Chat
After we left the cemetery we came to a rather difficult river crossing. It was wide and almost waist deep. Going around was not an option at this point--we'd come way too far. So we took off our shoes, held them over our heads, and waded in. Sputnik's panniers floated for a few seconds and then filled with water. Good thing we'd already eaten most of the food! I kept the camera over my head and hoped I wouldn't slip and fall on the uneven bottom. I had some close calls, but since Sputnik was on a leash next to me I was able to grab onto him for balance a couple of times. When we got to shore and replaced our socks and shoes, Phil noticed that his ankles were once more covered in seed ticks. Yuck!
We soon came to a newly mown hay field and another old barn. This one was big and beautiful with a long grain storage area down the center, many box stalls for horses, areas on the side to keep equipment, and a huge hay mow up top. Sputnik is standing in front of the grain storage. I liked the slanted boards.
Around the corner was a beautiful farmhouse that went with the big barn. We couldn't peek inside because it was all boarded up, but the outside looked as nice as if it were ready to welcome new occupants.
The Erbie historic church was a little further on, and there we encountered a bevy of park rangers because the church was undergoing restoration. I was a little nervous that they might say something about our goats. After all, the locals had warned us that they might not be welcome in the National Park. But while the rangers were surprised, they were not hostile. They were mostly intrigued, and I told them they ought to look into using packgoats to help with trail maintenance in the non-horse areas of the park.
When we arrived at our truck we considered going the long way home on the well-maintained 2WD roads that the park service had used to access the church. But since we'd already conquered the rough road coming down, we decided it would be just as well to take the same way back. It wasn't so bad now that we knew what to expect. We had just enough daylight left to take a quick jump in the river at Ponca before heading back to our cabin for one last soak in the hot tub and packing up. It was a grand four days in Arkansas, and our only regret was that we got so many seed ticks. My ankles are still itching two weeks later (although they're finally starting to get better). Next time we're using the waterproof bug repellent and we'll be spraying under our socks as well as above them!
We soon came to a newly mown hay field and another old barn. This one was big and beautiful with a long grain storage area down the center, many box stalls for horses, areas on the side to keep equipment, and a huge hay mow up top. Sputnik is standing in front of the grain storage. I liked the slanted boards.
Around the corner was a beautiful farmhouse that went with the big barn. We couldn't peek inside because it was all boarded up, but the outside looked as nice as if it were ready to welcome new occupants.
The Erbie historic church was a little further on, and there we encountered a bevy of park rangers because the church was undergoing restoration. I was a little nervous that they might say something about our goats. After all, the locals had warned us that they might not be welcome in the National Park. But while the rangers were surprised, they were not hostile. They were mostly intrigued, and I told them they ought to look into using packgoats to help with trail maintenance in the non-horse areas of the park.
When we arrived at our truck we considered going the long way home on the well-maintained 2WD roads that the park service had used to access the church. But since we'd already conquered the rough road coming down, we decided it would be just as well to take the same way back. It wasn't so bad now that we knew what to expect. We had just enough daylight left to take a quick jump in the river at Ponca before heading back to our cabin for one last soak in the hot tub and packing up. It was a grand four days in Arkansas, and our only regret was that we got so many seed ticks. My ankles are still itching two weeks later (although they're finally starting to get better). Next time we're using the waterproof bug repellent and we'll be spraying under our socks as well as above them!