Arkansas Exploits (We have adventures around home too!)

Fall daybreak in the Ozarks from our deck

On our way back from the west, our truck camper’s refrigerator stopped working. The heat it creates is vented out the side by forced air generated by a fan. We had just replaced that same fan prior to leaving Arkansas, but it stopped running again when we were in Wyoming.   When it cannot vent properly, the heat shuts down the whole refrigerator.   We had only a few days left before returning home so we decided not to take the time away from our visits to try to have fixed again what was already supposed to have been repaired. But that meant no refrigerator.  No problem, we could buy ice and use the smaller portable cooler. It also meant no freezer, which was a problem.  It did not bother me to give to one of our hosts our few pieces of frozen meat. But it did almost bring tears to give away the bags of frozen, roasted Hatch green chilies that I had looked forward to using in various recipes.  Our friends Pat and Jim in Elephant Butte, NM had given us the chilies, which they had roasted and chopped themselves. I called the original RV repair facility when we returned to Arkansas, and they admitted to not installing a factory replacement fan in the first place and fixed it at no cost to us (except my chilies, sniff).

We attend church in Texas with Bill and Annie. They came to AR to visit us and we ate at a local pub.

A pleasant experience was that the day we returned to Arkansas, we had visitors.  Bill and Annie from Texas were on the road traveling in their motor home, and were staying nearby.   We picked them up and brought them over to see our home base and then had dinner in Eureka Springs. I would have grilled for them but remembered that my grill had died and was on my when-I-get-around-to-it list.  In that we were expecting a member of Daisy’s family in the next few days, I was inspired to replace it. 

Bill and Annie wanted to go to a pub their daughter had tried out. We found it.

 I went to the nearest Walmart first, in a town only 20 miles from us, for a replacement grill. I had to put it together and it was missing some key parts. A disrespectful store assistant night manager (who questioned my ability to assemble the unit) told me I had two options, either bring it back or wait 5 days for replacement parts. The next morning, I took it back to the store in 3 shopping carts: one filled with the cardboard boxes and packing foam it came in and the other carts with grill parts. I got a full return after talking with customer service. I went to a Home Depot 35 miles away for a similar grill, and made sure it had all of its parts before I left the store.

Brunch Quiche

Later that week, Daisy’s cousin Jean arrived on her way back to VA from Denver. Since we have been married, she is the first family member to come see us.  Probably if we stayed home we would have more guests.

I made a sweet pepper-broccoli-spinach quiche for brunch the day after Jean’s arrival, and served it out on the deck. Fall colors were beginning but the outdoor temperatures were still warm.  This was Jean’s first visit to our area of Arkansas.   We planned several activities to showcase Eureka Springs. A Holiday Island Art Show at the Barn, exploring several shops in Eureka Springs, a snack at the historic Basin Park Hotel, and then home to watch the first Virginia Tech football game of the season was the agenda for the first full day of Jean’s visit. By the way, VT lost to #1 Alabama, which was a bummer.  But the grilled chicken on our new grill turned out to be perfect.

I can drink this much.

  

 We started out the next day with a trip to the Eureka Springs visitors’ center, then went to the Keel’s Creek Winery for wine tasting.  The unique thing about the winery is that its owner, Dr. Doug, is a Virginia Tech graduate, a retired analytical chemist.  He and Daisy were on campus at the same time.  At retirement, he wanted to open a boutique winery focusing on local grapes harvested from his own vineyard and other local vineyards.  He is now doing that and opened his winery here in Eureka Springs in 2006, with his wife who is an artist.  That first year they produced approximately 750 cases of wine.  Currently the annual production of Keel’s Creek Winery is at 2,000 cases.  During our wine-tasting experience with Jean, we got an insider’s view of wine making from a chemist’s point of view and lots of good stories of their trials and tribulations. That evening, we enjoyed going to the Holiday Island Campground for a Labor Day picnic with campground visitors. Our truck camper “lives” in the Campground when we are in our house.

With the information we had gotten from the visitors’ center, Jean’s next day in town was filled with site visits.  We drove around Eureka Springs and visited health springs, shops, outdoor theaters, and haunted hotels. 

Cool spring mineral waters are good for what ails ya.

The city of Eureka Springs takes its name from the springs that flowed from the hillsides. The early Native American tribes held this area to be spiritually sacred, to the point that they never contested the area. It was one of reverence and peace for all tribes to use.  I hear that there were more than 62 springs here that played a commercial role in the development of the town as a miracle cure resort.  At this time, there are more than one dozen springs that still flow and only a handful that are designated for public consumption.  We took Jean to visit a couple of the more easily accessible and well cared for springs: Magnetic and Grotto Springs.

Magnetic Springs is also surrounded by a small park.  The shrubs here are sculptured and the grounds planted to create a mystical fairy land.  It was claimed that any metal object placed in the spring water here would become magnetized and that exclusive use of the water would “cure physical debility and aid in overcoming drug addiction.”  Now, did I not tell you that Eureka Springs was a unique place of eclectic people?  I feel right at home.

On the grounds of the Passion Play

Today, Grotto Spring flows from a cave that can be entered by descending a flight of stone steps into a cool cavern.  It’s kind of eerie.  The exterior is well landscaped with carved shrubs and wild flowers and even a doggie watering fountain.  When we got inside, we discovered a stone seating area and stone altar of burned candles.  I later found out that this spring location is used by the locals to provide a peaceful spiritual experience.   The city caretaker here often finds notes here that people leave for love ones present and past or descriptions of hopes and dreams scribbled on pieces of paper.

