April 28-29, 2010 – Branson, Missouri

Wednesday, we headed north to Missouri and entered the Ozarks:

Beautiful scenery, isn’t it.

We are staying at the Turkey Creek RV Village (an Escapee Park) in Hollister, MO for the next week.  Here is our site:

After setting up, we took a little ride to orient ourselves and get some brochures for Branson – so much to see and do but so little time and money – LOL!!!

Miles Traveled: 238 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arkansas: North Crystal Springs Road; US-270; US-270B; US-70B; US-270; I-30; I-430; I-40; US 65

Missouri: US-65; US-65B

 

Thursday, we decided to check out all of Hollister and Branson by car.  Branson reminds me of a cross between Vegas, Laughlin, and Nashville (without the casinos).  The historic downtown and Branson Landing are a few blocks long – with a couple theaters and LOTS of shopping and restaurants.   Most of the shows, however, are on the Strip – RT 76 and on the colored routes.

There are a number of streams and lakes right outside the city so we will probably check them out.  We did take a ride to the overlook:

And a walk around the park – aren’t they cute!

We will probably take in one or two of the shows and maybe even the train.  But right now, we are holding off making any plans because of the severe weather coming in Friday and Saturday.  Today we had steady 20-25 mph winds and they are talking about severe thunderstorms/rain/tornados tomorrow – Yikees!

Stay tuned!

April 26-27, 2010 – Crystal Mining in Arkansas

Monday

We spent the day at Arrowhead Crystal Mine in Mount Ida, Arkansas.  We were here in December 2008 and found some really nice pieces so that is why we chose this mine again.  When we were here before, they were actively mining and we had to move whenever they blasted.  Today, however, they were not mining and it looks as if it is not as active as it was.  We did find out that they are mining on another part of the property but it is not open to the public at this time.

We decided to do our digging in the tailings (like we did before), instead of on the mountain side (which is REALLY HARD WORK!).  Here is the mine:

Here is the tailings pile – I am over the hill on the right side (I cannot be seen in this photo):

And here I am – I found an area that had a lot of white quartz and was hoping to find some clear quartz.

We did find a few nice pieces but not as much as before (I was kind of disappointed – :-().  Next time I think we are going to find out how long it has been since there were piles put on the tailings.   Overall though – we did have a great day but it is a lot of work!!!  And yes, I would do it again.  It is amazing to see the beauty that Mother Nature produces.  I use to think that some of these pieces I saw in stores were man made but to see them come out of the ground – oh my!  This has definitely been one of the highlights of the trip!!!

Back home we just relaxed – only a cooking campfire tonight – the wind really picked up…

Tuesday

We decided to just hang out today.  I cleaned up the inside of the MH and then cleaned and sorted, and packed up my crystals.  I will need to do a lot of soaking in acid when I get home – :-))). 

And, of course, another great campfire evening.

Tomorrow we are heading towards Branson, MO so stay tuned.

April 24-25, 2010 Hot Springs National Park

Saturday

The storms continued to roll thru the area in the morning and by noon they were done.  Blue skies and sun for the rest of the day.  Notice – no boats – everyone took them out of the water because of the storms.

 

The geese returned:

One note on the storms:  This same front continued eastward where it did considerable damage and lives were lost.  Please keep those people in your prayers.

We took a little ride to Mount Ida to check out some of the crystal shops and the location of the Arrowhead Mine (where we will be on Monday – :-).  I was able to pick up some oxalic acid at Judy’s Crystals.  I need it to clean the crystals I dug up in 2008 and hopefully some of the crystals we will get on Monday.  Judy and her husband were great on giving me the recipe and some hints on cleaning.

Back at the motor home, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and evening.  Dusty was out with us for quite a while – this is what he does when he gets back in – LOL!!

And another great campfire evening – with our neighbors joining us.

