Americas Best Value Inn-Hot Springs

... been to before). The drive up to the observation tower was a windy road but Lola faired well up the curves. It was so foggy and raining/misting that we couldn't see the top of the tower so we decided to not to go up. We proceeded on to the 2 1/2 - 3 mile hike and found the rock. I think I'm attaching one of those pictures as well. The series of rocks is and old Indian Novaculite Quarry. Hard to explain but it's like the Novaculite rock was one massive piece and was hit with an axe ...

... the Bathhouses. Jesse opted for a modern bath experience at the Quapaw Baths and Spa while Bek chose a more traditional experience at the Buckstaff Baths. The Quapaw Baths is a modern spa with several pools at differing temperatures, you don bathers and move from pool to pool at your leisure. Buckstaff Baths is a more traditional bathing experience where women bathe separately to the men and clothing is not allowed. You enter ...

... promenade back to the visitors center. We made the decision that the hot springs here could not top the Laird Hot Springs in the Yukon, that and spending $15 just to go into the pools briefly was a bit steep. So we headed up to the top of Hot Springs Mountain and Mountain Tower sitting 216 feet above the top of the mountain, though we did not go to the top we had a very pretty view of the Ozark area. Last and not least the earth-cache called for ...

... to the first pets and I got 2 bandana's for Figgy and Fridge that say "First Dog". I told mom how appropriate for the dogs after all they do live in the "White" House. After we left Little Rock we headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We ordered out for pizza and I got to have Papa John's. God, I miss Papa John’s pizza. Tomorrow we are going into Hot Springs national park to explore and relax in the springs and then go dig for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park.

... everywhere for hundreds of years. It comes out of the ground at 143 degrees and gets reduced to 105 degrees for the hot baths we took.

Chilled and damp we arrived at the Buckstaff Bath House, one of the two houses that have been restored to active spas after closing down in the '50's. Andy and I went for the "bath special". Hot mineral bath soak with a lufa sponge scrub down, then a sitz bath ...

Luke and Jenna had decided to take a very scenic route back to Searcy and go along the sort of back roads highways, visiting small Arkansas towns or towns with cool downtown districts along the way, and one of those was Hot Springs, where my family happened to be due to the long Labor Day weekend. I decided to surprise them by just walking into the lake house completely ...

... bottles of wine.. thank god! The dinner was delicious and their friends are hysterical. Last night we sat on the back porch talking and drinking more wine. By the time i realized, it was already near midnight.

Today, my mother, sister, and I walked around downtown and went to the bath houses.

This town is very cute but way too small town for us. Between the rednecks and nauseating winding roads, we're happy to be leaving for a city tomorrow.

Chicago here we come!

... that has several bullet holes in the ceiling from the occasional whoop-up. · Historic Downtown - Several buildings were constructed in the late 1800's and have been continually refurbished to maintain their original luster. It is a vibrant district. Starting with Pres Roosevelt in the 1930's, every president since has vacationed here mainly because of the hot springs. There are no pools on the mountain side - instead, the 143 degree F water is piped to town ...

... we found. Some were hotter than others but there was only one we found to be borderline scalding. People can actually buy special jugs and bottle the water to take home for drinking. I didn't even think of trying, especially with my weak stomach. Shayna tried the water from the cold spring though and she thought it tasted ok. I ...

... search of food. The room was so nice that we order pizza (via internet) and watched a film with Clive Owen called "Children of Men" which looked promising but was kinda nothing in the end. We are bored of traveling now and doesn't look like there are many more sights to see on the way back to Florida - so the whole thing has become an elongated holiday (as long as we don't find anymore Ft Smiths).