Travel Diary

This is a copy of the diary I kept on our recent trip to Bella Vista, Arkansas.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The boys and I leave at a little before 9:00 a.m. to go to Bella Vista, Arkansas. I have rented a house on Lake Loch Lomond. I decided to go all out since this is the first vacation we have had as a family since Raymond died. Fortunately, when I called to get the house, they discounted it for me which made the trip even a little sweeter. http://tinyurl.com/36qmvz

The trip itself is pretty uneventful. I had the oldest drive for about two hours through part of Oklahoma. First time for him to drive that long. He did a good job. I was able to get some reading done so I really enjoyed that part of the drive.

We arrived in Bella Vista around 4:00 p.m. I feel a little tingle of delight that we arrived right when I planned. I have made this trip probably close to a hundred times in the last 20 years, but this time it is different. I alone am in charge. There is no adult back up.

The boys stayed in the van when I went into the office to check in and get the keys to the house. When I turned around to leave I found myself on the receiving end of a beautiful smile and a greeting nod from a man coming in the door. The desk clerk greeted him by name. His name was “Raymond.” I took that as a sign.

The house is located at the end of a cove and is beautiful. The fishing area is a little cramped for three, but we made it work. It was a very nice night, and there was just enough fish caught to make us all feel as if we had fulfilled our mission for the night.

I finished my book, “A Bigger Life” by Annette Smith around 2:00 a.m. It was not what I expected. Let’s just say it turns out at the end that there is cancer and a hospice involved. I believe that this was the catharsis I needed to enjoy this trip.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I woke up early to rain. I decided to let the boys sleep in for a while as I was moving slow. After a late breakfast it was still raining so we decided to drive to Terra Studios, and then go to Fayetteville.

Terra Studios is like a little bit of heaven to me. http://www.terrastudios.com/ I wish I could live on their grounds with all their mystical creatures. As I walked through the Mural Garden I felt layers of stress being lifted off of me. A great sense of peace came over me and I felt so blessed. I worried all the way to Terra that the visit would tear me up inside since Raymond and I went there together, but that did not happen. I had a moment of regret that Raymond couldn’t be there with us, and I was sad that Raymond did not discover his artistic talent earlier in his life, but I also felt a sense of great well-being after just a few minutes and was able to absorb in the calm, and breathe in the gladness. The boys purchased a couple of thumb drums, and I bought a tile. The youngest found a small clay turtle.

After Terra, we drove back to Fayetteville and went to Dickson Street Bookshop. A favorite stop of mine and Raymond’s every time we went there. They reportedly have 100,000 used and out-of-print books. My first order of business was to go look for a book that I saw there about ten years ago. I wanted a copy of “The Kentucky Cycle” by Robert Schenkkan. http://tinyurl.com/2jubcg Imagine my shock to find the book exactly where I remembered it being. I walked right to it. I was so excited. After that I just walked followed my youngest around as he made one fantastic discovery after another. When we left it was pouring rain again.

Because it was still raining, we decided to stop at the mall and walk around. I found a turtle thumb drum and a clearance green purse. We really did not find a lot to do in the mall, and decided to call it a day. When we left it had stopped raining.

We decided to go fishing again in back of the house in case it rained again. I caught a good sized bass, and there were several blue gill caught. We are a catch and release family, so I stayed busy taking fish off the hook. The boys have started baiting their own hooks (we only fish with worms), but I have to take the fish off.

I loved this day.

My big catch:

Thursday, June 28, 2007

I woke up with a wonderful realization. I have not had a single backache since the first night. I slept until 8:00 a.m., something that never happens at home because my back wakes me up. It is definitely time for me to start looking for a new mattress when I get home. The boys were still asleep so I went downstairs to work on the fishing poles. It wasn’t long before they were downstairs with me watching GMA. We decided to make pancakes for breakfast. The youngest is the pancake maker in the house. He had made up all the dry ingredients before we left, so he only had to add the eggs, oil, and buttermilk. We watched “MythBusters” and then decided to go hiking.

We went to Tanyard Creek to walk the nature trail. On the way there we saw a red-eared slider turtle in the road and stopped to rescue it to the other side. The youngest has gotten smarter about picking up wild turtles; he held it out to the side so that it would not relieve itself on him.