Sunday

Today we decided to check out Hot Springs National Park.  Part of this park is in downtown Hot Springs.  The flowers on Bathhouse Row were really blooming:

 

This is the Fordyce Bathhouse which has been restored.  The National Park visitor center is also here.  So we spent some time there touring the rooms, exhibits and seeing their movies – great place.

 

One of the baths:

The steam room:

The needle shower:

  

The ladies changing room:

The music room – check out the stained glass ceiling:

 

Some of the bath houses are still operating – very tempting.

The Grand Promenade:

There are 47 hot springs here but most are capped to protect them from pollution.

There are a number of fountains around town – some hot, some cold, some hot then chilled and all are free so we filled our jug for coffee for the next few days – :-)).  

We also stopped for lunch at Grandma’s Restaurant where I had some great Gumbo – mmmmmmm!!

From there we did the mountain scenic loop and stopped at the Mountain Tower.  This tower was originally built in the early 1900’s as part of draw to the Hot Springs.  It has been rebuilt a few times and is still open.

 

Views from the top:

 

Back home, we sat around the campfire and watched the turtles watching us.  If you look under the black lines, you can see their heads:

 

The two white spots are the turtles watching us:

Life doesn’t get any better than this!

April 22-23, 2010 Just Hanging Out

Thursday

Some early morning pictures from our site:

 

Our first job today was gathering wood for our campfires.  We talked with the ranger yesterday and he told us that as long as it was down and dead, we could gather it.  We found some logs at the other end of the campground so we loaded the generator and chain saw and off we went.   We found a nice log that was dry and weathered (and not rotten – :-)), cut it up, hauled it out to the Tracker and unloaded at our site.  Then Andy split it all off and on during the day – Good Guy!!   So we are all set for wood – :-).

We needed supplies so we went to Wal-Mart in Hot Springs and then stopped at the Visitor Center and the National Forest Visitor Center for information.   Folks, this is the area (Mt. Ida – Quartz Crystal capital of the world) where we were crystal mining in December 2008.  So, hopefully, we will get to do it again over the next few days.  I would also like to go to the Hot Springs National Park so stay tuned.

Back at the MH, we just hung out the rest of the day.

Dusty’s favorite spot:

Dusty watching over his space – :-).  He is on the right middle of this picture:

And, of course, another great campfire night!!

Friday

The weather forecast for the next few days is rain, severe thunderstorms and a possibility of tornados starting this afternoon.  Well, the rain started around 7 AM and we decided to go into town and do our laundry.

The rain continued and the storms started when we got back.  The campers around us have all pulled their boats out of the water and secured their campsite.  (We did the same with our campsite.)

And all afternoon, we listened to our NOAA weather radio as the tornado watches and warnings were given. Right now we are out of the woods but they are also calling for more severe weather thru tomorrow afternoon….it should be an interesting night.

April 20-21, 2010 Travel to Arkansas

Tuesday:

We left Texas today in the fog and rain.  Our first stop in Oklahoma was the visitor’s center – there is lots to do in this state but sadly we won’t be staying long here.  Oh well, next time.

The rain stopped, the fog lifted and we even had some sun.  And the greenery – oh my!!  It has been a long time since we saw this much green. 

In Shawnee, we left the interstate and started on the back roads.  This is the part of traveling that we enjoy.  No matter what part of the country we travel, it is beautiful. 

Highlights for us today:

The greenery – large trees, grass, flowers,

Oil wells in the field,

Rivers and streams that are full of water,

Rolling hills,

Farms with cows and horses,

Small towns – one even had brick roads (tough on us riding in the MH – LOL; but pretty neat!).

Scenes from the road:

The road on the right is the old Route 66.

 

Wind Turbines:

Oh, so green:

And the rivers are flowing:

We are camped tonight at the Choctaw Casino in McAlester, Oklahoma where we had dinner and donated some money in the slot machines – LOL.

