A Camping We Will Go

We decided on the spur of the moment to take off for a short camping trip as soon as my classes were done on Wednesday. We chose to try out the new state park at Lake Fort Smith. It's only been open for about six weeks, and we figured it'd be pretty nice since it's brand new.

We got a pretty late start on Wednesday even though I got out of class really early. We were having Direct TV installed (We're getting rid of Dish Network because of the MANY problems we've had). The guy came at 3:00, and we thought he'd take about an hour. He was here until 7:00! We didn't get to our campsite until almost 8:00. Fortunately, it was still plenty light outside, we had a pull-through spot that was easy to get into, and the kids had snacked off and on all evening, so no one was dying for dinner.

The park is really nice. The campsites are large, pretty level, and equipped with cable (and we think internet). We didn't take tv or computer, so we're not sure if that part really worked. The bathrooms were very new and clean (I didn't even wear flip flops in the shower; it looked like nobody have even used the shower.) The swimming pool was nice, and it had a neat water spraying area - like the aquatic park - for kids. There aren't really any trails there yet, but the park ranger said they'd be putting in about 15 miles of trail over the next year. The Ozark Highlands Trail terminates at Lake Fort Smith, so we were able to walk on part of that. (Jacob would really like to hike the entire thing - - maybe he has a cousin who will take him someday :)

It was so nice to just get away from everything. I didn't even wear a watch, so I really had no idea what time, day it was - - nothing I had to accomplish. The kids played together pretty well. The boys played dominoes and a card game (Hannah tried to play but was mostly in the way). I can tell that they'll be lots of fun with games once they get just a little older. The boys also had a blast riding their bikes. I loved that when we first got there, I could tell them both to get on their bikes and go riding so that they weren't under foot while we tried to set up the trailer.

Hannah had only one major fit - -when we tried to hike back from the visitor center. She wanted to be carried, and I refused. She screamed for the whole 15 minutes back (I swear, it seemed like an hour!). I made her take a nap when we got back, even though it was only 10:00 a.m. She slept for close to two hours. Fortunately, she seemed to learn the lesson that screaming wasn't going to get her a free ride.