The family hadn't taken a weekend to ourselves since Spring Break and since Labor Day was my first weekend since I quit being the Children's Ministries Director for our church, we decided for a family camping trip. We had been going to Mount Nebo a lot and though we love it there, I wanted to go somewhere different. Marty did search on the state parks site and because we are really getting back into biking and our bikes are mountain bikes he found that Cane Creek State Park has put in a new mountain bike trail. I know. There are mountains in the delta of Arkansas. I work there and that was my first thought. Well there are hills, just so you know.
Marty booked it and so Friday after work, we packed the suburban full and headed south. We didn't get out of Cabot until 7:00 so we didn't pull into our camping spot until 9:00. Even though there are hills at Cane Creek there are also the delta mosquitoes. They were in abundance. We got the tent up, the canopy up and to bed we went. More out of preservation then we were tired. Though we were tired of being mosquito food.
We got up the next morning and cooked breakfast and then explored the camping area. The camping area is very nice and laid out very well. We always look at which sites we would prefer for the next time we come and we were very happy with the one we had. It was a great layout if your tent campers like us. Most of the sites are really set up for RVs.
The park had several activities planned throughout the weekend and one was painting with nature. So, of course girls had to do that, since I had a touch of a headache, Marty took the girls while I took a nap. There Marty meet the Park Ranger, Mike, and the girls meet the park interpreter, Courtney. Mike and Marty had a great talk about the mountain bike trail and boy scouts, while Emily and Erin painted fabulous pictures of nature with nature (feathers, rocks, leaves, etc.) They came back to camp and we ate lunch, then decided that we would attempt the mountain bike trail. It is 15.5 miles long with the first 8 miles through the woods (nicknamed "the Roller coaster" by bikers), then .5 mile along a mowed path through tall grass and then 4.5 along a mowed levee (no shade and no rest areas), then 1 mile on paved road and finally .5 miles back through the woods. There are 3 suspended bridges and roughly 30 wooden bridges along the 8 mile roller coaster. We were hoping to do the 4.5 miles to get to the first suspended bridge. We got to about 1.5 almost 2 miles when Emily took her first ever fall off a bike. She was in front of Marty who was in front of Erin who was in front of me, so I didn't see it but he says it was quite impressive. She hit a tree root, bounce her front tire and it landed just off the path to the right and down she went. She took the bars to her lower chest, skidded across her palms and cut and bruised her left thigh. All in all though not real bad. Just a trickle of blood on her left palm. However she was ready to go home. Not back to the tent, I mean home. The only problem was she was wanting a helicopter to pick her up and take her there because she was not going to ride her bike back out of there. Well, the old belief of get back up on the horse was the one her dad and I were raised with so we weren't having none of that. We cleaned her up and wiped away the tears and off we went. Dad first, Erin second and Emily and me way in the back. We took it slow and walked down most inclines, for awhile.
It took some encouragement but we finally got her going down inclines again. Most were straight and none had any drops on either side. We finally made it to the first suspension bridge and were excited. We told the girls there were 2 more bridges like that and asked if they wanted to continue or go back. Well, Emily didn't want anything to do with going where she had just come from and Erin was getting into this down fast and back up the other side with her dad so on we went. We did the next 2.5 miles with great fun and glees of excitement from Dad and Erin. Emily started loosening up and then.......
Erin did a quick down across a bridge and then splat!!! In this picture you can see the disenchantment of her face as she is put back together after her fall. Dad was a head of her and Emily and I were coming over the ridge behind her, so none of us know how she fell but she laid it over on her and she has a huge bruise to her right knee and skint up her left elbow. We took a break and Dad thought it would be cute to get a photo. As you see, Erin was not thrilled.
Well like with Emily, we cleaned up Erin and got a snack (she ate all my Swedish fish!!!) and wiped away the tears and then started back out on the trail. We had decided we were going to at least do the 8 miles out.
This is the third of the 3 suspended bridges. This is located at around 7.75 miles. We are almost out of the woods now. We asked the girls if they wanted to continue or go back and at this point neither of them wanted to go back so we pressed on. It was okay at first but the levee was 4.5 miles of flat, low cut grass with no shade. It was not easy and it was not fun. It quickly became more then we had bargained for, but we had now passed the point of no return. Go on ward we went. We stopped, we walked, some of us cried and some of us made deals for Purple Cow. We were all doing the happy dance when we finally got off the levee. However, we still had 1.5 miles to go to get back to camp. Though this part was actual paved road. We could do this because we do it all the time. Marty had actually planned to ride it and let us sit while he went to get the sub but the girls were headed home. So the girls and us did all 15.5 miles of this trail. We started at 12:50 pm and ended at 5:30 pm. We are blessed with two beautiful and extremely great sports for daughters. Course a visit to the Purple Cow is to follow.
We made it back to camp but the idea of cooking was out of the question, so after MUCH needed showers by all, we headed into Star City for a quick stop at Fred's for bug ointment, paper towels, citronella candle, and children's Motrin before heading to the local Mexican restaurant, Los Toritos. We had a very good dinner but desert was from Sonic. No Purple Cow in Star City, so that will have to wait but had to have a milkshake. Fried ice cream wasn't going to cut it this time.
When we got back to camp it was off to bed, because these people were tired. Marty said that 3 laps of the river trail didn't wear him out as one lap of this trail. All I know is my knees are killing me.
The next day was Sunday and we had made plans to go to church in Star City but we were so exhausted from the day before we overslept. Which was good, because we needed the sleep but we really had intended to go. Instead we spend some quality time together after breakfast with Marty reading and the girls and I making bead people. We had also missed the morning kayak tour that the park interpreter was conducting around the lake. Emily was very disappointed because she really wanted to kayak the lake. After lunch we rented two tandem kayaks and out on the lake we went. Erin had never been in a kayak and was very uncertain of this plus she was convinced that the lake was full of alligators that would turn us over and eat her. Marty had Emily with him and I coerced Erin in with me and off we went. There is a 1.5 mile loop around the lake and we weren't sure how long it would take or if we could even paddle that much but out we went. Erin complained the first half of the trip. She didn't like the moss and the lily pads scared her. After showing her several open lilies and getting out of them into the cypress trees forest, she started to relax and enjoy it. We got through that forest and had to go back through more lily pads before coming to the dead forest (hard woods prior to the levee holding water on them). She really enjoyed the dead forest and looking at the markers that directed us through. Just as we got through the dead forest she figured out how to paddle and was really having a blast. Then we were at the beach, but we checked the time and still had an hour left so we decided to go again and do it backwards this time. It was so much fun.
