Found A New Park

Sometimes spur of the moment adventures mean more to me than ones I’ve carefully planned. I recently read of a park near me that I’d not heard of before, Emerald Park in North Little Rock, AR. I wasn’t sure the hiking trail in the park was doable, since it was listed as moderate to hard. My knees don’t like those words and protest very much when the trail is steep!

I got in touch with my sister, who is always willing to go on adventures with me, and we headed to the park. We knew there were two trails, one up high and one low. We figured if we couldn’t hike to the top, we could just walk along the low, flat path. Thankfully, with the aid of walking sticks and gentle switchbacks it wasn’t too hard. We took our time and made it just fine!! The trail led across the top of an old rock quarry. It’s hard to see depth in pictures, but if you look to the left side of the picture below you can see a very large, blue dump truck. Just so you know, we weren't in any danger of falling off the cliffs, there was a chain-link fence to keep everyone away from the edge.

Along the trail are several signs warning hikers about the high cliffs. Regardless of those signs, there have been people that have gone over the chain-link fence in order to paint graffiti on the rocks. I can’t understand why people believe they have to leave their mark on nature.

We took a break for lunch at a fun little diner. I’d seen this diner many times, but was never there at the right time to eat. Finally, I thought I would have the chance. Knowing the diner was close to the park, I got online to look at their menu and discovered it was closed and was for sale! Disappointed was a mild reaction! As we drove by the diner looking for a place to eat, we noticed an open sign. There was no name on the building, so we weren't sure if it was still a diner or what. It could well have just been some type of office, but it wasn't. The diner had been bought and just that very day reopened for business. We were among the first of their customers for their soft-opening! Yay, for us!! We had good old-fashioned burgers and they were great!

Refreshed, we returned to the park and walked a lower trail right along the Arkansas River. I had to use the zoom on my camera, but the state capitol of Arkansas was barely visible in the distant haze.

 

Along the trail there were some huge rocks from the quarry with pretty wildflowers growing near them.

 We discovered some fun silhouettes of bicyclist, butterflies, birds, dog walkers, joggers, and skate-boarders painted on a long concrete wall. These were not graffiti, they were approved by the city.

I love to return to places I'm familiar with, but sometimes it's nice to explore somewhere new. You never know what you'll find till you get out there!

Spring at the Old Mill

I have so many favorite places to see in the spring that it's hard to fit them all in, especially with the spring showers we've been having. Well, more than showers . . . downpours! A must see every spring is the Old Mill, but this year I had to dodge the rain and hope the blossoms had not been destroyed. 

A little history of the Old Mill. It is a historic re-creation of an 1880's water-powered grist mill. It's pretty famous. It was used in the opening credits of the 1939 movie "Gone With The Wind."

It's such a beautiful and relaxing place to take a stroll.

No matter what angle you view the mill from, It's breathtaking!

Friends of the Old Mill and the Pulaski County Master Gardeners do an excellent job of keeping it clean and pretty.

Sometimes the water is an icky reddish color, but with all the recent rains it was flowing clear and pretty.

If you look at the foreground of the picture below you can see a concrete bench created by Senor Dionico Rodriquez, a sculptor and artist of Mexico City. There are also concrete sculptures of toadstools, tree stumps, and tree branches entwined to form bridges.

There are some very pretty pathways to stroll along.

I was surprised to see something new at the mill. An unidentified carver had been at work carving an old tree trunk. He carved an amazing replica of the Old Mill and the letters N L R, which stands for North Little Rock where the mill is located in Arkansas.

The Mill has never failed to please in the springtime.

This year it was exceptional!

"The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come

and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

Song of Solomon 2:12

A Closer Look

In my last post I shared the wonderful Me & McGee Produce Market I found.

I thought you might like to see a little closer look at the many displays.

Every where you looked there was a pumpkin peeking out.

This was one of my favorite displays.

I really like the metal flower in the middle of an old window frame.

There were pumpkins in every shape, size and color,

veggies,

Arkansas black apples,

 and flowers too!

These didn't even look real, but they are!

The pumpkin I brought home was a smaller one.

I loved it's color and it's bumpy texture.

This cut little guy came home with me because of it's wonderful little stem!

My rule: When buying pumpkins you must always find at least one with a curly stem!

I love autumn!

I love the colors,

the smells,

and

the cooler air!

I sincerely hope you are enjoying your autumn!

Break Is Over

Hello there!!

What was supposed to be an August beak

turned into a little more than that.

No real reason, just what happened.

I'll catch you up on the last seven weeks.

It won't take very long,

it was a slow time as I spent most of it indoors!!

Here's what I did when I occasionally ventured outside . . . 

watched reflections as I chatted with my sister . . .

spent some wonderful "water" time with family . . .

searched for the last summer flowers . . .

enjoyed the car show at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas

(our car is the red one, 1943 Ford five-window coupe)

kept a close eye on our buckeye tree trying to beat the squirrels to the buckeyes . . .

visited a different library and discovered a nature trail . . .

anxiously looked for signs of fall and cooler weather . . .

and started dreading the raking of the leaves!

I couldn't pass up the sad face on this particular leave.

Maybe it didn't really want to float to the ground!

That's about it in a nutshell!

I did do a few other things, but I'll save those for another day.

So glad to be back!
So glad you stopped by!!

A Walk in the Park

This past weekend Jerry and I were in Springfield Missouri for a National Street Rod Show. While searching online for a motel, I discovered that Springfield has a botanical garden. Since it was just a couple of miles from the hotel we chose, I talked Jerry into dropping me off while he went to get our truck registered for the event. He was reluctant to drop me off at a strange place in a strange town, but I assured him I would be fine. I was more than fine. I had the most wonderful afternoon strolling through the garden which covered over 100 acres with 26 themed areas. I knew my time was limited so I planned my route through the garden with three specific sections I wanted to see . . . the butterfly house, the lake, and the Japanese garden.

I was surprised that I was able to stroll through most of the garden areas. I only missed a couple of small ones on the other side of the lake.

Butterfly House

Drummond Lake

Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden

I blogged about the Japanese Garden over at Focusing On Life this week. I would love for you to hop over there and read about it. There were winding paths, three small lakes, water cascades, a ceremonial teahouse, a moon bridge, and a meditation garden. The 7.5 acre traditional Japanese Garden was my favorite section. 

The rest of the pictures are random shots throughout the garden.

Well, here's my ride, I need to go!

I hope you enjoyed this quick look at Springfield Botanical Gardens!