Arkansas

The winter storms sweeping through the country kept us on our toes as we headed north to Hot Springs for a visit with Jerry's Aunt Rose and Uncle Ken.  Cousin Carl, Catherine, Eva and Anna (from Duluth)  were visiting for the week as well, taking advantage of their Winter Term break.  We had such a fantastic week!

Our first field trip together was to the Heifer International Farm about an hour north of Hots Springs Village.  Heifer International is a world relief agency that provides livestock and training to enable sustainable life skills. This 1200 acre farm used to provide the animals for export, but is now an education center and hosts groups.  Their youth camps in the summer focus on teaching sustainable life skills using villages modeled after third-world countries.  They also have a variety of animals on-site including a water buffalo, camels, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, and pigs.  Much to her chagrin, Anna did not get to milk any of the animals. A mid-week ice storm moved us from our scenic Ouachita State Park campsite to a site closer to town. The next day we explored bath house row in the historic downtown Hot Springs and enjoyed a traditional "bath" at the Buckstaff Bath House.  The quote of the day was from Jackson during the sitz bath…"Dad, why am I sitting in this thing?"

We enjoyed wonderful home-cooked meals from Aunt Rose's kitchen and catching up on years of family stories and history. On our final day together we all ventured into Little Rock.  We toured the Heifer International headquarters whose design boasts a Leed Platinum certification.  It is such a beautiful center that it is hard to believe that it sits on land that should have been declared a Superfund site due to the industry and railroads that pre-existed on the site.  Just across from Heifer is the Clinton Presidential Center where we walked through familiar historical timelines and marveled at the cases of dignitary gifts from around the world.  There was a complete replica of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. Our last stop in Little Rock was Little Rock Central High School National Historical Site.  It was there in 1957 that nine African-American students bravely attended the segregated school and the subsequent racial conflict made national news.

Thank you Aunt Rose and Uncle Ken for a wonderful and memorable visit to Arkansas!  Carl and Catherine, we can't wait another 20 years to chat with Jim, milk something and have another bath! Lots of great laughs…we hope to see you soon.