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Good Morning!!!!

It’s the morning of day 5 …. (7/14/09) …. It’s Stormy Cloud’s turn to pick what color shirts … And she picked “cornflower” … That’s a light blue/purple color … (we have 8 colors to choose from … Only $5 each .. Designed, printed and shipped from … www.stickersandmore.com)

When I checked the odometer this morning … we had driven …. drum roll please …. 1031 miles ….
When we started out, the odometer was at 23802 …. this morning it was at 24833!!!!

We have packed up the camper … A quick vacuum … Everyone dressed … Quick breakfast of cereal and ramen noodles … And we are off … so easy/fast to clean this small space )

We made a stop by the visitors center to grab a little souvenir to remember our stay … Jessie and I both bought “hiking stick medallions” … These are small and not expensive …. about $5…. I think it will be great to get one from each park and then make a stick to put them all on … And hang it in the house … Well … That’s my thought process this morning … The rest of our crowd didn’t find anything they wanted … Not much selection as far as small and inexpensive goes … The hiking stick and medallions will be a family thing anyway …

Next, we made a short stop at Petit Jean’s grave site and overlook … MAN!! What a cool spot! The clouds were rolling over the mountain this morning … We were standing in the clouds!!! Great view of the Arkansas river.

We also learned some history about Petit Jean … She was a girl from France who was in love with the Captain of a ship who was to explore part of the Louisiana territory … But Captain Chavez wouldn’t allow her to sail with him to explore the New World … He had promised they could be married on his return … They sailed up the Arkansas River and encountered a friendly tribe of Indians and spent the summer with them …. No one ever suspected who Petit Jean (Little John) was … Until … She became ill …. and soon died … She is believed to be buried at the top of the mountain … Ahhhh …. What a sweet story …

Well …. We made a quick stop to check the air in the tires … And a quick stop at Wal*Mart to restock before we get back on I-40 …. Going thru some drinks!!!!

Back in the Flying Dutchmen and on the road again … Kids are watching a Scooby Doo Movie … Monsters in Mexico I think …. And we are heading to Oklahoma City!!!! Hope to take pics and the bomb site and see the Scotts while we are there!

Oh … And Kayla got a Tinker Bell Pez dispenser (she is into those lately) to remember Arkansas ….

Just a quick post before bed …

This afternoon was wonderful! I was worried that we would not have much fun after such a hot morning … but small blessings are everywhere. The weather was much cooler when the little guys woke up … and we went for a great bike ride around the lake – Lake Bailey. The wind off the lake also helped to keep up cool!

We climbed on the man made dam and learned a bit of history from one of the guys who was fishing (he said he actually use to work here – how cool was that!) The dam was built by hand by the CCC and the guys only got paid $1.30 per DAY!!! They did, however, get food and a place to sleep. WOW!!!

We also saw Davis Bridge which was built by the CCC too. The kids love the big hills – well … they love riding their bikes DOWN the big hills but not so much love for riding their bikes UP the hills.

Back at the camper, the kids wanted to continue riding their bikes and the wild Sea Monkey discovered a crazy way to ride his “bike” on the hills. I laughed and laughed. That child is crazy!!!!

KK wanted to try too ..

And Bailey …

As we sat at the picnic table … enjoying the wind and cooler weather … a family a skunks came wondering thru the campground … how cool is that!!!

A quick dinner of Ramen Noodles … and some left overs …  showers for everyone … and off to bed.

Oh … almost forgot … we are loving the Retro TV … Station 51-EMERGENCY was on!! Ok peeps … who remembers that with me???? You know … it came on about the same time as CHIPS … wow … flashbacks man!!!! … Air Wolf was on before that … a totally cool channel!

It’s the afternoon of day 4 …. (yellow shirts) … Monday July 13th … Petite Jean State Park just NW of Little Rock Arkansas.

After the rain cleared we went out for a few hikes. We had to drive the RV to the trail heads to minimize the walking for some members of our expedition team.

First, we went to Mathers Lodge. This state park has a campground, pool, cabins, restaurant, and a lodge (and lots of other stuff!). At the lodge is a wonderful look-out of the Cedar Falls Valley. It was a great view with minimal effort. Gota love that!

Next, we went to Bear Cave Trail. This was a great hike and very easy. Lots of rock formations for the kids to go thru and climb over.

Then, we went to Cedar Falls Overlook. This is a very short hike on a boardwalk path. Very easy for the kids and with some great views. We did venture off to one of the Boy Scout paths to see other views. Lots of rocks to climb there too!!!

The next place we stopped was Rock House Cave trail. This trail was a little harder for the little ones but the main problem was the heat. The Rock House Cave itself was quite cool but the climb over the turtle rocks was very hot… Climbing over baking rocks can get very hot … But the kids thought the rock formations were cool … And … That’s all the matters …

Then we went to the visitors center to get a souvenir book and post cards!!!!

Lastly we went to the Out Post to get some milk. Sea Monkey LOVES his milk and I knew we were going to need milk if we planned to get him down for a nap. Well! I about choked when I had to pay over $3 for a half gallon of milk. Highway robbery!!! But the closet grocery story is almost 30 miles away … I hope this can get us thru till we leave tomorrow!

