Hot Springs Nat Park

Trip legs (latest at top):

13-15 Feb 05 - Visiting family, Indiana
Sunday morning Dawn and I wake at 5am and finish re-assembling our gear to resume our trek. Finally, at 11:45am we are traveling through Chicago. We arrive in Kokomo that afternoon to visit my sons, play video games, wrestle with our Labrador, re-teach the cockatiel his theme song, and have dinner together. Since last July both my sons have lived with their mom, and I don't feel like I see them enough. My former wife and I get along just fine, and do a reasonable job of co-parenting even with me traveling so much. I would see my sons a lot more if I would move back to central Indiana, but having spent 11 years there was enough. But any way you slice it, seeing my sons on a limited basis is my responsibility.

After dinner Dawn and I travel south to Indianapolis to stay with my sister Judy, her husband KC, and daughter Sarah. Over the next couple days Judy and I put the finishing touches on the greeting cards we are offering through the e-commerce portion of www.TwigsInOurHair.com. I set up the documents and show Judy how to print the captions on the back of the cards, and we discuss wrapping, presentation and shipping, On Monday our mom Rose Marie visits and takes us out to lunch. On Tuesday our dad Big Steve visits for the morning, and shows us his latest model airplane in progress, a beautiful Corsair. We rent a really interesting DVD one evening, "Supersize Me," about a fellow who eats only McDonalds food for 30 days. Not only does he gain 20 lbs, but his blood chemistry goes completely wacko. As vegetarians, this is preaching to the choir, but it's an entertaining and educational movie nonetheless.

16 Feb 05 - On the road again, Indiana to Arkansas
Wednesday morning Dawn and I wake at 5am and hit the road by 8am. Our goal is Little Rock, or as near as we can get. We want to see Hot Springs National Park tomorrow, and still get to Dallas by later afternoon.

We stop at a Pizza Hut for dinner before we get to Little Rock. We order the special of 2 pizzas and some breadsticks because we each want our own kind of pizza and we can always save the leftovers. They forget to ever bring out the breadsticks, so we mention that when we go to pay. No problem, they say, and they refigure the bill.

Well, the new bill is just the same as the old bill. And I say, "but you didn't bring the breadsticks." And the cashier and the manager go into an explanation of how, if we didn't buy that particular special, then they have to ring it up as just two pizzas, and then they are giving us a discount, and it comes out the same. They are perfectly satisfied with this explanation. And I point out that they didn't serve us all the food we ordered, so they should charge us less than we would pay if they served us everything. And they really had a hard time with that concept. Finally I circled the amount on both bills and said, "If you were going to charge me this much for this much food, when you forget to bring some of the food you should charge me less."

I was open to them giving us breadsticks to take with us, or even knocking off a buck from the bill. I didn't tell them how to rectify the situation, but it was clear I wasn't going anywhere, and I wasn't signing. And before I knew it, they were thrusting $2.69 in cash in my face and looking very annoyed, like I was trying to get away with something.

I don't even like breadsticks.

17 Feb 05 - Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
Thursday morning Dawn and I wake at 5am, eat reheated egg pucks at the Days Inn in Benton and are on the road by 7am. As we follow the back roads to Hot Springs, it strikes us that some parts of Arkansas are very, very poor. I don't know when I've seen more trashed-out mobile homes. I've seen my share of mobile homes and rusted vehicles in northern Maine, West Virginia, and the hills of Appalachia, but we saw a lot of Arkansas that looked like people simply did not care what their home looked like. In a way it made me want to return and visit northern Arkansas, first because I am sure there is a lot of natural beauty in the Ozarks, and second, to see how the people live.

Sinclair Gasoline
It's been a long time since I saw a Sinclair Gasoline station. I thought they were out of business, but apparently they are alive and well in 22 states. When I was a kid I had a glass tumbler with the dinosaur logo on it.
Hubcaps for Sale
Or maybe this is just a curve where hubcaps tend to fall off. There is something kitschy about this display that I really like.

We arrive in downtown Hot Springs over an hour before the Visitor Center opens, so we hike up Hot Springs mountain to the summit. It's only about 1.5 miles round trip, but it's the first serious hike we've done in almost 3 months. You can clearly hear the traffic noise from the city below, but the woods are pretty on this 50-degree morning. Red berries adorn the Heavenly Bamboo, and the fragrant honeysuckles are in bloom.

