An Afternoon Excursion

Sunday afternoon was the perfect day to get out do a little more exploring.  Even though Tim is from Arkansas, he hasn't been to a lot of areas around where we live. That makes more fun since it's not just something new for me, it's something new & fun for both of us.
So I looked up what parks were close to us (within 35-45 mins).  I found Pinnacle Mountain State Park. It was only 40 mins from our house and sounded like it had a lot to offer. It was perfect for our afternoon excursion.

First we checked out the visitor's center to see what all the park had to offer.  This was just one of the many beautiful views from the visitor's center.

We mapped out our plan and decided to head for the "West Side" of the mountain, which was supposed to be the easier hiking trail to the peak.  However, we did not expect to literally climb "stairs" made of rocks the entire way up.
We had a great time and couldn't be happier we did it! Here are some pictures from the hike.

We FINALLY made it to the top!! What a great reward....This was the view!

What I miss most about Memphis......

Lake Catherine

A few weeks ago we decided it was about time to take the 4-legged children swimming.  The only problem was that we have to drive a good 45 mins to get to a lake around here.  There are plenty of lakes but in order to let our crazy dogs off leash, we need some space!
So we drove to Lake Catherine up near Hot Springs.  We hiked about 1 mile away from the camp grounds and found this......

It was perfect!  Secluded and only a few people were on this trail so it was perfect for us.  The water was a little chilly but it was great for the dogs.  I think they had a great time!

Of course I had the brilliant idea of hiking out the long way so we wouldn't have to put the dogs on a leash and so we wouldn't come across so many people.  Well, the long way consisted of some great views as you can see below, but it also consisted of a 1.5 mile hike uphill the whole way.  Excuse me, not really "uphill" more like "up mountain." :)  It was beautiful though! Glad we did it!

Oh yeah, Titus thinks he's fishing! That was some good entertainment.....