Miles Traveled: 390  Miles

Routes Traveled:

Texas: (X80) I-40

Oklahoma: I-40; SR-18; SR-3E; SR-9A; US-270; US-69

 

Wednesday

Our travels today on the back roads took us thru the Ouachita National Forest – oh my:

 

We are camped by Lake Ouachita  - Crystal Springs Campground – an Army Corp of Engineers Campground.  Here is our site:

Our Backyard:

It is so nice to be sitting by the lake and taking it easy.  We will be here for about a week just enjoying ourselves.

Even Dusty likes it:

And, of course, campfires – YEA!!

Stay tuned!

Miles Traveled:  185 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Oklahoma: SR-69; US-270 (US-59)

Arkansas: US270 (US-59/US-71); North Crystal Springs Road

April 19, 2010 – The Retired Monkey Railroad

When Andy was stationed here, his family came to see him and they went to Palo Duro Canyon and road the Monkey Railroad on Christmas Day (Andy’s first train ride).   This was a miniature narrow gauge railroad that got its name from a rock formation in the park.  We found out that the Monkey Railroad was discontinued in 1996 and sold – :-(.  But today we found its resting place:

We did not go into the Canyon – it remained foggy and rainy all day so we decided we would do it another day.  And we have decided to head towards Arkansas.  They are calling for thunderstorms the next couple of days and Thursday’s forecast is for severe storms.  This is tornado country and we want to be out of it by then (hopefully).

So stay tuned!

April 18, 2010 – Cars, Legs, and The Air Force Base

Today we played tourist on some of Amarillo’s Roadside Attractions.

Our first stop was Cadillac Ranch.  Ten Cadillac's buried nose down in the field.

  

It was really interesting to see these but we had to step around all the mud…   I am attaching two links that will tell you the history of these cars.  Check it out:

http://www.libertysoftware.be/cml/cadillacranch/crmain.htm

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/TX-CadillacRanch.html

Our next stop was the Helium Monument.  Did you know that Amarillo is the helium capital of the world? (Neither did I.)

First the info:

 

The Monument:

This Monument is also a sundial.

The numbers surrounding the monument.  The shadow appears on solar time – really cool!!

This monument is huge – notice Andy near one of the legs:

Our next stop was at the Hugh Pair of Legs.  They are just in a field and from what I could gather, they were designed by the same person that did Cadillac Ranch.  How funny is this!!

 

We stopped for lunch at the Big Texan Steak Ranch – home of the 72 oz. steak:

Here is the 72 oz. steak (that would be quite a few meals for us – LOL!):

And this gentleman in the red took on the challenge which is to eat the 72 oz. steak and trimmings in one hour and get it free.  If not it is $72.00 (that’s $1.00 per ounce – WOW!).

Cannot tell you if he did it or not.  According to our waitress, about one in eight that try, do succeed.  Can you imagine that much food in one sitting – oh my…I would be in pain, lots of pain.

Anyway, we had buffalo burgers there that were WONDERFUL!!  Would recommend this place to everyone.

Our next stop, well, here is the story.  Fifty years ago, Andy was stationed at Amarillo Air Force Base for training (for a few months).  The base is no longer there so we tried to find where it might have been.  After driving all around the area, we found it.  Can you believe the main gate of the base is just 1/2 mile from the campground.  And we can see the base from our motor home.  How funny is that!!  The gate is no longer there and many of the buildings are also gone.  The remaining buildings are used for businesses and for the Amarillo College.  We drove through the streets and it brought back so many memories for my Andy.  I am sure he never realized that 50 years after he was stationed here, he would be back in a motor home…

As we were riding around trying to find the base, we ended up on this road where the cow was on the other side of the fence – LOL:

 

And the fields were full of these little guys – prairie dogs – how cute:

We stayed for a while just watching their antics.

And our last stop was “The Bug Farm” – 5 Volkswagens Bugs buried nose down in the dirt.  Not sure of the story on this one but we just had to see it.

What an interesting day!