Dam Site Recreation Area & Campground

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Summer would not be complete without a trip to Greers Ferry Lake for some water fun. We reserved site M4 at Dam Site Campground for four nights arriving Wednesday evening. We had not previously stayed in Loop M, but were happy with the site on the lake side of the loop. These sites are high above lake level and for all practical purposes provides no access to the water. The separation between sites was good with water and electrical service. The pads were apparently intended for a trailer / RV or a tent.  With Hannah, Brayden and the Heber Springs girls spending the night we took our new Eureka Desert Canyon 4 tent for additional space. It was a tight fit in the narrow site. The picnic table was movable and we swung it around on its short chain to the double wide asphalt drive. I noticed several other sites in the loop had to do the same thing.

Back in the day when I was a Boy Scout we were taught to leave campsites better than we found them. A simple courtesy to the next guy. It isn't a very big thing to just pick-up after yourself and in the process pickup things folks may have inadvertently dropped or the wind had carried away. Someone at our site felt it necessary to intentionally throw plastic, cigarette butts and batteries among other litter into the fire pit. I cleaned the fire pit out before I would let anyone start a fire due to the potential noxious smoke that would be created when using it for a campfire or BBQ grill. 

Brayden and Hannah had never been to Blanchard Springs Caverns. For a cool summer activity on Thursday afternoon we caravan'ed to the cave. The previous year we did the longer 1.2 mile Discovery Trail. Tihs time we took the 0.4 mile Dripstone Trail because I wanted Hannah and Brayden to see the cathedral room (and it was just easier walking for us old people). Donna took some great pictures inside the cave.

When we returned to the campsite Thursday afternoon we got a pretty hard rain shower.  This was a chance to see just how well the new tent would stand up to rain. It was completely dry after the rain.

Friday morning we we had a 140 HP tritoon party barge reserved for five hours. The kids had a great time tubing and swimming off the barge. We stayed mostly in the area of the JFK dam where there was minimal boat traffic.

Saturday morning all of the the kids played Uno. Not sure just who won, but from the noise I think they had fun.

Later Saturday Brayden and I went to the swim beach (or at least what was left of the beach). The lake level was about 6' above normal. Brayden (a.k.a. Sharkboy) played find the rock. We had a triangular rock that I would throw for him to fetch. We kept the rock!

It was a little cooler on Saturday evening so I had Brayden build a campfire for the requisite S'more roasting. Brayden has got the tepee style campfire building process down. The fire starter sticks help!

We returned to Russellville on Sunday bringing another great trip to an end, but the memories will always last.

Lake Fort Smith State Park

Monday, June 10, 2019

It's summer and grandkids are out of school so we took Zoey, Hannah and Brayden to one of our favorite summertime campgrounds. Lake Fort Smith near Mountainburg is just about 90 minutes from home. We love the manicured grounds, but most of all we enjoy the swimming pool.

I spend an inordinate amount of time at home trying to keep squirrels out of my bird feeders. Evidently the word did not get around. This little guy came up to me begging for nuts.

To make sleeping arrangements a little easier we setup the old dome tent. Hannah and Zoey moved in and decorated the inside with lights and girl stuff. Inside it got pretty warm so we took the rainfly off for the night. That night at about 4:00 AM I heard rain hitting on the trailer roof. Remembering that the rainfly was off I ran outside and woke the girls. They were sleeping with the rain hitting them in the face through the roof mesh with all their bedding soaked. They finally realized why I was there and that they were wet and came inside the camper. So much for simplified sleeping arrangements. The next afternoon with everything dried out we put the rainfly back on the tent. An afternoon rain shower came through and we learned that the old tent was incapable of keeping out the rain even with the rainfly installed. It was with some sadness that we trashed the 25+ year old tent when we got home. 

Last Setup of the Dome Tent

Before the Storm

After the Storm

Hannah and Zoey Crated a Toss Game with the Chuck-O Beanbags

Brayden Sleeping on the Foldout Couch with His Shark