When we got back to the camper, we had a quick lunch of hot dogs, Kraft Mac and Cheese, along with some left over hamburger helper and Theresa’s famous beans. Then the little guys took naps, older guys read for a bit and have been bike riding …. The Captain has been watching 3 Stoogies DVD and now he has found the Retro channel on our TV … Sooooo funny … Dragnet and the Hulk … I wish I had this channel at home … Mainly just trying to stay cool!!!!

Well … Little guys are waking up … Better hop-off of here and decide what our next big adventure will be ….

It’s the morning of our fourth day …. Monday July 13 … And we woke to rain and an expected high of 110 (I think that may be the heat index … At least that’s what I’m hoping) …. We are wearing our BRIGHT yellow shirts today … shouldn’t loose anyone and it shouldn’t be hard to spot us!!!

So … Since it’s raining we have been hanging out in the camper … The kids are watching Pink Panther …. We are watching more movies than I had thought but what can you do when it’s raining … (at bedtime last night … the kids HAD to watch Karate Kid 3 …. they really got into those) … At least we can see Lake Bailey from our camper .. Yep! The lake is named Bailey!!! And the county is is named Conway … 3 days of driving to get to Conway :0

I have been “picking-up” in the camper and rearranging a few things …. Our room seems to stay the messiest … I try to keep the “living area” as clear as possible so we don’t feel crowded … So … That means lots of things get stacked around in our bedroom … But it seems to be working … We really didn’t pack a lot and I feel great about the fact that we have not over packed

My biggest concern (about surviving 3 weeks on the road) had been the laundry …. and so far …. It’s really not an issue … The kids are staying in there outfits all day with the exception of the bathing suits and pjs … This apparently is not what they do at home .. We are putting our pjs back up to reuse each night and hanging our towels up to dry … This seems to be going well … As of this morning … I only have a small box of dirty clothes from yesterday .. Yea!!!!!

Once the rain clears out we are going for our first hike of the Big Adventure!!! There are lots of trails here … We are going to start with a few short ones (1/2 miles but with hills) and see how it goes …. They don’t allow bikes on the trails so …. We will see … They have waterfalls, streams, caves, cave drawings … And lots of stuff to see …. I’m hoping the payoff will encourage everyone to try some of the bigger trails (mainly Stormy Cloud and Dancing Mermaid).

Ok … The rain has broke … We are heading out to hike some trails!

Well … It’s the afternoon of our 3rd day … And all is going sooooo well … Thanks all you guys for the prayers … Keep them coming … Safety and sanity

We drove from Tom Sawyer campground to Petite Jean State Park ( http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com) … It took several hours but not nearly the driving we did yesterday. The 2 little guys slept thru most of the drive which was really nice. I tried to get them (all 4) to do some of the coloring pages I brought but that didn’t last long …. I also tried reading out loud a bit but that didn’t last very long either … I guess we got a bit of school in but not enough to really talk about … KK did read me one of her Hooked on Phonics books.

I am loving being in an RV …. The Flying Dutchman … It’s so nice that we can just drive into a camping spot … Hook up the electric and water and be ready to go play … No loading and unloading into a hotel … It does have it’s draw backs … We didn’t haul a car because we didn’t have the money to spend on the extra gas and we are new to this RV thing … So hauling a car would add another layer of difficulty we didn’t need on this trip … We wanted easy as possible for our first BIG adventure!!! BUT, all the fun far out weighs the one drawback!

It’s VERY hot outside … That’s why we are taking a break in the camper right now … We went to the pool for a swim … Can’t believe we paid to go swimming but we had a great time! They had a slide and a diving board and lots of steps for the Sea Monkey to play on … It was great to cool off. The kids loved the diving board … Haven’t been on one of those in a while … We did flips and cannon-balls … We were having such a good time that people kept looking at us … Oh well! If you know me, then you know I love a good laugh … And the diving board provided some good laughs today

Then we went bike riding to the Old Cabin … It’s 150 years old … About the size of closet … Honestly … And they raised 9 kids in it … That’s crazy!!! My mobile house for the next 3 weeks is 10 times bigger and I only have 4 kids … Just think about it … She didn’t even have crazy pills!!! … What!!! 9 kids in a small one room house … No running water or electricity … And I’m sure she probably homeschooled!!! Man … I should not complain about anything!

We are currently seating in the camper watching Karate Kid 2 … We watched Karate Kid 1 yesterday and they LOVED it (the first time they have seen it)… Jamie (for those who don’t know) LOVES movies … He will watch the same ones over and over … I, on the other hand, can’t watch something more than once – unless it’s been long enough that I don’t remember most of it … So watching Karate Kid 1 and 2 has been very fun.

Well … I’m hoping dinner is about ready … Making Theresa’s famous beans with hamburger meat and sausage tonight … Need lots of gas … Sorry … I mean fuel for all the hiking we plan to do tomorrow:)