VACATION-DAY2-HOT SPRINGS, AR

We woke up to a temperature of 47 degrees….burrrr!!!! We had our little heater on so we were nice and warm. I got up first and Camp and I took a walk around the park. It was exhilarating to walk in the crisp morning air. After eating breakfast that Randall fixed of eggs, grits, toast and sausage, we were ready to head out to the Hot Spring National Park.

We rode to the National Park, looking for the Visitor Information Center first. We managed to find an entrance into the park, so we decided to take out on our own. We made one loop through the park stopping on one trail to walk a little. We found out that dogs are allowed in the park on a leash. So we decided to go back to the camp for lunch and get Camp and go back in the afternoon. When we came out of that side of the park, we decided to to look for the visitor information center again. We looked and looked but could not find it. We had a few maps that were not very good. We finally figured out it was on the main street downtown somewhere along Bathhouse Row. When we drove down the street we couldn’t spot it, so we decided to park and walk. Finally we found it and got much better maps of the park and the area.

We walked downtown for about an hour and it was getting close to lunch. So we went back to the camp and ate some sausage dogs that Randall grilled last night when he grilled the hamburgers. Afterwards we all three loaded up and went back to the other side of the park. We got out several times to walk on different trails. Camp was in heaven!! We decided that we would go back to the campgrounds and return to the park late this afternoon when we might stand a better chance of seeing some wildlife moving around.

This afternoon we took a nap. We went back one last time to Hot Springs National Park around 4:45. On the way, we stopped and got gas. At this station it was $2,59 per gallon for a total of $45.50. We walked a new trail which ended up being about a mile. No wildlife seen other than birds and a few squirrels. Oh well, it was beautiful anyway. I thought the leaves would have changed more in this area than they have. There is very little Fall color here. I'm hoping as we go further north to Harrison and Branson we will see more color. Tomorrow we plan to take the Scenic 7 tour and head north into the Ouachita National Forest. This forest is much larger than the Hot Springs Forest. We will only see a portion of it tomorrow. The weather here tomorrow is supposed to be a low of 53 and high of 75 sunny to partly cloudy.

We ended our day back at the camp with pork chops that have been cooking all day in the crock pot. We put them on top of yellow rice and we also had green beans. All delicious as usual!

We are now watching "Dancing with the Stars." I only have an hour of internet time at this park per day. I plan to do an update tomorrow night as long as we get back in time.

Hope you all have a wonderful night!!!