May 2, 2013 - Tiny Town

Hot Springs, AR. We found a great place today. First, however, we took a drive up West Mountain (their term, not ours) where we checked out the view of Hot Springs below. We could look across the valley to Hot Springs Mountain Tower where we were yesterday. From this vantage point, the tower looked even taller. Then we visited Tiny Town. We thought this would be a quick in-and-out but not so. It was amazing. It is completely animated. Naturally the trains run but so much more was animated: Ferris wheel, barn dancers, farmer plowing, Indians...

May 1, 2013 - Quack, quack

Hot Springs, AR. It was time for a Duck Boat tour! Captain Adam was a real fountain of information. For instance, what do you call a dog with no legs? Nothing, he can't come anyway. He also wanted to know who could swim and who could not. He pointed out the bailing buckets to the non-swimmers, adding that experience had shown that should we spring a leak, the non-swimmers would bail with more energy than the swimmers. He also added that if we could not follow the diagram on how to put on the life vests, don't worry about it. Just grab one...

Apr 30, 2013 - Driver beware!

Hot Springs, AR. Our first tourist activity today was to check out a giant rocking chair. It took a bit to find it but the chair really is a large one! Then we took about an hour to walk through the South Arkansas Arboretum. It was lovely with some very nice trails. We were driving narrow, two-lane back roads and encountered something we have never seen before - a sign reading "Road unsafe when underwater". Does someone really need to be told that? And if someone DOES need to be told that, what are the chances the idiot will heed the...

Mar 18, 2013 - Hot Springs, AR

We crossed the Mississippi River and headed up through Arkansas. Heavy farming of cotton, rice and grasses. Not sure what I expected of Arkansas, but it was a beautiful trip and we arrived at Catherine Landing RV Park in Hot Springs, AR for $37/night. New park that sits on a mile of Lake Catherine and very nicely planned out. Hot Springs is famous for it's hot springs located in bathhouses along Central Avenue. In 1832 the federal government took the unprecedented step of setting aside four sections of land here. It was the first U.S....

Mar 4, 2013 - Garvan Woodland Gardens

Today we decided it would be a good day to visit the local botanical garden. It was stunningly beautiful! If you'd like to check it out, go here: http://www.garvangardens.org/ We spent several hours at the gardens. Took hundreds of photos. Sadly, Paul forgot his tripod - so we will be going back to get some better shots this week for sure!! We arrived at the perfect time to see all the daffodils open. In a couple of weeks, all the tulips will be open as well. The camellias are still in full bloom and it all looks gorgeous. I think we are...

Mar 1, 2013 - Hot Springs, Arkansas

We arrived early at The Sunbay Resort in Hot Springs. AND, are pleasantly surprised by the condo we were given. GORGEOUS! 2 bedrooms,2 baths, a regular wood-burning fireplace!! We could live in this condo it is SO well appointed! After a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken, we are going to go downtown to check out the local Gallery Walk. Free wine and snacks, it should be good fun. We always like to check out the area when we first check in to a place. Tomorrow looks like a good day to check out the local Farmers Market. Also, we are lucky...

Sep 10, 2012 - Hot Springs Mountain Tower

Hot Springs, AR Cloud 9 RV Park We spent the afternoon with Justin and he suggested we take a trip in to Hot Springs and go up the tower. The road to the tower is one way up a very curvy mountain road. The tower is 216 feet tall and has two observation decks - one is enclosed and the other is open air. The views of Hot Springs and the surrounding areas are spectacular! Afterwards we all went to David & Christa's home. David cooked a wonderful fried fish dinner!

Sep 6, 2012 - Dinner with David & Christa

Hot Springs, AR Cloud 9 RV Park It was another scorcher of a day with temperatures over 100 and heat indexes around 105. We stayed inside most of the day until time to meet for dinner. We had a very nice time with David, Christa, Cayden, Christa's brother and Christa's parents.

Sep 5, 2012 - Visit with David & Christa

Hot Springs, AR Cloud 9 RV Park We met David and Christa at their home this morning around 10:00am. They are in the market for a new home and had an appointment with a realtor to look at a house. When we arrived at the house the realtor had not shown so we walked around the property, looked at the house from the outside and discovered the roof looked like it was wavy. David peered in to a window and thought he saw an uneven floor. The house is only 11 years old and by the time the realtor let us inside the house it was fairly certain the...

Sep 4, 2012 - Texarkana, TX to Hot Springs, AR

Texarkana, TX to Hot Springs, AR 130 miles The road was so smooth between Texarkana and Hot Springs that I fell asleep on the way. We are at the Cloud 9 RV Park on the top of a mountain and will be here for a week visiting Ron’s two sons. Although the RV park is in Hot Springs, the downtown area is about 15 miles away so we are in a very rural area. The park is about half full so it’s not too crowded and we have a nice site. This week will be busy while we try to fit in some visiting among everyone’s work schedule.

Aug 8, 2012 - A Break in the Heat

Finally the temperature didn’t reach 100. The day dawned cloudy with thunder in the distance. It actually rained late this afternoon and continued into the evening, but no wind. We headed into Hot Springs for dinner and grocery shopping. Along the way we passed some of the areas damaged in Sunday’s storm. Lots of roofs with blue tarps, split trees, and damaged signs still visible. We had dinner at McClard’s Bar-B-Que. We tried to get in on Saturday night, but it was too crowded. We tried again on Monday, but they were closed. I was...

Aug 5, 2012 - Something Different

Sue didn’t feel like going out into the heat today, so we decided to partake of an indoor activity. We went to the shooting range. As we were leaving for the range, a National Weather Service Bulletin came across the radio warning of severe thunderstorms and high winds (gusts to 60mph) in the area north of Hot Springs. I decided to turn the car around and head back to Winnie so I could roll up the awning and put a few things away. It’s a good thing we did, because by the time we got to Wal-Mart about 5 miles away to pick up some...