Arkansas National Parks

Arkansas Post National Memorial- So many people have fought over Arkansas, note the variety of flags.  E gashed his leg and couldn't walk for a few days.  He was happy to use a wheelchair!

Our next stop was Central High School in Little Rock.  This is where I realized I have a problem pushing the kids to do Jr Ranger stuff.  It was a hard book with a lot of history.  They understand the emotions in the pictures and audio but the court cases and the hate and/or indifference was confusing to them.  Heck, it's confusing to me.  Hopefully what they learned here will be remembered as they learn more history.  

Beyond Climbing

 This is what we do in climbing areas when we aren't climbing.

Lincoln Lake gave us time to be silly, hike the dam, and use saplings as slingshots.

Getting in and out of Cowell was an adventure! Love Dove has more power than one would expect. She is a syncro at heart :)   Syncro is a 4 wheel drive Vanagon. 

 Exploring scenic vistas and natural areas is my favorite thing to do on climbing rest days. However, laundry, car maintenance, grocery shopping, paying bills, and some work needs to happen on those days too.  Life on the road still involves many of the everyday things we do in a house. That's another post.

  Here are some great scenic shots from a day of hiking to waterfalls. The hike to Pam's grotto was along the base of a cliff line.  The cliff line James and Phil were climbing.  It was a strenuous hike up; finding dead animal bones made the trip less arduous for T.  The cool mist and and pounding waterfall added to our delight. The icing on the cake was the trail back to camp; we followed the creek. Along and in the creek were HUGE moss and lichen covered boulders, hollowed out logs, and hundreds of mini waterfalls created by rocks.  E decided to play mother nature and move some of the rocks, thus changing a few mini waterfalls, create a whirpool, and build a dam.

Haw Creek Falls

And just for good measure we throw a few craft projects into our beyond climbing moments. Grammie sent us all new crocheted hats for Christmas.  James' was a little big so I unraveled a few rows which gave me enough yarn to create the old man beard for Terje!

I cannot even fathom how much beauty our country holds. We have barely scraped the surface of natural lands and each day I am in awe of the quiet places tucked away in our busy lives.

Friends and Columbus

Surprise! We spent the afternoon with a Cincinnati friend, Yelena, in New Orleans! We picked her up at the airport, walked the French Market, had tea/coffee, and made sure to take a group photo.  It was comforting to see a familiar face.

We also tried gator jerky and gator sticks.  It tasted very much like gator.  I wonder why? Seriously the sticks were gross but the jerky was good.

Our long time friends, Josh and Brandy Reed, hosted us in Louisiana.  They more than graciously opened their home to our family.  Our kids lived like siblings for almost 2 weeks.  They played, fought, learned, ate, and shared rooms together.   Other than the birthday photo I didn't take a group picture! Too busy playing I guess. 

J&B just bought a new house, which meant their honey do list was large.  James was able to help out.  He is very competent when it comes to Honey do lists:) James and Josh built shelves, replaced toilets, replaced lighting fixtures, and tried to beat Brandy and I in cards.

Brandy and I organized books.  She has tons of books. Her children are very lucky to have such an amazing collection in their own home. We also painted this awesome chandelier white for her daughter's room.  Oh, and we won some card games :)

We took a group field trip to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta.  They were fascinating but the true learning experience of the day was an in depth talk with Yoda.

He revealed the secret to life: Have fun and play with the kids! So that is just what happened!

Thank you Josh, Brandy, I, G, and E! We were so grateful to finally visit you in your new home state!

A Spicy Birthday Celebration

My baby is a decade old! And my Husband is 4 decades and 1 year old! Time to celebrate!

Because we are staying in southern Louisiana it was only proper to do something spicy! We visited the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island. We went with our long time friends and their kids. 

I learned some interesting thing about Tabasco. The one I want to  share is Tabasco is sold in over 160 countries and labelled in 22 languages! I also learned James would be a good pepper picker, look at those skills:)

After the factory tour we sampled Tabasco products.

• ice cream- yummy
• cola- loved it
• original sauce- yummy
• chipotle- E's favorite
• buffalo- T's favorite
• hot jellies- delicious!

Yes, I forgot about my nightshade intolerance for the day. I have always loved Tabasco and I miss it! So itchy legs for a couple days and I was mostly better:)

E tried the Habanero Sauce. He didn't read the bottle and he took a big scoop.  He survived and I got a funny picture! He says it felt like death. T tried it too and he agrees with E, death.

After a smokin' hot time we headed back to the Reed house for birthday dinner and cupcakes.  We were all tired after a long day of driving and being tourists but cupcakes made it all better.

I L-O-V-E Namaste cake mixes and so did everyone else at the party!

T was gifted temporary ownership of these fabulous toads. He named them Thin Line and Fat Line, based on the width of their markings.  From Mom and Dad he got a new bow and arrow! He was so excited he could barely contain himself.  He almost knocked me over with gratitude.  

I wish both of my birthday boys another wonderful trip around the sun!   

From T: The cupcakes were really good. I was happy to get a bow. The toad in my left hand is Fat line. The toad in my right hand is Thin line.  We found them coming out of a hole in the concrete.

Mardi Gras New Orleans

James and I woke up at 5:15am to make our way into the city for Mardi Gras.  Neither of us had ever been and honestly I had to look up the history of Mardi Gras on Wiki.  


Safety for Love Dove was a big concern.  Where would we park her and our belongings? Definitely not a parking garage, Love Dove even without the box top and boats is pretty tall.  Depending on the neighborhood, parking on the street is sketchy. I'd like to have my hubcaps when I get back. We left expensive items and boats with a friend out of the city, read a little about the neighborhoods and headed in. We found a free spot close to the riverfront and French Quarter, well lit, and near 2 paid lots with attendants! Score!


Then we strolled along Decatur in the quiet early morning. I picked out a mask and James got a special bead. I wore that mask for 11 hrs straight! Back to the morning, we made our way to Canal St and started people watching. We saw costumes of all types, drag queens, families, and people street preaching. As the parade time got closer more people filed in and wedged themselves as close to the barriers as possible.  

The first parade of the day and the only one we took pictures of was the Krewe of Zulu. We collected beads and things throughout the day.  Nothing too excessive though.

The amount of waste was unbelievable. It lined the streets.  I was expecting beads but there was also just trash.  There were very few, if any, extra trash cans. People threw everything on the ground.  It was rather disturbing. Mardi Gras was Tuesday and by Saturday the trash was gone, except for beads in trees and electrical wires. We saw bulldozers doing clean up on the outskirts of downtown as we were leaving the celebration.

Bourbon Street was crazy come evening.  So many people.  The outfits were more outrageous.  The people drank more. The streets filled with more trash.  There wasn't as much nudity/flashing as I excepted.  It is totally a drunk tourist thing to do.  I saw far more women turn down beads rather than flashing.  I even encouraged a few to stay strong and not flash.  I have no issue with a little nudity. I have issue drunk people giving gifts to other drunk people for doing stupid things.  In the end I was more disgusted by the amount of trash everywhere than the things I saw on Bourbon St.  After all, it is Bourbon St.  By 9pm we wanted out of there.  More people were coming and I think the real craziness was about to begin? 


So we headed to The Original French Market for a late dinner. We had boiled seafood, oysters with goat cheese and a po boy. Delicious and we had a funny waitress.  As we walked back to Love Dove we discovered a few music spots for our next visit.  They had great music and a laid back atmosphere.  I have no names just location which will make the next visit to New Orleans an adventure!