The kids started their morning eager to work on their Junior Ranger Books. I packed our lunch for the river while Scott worked on the van’s misfiring concern. I am getting used to the camping mode. We are all covered in a light layer of sticky sweat and suntan lotion with a sprinkling of Earth and bug grit. It took me a day to get used to the feeling, but I am starting to embrace it.
We waited for Scott at the put-in at Baker’s Ford for about an hour while he took the car to the take-out and arranged a ride back to us. I was a little worried about being left for a while with only the canoe and lunch. As usual, there was nothing to worry about. The sand, dirt, and water provided endless entertainment. Brooke started off by dancing in the river. She was very intrigued to discover that there is a sport that involves dancing in the water. Synchronized Swimming Olympics here we come! Cody wanted to create “muck” right away. Brooke helped him create a “muck sand castle”. Cody was so excited to be by the river. He kept running everywhere. He slipped and fell and landed face first into the river. Somehow I can never move fast enough in those moments. Every second of watching him struggle for air felt like forever. Thankfully he bounced back pretty quickly.
I have debated with myself whether to put this in here, but here it goes anyway…One of our biggest battles with Cody on this trip is taking advantage of using the bathroom facilities when he has the opportunity to. Most of the time I tell him to just count to ten and then he can leave. That usually does the trick. A lot of times he cries he doesn’t have to go while he is going. I knew he needed to use the bathroom before we arrived on the river. He fought me all the way, and of course he needed the bathroom ten minutes after Scott dropped us off. We walked for a bit to see if there might be a pit toilet somewhere, and of course no. Let’s just say it was something Brooke and I won’t forget. She has gotten to the stage where we are already embarrassing her, so hiding out in the woods trying to avoid people and poison ivy made her turn purple!
Buffalo National River from Baker’s Ford to Tyler’s Bend.
We came across some families swinging from a rope into the river. We watched. Scott contemplated. I was nervous, as usual! One of the kids we watched had the rope wrapped around his foot and struggled to break loose before he dropped in. Scott decided not to venture up into the tree since he couldn’t swing the rope up to the tree far enough. We all played at the beach across from the tree in the cove for quite a while. The kids were enjoying finding sticks, throwing rocks, and looking for animals.
Brooke kept begging to get out of the boat to swim. This river had some very small rapids. After we went through the first rapids Cody very indignantly proclaimed, “I didn’t see any rabbits!” We spent at least an hour of the two and a half hour float trip helping Cody say rapid instead of rabbit. Cody also worked very hard to paddle correctly. He was very helpful at splashing us if we were getting too hot. We saw at least a dozen turtles, some black vultures, a blue heron, and a baby raccoon.
The river and the roads surrounding the river were very well marked. Scott wanted me to note that someone mentioned if we come down here again that Grinder’s Fairy to Gilberts would be another good three hour trip with kids. Scott also wanted me to make sure I included the picture of the river conditions for today since they were the same as yesterday. It would be easy to coordinate a shuttle from this campground if we either got up extra early (most other boaters left by 8:30) or check out the group camp the night before.
After Scott asked Cody his favorite part of today’s trip Cody responded, “swimming, boating, and sticks.” Cody kept throwing his stick and then chasing after it. I won’t make any correlations, but I’m sure you can. Brooke enjoyed, “canoeing, jumping in, and hanging off the end of the boat.”
While getting out the pasta for dinner Brooke and I discovered the vitamins did not survive the trip. They turned into a large brown blob. The heat isn’t even as intense as we have yet to encounter, but it is enough to present a challenge with food and sleeping. The picture above on the right is of Scott cooking with his Ove’ Glove and his personally engineered super spatula. He made the spatula out of some 3/32nd inch aluminum plate after his frustration with other spatulas bending and melting. So far his super spatula is surpassing his standards.
The kids worked on their Junior Ranger Books and we read our bedtime stories after dinner. I got in a holy hilly and hot thirty-five minute run while Scott socialized with a family he met yesterday night and Brooke explored the campground with their son. The family was from Savannah, Georgia. I asked why they came to AR when they already had the ocean in their backyard. The dad explained that AR had under-discovered beauty without the crowd. It makes me think of when I asked if anyone knew of something to see in Oklahoma. As Kayla says I heard, “crickets.” The ranger at the station at Tyler’s Bend mentioned that Oklahoma was just more of the same of Arkansas. Well, if that is the case than I am hopeful. It may be hot, but it is nice to enjoy the quiet beauty of these states without the crowds.
Scott bonded for a long time with Mike, our campground neighbor, over paddling, Yakima, tents and other gear for quite a while. We brought over a bottle of wine and they brought out some marshmallows, which we roasted with Bamboo sticks that were growing all over the campsite. At one point it sounded like an army of some type of animal was traveling though the forest straight towards us. The “freight train” animals turned out to be two armadillos. The men and kids went “dillo” hunting for a while because we just couldn’t believe two tiny animals could cause such a raucous. We probably would have stayed longer enjoying each other’s company, but Cody was fading fast and the other family was set to leave on a three day river trip early in the morning.
