8/25/2014 0 Comments August 19 ArkansasAugust 19 So after Grand Saline, Texas, we spent one more night in Dallas. Originally we'd been intending on driving straight from there to Arkansas, but with the rain and the laundry and a few other things, we weren't able to leave when we'd planned. That next morning we did attempt to get up early and get moving....early turned into something like 10:30 or 11AM before we got on the road. The road was up to Arkansas... another place I'd never been before. For some reason, I was surprised at how green Arkansas is. I don't know if I thought it was all just a brown streak, but it's very pretty. Big trees all along the highway, and lovely rolling hills, like so much of the middle of America. ................................................................................................................................. We pulled into the Jacksonport State Park about 9:30PM - we made a few stops along the way, so it took us awhile. Well, we went to open the door of that car, and it was hot out there...and dark. KOA's are bustling places, typically very quiet, but very populated. The one in Dallas was right in the middle of the city, though surrounded by big trees and bushes to make it look like it was out in the wilderness, you can still hear the traffic going by. The state parks though are often mostly empty of campers. I don't think most people realize you can camp in them, and the rates are often way less than anything else around. So we were camping way out in the dark, next to a river. There was plenty of noise, but it was all crickets and katydids. The humidity hit us like a fist, right in the face. We all made a decision right then - we'd sleep the rest of the night in the air conditioned car - so we did. This night was also my cummupence for joking around about going 'squatching'.... (looking for Sasquatch - 'Big Foot' - while we travel.) I'd been joking about it so much, that that night I had to put up a blanket on the windows so the Sasquatch wouldn't be able to see in. Sounds silly - grown woman and all that I am ... it's still not weird. The next day we made camp, walked the nature trail, went to buy a few groceries, and roasted a couple marshmallows for s'mores. Then in the afternoon we visited another ranch, the second planned for this trip - where a friend of mine had said we could ride horses. We wanted the kids to get some experiences with people who work hard outside and keep our country going every day. To see some farms, and experience what it's like to live in the country. So her horses are great - what we call 'bomb proof'. Seriously, especially her big red horse, Ben - an actual bomb could go off and he'd flick an ear, prop a back hoof up, and look for something else to eat. This is good, because at one point, John was up on his back facing forward, their 8 year old son was sitting with John, only facing backwards, and the two of them were trying to get Ben to move. Ben was totally ignoring them - and continued to ignore them until they got off. The thing that amazed me there, though, was to see my children all get up on horses and just ride like they'd been doing it often before now. Most of them haven't been up on a horse more than once or twice for a little pony ride. But they got up there, acted like it was completely natural, and just rode. By not too long, Hannah and Tricia were trotting around the arena with no problems at all. Then Sasha let me get up on Romeo, her blind gelding, and I was lost. I didn't want to get off - he's a great horse...has a very smooth trot, and was just such a joy to ride. Especially because Sasha just let us ride. She didn't worry about trying to lead us around, or anything else. She let us take our own risks, and do our own thing, and i so appreciate her for doing that. It let me really see what I and my kids were capable of doing. .................................................................. Notice there aren't as many pictures of us here. This is because I spent most of my time on horseback. There's more of the horses on my Facebook page.
Next stop - Chamblee, Georgia - after another long drive. As always, you can follow our trip using #Gr8USrdtrp and #BigGiantPickle on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Chamblee FamilyYes, all eight of us, in a Chevy Tahoe, driving across the country in an epic search for history, adventure, and a little bit more leg space in the back seat. Archives
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