Our Grand Adventure: Fourth Stop

Next up: Oklahoma!  We stayed one night at Bell Cow Lake & Equestrian Campground, about 200 miles west of Devil's Den.

 

The campsites were nice and we were able to set up pens again for the horses.

 

Since the drive was (fairly) short and we arrived early in the afternoon, Mom and I had time to sneak in a 6 mile ride before heading to bed.

 

The trails we mostly flat, well marked, and well maintained.  We rode through a large patch of flowers...

 

and all around beautiful Bell Cow Lake.  The dirt/clay was bright red and made it look like we painted the horses' hooves!

Our Grand Adventure: Third Stop

Our third stop brought us to Devil's Den State Park, also in Arkansas, for two days and three nights.  This park wasn't quite as nice as the previous park and our stay was a little rough.  The road to camp was under heavy construction and we had difficulty finding our way (it's hard to turn rigs around on narrow, steep, and curvy mountain roads!).  We did finally make it to camp where we set up pens for the horses and watched the construction equipment drive back and forth. 

 

My parents' cat, Casper, was a great sport about the entire trip.  He walked well in his harness and loved exploring each new place. Plus, he was a hit with everyone we met!

 

The riding trails looked nice at the start but were also rugged, neglected, and poorly marked.  We ended up only riding 6 miles the first day and 4 miles the second.

 

The one overlook we rode through.

 

One of several creek crossings.  Notice all of the rocks!  

 

The hiking trails were only slightly better than the riding trails.  The scenery was beautiful and the trails were maintained, but the signage left a lot to be desired.  Here is a cool bench we found along the way though.

 

A double waterfall.

 

More rocks!

 

Another overlook.

Our Grand Adventure: Second Stop

After a layover in Tennessee, my parents, Casper, Mow, Santana, and I packed up and drove over 400 miles to Arkansas.  We stayed two nights at Village Creek State Park.

 

The accommodations were excellent at this lovely park.  The facilities were clean and the horses stayed in nice stalls.

 

We had paved parking spots for the campers too.

 

The morning after our arrival Mom and I headed out on a 14-mile ride.

 

The cactuses were blooming, despite the cool temps, and the horse trails were well marked and well maintained.

 

One of the creek crossings.

 

And a beautiful beech tree along the trail.

 

After riding, Mom, Dad, and I went for a 4-mile hike.  About one mile of the trail was once part of the Trail of Tears and had a lot of interpretation along the way.  Here is a section that also had some interesting tree roots.

Our Grand Adventure: First Stop

On May 15th I left our house with the truck, trailer, Mow, and lots of stuff and headed out on Our Grand Adventure.  My first stop was at my parents' house in Tennessee.  Mow and I rested up while Mom and Dad finished packing their trailer.  I also took the opportunity to give my Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts.  Here is Casper enjoying part of one gift, a catnip plant that I grew!

 

As some of you already know, we have a US map on the side of the trailer and fill in each state once we have slept in the trailer in that state.  I stayed in the trailer while in Tennessee and then added that state to the map!

Finishing Touches

We finished a couple more projects in our camper this weekend in preparation for our big trip.  Here Matthew is constructing the face of the cabinet in the "nose" of the goose.

 

The finished cabinet complete with sliding doors and two shelves.  We plan to store all of our clothing in this area.

 

We also installed horseshoe drawer pulls on all of the cabinets.





















 

 

And added a mirror on one of the cabinet doors.

 In the horse area, we added a "stud wall" to hold the hay away from Mow, insulated the ceiling, and I thoroughly cleaned all of the mats.

 

After all our work was done and the trailer was packed, we headed out for a fun night of swing dancing at the Mighty Eighth Airforce Museum!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing!

We've had a some exciting nights of dancing over the last few weeks.  First, we attended a ball with the Penguin Club at a local hotel.

 

A fun photo of us on the floor with Jamie and Edward.

 

Last week we received a last minute invite to dance as movie extras for a film that is currently shooting in Savannah.  The movie was set in the 1930s so we had to visit wardrobe, hair, and makeup before the filming.  This was Matthew's first time on a set and my third.  We had a lot of fun but were a little tired after staying up until 4 in the morning.  As long as they keep the shot we were in, we should feature prominently in the dancing scene!

 

And, lastly, we went to a birthday party on Tybee Island on Saturday and went for a walk on the beach.  We met one of our dancing friends on the beach who happened to be dancing, so we joined in!  Dancing on the sand was actually a lot easier than either one of us would have thought too.

Garden and Horses

The garden is off to a great start so far this year!  We have been eating lettuce, spinach, snap peas, and asparagus for a while now and the broccoli and potatoes are just coming in.  The tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, raspberries, onions, okra, corn, and herbs are growing fast and, hopefully, won't be ready before we return from our trip.

 

We only installed one new raised bed this year, but it is already full of plants.  I also added some mulching around my kiwi plants and new grape vine.

 

There are more than just veggies growing in my garden too.  Here are the five baby blue birds residing in a box on one of my trellises.

 

 

A week ago I took Mow to his second dressage horse show.  He started out a little nervous but we ended up having a great ride.  Here he is sporting his new bridle that I picked up at a tack sale a few weeks ago.

 

And, I've been working on my Horse Selfies! ;)