Day 2

We all slept remarkably well for having 6 people in a 10 foot radius! We made up all the beds pretty quickly and had a delicious breakfast of cereal and homemade muffins. One of the many reasons the kids love the summer trip is because of the amount of breakfast cereal they get to consume. As a general rule we try to stay away from processed sugary food, but the rules get a little looser on the trip!

As we were packing up the kids played in the water a little bit looking longingly at the huge waterslide we missed out on because of the thunderstorms. It wasn't set to open up again until noon and we had a long drive ahead of us so we dragged them away with promises of a pool at our next stop.

Once we packed up our sleeping bags we were ready to leave and were asking Grammie what was taking her so long! It was supposed to be quite a long drive this day so we were going to break it up with a stop at Hot Springs National Park. But first we had a surprise drive through the glorious
potholes of Louisiana!  I was giggling as Dave's laptop bounced with every bump and he accidentally hit all kinds of keys along the way.  If the kids hadn't been in the car I do believe a few choice words would have been said!

We weren't able to get everyone in this picture as it was on the side of a busy interstate with no access. And after about 40 minutes we rolled up on this one!

Within about 30 seconds from taking this picture we were driving in the kind of downpour that you just stare at the white line on the side of the road to make sure you're still on it.

After dropping Dave off at Starbucks to get more work done, we drove through the very small town of Hot Springs and were in the park almost immediately. We found two lucky parking spots on the main road and walked toward the Visitors Center.

Back in the 1920s, this town served the area and tourists by providing bath houses from the 37 local springs. After the kids stamped their passports, they went to watch the movie and I sent Grammie in to enjoy it with them. Lola and I walked down Bathhouse Row and learned about this history of the area. The buildings were so very different and beautiful.

And this one even still operates as a bathhouse! Sorry, that's only half of the building. My furry tour guide was anxious to get back!

While everyone else was exploring, Lola and I relaxed on the front porch....tough life this furry girl has!



Learning from my kids is especially difficult. The lesson I usually get from them is disjointed and half of the story. Thankfully Grammie was there and could fill in all the extra parts.  This is the gymnasium in one of the bathhouses and some of the clothes the ladies wore after their treatment.



Lola and I took them behind the Visitors Center next where we were able to feel the 114 degree water straight from the spring. The water looked deceptively cool and refreshing, what a surprise!  But with the 85 degree weather not one of us was interested in a bath.  We walked back through the park to our cars and to pick up Dave.

Another bonus of having Dave along is having a second driver! He'd already finished work for the day so I was able to take a break and relax for the 90-minute drive to our park. Although I couldn't really relax as the county "roads" we were driving on, which just happened to be called Narrow Rd, was exactly that with some added S-curves.

The adults were all pretty exhausted by the time we got set up at camp. Brayden has been itching to play some camp ball so he was having some batting practice and the girls were exploring the park on their scooters.















We had a quick dinner and went for a walk by the lake to catch some of the sunset. I am also lucky to have a personal photographer along on the trip!

After a few minutes of RV time, we all headed to bed. I do believe I was asleep before my sleeping bag was zipped.