When in Doubt, Go Camping!

Even though Jon has been officially retired from the Army for awhile now, we still plan vacations with a military mentality...meaning we don't. It can be so frustrating to plan something and then have to cancel due to a last-minute training or mission, so we've become very good at waiting to settle on plans (much to my chagrin).

Fall break this year was no different. We knew we wanted to do something with the week the kids were out of school, but since I still had to teach in the middle of the week and since fall is such a busy time, we never got around to figuring it out in a timely fashion.

But never ones to back down from hastily put together plans, we decided to go camping. We opted to return to the Mountain View, Arkansas/Blanchard Springs area because it was a familiar destination. We'd never camped there and had always wanted to, so this seemed the perfect opportunity.

A bonus was that the Blanchard Springs campground didn't take reservations, so it wasn't like we were behind in that area. Thus, as soon as we could, we packed up the car (our camping prep is pretty streamlined these days) and set out.

All was going great...until we reached the turn-off for the campground and came across a giant sign that said "CAMPGROUND FULL." Being from the Show-Me-State, I was going to need to see this for myself, so we continued on. Inexplicably, several of the lower campgrounds were blocked off with caution tape (due to past/future flooding?). When we reached the upper campground, we found that it was indeed full. 

There were some smaller handwritten signs directing guests to a wedding, so we surmised that perhaps that is why every single site was taken. We stopped to re-group--getting to see some of the wedding photos being taken while we were there--and re-assess. The kids did a little exploring while we figured everything out. 

Jon knew about some more primitive campsites a little farther up the road, so we thought we'd try our luck there. With fingers crossed, we turned into a different camping area and found the most beautiful site tucked away by a bluff. The primitive part of the site was the pit toilet, but we've camped with pit toilets before, so we put up the tent and settled in. It proved to be much more scenic and much more private, so it actually worked out much better than our original (non)plan anyway.

What a view!

Being October, the mornings were starting to grow chilly, but Jon gamely woke up early on the first day and fulfilled a dream of taking Erik fishing. The venture was worth it as Erik caught his very first fish! As usual, the dad who did all the work didn't catch anything, but it was exciting nonetheless, and provided a tasty addition to our dinner. Erik wasn't so sure at first, but once he tried it, he was hooked (see what I did there?).

What a catch!

That day also included a hike full of cool rock formations and interesting bugs. The kids even got to splash around in the water for a bit at the end.

So many rocks to climb

Carrying a katydid

Cooling off after the hike

The biggest adventure of the trip was a double canoe trip down the Buffalo River. Having survived the endeavor, I will say that Jon greatly overestimated my ability to pilot a canoe. I have ridden in our canoe many times, but since our growing family no longer fits comfortably in one boat, we had to split up, meaning that I would be in charge of steering a canoe. Elsa and I paddled in one while Jon and the littles paddled in the other. I never really doubted our ability to make it...but it was hard work! (I am very glad Elsa inherited Jon's upper-body strength and not mine.) I was very thankful to see the shore where the outfitting company was waiting for our boats.

We had another relaxing evening by the campfire, and then it was time to pack up and head back to civilization. I taught my classes the next day and then had a little bit more fall break fun with the kids before getting back to reality.