Heavenly Bamboo
Photographed in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
Honeysuckle
Photographed in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas

Returning to the Visitor Center, we tour the building, which is the restored Fordyce Bathhouse. It was pretty interesting, and a very nice restoration, but I am not going to bother documenting what we see indoors. They did have a short video which explains how the water is heated underground, and it mentions the water bubbling up is 4,000 years old.

Fordyce Bathhouse
This restored bathhouse is the Visitor Center for Hot Springs National Park. The park property is the oldest in the National Park Service, having been set aside by the federal government in 1832.
Open Springs
The average temperature of this spring is 134 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fordyce Stained Glass
Located in the Men's Bath Hall, this stained glass scene is on the ceiling. It is entitled Neptune's Daughter.
Fordyce Gymnasium
This was the largest gymnasium in Arkansas in 1915.

I personally think this park should be renamed Hot Springs National Historic Park. While there is some land with hiking trails, the focus of the park is clearly on the bath houses. Which is fine by me, this is a unique piece of Americana, well worth preserving. But there was almost no mention of how to enjoy the outdoor features of the park, like the Grand Promenade, and the hiking trails. And we only found one mention of how the indoor bath treatments were supposed to allow patients to regain health, to the point where they could begin walking outdoors and continue recovery. My understanding is that the idea of a "spa" is integration of indoor and outdoor healing activities, and the Park management seems to be solely focused on the history of the bathhouses.

We left about 11am and arrived in Dallas to spend the evening with Dawn's cousin Diane and her husband Bob. I tried to be a good example, but Bob still passed on the tofu.

18 Feb 05 - Dallas to San Antonio, Texas
Friday morning we chow down on barley flakes, bananas, peanut butter and honey, and finally tear ourselves away from Bob and Diane, who have proved to be exceedingly good conversationalists. We reach the home of my sister Joanne in the afternoon. My sister Joanne and her husband Mac are both Lt Colonels in the Air Force, and we just don't see each other very much. I last saw them when they were stationed in the Washington, DC area in 2001. Before that I saw them then back in the mid-1990's when they were stationed in Las Vegas, and my mom and I flew out to surprise her for her promotion from captain to major.

We let ourselves in and look around until they come home. It's nice to see my niece Katherine and nephew Connor.

Joanne's Family
Joanne, Mac, Connor, and Katherine.
Joanne in Gas Mask
My sister Joanne is a Lt. Colonel in the USAF. Here she is modeling her gas mask for me. She was on the ground in Iraq during the 2003 invasion. Now she is preparing to return for a second tour in-country, this time in the Green Zone in Baghdad. This week she has spent in training to refresh her weapon and other defense skills. She manages hospitals for the air force, and also consults with the other services and Iraqi civilian hospitals. She posed for this picture at my request. We are all terribly proud of my sister's service.
Hidey Cat
Cats would be dismayed to realize how ridiculous they look. This one has burrowed into my fleece sleeping bag liner.

19 Feb 05 - "Mutton Bustin" at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo
Saturday Joanne and Mac take Connor, Katherine, Dawn and myself to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. The rodeo is about 2 hours long, broken up into about 10 events. It seems the rodeo goes for about 2 weeks, so every day they perform some of the competitions in each event. The most amazing event is called "Mutton Bustin'," where they let really little kids, like ages 4 through 7, cling to the back of a sheep. The sheep is let loose and tears around the arena while the kids hold on for dear life, or 6 seconds, whichever comes first.

When we first see them run this event, our jaws drop. I mean, these are little kids, even though they have helmets, face masks, and padded tunics. But the crowd thinks this is great fun, and the little kids get up and dust themselves off when they get thrown from the sheep, like it's no big deal. I think of all the mom's lined up in SUV's to pick their kids up from school in Coral Springs, and here little kids are getting thrown into the dirt. Welcome to Texas.

San Antonio Rodeo

21 Feb 05 - Guitar Fever, San Antonio, Texas
Katherine and Connor are out of school because of the Presidents Day holiday, and Joanne and Mac both have the day off. But Joanne has to go into work for part of the day to prepare for a big tour with VIP's over the next couple days, including the Surgeon General of the Air Force, who will be visiting from Washington, DC.

