River View Hotel Calico Rock

Sunday October 11th

When we arrived the rain stopped long enough for us to hike down a couple of the trails. With more rain and dropping temperatures in the forecast, we jumped at the chance to hike to Rock House Cave and Cedar Creek. The trails are rocky and wooded, with sections along the creek and up into the hills. The Rock House Cave is an amazing example of where native Americans took shelter and carved cave drawings into the walls ...

After a late start and early quarrel, the duo was off down State Route 36, destination: Mountain Home, Arkansas. They waved good-bye to Sandy and Eddie, and set their scopes on the wild, wild, west. Worn out from the packing and yelling, Chelsea rested her eyes through the entire state of Indiana. Struggling to stay awake, Nick heckled her after crossing into Illinois, and the couple did a Chinese fire drill in the middle of Interstate 70. Nick found the comfort of a ...

Spent the day in the caverns. Took 2 tours - Discovery and Dripstone trails. Strolled through large, beautifully lighted rooms with handrails and paved trails where we saw glistening formations like stalactites, stalagmites, columns and where flowstones are still changing. These crystalline formations are the result of minerals deposited by dripping water.

Music is an integral part of Mountain View culture. Daily musicians gather around the Courthouse square for impromptu jam sessions - folk style. People bring their own instruments and join in.Enjoyed the Irish Step Dancers at the famous Ozark Folk Center.

Moved to a farm in an old school bus. No house on the farm. Lived in the bus until my dad built 2 shacks and an outhouse. Took a bath once a week in a big metal wash tup and shared the water with my 2 brothers and sister. 1 at a time of course while the others held up a sheet so the cars passingby on the dirt road couldn't see us.

... in would have been really nice if it was 1987. It was really hot and humid outside and unfortunately our hotel's AC unit wasn't quite up to par. To cool off we took a dip in the rustic looking pool. Although old, it did do the trick. After swimming, we took a walk down by the lake to view the sunset. It was very pretty. A nice end to a long day of traveling.

... was old, men wearing bib n brace overalls sitting in a circle playing flutes and whittling wooden spoons. The café where we had dinner was doing a roaring trade in hot chocolate...which led us to discover that this was also a 'dry' county - we both think that Lonely Planet is obligated to mention this, because had we adopted the Mississippi custom and wandered into the town square with our 24oz cup of zinfandel we probably would have been locked up! Shops sold patchwork quilts ...

I have found it too difficult to continue with my blog, limited access to libraries and time to rest or type and I must take the latter. I will now be signing off for the remainder of the trip. I have three weeks remaining and I have begun the steep Ozark mountains ...

After a very long two days of fun and excitement, it was time to head back to Camp Green Lane and reality, I woke everyone up with a 8.00am wake-up call and I paid the Hotel which was $989.00 for the total of 4 rooms and 2 nights each room, which worked out to be $43 each person for both nights, pretty good I thought for a 5 Star Hotel. So I paid the bill and checkout of the Hotel Tropicana, and meet everyone in the lobby where we trained back on the 10.48am train to Philadelphia get ...

... by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. With dozens of artists in the area, galleries and small shops make this a fun destination. There are also a number of hiking areas and outdoor spots to sit and relax. We stopped by the Onyx Cave and cooled off in the caverns and stoppeby by to see the 70 foot Christ of the Ozarks statue.