Arkansas Trip

So back in mid-May, the 3 of us took a trip to Arkansas for a week at Petit Jean State Park to celebrate Stephanie's busy season being over.   We are usually tent campers, but for staying this long, we decided to get a cabin.  It is just much easier with Sophie because otherwise one of us has to watch her the entire time.  Indoors, however, she could play with her toys and books while we read books, relaxed, cooked, etc.  Plus, the cabin had a full kitchen.  It was nice to have a bathroom and hot water, also, and we didn't mind having a roof over our heads one night when a thunder/hail storm blew through.  (Actually, the girls slept right through it!)  We had an enclosed porch and a deck outside, with a fantastic view of the valley over the cliffs right behind us.


We did a lot of hiking.  Pretty much every day we did a long'ish hike.  1-2 miles or a couple of hours.  One day we did a longer one that was 4 miles.  The shorter ones were down into the valley to the bottom of the waterfall or creek, so that was more climbing up and down.  It is just much different there than state parks in Texas.  We read that they were actually considering making Petit Jean a National Park, but the acreage wasn't large enough.  That was fine with us because it wasn't crowded at all 2 weeks before Labor Day.  And the weather was great: highs in the upper 70s, which was a little to cold to use the pool, though we tried.  But there were other things to do, like playgrounds.  There were 2 at the park itself, and 2 in nearby towns that we explored.

Sophie did really great on the trip and seemed to mostly enjoy herself.  She loves riding in the backpack carrier we got her this spring. Although later in the afternoon, she was more likely to take a nap in there, which means she wouldn't go to bed til after 11pm.  So we'd watch some basketball on the tv in the cabin (a treat for all of us, since we don't have cable at home).  And since we didn't have to take a bunch of camping gear, we brought a bunch of toys, books, crafts, etc for her.  (I do wish I had brought my sleeping back and bedroll, though, as the beds were rock hard--my one complaint).

We had such a good time, we are thinking about making it a regular destination.  (they have adjoining duplex cabins, too, so if anyone wants to join us, chime in!)  The car ride was a little much for Sophie, about 6 hours from DFW, but it was okay since we were able to stay longer.   Here's a few more pictures  from our hikes.