On the trail we saw a lizard, a huge duck, and a snake. There were some of the tiniest birds in the trees. I thought of Raymond in his wheelchair on the suspension bridge from our last visit there. Raymond and I had hiked that area so many times in the years before he became ill. I wasn’t sad though. I just tried to enjoy the peace and the beauty. It is so like what I love and so unlike where I live. I need to bring more of it to my house. We saw some bluebirds at the trail head.

Tanyard Creek, Bella Vista, Arkansas

It amazes me as we drive along the roads here that there are small patches of “butterfly weed” growing here and there along the road. http://tinyurl.com/oaxn At each patch there are butterflies hovering above as they wait for their turn at the nectar.

After the hike we went back to the house for showers and lunch and to plan the rest of the day. We decided to go to some of the local shops before they closed.

On the way into town we decided to go to a garage sale on Chelsea. We found the garage sale, but decided not to stop after all as it was small and uninteresting. On the way back into town we saw four beavers along the way. We went to Wishing Springs Gallery http://tinyurl.com/yq3hqh. There were some beautiful pottery pieces. I had to walk away from a great teapot.

After the gallery, we went to Janet Davis Music. http://www.janetdavismusic.com/ Autoharps are so cool!!! I found a book for my mountain dulcimer, and the youngest found a music book for his hammered dulcimer. The one thing we really wanted but could not find any where was another jaw harp.

We stopped at Lowe’s to check out the garden section. When we got in the car to leave I noticed a hawk flying on the cliff above. Raymond saying “hello.”

After returning to the house, we decided to go down to fish at one of the docks on Lake Avalon. It was the last place we had fished as a family. It also is the place we still talk about because of my “gruesome” catch. Raymond, the boys, and I were there fishing and it was getting close to being too dark to fish. I threw out and caught a “big one.” I was having trouble reeling it in. Raymond was watching, and the boys had their backs to me fishing on the other side. As I got my catch closer to the dock, Raymond and I realized it was not a fish. Raymond and I would catch glimpses and were getting concerned. We were almost sure I had caught a human head. I told Raymond to keep the boys to the other side and I would try to bring it in. We would call for help once I was sure. It took a few minutes but I finally landed the “head.” It was a “Winnie the Pooh” ball that had split open and had faded. There was plenty of moss hanging down as “hair.” We had a good laugh about how we had been watching way too much “CSI.”

The boys and I had some good luck at the dock. The youngest caught a huge bass and we almost got it up on the dock, but lost it at the last minute. Once again, we needed a net and didn’t have one. I really need to buy a net. One of these days it will be my big catch we lose.

Tomorrow we will go to hike Bench Rock Nature Trail, a Corp of Engineer Trail in Beaver Lake area.

Friday, June 29, 2007

It is so glorious to wake up and take a very hot shower with water pressure that can blast you out the shower door. It has taken great willpower to not spend the whole vacation in the shower.

After breakfast we left for Bench Rock Nature Trail. We had to make a couple of stops on the way since the oldest needed batteries for his camera and another memory card because he has already taken 220 pictures.

We made a quick stop at Pea Ridge Military Park to see if they had any jaw harps. The oldest bought one there the last time we were there and now the youngest wants one. http://www.nps.gov/peri/ Unfortunately, they were out of jaw harps.

With some navigation by the oldest, we found the road we needed to get to the nature trail. Stopped at the pay booth and were informed how to find the footbridge at the trail head, and were also informed that there had been complaints about ticks on the trail. We told the man that we had plenty of bug spray and were dressed appropriately, paid our $4.00 and went back up the hill to the parking area.

This trail is described in the “Vacation Information Guide for Northwest Arkansas” as “1-1/3-mile-long trail is easy to moderate hiking and usually takes an hour to hike. Half of the length of the trail leads you along the top of a bluff, which provides many panoramic views of Beaver Lake.” Well, I don’t know where that reviewer has been hiking, but this was not what I considered to be an easy to moderate hike. The trail was not well maintained, and started up straight up a series of stone stairs. No complaints, I don’t mind a strenuous hike, but it was misleading. I sent the oldest back for our hiking sticks and off we went. We were using our sticks mainly to beat off the spider webs and to move the weeds aside to find the trail. After probably less than a quarter of a mile I looked down and saw a tick on my leg. I told the boys to stop so I could check them. Sure enough, we all had several ticks on our pants. We took a poll and decided to leave the trail. That is all it took for the oldest to take off. He was so freaked out by the ticks that he was running faster than I have ever seen him go. (He is not known for his speed.) If a track coach had been available, I think they would have signed him on the spot. The youngest and I were so tickled by the sight that we could barely walk. By the time we made it back to the trail head my oldest was at the van, shirt off, and checking for more ticks. It was so hot and muggy it was hard to check the clothes. We were peeling the shirts off our skin. I drove us back into the park and I swear the old man in the booth was laughing. We stopped at the showers and changed into the extra clothes we had brought along and decided to head back up the road.

