Vacation

Last week took a trip to the Ozarks in Arkansas. We went camping for a week. Well we camped half the time. The other half we stayed in a cabin or hotel but with the way it went I'm pretty proud of us for camping half the time.

We left early saturday morning and drove 9 hours (including a few stops) to Lake Ouchita where we camped for 3 nights. Mitchel loved it....much more that we did but it was still fun. Eric and I had this idea of a nice relaxing trip where we would fish all day but we ended up spending most of the time chasing Mitchel around. I wasn't feeling very well so it was pretty hard to get meals together with a sicky and trying to keep Mitchel out of trouble. We rented a fishing boat one day. Mitchel didn't like that so much. He whined and cried most of the time unless the boat was moving. It really scared him getting in and out. Eric was able to do some fishing and caught one bass from the boat and another from shore later on. I didn't get to do too much. We also went on a nice hike through the woods and played in the lake. Mitchel loved the lake but it weirded me out that there were tons of 3 in fish that would swarm you when you got in. I dipped my toes...

We then drove to Mt. Nebo (1300 ft elevation...not much of a mountain but I'll take it). There we stayed in a cabin at a state park which was a really nice break to have Mitchel somewhat contain and not have to chase him around every where. Our cabin was right on the bluff of the mountain. It was really pretty but the pictures didn't turn out all that great.

After Mt. Nebo we drove through the Ozarks to Bull Shoals Lake. We stopped in the middle of a tiny town to eat lunch at the "famous" Ozark Cafe. It was interested....lots of old people...the place was full in the middle of a week day...food was greasy....waitresses were ehhh....and it was an interesting experience. When we got to Bull Shoals it was raining a little so we set up the tent. Mitchel got to wear his new rain coat and he looked so darn cute. I must admit by now I was tired of camping and became the party pooper. The river was up high and swift because they were letting more water out of the dam and it was cold! It rained that night a little too so we went to a little cafe in town for dinner. I got too lazy. That night there was a group of 3 guys camping a few sites over that played music all night. It wasn't too loud I didn't think but still rude. I have seen worse in campsite. They stayed up until 5 AM! The next day two of our campground neighbors came and told us that they report the ruffians so we didn't need to worry about them bothering us. Well....I had already made up my mind...I was tired and dirty and worn out so we left that night after dinner and stayed in a hotel. But that day was fun because we rented a better fishing boat and went out for a couple of hours. Mitchel was well rested because I took him on a drive in the morning for a nap and the sturdier boat made him feel better so he didn't whine and cry when we stopped. That was an enjoyable day.

Over all it was a nice trip and Mitchel did really well for spending so much time in the car. Eric and I just had high expectations. I enjoyed it because I got to spend a lot of time just talking with Eric in the car. We've decided no week long camping trips until Mitchel is old enough to watch his younger siblings!