Lazy Days – Lake Wedington, Ark 5/29-5/30

The last two days have been the epitome of a summer holiday weekend. The campground where we stayed is relatively small – only 14 sites, and our campground is situated right on the lake. We’ve had a great time with Teri and Terry (the Terries) pretty much doing nothing. Ned and I have taken some great bike rides before everyone else is awake. This morning we tried to circumvent the lake, but the trail was way too narrow and technical. We did see a huge flying bullfrog that shot across the trail when we came up on him too quickly and a turtle just hanging out. We decided to attempt the hiking trail from the other side of the lake and had a bit more success. We ended up taking it to the top of a mountain, the end destination being the Gazebo Overlook. It was a very cool structure, built by the WPA. The problem was the forest had grown so much since it was built that it was actually situated more IN the dense woods then overlooking anything. For the past two days The Terries, Ned and I have hung out at the grassy public swimming area from about 10ish until 7:30 or so at night. Our routine has been pretty much swim, nap, eat, swim some more, etc. The lake is a perfect swimming lake and we have really enjoyed just soaking up the sun on our floaties. (Some of us got a little more sun than others). We’re also enjoying swimming with the turtles. It’s a riot to see them poke up their heads, look around and then quickly duck down again. Last night we decided to have a night out on the town and head into Fayetteville for some bbq. One can hardly hang out in Arkansas without having some bbq! We went to a place recommended by locals called Penguin Ed’s. There’s a red phone located at each booth. The way you place your order is by picking up the phone and “calling” it in. Kinda gimmicky, but fun. We had ribs, two sides and toasted bread. Yep – we’re definitely in the south! Actually, the most entertainment we’ve had is observing the local Ranger, whom we’ve all fondly named “By the Book Betty.” Geez, she’s a complete psycho on the rules. Yesterday, the 4 of us, while swimming, were yelled at by her for venturing a few feet beyond the swimming buoys. This morning, Ned and I were scolded for riding our bikes in the park area before the park opened. What?! Well today one of the buoys was “magically” moved far out into the lake. Teri and Ned decided to test the rules by swimming way out of the accepted boundaries to the rogue buoy, their excuse being they were still within the marked area. Well, within 20 minutes “By the Book Betty” was in a fishing boat, regulation orange life vest on, instructing two lackeys to move the buoy back where it needed to be. Hilarious. Most fun we’ve had in a long time.

Blue Skies & Blue Bell…Lake Wedington, Ozarks Mts. –Arkansas 5/28

Ned here. We left Boiling Springs State Park and headed toward Arkansas. This part of Okalahoma was looking very green, but very flat so we kept ourselves busy listening to the local NPR station. The show we heard had the typical sound of an NPR interview, but the content had a Southern-Midwestern spin. The story was about a woman who had made history by breaking into the all male arena of bbq competition. She was from Mississippi and her family had developed a prize winning bbq sauce recipe. The irony of the story it seemed to both Debi and me was that despite the theme of the story being the groundbreaking ascension of a young woman into a man’s domain, the father remained extremely patronizing toward his daughter and the balance of power clearly remained all with him. Debi pointed out that if this man had a son this would never have happened. Clearly, this story never would have made it on air in our part of the country. We finally arrived at the Blue Bell Ice Cream plant in Broken Arrow, it was 1:05 pm and we expected the last tour to be at 1:00 so we were delighted to get a private 1:30 tour. (Today’s picture is Debi hamming it up before the tour). Our tour guide was “Miss Delores” a handsome large Black woman who also tutors middle-school special ed kids. She was warm, friendly, enthusiastic, and we had a great time bonding with her over kids going off to college and our common love of ice cream. She showed us the whole operation from observation windows above the factory. When we went back to the tasting room, Miss Delores snuck us a special cup of their “Southern Hospitality” flavor (crushed pineapple, strawberry swirl and chopped pecans) which we were amazed was our favorite of the three scoops we tried. For the record, Farr’s Ice Cream from Ogden, Utah is still our trip favorite. From Broken Arrow, OK we made a straight shot into Arkansas where we met Teri and Terry, who had driven down from Chicago. The campground Debi reserved on the internet, Lake Wedington, is really nicely wooded and set along side of a beautiful lake. We plan to stay here for the next three nights to avoid any Memorial Day weekend craziness. Debi is really looking forward to hanging out with her childhood buddy from 7th grade.