Repost of Spring Break 2009 blog

Well, here it is…the full accounting of our trip to Arkansas. It may be a little long, but hopefully it is worth the time with a few laughs and a little insight into what makes this Sims family tick.

Tuesday, March 10—Jayme had unexpectedly been asked to work the night shift the weekend before so he got home Tuesday morning around 5 am. He needed to get some amount of sleep so I woke him up at 11, so we got so we got a later start than we would have liked, finally leaving home around 2 pm, so we didn’t get to the park until 6:30. We stopped at the Arkansas welcome center and picked up some brochures and took a few pictures. We were disappointed at the last chance Wal-Mart in Nashville, AR because they did not sell beer. We got set up before it was dark and had a quiet evening planning out our time for the rest of the week.

Wednesday, March 11—Cold and drizzly, but we took the chance during a break in the rain to walk the only trail in the park, a 1.2 mile trail that takes you down to the Little Missouri River. Half of the way it is a paved path and then it goes to unimproved. We liked it quite a bit and it was beautiful. It was raining when we got back, so we drove over to the visitor’s center and gift shop. We bought a shirt for everyone and toured the areas you did not have to pay to enter to find out how to look for diamonds for the next day. Since it was still raining we decided to try another Wal-Mart for libations. We drove Northeast to Arkadelphia and were disappointed again. We started to wonder if ALL of Arkansas was dry. We drove through 2 more counties on the way back and had no luck there either. It rained all night (another pattern?)

Thursday, March 12—Since it was still raining, we slept late (me especially) and then had a big breakfast. Since the crater is basically a mud bog by this time, we decided that Jayme would take the boys Diamond hunting while Pattie and I stayed in the trailer. So off they went, dressed as best they could be for the wet, 36° weather. Pattie and I watched “Tinker Bell” and about 2 hours later the boys were back. Raley has stepped in a puddle that had no bottom and was very cold and wet. They did not find any diamonds but did find several neat rocks (and what little boy doesn’t LOVE rocks?). I decided to go ahead and do some laundry what with all the wet muddy stuff and I never pack clothes for each day we are going to be gone if I know there is a laundry room. I met a very funny couple from Missouri in the laundry room. We had a nice dinner of corn dogs, mac & cheese and Jayme and I drank the last of our wine.

Friday, March 13—STILL RAINING!!!! Our propane tanks ran out in the early morning, but we carry a spare so Jayme switched it out and we were warm again in no time. We had decided the night before to get up early and go to Hot Springs for the day. We had a travel brochure with lots of interesting things to see and decided on the “National Park Aquarium”, “Gangster Museum”, “Garvan Woodland Gardens”, and “Family Fun Center” in that order. As we neared Hot Springs, every time we crossed a county line we looked for the typical county line liquor store and had almost given up hope when there wasn’t one in Hot Springs county. BUT, Hot Springs is in Garland county! And sure enough there was a “First Chance” liquor store at the line. Very happy news. Jayme wanted to stop right then, but as it was 9 am I thought we should wait until the trip home if we didn’t find a Wal-Mart to buy in. Invigorated, we pressed on. When we got to the downtown area where the aquarium was supposed to be, we were a little unsure. The aquarium turned out to be a store front with a few 10 and 20 gallon tanks lining the shelves (Jayme looked in the windows), so we decided that wasn’t for us. Ditto the Gangster Museum. A peculiar thing about downtown Hot Springs is that it is bordered on both sides by a National Park. The park system owns all the old bath houses and only one is still open to the public as a spa. We parked at a meter and went on a chilly (38°) walk on the Promenade and along Bathhouse Row. They have drinking fountains there and the water is indeed hot! Pattie loved them. We then took the scenic drive up the mountain and were surprised to find an observatory up there. You could ride the elevator to the second level and then walk up the rest of the way. Unfortunately the upper levels were closed due to icing so we did not want to pay full price for half the trip. Then it was off to Wal-Mart were we bought BEER!!! And WINE!!!! From there we went to the Woodland Gardens which were lovely. I highly recommend them. Clay charmed the pants of an older volunteer, giving her lots of hugs and telling her we would come back so she should “Stand where I can find you.” We rolled back to the crater, but first went by the propane store to fill up our tank. We got there at 4:06 to find out it closed at 4 and was not open on the weekends.

Saturday, March 14—With our propane dwindling and no way to fill it, we decided to pack it in a day early to avoid the prospect of running out in the middle of the night and having no heat. We went along the river trail one last time. The weather was the nicest it had been; humid, overcast, mid 40s. We saw a herd of deer and a few ducks. We were all but ready to roll away went I heard Jayme calling for me. He had been tying something down and the bungee cord he was using slipped out of his grip and smacked him in the mouth, splitting it wide open. So instead of rolling home right then, we got to visit the Pike County Memorial Hospital emergency room. Jayme ended up with 5 stitches. The old doctor on call did not want to do it as he was unsure he could do it without a scar. Jayme said to him, “Well Doc, I’m 33 years old, I’ve been married almost 12 years now, I’m not looking for a miracle, and I guess as long as I can still kiss my wife, it won’t matter if there’s a scar.” We are just thankful that it did not hit Raley who was also standing there, or hit Jayme in the eye or knock out a tooth or something. We made it home safe and sound and a little sad to hear how nice the weather was going to be this coming week. We plan on another trip to Arkansas maybe this summer. We will stay closer to Hot Springs so we can make better use of its trails and have a shorter drive to other things around. But we will go back to Crater of Diamonds for day as well.

I hope you enjoyed our story. We DID have a good time. It was very relaxing and we got a lot of rest and time with the family which is kind of the point anyway, right?