Our school district typically has a longish fall break, always timed with the OU Texas weekend since so many in our city go to the game. We usually head elsewhere, places that are driveable in half a day or so, and different from home. This year we tried Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is home to the closest National Park and we had never been there.
After we arrived --a 5 1/2 hour car ride-- we wanted to enjoy the warmer weather and move a bit. We headed to the Garvan Woodland Gardens.
It was a beautiful area, well-designed to provide interest in all seasons. I think we only saw about half of it, since we skipped the undeveloped nature preserve section. Several of us were ready to bring that treehouse home with us. Of course here we would not be able to be in it with dousing ourselves with mosquito repellent.
A cold front moved through the next day, with rain along with it, so we stayed indoors for a bit, enjoying the indoor pool and a local bookstore. By lunch time we were ready to get back out there. This time we headed downtown to the Hot Springs National Park. First, a tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse to get a better understanding of the history of this area:
And then outside. We found one of the display springs and then headed up up up Peak Trail to the top of the Hot Springs Mountain.
We did not go up the observation tower, so I did not take any pictures. It would have been a picture of trees and a gift shop. It was cold sitting up there so we decided to head back down, a much quicker trip.
Short memorable trip with the family -- and this time we were not in a tent when the rain came through.
After we arrived --a 5 1/2 hour car ride-- we wanted to enjoy the warmer weather and move a bit. We headed to the Garvan Woodland Gardens.
It was a beautiful area, well-designed to provide interest in all seasons. I think we only saw about half of it, since we skipped the undeveloped nature preserve section. Several of us were ready to bring that treehouse home with us. Of course here we would not be able to be in it with dousing ourselves with mosquito repellent.
A cold front moved through the next day, with rain along with it, so we stayed indoors for a bit, enjoying the indoor pool and a local bookstore. By lunch time we were ready to get back out there. This time we headed downtown to the Hot Springs National Park. First, a tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse to get a better understanding of the history of this area:
And then outside. We found one of the display springs and then headed up up up Peak Trail to the top of the Hot Springs Mountain.
We did not go up the observation tower, so I did not take any pictures. It would have been a picture of trees and a gift shop. It was cold sitting up there so we decided to head back down, a much quicker trip.
Short memorable trip with the family -- and this time we were not in a tent when the rain came through.
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