More Arkansas Photos

Wow, it's taking  me a long time to get through my Arkansas photos. Here are some more. 

Our car. Did I mention that we wrecked it on the way to the airport to fly home? At the hotel, someone was parked behind us where they shouldn't have been and we backed into them. So Noelle has already been in her first car accident. 

Washington Regional Hospital where Noelle was born.

After placement.

First bath

We took a trip to War Eagle Caverns near Eureka Springs. The tour of the caverns was advertised as handicap accessible so we figured that meant stroller accessible too.

The water is so green because the river bed is lined with slate and stone instead of mud. 

Beginning the tour. There was one other couple with us. They were from Texas and the woman was terrified of bears. The guide had a lot of fun with that, being in a dark cave and all. When he found out we were from Idaho, he said that explained why we were so cool with the bear jokes - we are used to living near grizzly bears...the kind that actually eat people. 

A scene from the movie Frank and Jesse was filmed right here. They have left all the props in place. Jesse James actually used the War Eagle Caverns as a hideout, so that part of the movie is accurate. I haven't seen the film yet but feel like I should. 

We saw a lot of interesting things in the caves like a newt, a bat, and copper veins. Justin even saw a baby badger or raccoon or something. This is a picture of gold. 

As we were driving back to our hotel in Fayetteville after the caverns, we were admiring the beautiful scenery. Justin then asked, "Where are all these Ozark Mountains I keep hearing about?" 

"We have been touring them for days," I replied incredulously. "The train ride? The Civil War battlegrounds? The caverns? All in the Ozarks. Not only that, we've been in the Boston Mountains, which are the highest and most rugged part of the Ozarks."



Justin was dumbfounded. He knew that "eastern" mountains weren't like "western" mountains, but he still expected more. I suppose we are a little jaded since we can see the Grand Teton from the highway near our home and Justin grew up in the shadow of Yellowstone National Park.

View of Heart Mountain where Justin grew up. 

I suppose it would be nice if the rest of the world refrained from naming land masses "mountains" unless they break the tree line. 

Arkansas Sight-Seeing - Pea Ridge Battlefield

Another one of our outings in Arkansas took us to the Pea Ridge National Military Park - a Civil War battlefield. While I enjoy history in general, the Civil War is an era that I really don't know a ton about. So I learned a lot here. 

I won't bore you with all the details - suffice it to say the Battle of Pea Ridge was an important battle that secured Missouri for the Union and also gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. The South was favored to win the battle, yet a series of miscommunication, bad weather, and arrogance gave the victory to the North. 

There was a museum and then a drive-through tour of the battlegrounds, which are kept to look the same as they did in the 1860s.

Also, the Trail of Tears went through this same area in 1830.

Justin with a replica cannon.

From this ridge the generals could see their entire armies - about 10,000 troops. It's probably a fair statement to say that it was really, really rare for a general to witness an entire battle. 

The tavern that became a hospital

The amputation center

Years later, soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy started having reunions and erected this monument. What a true testament to the camaraderie built during war that soldiers of the opposing sides were brought together because of their shared experiences in hell. 

Justin ended up with three ticks. We're from Wyoming and Idaho and never had ticks. Weird. Well, thanks to Google and two siblings who are nurses, I removed the ticks with my eyebrow tweezers.

How cute.

Loving Lagoon

The first weekend in May, we went to Lagoon because my niece was dancing. We wanted to take Joci to Lagoon sometime this summer. We were a little apprehensive about going so early in May because of cool spring weather and Justin was still recovering from a torn ligament in his foot. But we decided that it would be more fun for Joci to have cousins there and to go before the baby came. Little did we know that Noelle would be born four days later, so it made for a wonderful "last hurrah" for Joci as an only child. 

Bulgy the Whale was Joci's favorite ride. She rode it at least five times. 

You can see Afton and Paige in the background

Because the two cousin siblings often rode together, Joci went alone on a few rides. She didn't mind at all. I thought she would be nervous going alone on this ride because it took her completely out of view of us, but she seemed so over the moon to be driving a car all by herself. 

The adults took turns watching the kids while the other couple went off on big rides. So while Jordan, Cindy, and Afton took off, Joci and Paige had to share rides. They usually didn't like it. 

On the massive Ferris wheel

Paige with a gun. Run!

On the Ferris wheel

The carousel

On top of the world at the Ferris wheel.

Lagoon is a lot more expensive than I remember, but, man, it was worth every penny just to see the joy on Joci's face. She had so much fun and we're already planning a trip back. Soon!!