building stairs all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. A big project, but very nice if you have 4 little kids that you want to get to the bottom; I have mixed feelings about those taxpayer dollars that were spent. The stairs are very nice, and we used them in exactly how they were meant to be used, but since they were federal dollars, I also realize that they could have been built for a tenth of what they cost… oh well.From there we went on to Arkansas and camped in a very nice spot smack dab off of the Spring River. It was very isolated, quiet, and picturesque for about 15 minutes until a train went ripping by just on the other side of the trees, blasting its horn about 50’ away from the camper. This only happened every half-hour or so, but we were just struck how odd that it was that they didn’t mention that little detail in the website or on the phone when we called. Oh well, it isn’t like it ruined it for us or anything, and we didn’t actually ask. We are just staying here one night.
I was a little disturbed at how UN-affected my children were by the sight of a big black snake in the water at the edge of the bank w
hen we first got out of the truck. I thought they would be all freaked out, but they just changed into their suits and grabbed big black sticks and piled in the river and played “snake” for hours.
The kids loved this river; they collected bags of shells and we saw some people fishing out in the middle of the river at one point when it was just POURING rain. He seemed quite unaffected by it, and we were all very impressed with his level of dedication of killing fish. I find it hard to imagine that much hatred toward any fish, but that’s just me. Maybe he got beaten with a fish as a child.
I was a little disturbed at how UN-affected my children were by the sight of a big black snake in the water at the edge of the bank w
hen we first got out of the truck. I thought they would be all freaked out, but they just changed into their suits and grabbed big black sticks and piled in the river and played “snake” for hours.The kids loved this river; they collected bags of shells and we saw some people fishing out in the middle of the river at one point when it was just POURING rain. He seemed quite unaffected by it, and we were all very impressed with his level of dedication of killing fish. I find it hard to imagine that much hatred toward any fish, but that’s just me. Maybe he got beaten with a fish as a child.
My family was not sophisticated enough to use poles when I was growing up; we just flipped them out of the river with our bare hands, in fact I’ve never caught one on a pole in my whole wide life. Looking at this m
isty, peaceful river after the rain almost made me wish that I fished, though. Maybe someday I will be able to work up enough animosity towards fish to go through all the trouble to do some “proper” fishing, but for now I think I’ve got enough things that I wish to see dead. (See varmint blog link below) http://thefecklessfather.blogspot.com/2008/06/rules-of-engagement-on-foster-farm-or.html
And speaking of the un-sophistication of my childhood, it strikes me as pretty funny that people travel around in these “camper” trailers and have the gall to call it camping, when you have water, electricity, full plumbing, (shower, toilet) full kitchen, and of course: air conditioning. Really roughing it, huh? While my folks weren’t into camping at all, my friends and I always thought that it would be a good idea, so we went, and went pretty often. Of course when you are in school, the only times that there really are to do serious camping is in the middle of summer and during Christmas break, so we did both. None of us had tents, but all my friends at least had sleeping bags; I didn’t, but I did have my grandad’s old army cot and a plethora of old quilts to pile up. Once I woke up covered in snow, but toasty warm.
Once during the summer we camped for several days straight and didn’t bring any food stuff, but brought rifles and one guy brought a fishing pole. (Well, of course we brought bacon, but that counts sorta like toilet paper- you cant really go without it!)
Anyway, my point is that I am a little distraught that my kids are growing up thinking that this is what camping is… I guess if I try very hard, that I can inflict enough hardship and misery onto them in other areas that they will acquire character. I know that I can count on my dad to give them “trashy jobs” when they go for overnights there.
isty, peaceful river after the rain almost made me wish that I fished, though. Maybe someday I will be able to work up enough animosity towards fish to go through all the trouble to do some “proper” fishing, but for now I think I’ve got enough things that I wish to see dead. (See varmint blog link below) http://thefecklessfather.blogspot.com/2008/06/rules-of-engagement-on-foster-farm-or.htmlAnd speaking of the un-sophistication of my childhood, it strikes me as pretty funny that people travel around in these “camper” trailers and have the gall to call it camping, when you have water, electricity, full plumbing, (shower, toilet) full kitchen, and of course: air conditioning. Really roughing it, huh? While my folks weren’t into camping at all, my friends and I always thought that it would be a good idea, so we went, and went pretty often. Of course when you are in school, the only times that there really are to do serious camping is in the middle of summer and during Christmas break, so we did both. None of us had tents, but all my friends at least had sleeping bags; I didn’t, but I did have my grandad’s old army cot and a plethora of old quilts to pile up. Once I woke up covered in snow, but toasty warm.
Once during the summer we camped for several days straight and didn’t bring any food stuff, but brought rifles and one guy brought a fishing pole. (Well, of course we brought bacon, but that counts sorta like toilet paper- you cant really go without it!)
Anyway, my point is that I am a little distraught that my kids are growing up thinking that this is what camping is… I guess if I try very hard, that I can inflict enough hardship and misery onto them in other areas that they will acquire character. I know that I can count on my dad to give them “trashy jobs” when they go for overnights there.
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