It seems that, of the people that “responded”:http://revjim.net/comments/10326/, most people are interested in going to Scarborough this weekend (the weekend of 05/07). But, that was only by a few points. Regardless, this weekend it is. Of those that can make it, what day is better: Saturday or Sunday? I’m thinking Sunday but could do it either way. Also, I can fit three more in my vehicle. Does anyone want to ride with us?
May 2nd, 2005:
Arkansas
We had a great time in Arkansas.
We left Friday morning around 9am, and decided to take the scenic route. The difference in time was less than an hour, and that was only if I was willing to severely exceed the speed limit. Arkansas is beautiful — more beautiful than I ever realized from my many travels through it that never ventured off of Interstate 30. It was raining all day Friday. This made for some beautiful landscape shots with hills fading behind hills fading behind mountains. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any sort of “rain cape”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=EWC9&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=17346 or “underwater protection”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=EWUAZ&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=134012 (see “wishlist”:http://grat.uito.us/revjim) for my camera, or I might have taken some time to make a few images.
Finding the cabin we were staying at proved to be more difficult than I originally envisioned. I didn’t realize that the directions that were given to me led me to the cabin rental office, and not to the cabin itself. After some confusion, we finally got the real directions, and headed on our way. The place was beautiful. Over a rickety old wooden bridge, way down a very small road, through a farm on a gravel road, and out the other side there was a nice little cabin nestled right along the bank of the river next to huge fields and an old barn. The cabin was *great* inside. Lots of room for the 9 of us and reasonably well appointed. Since it was raining, we did some grocery shopping, made dinner, and spent the first night drinking. A lot.
Saturday morning, I got up early enough and went down to the river with the other guys to take pictures while they fished. After getting bored of that I drove up and down the farm road getting some great shots of the cows, ponds, and fields, with the mountains in the background. I even found some turkeys, a dog, and a turtle who thought he could cross the road.
After some breakfast, we all got ready to go canoing. It was a busy day, so it took a few hours before we were on the water. Jess and I shared a canoe. It was her first time, and, despite a bit of a rocky start, I was very proud of her in the end. She really got the hang of it and, before long, most of the group regarded us as the fastest. I took a few pictures on the water, but, was too afraid to do much without proper “water protection”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&kw=EWUAZ&is=REG&Q=&O=productlist&sku=134012 for my camera, or I might have taken some time to make a few images.
7.5 miles and a few hours later, we ran the canoes ashore, helped everyone else get their’s onshore and emptied out, and then headed back to the cabin. Everyone showered. The girls (“Jess”:http://livejournal.com/users/sivatonight/, “Stacey”:http://livejournal.com/users/staceylacey/, Hillary with 2 L’s, and Hilary with 1 L) all showered together. Despite our best efforts, the girls refused to mistake my or “Alan’s”:http://livejournal.com/users/spurio/ voices as female and let us in with them. Once everyone was dressed, we went into town for a wonderful dinner and then home to bed.
Sunday I woke a little later than the day before, obviously worn out from the previous day. Jess and I went for a drive and took some more pictures. Then, back at the cabin, we said our goodbyes, and headed back to Texas, stopping a few times on the way home for some more photographs. I wish I would have had a “polarizer”:http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=14457&is=REG as it would have really helped the clouds to stand out.
All in all, we had a wonderful time. If I had it my way, I’d go again next weekend. Even if that meant having to pay more than the whopping, all-inclusive $50 we paid this time for an entire weekend of fun.
I should have some pictures for you tomorrow.