Petit Jean State Park Boy Scout Trail

Petit Jean State Park, centrally located in Arkansas, offers an abundance of things to do. My favorite is exploring the trails. The Boy Scout Trail starts at the Davies Stone Bridge by the group camping ground. This is a trail that is very easy at the beginning and has some spectacular scenery. It you are a novice and only go a little ways, you most certainly can. Or, you can take the whole trail...12miles. I like this trail when I don't have a lot of time, but still want to enjoy some nature time. During April, the water was running fast and furious down Cedar Creek. It was so loud, you couldn't hear anything but the rush of the water. There is a spot down the trail, after a wooden foot bridge where some boulders make for a great place for the water to flow. We stayed at that one location for at least an hour just listening to the water and taking pictures. One boulder in particular has a flat top...It lays right next to the creek and made for a great place to just lay down and enjoy. My sister taught me a little trick one time when we were in Washington state . Go to the edge of a cliff, or in this case the boulder and lay down and look over the side. It sounds crazy, but it does offer a totally different perspective and seems like you become one with the water. For those of you who are Tim Ernst fans, the geometric rock formation is the same rock formation he used for one of his new shots for his upcoming book. I took this way before I saw his picture of the same locale...It was neat to see though. Sometimes we photographers question why we shoot things sometimes. It is nice to have a sense of justification...I'm not the only soul out there that finds wonder in this scene! http://www.cloudland.net http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com

The House That Job Built

Job McCully is a little boy from Bigelow, Arkansas that is receiving a big gift this week. You see, he's getting a brand new home from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Job was diagnosed with Leukemia, has had a bone marrow transplant and a double lung transplant. His now destroyed house was unfit to live in because it had been taken over by mold. The Bigelow community sent in more request for the McCullys to receive this home than any other community has since Extreme Makeover has been doing this. I don't know the family personally, but I have prayed for them. I'm so excited to have been witness to a miracle from God! If you get a chance, check out the blog from Woodhaven Homes in my blog list. They are the company building the home.

Lolly Bottoms and Mamma clouds

In June there were a few storms that rolled through the Conway area that made for great photo opportunities. This particular evening, I was sitting on the couch and looked outside and saw that the light was perfect for taking pictures. I also saw a large gathering of mammatus clouds. Mike and I grabbed the camera and tripod and headed out the door. Lolly Bottoms is the future site of our airport we are getting soon, but for now, it's corn, soybeans and rice fields. We found this little access road the farmers use and at the end of the road was this loan tree. Above the fields the clouds were moving fast. We managed to get set up and fire off enough shots to capture a few really nice shots. The lighting in the pictures is the real deal. It was that strange color. The first shot of just the clouds was before the sun really started to set and the other was right as the sun was setting. It's my favorite conditions to shoot in, that light at the end of the day when a storm is moving in or out.

Lolly Bottoms is located off Hwy 286/Hwy 60W.

Booger Hollow, Population 7(and one coon dog)

Booger Hollow...A place of my childhood and so many others. I remember stopping here on the way to Dogpatch USA every time. I remember the anticipation of the signs saying "12 Miles to Booger Hollow"...." 7 Miles to Booger Hollow"...."Stop, You are in Booger Hollow!". All the tacky souvenier ashtrays, shotglasses and tshirts are long gone. It now stands along with so many other places, including Dogpatch, as a shadow of it's former glorious self. Located on scenic Hwy 7.

Fishing The Little Red

There are just a few things that would get me up early on a Saturday morning. One of those is the opportunity to fish. Now I have been fishing a lot of years, but recently for my 40th birthday (don't laugh), I got a whole flyfishing outfit...Waders, Vest, Flyrod, flies, net...I mean I am set up!

Well, as a lot of you Arkansans know, we have had a lot of rain this year. That does not make for good flyfishing. We tried to go in May, but I was having to stand in water up to my chest. Not good, especially for a first time flyfisher. Today we got up early and headed up to the Little Red River, near Heber Springs. The dam had not been generating for a few days and it gave us a great morning to fish. Let me tell you, I love flyfishing! I have always admired it and appreciated the skill it takes to do it. It wasn't a great lot of fish I caught, but I did catch 2 and that was very thrilling for me. At 7:00 this morning, it was already 85, but when you are in a river that maintains 58 degrees, all you feel is cool. It was a beautiful morning with gentle rolls of fog coming through all morning. I took a few shots, and a few shots were taken of me (very rare). Explore the Little Red, with all its beauty and loads of fun!

Ye old school house

Along the Arkansas Highways and Byways you will always stumble upon scenes that will take your mind back to days when life was simpler. Mike and I were going the back roads to The Richland Creek Wilderness Area when we came across this school house off of Hwy 124 in Northern Faulkner County. Actually, you would have to be looking off to the left to see it. It is located off of Holly Springs Rd. We did a U turn and headed back. It was perfect to photograph because no weed-wacking was involved. (Although not a priority with us! Weed-wacking welcomed on occasion.) Apparently the grounds still taken care of by the community or the church next door. Although just existing as a shell of its former self, it still stands as a testament to times when going to school was a privilage, a sacrifice. This is a farming community. To get to school must have taken awhile. They really did have to walk 5 miles to school in the snow barefoot! Well, maybe not barefoot...But you get the picture. The children are gone...The teacher no more...Not a book in site....Still it teaches us to appreciate where we come from and where we will go...