As we were driving my oldest decided we should spend the day in Eureka Springs. I was sure I had seen the sign up the road for the exit and took off since the oldest could not find what we needed on the map. I went up the road, turned where I saw the sign and off we went. I was driving along and suddenly noticed a sign that said “Welcome to Missouri.” My oldest didn’t think that was right, so he started looking it up. Sure enough I had taken a wrong turn. I had two choices, go back, or take a longer route through the Mark Twain National Forest. http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/marktwain/ It was a beautiful drive, but a lot like being on a roller coaster. We rolled down the window to listen to all the birds. It was fabulous. We would run into little rain showers and were amazed out how clean the rain looked. It was well worth the extra miles.

Driving into Eureka Springs we just had to stop at the first art gallery on the road. It was wonderful and the boys and I were ready to hit the shops and the galleries. We drove up the road and found a parking space, paid our fee, and off we went. We saw so many wonderful artists. I loved Al Hooks’ work. www.twistedhooks.com or www.alhooks.com. I also was enthralled by the paintings of Lisa Bauer. http://www.eurekaspringsartists.com/ It was a terrific day. As we were going back we saw the sign that I thought said to “Eureka Springs.” It didn’t say anything close to that, but I figured we were meant to go through the Mark Twain National Forest.

Overlook between Eureka Springs and Bella Vista, Arkansas - Fog coming into the valley.

When we got back to Bella Vista we fixed dinner and then went to the dock across the way from the house. I had wanted to fish there all week but it was always full in the evenings. We had some luck and it was a pretty good night until the last batch of “cat fishers” came through and netted without asking us. The first group of men was very nice and we practically had to beg them to go ahead and get their bait. The last group just threw out the nets without asking right under our poles. We were lucky there were no tangles. We would have gladly let them net with no problems, but I hated how rude they were. We had some very nice catches and went back to the house happy and tired.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Check out is 11:00 a.m. I get up around 8 a.m. and take my last great shower before going home to the lukewarm drip I usually get. We had packed everything up the night before so it is just a matter of having breakfast, packing the cooler, taking out the trash, and loading the van. I love having a garage here because it makes it so much easier to load up.

The boys and I look at the map and decide to take a different route home. We decide to take the scenic route along 71. We drive into town and check out then hit the highway. There is not a lot of traffic and the weather is threatening, but there is no rain yet.

The drive is beautiful. We stop at an art guild gallery, but there is nothing we want there, so it is on down the road. I see a beautiful scenic overlook and pull over so we can take pictures and go into the shop. The shop was called Artist Point and we were in Mountainburg, Arkansas. The shop owner was really nice and the view outside the back of the shop was spectacular. There were hummingbird feeders hung all along the windows and there were hummingbirds all over. We enjoyed walking around and looking at the gifts. There was also a huge selection of homemade jams/preserves, pickles, and relishes. I bought three jars of sugar free apple butter, two for us and one for my mother.

Artist Point, Mountainburg, Arkansas

The rest of the trip was peaceful. There were a few bouts of rain, but nothing too treacherous. My oldest drove for a while in Oklahoma, which gave me a break and let me get some reading done. We made a few more stops and visited with mom before heading to the house. The youngest was thrilled to get home and see his turtles.

This vacation was just long enough. I decide not to look at the papers or the mail until Monday. I am so glad we went. I needed the break. I needed to fish.

I wish I could explain how much I love fishing. I would love to be able to fish at any given moment. Unfortunately, that is not something I can do here.

I’m amazed when I check the mileage and see that I drove 1,130 miles. I guess I can take the boys on vacation by myself.

The boys and I made a list of the wildlife we saw on the trip. Here is our list:

Red-Eared Slider Turtle
Lizard
Snake
Bluebirds
A huge duck
5 beavers
2 deer
Butterflies
Crawdad
Bat
Turkey
Guinea Hens
Hawk
Buzzard carrying snake
Three Toed Box Turtle
Luna Moth
Opossum
Chipmunk
Frogs
Turkeys

As much as I enjoyed the trip, I can wait awhile for another one.