Foggy Morning

We woke up this morning to find fog everywhere. Randy went out and took these cool photos.

What a Drive!

The drive out to our cabin is unreal. I knew it was a secluded cabin but I didn't realize how secluded it really was. We decided to take some photos of the drive out to the cabin or you won't believe us. Now, remember that we arrived Thursday night around 10PM. It was pitch black outside and we could only see a couple of feet in front of us from the headlights. Most of the time we felt we were on a private drive and would end up at someone else's house. Thankfully with only a couple of wrong turns, we finally arrived at our cabin.

This is the paved road that you turn on from the highway.

Now it turns into a gravel road and we were told to go to the right of the big wooden mailbox.

This part of the road looks like someone's driveway.

The fallen leaves pretty much cover the road at this point.

This part of the road always had water on it. Randy named this section "The Soggy Bottom".

This is an old barn structure that we pass along the way.

This is the part of the road that looks like a dried up creek bed to me.

"Is this even a road?"

Another old barn.

Old cabin.

Now we are on our "street" and it's a much smoother ride. There are six cabins on the right and in the middle of the photo at the end of the street is our cabin.

After leaving the highway 25 minutes ago, we finally arrive at our cabin.

The ride was so long, it put Nathan to sleep.

We didn't realize the White River was right in our backyard when we arrived Thursday night. We couldn't see it because it was so dark.

We also couldn't see this giant mountain right behind the river.

Mountain View Town Square

The most happening thing to do in Mountain View is to hang out at the town square. It's your typical town square in small town USA. The county court house is in the middle of the square and is surrounded by antique stores, gift shops and cafes.

Folk music is what makes Mountain View unique. It's the Folk Music Capital of the World. There are always people on the square playing music. Small groups form all around the square and you can enjoy the folk music and interesting instruments. We spent the entire day shopping, eating and enjoying lots of folk music.

Mountain View water tower and Nathan showing off his lollipop.

A group of musicians playing folk music.

A city park located just off the square. It has three pavilions that were built just for groups of musicians to gather and perform.

Nathan in front of one of the many bed and breakfasts that are located just off the square.

A music store located on the square where musicians gather each evening in the front yard to play music.

Our Red Cabin

We are staying in the White River Cabin while we are in Mountain View, Arkansas. It's right on the river and is VERY secluded. It's the most secluded place we have ever stayed in.

This is the front of the cabin that faces the drive.

This is the back of the cabin that faces the river. It has a screened in porch and a deck.

Nathan is standing on the fire pit in the backyard.

Here's Nathan on the front porch. He loved knocking on all the doors to the cabin. He recently learned that skill for trick or treating.

Sitting on the front steps.

Playing with the screened porch door.

Running around the backyard with a bamboo stick he found down by the river.

Caverns, Springs and Ghost Towns

Today we toured the Blanchard Springs Caverns in the Ozark National Forest. Our tour was about an hour long which took us into two very large rooms (The Coral Room and The Cathedral Room) and we saw some awesome sites.

Nathan at our cabin, ready to head over to the caverns.

Mom and Nathan at the caverns.

Giant Column

Battleship

Flowstones

Soda Straws

After our tour of the caverns, we drove down the mountain to Blanchard Springs. This is where the water rushes out of the cavern and makes a waterfall as it leaves the mountain.

We packed a picnic lunch and ate next to the springs. This is an advantage of traveling in the off season. We were the only ones there.

The springs flowing down the mountain.

The beginning of the springs where the water falls out from the caverns.

Nathan enjoyed climbing on the rocks next to the springs. He is pointing to the waterfall.

Nathan taking a quiet moment.

Most of the "Fall Foliage" had already fallen to the grown by the time we arrived in Arkansas. I couldn't get over how large this leaf was.

Nathan and his Daddy.

Nathan enjoying the Fall Foliage.

After spending several hours at the springs, we drove north on a scenic drive to a tiny town called Calico Rock. The one interesting or weird thing about this town was that they have a ghost town. It is the only authentic ghost town inside the city limits of a town in America.

This use to be the main section of the town. The farmers figured out that they could make more money raising cows then growing cotton, so the cotton gin closed. Then, in the 1960's, due to lack of business the railroad ended service to the town. And, this East part of the town became abandoned and to this day it is still left in this condition.

This sign greats you as you cross over the bridge to East Calico Rock explaining what happened to this part of the town.

City Jail

Feed Mill, which was the old Cotton Gin.

Here's a look down one of the streets in this ghost town. Some of the buildings have burned down or are falling down. And it has just been left in this condition.

On the way back to our cabin, we stopped at Mellon's Country Store. It has a wide variety of gifts, handmade crafts and antiques. They also sold ice cream, so Nathan enjoyed a special treat. I let him pick out which ice cream treat he wanted. He chose an orange push up.

We arrived back at our cabin right at sunset, which is right around 5PM. Randy captured this great photo of the the sun just behind the mountains.

Arkansas "Fall Foliage" Trip

We crossed the Texas/Arkansas state line at 5PM. We arrived at our cabin around 10PM in the pitch black of night. We were very thankful that we packed flashlights because we would have never found our way without them. Our cabin is about 10 miles off the highway down a tiny gravel road that twists and turns through the mountains and doesn't even look like a road at times. I still don't know how we found it at all.

Our directions from the owner sounded like this: There will be three Y's in the road, stay to the left each time. When the road turns to gravel, stay to the right of the large wooden mailbox. Turn left when you come to the old white house. Turn left when the road comes to a T. The cabin will be on the right at the end of the road.