The grotto street location

It got cooler as I descended the stairs to the spring cavern

Interior of the Grotto Spring

We also visited and had lunch at the Crescent Hotel. Reputedly America's "Most Haunted Hotel," this National Historic Site has been a focal point of the community for over a century.  It first opened its doors to the wealthy and elite who could afford to journey to the Springs area and “take the waters.”  It would also see life as a conservatory school for women and later a medical clinic set up by a dubious character self-named as Dr. Baker, whose patients would check in and pay lots of big bucks for strange electrical and mechanical medical treatments.  Some would never check out, which is one of the reasons they say the place is haunted. The “clinic” even had a morgue and crematorium.  A lady friend and I once took a night ghost tour in the hotel that still gives me the willies about what we saw. That is another story.

The historic Crescent Hotel from the east

Doc Bakers' clinic motto

The Crescent Hotel Landmark

Original top level dining room with tin plate ceiling

Three of my best friends

That evening, our best friend Carol dined with us. I used our new grill to prepare brats, and we had all of the appropriate fixings.  We went over to Carol’s house for desert.  We shared the top layer of our wedding cake, which had been frozen for over a year. It was great topped with whipped cream and strawberries!   We completed the evening with a soak in her hot tub under clear skies with many twinkling stars.  Carol told us stories of several constellations that are of importance to her.  She is a fascinating lady and we are blessed to have her as a friend.

The last of the wedding cake

Her visit over, Jean departed for Virginia the next day with a promise to return soon and experience more.  I know she will.

The weather turned really nice and my golfing buddy Rick invited Daisy and me to go for a boat ride on the lake.  His wife Darlene and niece Sandy went as well. 

Table Rock Lake floaters club

mermaid

A cavern in the rocks...pirate's treasure you think?

so they say...this is Arkansas

A fast boat, the wind and sun in your face...heavenly

We explored part of the lake, floated in a quiet cove, and viewed our house from the water.  Too soon we had to return to the marina.

Our one-story house is on this ridge with several 2 and 3-story homes. Can you find it?

Yes we are on the waterfront.

Top of the ridge

Our AR house viewed from the lake

Boat Captain Rick with his all-beauty crew

Darlene invited Daisy to go on a Red Hat Club tour of Rogue’s Manor Castle with her, Phyllis, Sandy, and several other members. The Castle is billed as a medieval home that makes you think of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table with Harry Potter mixed in. It was a “ladies only” event with a luncheon and guided tour.

The Holiday Island Red Hats

The guest house at the Rogue Manor

Daisy with Sandy, Darlene, and Phyllis

The queen's throne

Stairway to heaven

The ceiling

Practically every square foot inside, including the massive redwood tables, is created of hand carved woods and forged metals. I have not been inside, but Daisy tells me it is a fantasy world of unique architecture. Spiral staircases, turrets, and massive stone fireplaces are but a few of its features.

The guest room

The floor with black walnut, cherry and oak inserts

A banquet hall for parties

I asked Daisy to describe the structure and the owner who gave them the tour. The best words she could use were beautiful and eclectic. I must go see for myself.

This I call a fireplace.

River view porch seats for people with large bottoms

A single redwood plank table

While in Arkansas, we shared more meals with friends.  Liz and Rusty monitor and water our grounds when we gone.  Rusty was part of the builder’s crew that built my house back on 2004.   We also had happy hour with our great next-door neighbors, Jim and Val, and shared stories of our various travels.

Rusty and Liz

Carol, Daisy, and I doing lunch with Jimmy H after church.

Wings at the Pig House

I forgot what this is?

Our house with the red door at sunset as viewed with a zoom lens from Pat and Mark's.

Pat and Mark can view our house from their deck and even previously rented our home when I had it on the vacation rental market.  Mark’s exclaimed to Daisy when he first met her that they had slept more nights in our house than she had, which was true.

Pat and Mark at our table

Our house is on the far right. It is sunset as viewed from Pat and Mark's home.

Rick and Darlene dining with us at our house

The master chef (if Daisy is busy)

Potluck in the Campground with other trailer trash buddies

In October, before we left for our winter home base in Texas, Daisy’s brother Don and sister Mary Lee came down for a short visit. Like cousin Jean, it was their first trip to our home, and we look forward to their return with other family members.

Don and Mary Lee with us at the Crescent Hotel

We also showed Mary Lee and Don the Eureka Springs Passion Play site and the Crescent Hotel, then had lunch at a restaurant that Don’s daughter Ann had suggested, from a trip she made to Eureka Springs with friends. That evening, I fixed them my special Pasta with Clam Sauce. 

the worship center

We took Don and Mary Lee to the award-winning Thorncrown Chapel, which overlooks a wooded mountain valley.   This post and beam wood structure is 48 feet tall, and it has over 425 windows with over 6,000 square feet of glass.  It has been termed a "poor man's cathedral" since it just appears to be wood posts arranged in a unique, attention-getting, almost magical pattern that allows one to experience the rock, vegetation, and light of the outside. It is available for weddings, retreats, or just quiet reflection. With the fall colors, it is a beautiful place to visit.

We will see Don and Mary Lee and other members of their families later in the year in Kansas on our annual Christmas visit. 

Having visitors make us smile

But I am getting things out of sequence.  In previous blogs you have read of our western adventures this season.  Stay tuned for the story of our 2013 southeastern travels.

Fall sunset in the Ozarks from our deck