The Scenic Route

Since last year's Spring Break adventures were so amazing, we aimed to recreate the fun in a different part of the US.  We headed out on a 8 day adventure to Davy Crockett National Forest in East Texas on our way to the Ozarks in Arkansas.  Way different than the desert this time!

The first section of our trip I'll call "Burning Wood."

It was COLD.  WAY colder than any of us expected and dropped below freezing for the first two nights of our trip.  Had to unhook the water from the camper, pump the furnace and cuddle up.  Highs for the day were in the 50's...  So, we started a fire to keep warm.  Lucky for us, this park allowed burning of wood we found on the ground...  sooooooo we got BUSY!

One of the newest additions to the camper gear - a tree swing!!

I love East Texas.  It smelled like summer camp immediately.  TALL pine trees and the sound of them blowing in the wind.  Man, so relaxing.

Lia and Finley scored a major win on this huge branch and we got to work cutting it up.  

Got creative and let the kids try roasting "peep" marshmallows.  Overall consensus was a definitive "gross"

This picture sums up our entire existence for three days.  Chopping, stomping, gathering, kicking and burning wood.  We had this super deep fire pit which Todd saw as an open invitation to stuff as much as humanly possible in there at one time.  This is what happened when we left him alone.... lol

Beth and I took the girls out on a hike to "treasure hunt" for letterboxes and geocache boxes.  We have expanded to include both in our adventures because the odds of success are SO much higher - therefore much more motivating for the kids.  :)  WIN

This was a giant pile of logs near our campsite that the kids quickly made into their home/fort/play area.  They had a total ball just being kids.  I could love nothing more.

Lia and Finley even made their own fire for their fort.  See?  I told you the theme was "Burning Wood."

Sometimes Todd needs more supervision than the children.  But, I do love that about him...  :)

After a super relaxing few days, we packed up and headed north to DeGray Lake in Arkansas.  It is in the Ouachita National Forest near Hot Springs.  Talk about beautiful!!  This place was insanely pretty.  The RV sites were out in a peninsula sticking out in the middle of the lake.  Really cool.

This next part of our trip I'll call "Surprising."

View from our campsite!  Are you kidding me!?!?!?!  An amazing surprise.

It was supposed to rain during part of our trip, so we took the first opportunity to do some hiking and treasure hunting.  There were a ton of geocache in this park that were maintained by the park staff.  So, basically, they were a sure thing.  We decided to let the kids navigate to the boxes themselves using the CPS locator and compass on the phone.  It was really cool to see them problem solve distance and direction.  Lia was the first finder!

Brooklynn was our 2nd finder!  Hers was really interesting b/c it is an old ammo box and was hidden in a wood teepee.

The trail had a little cut out down to the water so we went out there to explore and check out the view.

Can you spot Birdie??

Halle and Brooklynn - still the absolute best of friends

After an amazing day of hiking, we realized the weather was set to be cold and rainy the next day.  We made plans to head to Hot Springs National Park and see the sights there and then maybe into town to check out some shops.  

We were driving toward the National Park and saw all the signs - but couldn't find the park entrance or where the trails were.  Then, when we looked around, we realized we were already in it.  Very bizarre and surprising to be in a little town that IS the National Park.  All the "trails" were sidewalks and the "historical bathhouses" were on the main drag in this town.  Really weird.  

Regardless, we went exploring and got to feel the actual hot springs and see the steam coming up out of the ground.

The kids were regretting their shorts and were standing on a hot air vent from the springs below to get warm!

Bathhouse Row is one of the main attractions for the National Park here and were used as our modern day version of going to the spa.  It was interesting to get to tour them and see what they actually looked like.

This particular bathhouse is still fully operational with the same types of equipment used prior and the water from the real hot springs.

Very old, creepy elevator

Looks like a torture device to me!!

We did some shopping in the little town, got some lunch and then headed to the science museum! 

This place was so awesome.  LOTs to do for kids and adults alike.  The kids LOVED this underground "mine" playground that was 100% pitch black.  Beth and I got bored watching the kids run around and around 100 times in and out, so we decided to go in and see what was so cool.  People.  It was PITCH BLACK in there.  Beth went in first and I think my head rammed into her butt several times while we were crawling through these weird tunnels.  Then the floor would disappear and you'd be face planting on a cargo net....  Next thing you know you've rammed directly into a wall.  Seriously.  This was far from "fun" but Beth and I were laughing hysterically.  Best part was the kids that were climbing around us b/c clearly these old farts should not be in there...  

 

Map of the interior that we didn't see until AFTER.  lol

This was with a full flash.  It was totally and completely dark.  Imagine crawling out of that tunnel not realizing the floor was no longer there.  It was crazy.

The kids separated out in the main area of the museum and enjoyed exploring all the exhibits.  Beth found this one about electrical current and decided to show Todd how it worked.  Hilarious.

Another really cool exhibit was about animation.  Halle really enjoyed this one and sat there for probably 30 minutes working on her creation.  It was pretty awesome.

We headed back in time for a camp dinner and early bedtime.  We were beat!  The next day was supposed to be pretty weather, so we were hoping to swim!

It was a pretty day.  Sunny and warm.  Warm enough to swim?  Probably not - but these kids were DETERMINED.  

That evening Erin was feeling bored and and wanted to go find her geocache box.  No one else was super interested in coming along (we had done a LOT of hiking before this...  lol) so Beth and I took her on our own.  

I think she had trouble finding matching shoes in time - way to be resourceful, Erin!

Our growing adventure board!

Last sunrise at DeGray

We headed out early to make the long drive back to Texas and stopped for a night at Dinosaur Valley State Park.  We've heard of this place, but it is a little outside our range for a weekend trip.  Apparently it is an area where actual dinosaur tracks have been found and are visible during certain times of the year.  We were not there at the right time of the year or it is a giant hoax b/c we saw nothing.  LOL!  It was a pretty place regardless!

There was a letterbox near our campsite that I wanted to search for to document our stay there.  Lia was up for the adventure, so off we went!

It was a great find!  Easy directions and right where it should be!

Most surprising thing of all???  This is Elizabeth's stamp and handwriting - they had found this same letterbox on a separate trip in October!  SO COOL!!!

 You know you've had a great trip when you don't want to leave - even after 8 days.  We all could have stayed another night - or two - or 6.  I'm already excited for next year!!!  Where should we go???