Sunday, April 3, 2016

Spring Break 2016

This year the family went to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas.
We broke the trip into 2 days and stayed the night in Dallas with Didi and Pop and had dinner with Gammy and Papa. The next morning we got up and continued our trip to Devils Den. It was about a 5 hour drive from Dallas, so not too bad......UNTIL we got within 5 miles of the park.
GPS and advice from locals had us taking State Hwy 220 the last few miles to the park.  We were told there is some construction on Hwy 220, but it was open - so with that advice we continued our drive.
I don't know what State Hwy 220 looked like before they started construction, but I can tell you what it looked like when we drove down it!

Our little Prius was not made for 'mud doggin' and there were a few times I thought we were going to get stuck. There was no cell service along this route and Mom was close to tears by the time we got to the park. 

It may had been a bad start to our vacation, but the bad luck stopped there.  Our cabin was nice - full kitchen, AC, cable TV, jacuzzi tub....a lot like the cabin we had a few years back in Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma. The family, including the pups made the cabin home for 4 days in relative luxury (minus cell and wifi) which turned out to make the trip more relaxing.

There were many beautiful trails to hike and a clear stream running through the Park. For the most part it was quiet, and Alice and I spent a lot of time hanging together in a hammock outside our cabin in the relative coolness listening to birds and talking and each night we took a bath in the jacuzzi tub. These were Alice's two favorite activities at the park.

Dad enjoyed the hikes, seeing the scenic outlooks, and finding treasure (animal skull). The dogs enjoyed walks and sniffing new stuff, and we all enjoyed the great weather.