Old Highway 25 Park

March 17, 2017

Drove to Old Highway 25 Park on Friday, March 17th by myself to beat the spring break rush. I arrived at about 2:30 and the campground was already starting to fill up.  A large church youth group from New Life Church had claimed about a half dozen sites on the point of campground G where we previously camped in 2015. Matt left from work with his trailer and finished setting up his camp across from my site #G9. (I didn't save it because that would be against the rules ... I "set up" his gear including my truck and a lawn chair.) 

Red Dot is Old Highway 25 Park Campsite G9

Sarah came out later with Addie, Lily and Zoey. The girls had their bags packed and stayed the night with Pops. Matt and Sarah went home for a quiet evening. Mine was anything but quiet! 

Saturday morning I had a big breakfast with the girls. Biscuits, sausage and scrambled eggs. This was my first time to successfully bake anything in the oven. The biscuits were actually good. 

Donna came up Saturday. Matt and Sarah returned as well. 

Spent some time fishing with Addie, Lily and Zoey.

The water was clear and cold. 

Saturday night Lily got our first campfire roaring. Hot dogs with S'mores for desert!

Sunday night we had to put up a sunscreen during dinner because the sun was so intense. This provided the perfect stage backdrop for the after dinner show featuring DJ Donna and Zoey.

Tour of Campground B to see the swimming area and boat ramp.

Swimming Area

View across to Damn Site Marina

Boat Launch Area

Playing a little evening game of Chuck'O.

Sunset on Monday evening. Last night at Old Highway 25 Park. 

My photo doesn't do it justice.

Lake Catherine State Park

November 19, 2016. Off work for the Thanksgiving week Donna and I took a three night trip to Lake Catherine State Park. Lake Catherine is located in Hot Springs county in the Ouachita mountains. After a November week with 80+ degree highs fall finally arrived. Daytime temperatures had dropped to 50's with lows below freezing. Below are pictures Donna took on Highway 9 south of Williams Junction as we first got into the national forest.

 

Being a retired Entergy employee the history of the Ouachita River and its dams has always been interesting to me. The 1940 acre Lake Catherine was formed in 1924 when Arkansas Power and Light (now Entergy Arkansas) constructed Remmel Dam on the Ouachita River for hydroelectric power production.

Sunday we stayed in the campground and took a hiking tour around the entire campground. 

From the lake front camping area you can see Entergy's Lake Catherine Powerplant.  Lake Catherine Powerplant is a four unit oil and natural gas fired plant first constructed in 1950.

Lake Catherine Powerplant

Monday we took a drive into Hot Springs for lunch and some shopping. On the return trip we stopped at Entergy Park at Carpenter Dam. Upstream on the Ouachita River from Lake Catherine is Entergy's Carpenter Dam built by Arkansas Power and Light in 1931.

In the evening it was campfire and burgers on the BBQ grill. It seemed appropriate that on our Thanksgiving weekend trip we spent so much time enjoying things that Entergy has provided us. Beyond flipping a switch and expecting that lights come on, we are starting our Entergy retirement. Our Heartland camping trailer and the GMC we use to pull it are the rewards of a 37 year career at Arkansas Nuclear One. Then there are the lakes where we have enjoyed so much time that were built by Arkansas Power and Light visionaries who understood the benefits of diverse power sources including hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power. 

Nana and Pops Rock!