I took off work early on Thursday October 19th to go to Heber Springs. Heber Springs Junior was playing Thursday night. It would be Heber Springs High School homecoming on Friday night. So we had a chance to see Addie and Lily perform with the bands. We went to Old Highway 25 Campground and found a walk up site E-6. We had never stayed in area E before having previously stayed twice in area F. Area E is near the boat launching area and swim beach. It was relatively quiet and I'm sure during summer months it would be the busiest part of the campground. Area E is mostly open with tree shaded campsites. It was probability less than 50 percent occupied when we arrived on Thursday with a few more arriving on Friday.
Thursday night HS Jr High played West Helena and won big. Lily played her baritone tuba in the halftime show. Somehow we managed to get no pictures.
Friday afternoon Donna and I went to the homecoming parade in downtown Heber. After lunch at the Real Deal BBQ we walked down the street a few blocks to watch the parade. The courthouse square was packed.
After the parade we met up with Sarah and took Zoey and Lily back to the campground for the afternoon.
Friday night Heber Springs High School played Batesville Southside. A great game and another win for Heber Springs. Addie played with the HS band at half time.
Friday night after the game we went to Libby Road Baptist Church with the girls. Matt had cooked some of chicken wings for an after homecoming youth get together. We didn't get back to the campground until after 11:00 PM. When we turned into the park between the entrance and the park host trailer a black panther crossed in front of the truck. Donna and I both saw it from about 50 feet away. This was a "BIG" cat probably 18"-24" tall at the shoulder with a very muscular build and in excess of 100 pounds (not a house cat, not a bobcat). It was unmistakable even though every so called "panther expert" on the internet says that they don't exist!
