Winter Excursion 1, Day 128

Did a little camp maintenance this morning. Afterward we too a short trip around the entire lake, about a 50 mile drive. At the other end of the lake is a dam that was built in 1951. Here a few pics:

You can see the bridge under construction in the fore ground. If the bridge was open we could have gone back on the other side of the Little Missouri River.

 A closer view of the spillway.

Back at camp I took Kaylee for a walk. We got over to the other side of the cove from our campsite. This is where the dirt bikes were racing.
Here's a view of camp from the other side of the cove.

These two Canadians followed us for entire walk and hnked the whole time. 

Another view of camp from across the cove.

And the woodpile is dwindling. 

Ham steak for dinner, a little TV, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 127

Left camp mid morning and took a long drive to Russellville, AR and back. The drive took us through the Ouachita National Forest. We drove on RTs 27/28 and came back on RT 7. The drive was beautiful, mostly hardwood forest, lots of streams, lakes and rivers. We went through a few small towns on the drive. Here's a couple of pics of the town of Plainview, AR.

This is a pic of the Corps of Engineers dam on the Arkansas River at Russellville. There are campgrounds on both sides of the river, the one on the Russellville side is very nice. We may stay there some day. 

 Here's a pic of the dam from the other side.

 Upstream from the dam is a nuke plant.

Drive was about 250 miles. All in all it was a nice day. Back at camp got the fire going and had a few ABs. Shrimp and salad for dinner, then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 126

Woke up to a cold, wet, and rainy morning. Quick breakfast and then we were off to Murfreesboro, AR to Crater of Diamonds State Park (http://www.craterofdiamondsstatepark.com/).

We checked out the campground while there. It was packed and the sites are very close together. Next, we stopped at the visitor Center, again the place was packed and the parking lot was full. There were also lots of people in the diamond field, some of these folks are serious diamond hunters. The equipment they had was amazing. Do to the rain the field was a muddy mess. Cath and I looked at each other and decided diamond hunting is not for us!

Stopped in Murfreesboro at a souvenir shop to look around. Everything in this little town is named for diamonds, All the hotels, restaurants, and shops have diamond themed names. The place is a tourist trap.

Stopped on the way back for some groceries and propane. Spent the afternoon around camp, played some cribbage and had brats for dinner.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 125

Campground is full, there must be over 150 dirt bikes in the area. Weather is perfect for riding, cool, light winds, and sunny.

The races started around 0800 and continued until 1500. Lots of activity and lots of noise, but it is really interesting to watch and we have the perfect view. Check out this video, this is right across the lake (cove) from our campsite. It shows 4 of maybe 100+ bikes and they all did at least 4 laps.

Our next door neighbors not only brought dirt bikes, but the also brought a 5 day old goat! Kaylee was amazed by this thing. I think she thought is was some kind of dog, they even had it on a leash.

This is the neighbors boy after his race. He came over to our site and asked if I'd start the fire as he was freezing. So at 0930 we got the fire going and I think we had kids around it all day,

Races and awards ended about 1500 and by 1630 the campground was empty except for 3 other campers. After the ruckus all day the buzzards came back as soon as it got quiet, they are fun to watch as they just soar around, There are sometimes hundreds of them.

Around 1700 the wind really died down and the campground was very still. We had lots of kids on this beach a few hours ago.

Lamb chops for dinner, then off to bed. It's been a great day!

Winter Excursion 1, Day 124

Up early, coffee, and a quick bite.

The campground is filling up with dirt bikers getting ready for the big races tomorrow. Talked to a few of our biker neighbors and got the skinny on the races tomorrow. The little kids will start racing at 0730 and there are multiple start times up to 1230. There are lots of different "classes" for the riders. Kids start early and the adults later. We've met some guys that are on the pro circuit, next race is in Florida and some of these guys are headed there.

We decided we need to get some firewood as the temps are dropping. The campground will not let me run a chain saw, although there is lots of wood lying around, so we googled "firewood" and found a place about 30 miles from here. Called the guy and asked if someone would be there this morning (Saturday), he said yes, we will be here for a few more hours. Drove the 30 miles and they were closed! No one there! Damn!

On our drive to Hot Springs, AR yesterday I'd seen a pile of wood by the side of the road near Glenwood, AR. Looked for it on the drive back to the camper, but missed it. So after the 70 mile drive to the closed place, we went looking for this pile of wood again. Found it! The price was great (cheap)...LOL. Two pickup loads later (and only 9 miles away) we have tons of wood. Not sure we can burn all this in the next 9 days, but I'll give it a good try. Maybe the next camper will thank us.

Here's Cath with all the wood.

 

A new camper pulled in this afternoon and he's hauling a Riverside! Looks like ours on steroids.

Another view.

Here's the wood one more time. I think we can have a 24/7 fire for the rest of our stay.

Last view. Sorry, but we were happy to find this after a lot of searching.The neighbors are happy as we are sharing. One of the kids was shouting "we have an endless supply of wood now". I said "you can have some wood, but it's not endless".

Chicken Fried Steak & mashed potatoes for dinner, YUM! Then off to bed, races start early tomorrow.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 123

Took a drive up the road to check out Daisy State Park. Nice place on the lake, but the sites are really close together. After that we drove up to Hot Springs, AR. Really nice city! We will go back there next week to spend the day. Here's a few pics from the National Park in Hot Springs:

View from the top of the mountain in the park. It's a 3 mile one way loop.

 The views were really great.

 You can see part of Hot Springs in this pic.

Headed back to camp and watched a lot of campers coming in for the weekend. Seems there is going to be a dirt bike race here on Sunday. There are tons of bikes here and lots of kids. They run and ride wild all over the place, through camp sites and up and down the stairs to the lake. It's fun to watch all the activity of these young families.
Around sunset we were greeted by an almost full moon.
This was the view from our campsite!

Getting a little cold this evening. Here's Cath and Kaylee all bundled up..LOL

Nice chicken stir fry for dinner, then off to bed. Tomorrow will be interesting with all the happenings around here.

Winter Excursion 1, Day 122

We had a fun drive along RT 8 in Arkansas, back roads all the way, about 200 miles.

When was the last time you saw an Arby's sign like this? 1960's style I think! 

Arrived at the new campground (Kirby Landing) around 1300. Got to pick whatever site we wanted and we got a great one. Site is right on the water with a good view of Lake Greeson. Sites are dispersed, bathrooms are spotless, and the campground is very clean. Here's a few pics:
This is looking southeast at our site. We are on a small cove. The main lake is about 200 yds away.

Looking the other way from the site. You can see the end of the cove.

Straight out from our "porch". We are on a raised plateau above the lake with stairs going down to the lake.

 Another view down the cove.

 And we have to include a pic with the Vizsla in it.

The campground for the most part is empty, but there are lots of day use boaters. This is a huge lake and the bass fishing is first class. I'm sure this place is packed in the summer. We are staying here for 11 days.

Off to explore tomorrow. We will probably wait until Monday to hunt diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park.