decided to give both of us a gentle peck on our toes and one time, (I did not see this), Jim said it landed on his knee.  What was really interesting is that the entire time it was hanging out with us, there was a summer tanager that was hovering close by to keep an eye on it.  I have no idea why, but it was interesting.

Both of them appeared to be juveniles.  If anyone reads this and has an idea of what may be going on, I would be very curious.  When the cowbird decided that we were becoming a little boring, they flew off together. 

On Sunday, we got up early enough that we could attend church at the Mountain Home Christian Church and then indulged in a very pleasant lunch at Jamie's Local Flavors Restaurant.

Jim, of course went fishing again when we came back to camp.  The people that were camping in this site had left early that morning so he just went down to the lake below that site.

On Monday we took our time breaking camp and then we headed home.  I had to snap a pic of the lake from the truck window because we had way too much traffic to stop.

You know you had a good time, when you get home and the first thing you think is can we go back in a couple of days. And on your last day in camp you think, I would not mind staying the rest of the week.

May Indiana Trip

We left on May 23 and our first stop on the trip was Rend Lake in Illinois.  We chose that location because it was just about a halfway point to the Franklin Indiana area. It is just much easier to break trips of this distance in about a 300-mile-a-day average.  We spent one night at the Gun Greek campground at Rend Lake and moved camp to Nashville Indiana the next morning.

We stayed at the Friends of Mine campground for our Indiana campsite.  They do a very good job of taking care of this campground, and it was a fairly convenient drive to everything we had to do in Indiana.  You see the purpose of this trip was to see my great niece graduate from high school and attend her open house to celebrate!

 

This is a picture of her when they announced her name as graduating Magna Cum Laude.  She is planning to pursue the required work to become a Physician Assistant at the University of Indiana.  

The next day we all celebrated her at an open house. Don't worry, all the pictures are published here with permission.  

I always enjoy collecting stories of interesting history when I travel; this trip has a good story.  There is an interesting gravesite near the small town of Amity, Indiana.  The story is that Nancy Kerlin Barnett had requested that when her time came to be buried overlooking Sugar Creek because it was one of her favorite places.  When the time came her family followed her wishes and all was well until the county decided it was time to build a gravel road.  The gravel road was originally planned to go through the grave site.  Her grandson held the road crew at bay with a loaded weapon and a compromise was reached that the road would divide around the grave site.  For a long time, the gravesite was just a mound of dirt and rock and there are reports of several vehicle accidents at that spot.

In 2016 after the gravesite was impacted by farm machinery a crew of archeologists investigated the gravesite.  They found the remains of seven individuals, two women, a man, and four children.  All of the remains were re-interred below road level in new caskets and the grave was marked with signs.  There is no information about the remains of the other people in the gravesite, that will always remain a mystery.

Indy Star Article

  

It was pretty funny that when I took these photos a lady stopped to make sure that I was OK.  I think she thought that my people had kicked me out of the car 😊

After hanging out with family the next day, we returned to the Gun Creek Campground and stayed overnight.  

We are looking forward to other trips, stay tuned for more true and weird stories!!

 

June 19th Shakedown Trip

 

We arrived at Lake Merrisach, shortly before dark on the evening of the 19th.  And wouldn't you know that I picked one of the more difficult campsites to back a travel trailer into.😜  Of course hubby has mad skills with backing up trailers so we made it just fine.  Just for a little background on our location, this lake is actually fed by the Arkansas river and is next to a lock and dam which also connects to the Mississippi River.  

This was not our first trip to Lake Merrisach by any means.  We fished this lake out of a 14 ft. aluminum boat often early in our time as hubby and wifey.  We have pulled several nice bass out of this lake over the years, and before you think to ask, that was way before digital pictures so I am afraid I can't prove this story.

This wasn't even our first time to camp at the lake, about 24 years ago, we camped there in a tent one Memorial day weekend.  But we both have older bones and enjoy having amenities such as a real bed and an air conditioner LOL.

The next day, hubby was plotting against the fish in the lake.  After a bit of breakfast he gathered up his gear and took off to put his plans into action.  He successfully caught some bream and of all things a weird thing called a snakehead.

We took a short drive down to the dam, and they had water running really fast.  Years ago, a gentleman I knew that worked for the Corps of Engineers told me that water in our part of the world (South Arkansas) is controlled by the flood pool from Oklahoma.  That seems strange, if you ever drive over the Arkansas river in other states like Oklahoma.  You often can see large amounts of land in the river bed in those other states, but around here the Arkansas river runs rather fast and deep.

All in All I would say we had a successful first trip in out new Grand Design Imagine camper.