After we drop Dawn and the kids at the movie, Mac and I visit 2 guitar stores in San Antonio. The first is rather disappointing. Mac buys some strings and a dozen picks, but I manage to find some Dunlop 207 picks. These are nice thick picks that work really well for mandolin, but I never run across them in stores. They only have one mandolin and it doesn't look worth picking up to play with.

At the second store we find a better selection of guitars, but no mandolins at all. We play some of the guitars in the acoustic showroom, including a way-cool National Resonator (I think). It has an all-metal body and is remarkably heavy, like 4 times the weight of a normal guitar. But the tone is outrageous... rich and twangy and coming from some unknown depth. A guitar to fall in love with. I glance at the price tag... $3499.

I wander to the music stand, and overhear Mac purchasing a 1984 Commemorative Ovation acoustic-electric guitar. By evening Mac has repaired and restrung his first guitar, and restrung the Ovation. We play out on the back deck, and as we start on Oh Susanna, Katherine runs upstairs and retrieves Dawn's songbook, the classic "Rise Up Singing." Shortly we are playing mandolin and 2 guitars, with vocals by Katherine.

22 Feb 05 - Lost Maples State Natural Area, San Antonio, Texas
Tuesday we drive out through hill country to Lost Maples State Natural Area. The park is noted because of a large, isolated stand of Uvalde Bigtooth Maple. We take the East Trail for a 4-mile hike. Although this park is crowded in the autumn for the foliage display, during late winter it is somewhat underwhelming.

Turkey Vultures
I think this may be the Texas state bird.
Buffalo Ranch
We drove by this ranch in the Hill Country on the way to Lost Maples.
Cactus in Limestone
Photographed in Lost Maples State Natural Area, Texas.
Prickly Pear Cactus
Photographed in Lost Maples State Natural Area, Texas.
Wildflower
Photographed in Lost Maples State Natural Area, Texas.
Lost Maples
This is one of the ponds on Cans Creek, after we have descended the East Trail.

27 Feb 05 - Alamo and River Walk
While Dawn is away on family business, Joanne and Mac take me to visit the Alamo and the famous San Antonio River Walk. Well, I suppose it's famous, if you're married to a landscape architect.

Alamo Mission
Originally named Mission San Antonio de Valero, construction started in 1724. The Spanish government changed its status from religious to governmental in 1793. Texan and Tejano volunteers fought 5 days to secure the mission in December 1835 from Mexican troops. On 6 March 1836 General Lopez de Santa Ann attacked for the final time and overwhelmed William Travis, Jim Bowie, Davie Crockett, and about 200 other defenders. The site is maintained by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Water Lily
Photographed on the River Walk in downtown San Antonio.
River Walk
Designed in 1029 by Robert H. H. Hugman ("The Father of the River Walk"), and built in 1939-1941. Dawn's dad took her there when she was a kid, and she grew up to be a landscape architect. So there you go.

Mar 05 - San Antonio Missions National Historic Park, Texas
In late morning we find our way through downtown and just south to San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. After browsing through the Visitor Center we join a park ranger for a walking tour of Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. Due to the size and organization of this facility, it was known as "Queen of the Missions."

Mission San Jose
This mission was founded in 1720. This photo within the mission compound shows the second permanent church built here, in 1782.
Mission Grist Mill
The grist mill was built when the mission inhabitants began to eat more wheat, instead of the native corn. It was first operational in 1794. The American Indian natives known as Coahuiltecans originally had a diet high in maize and mesquite beans, with occasionally hunted or trapped game. The Spanish encouraged the shift to a diet based on wheat.
Indian Living Quarters
The perimeter of the mission consists of two-bedroom apartments on three of the four sides..
Convent Courtyard
This courtyard abuts the convent, or "convento" in Spanish. The convento is was not for nuns, but living quarters for the Franciscan friars who administered the mission, and also guest quarters for visitors.

After our tour of Mission San Jose, we visited the traveling exhibition for the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which to our good fortune happened to be set up on the mission grounds this week. The Corps of Discovery began their expedition just north of St Louis on 14 May 1804, and wintered 1600 miles northwest in North Dakota. The following year they traveled another 2500 miles to reach the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon on 15 November 1805. The Corps returned to St Louis on 23 September 1806, to as great a celebration as the still-small city could generate. Later that fall Merriwether Lewis and William Clark received a hero's welcome in Washington.