Off the Grid

(Trying to play catch up on posts)

For our anniversary, we had a little getaway.  I had read about this place in a magazine (one ironically I don't always read) like two years ago and had wanted to go ever since.  Finally, we went! (a week after our anniversary which turned out to be the perfect time and weather)

The name of it?  Longbow Resort. 

For some reason, the term "resort" seems ironic to me.  When I think "resort", I think fancy, high end.  This wasn't.  Don't get me wrong, I loved our time there and would go back in a heartbeat.  I just think of it more like a getaway or a retreat. :)

Anyway, I took half a day of school off on that Friday afternoon (November 1).  We ate lunch then headed down the road.  Well, kind of.  We kept forgetting things and having to turn around.  It was almost comical.

I don't think that there are really "accidents" in life.

I think that there are often opportunities that God gives us.

Because of our departure time, we arrived at the resort right before sunset.  We were following the owner out to our cabin when he suddenly pulled over by a field.  He told us we were about to see a spectacular sunset.  I, of course, got out, ready to snap some pictures.  The pictures don't do it justice.  Just trust me in that it was amazing.  And perfectly timed.  If we had arrived earlier, we would have been at the cabin which was beautiful but was down in a valley surrounded by trees.  We would NOT have had the same view.  And had we arrived later, we would not have had a good view either from the curvy roads (nor a place to pull over).  We arrived at precisely the time we should have!

Here is just a sampling...

Our cabin was built on a rock.  Literally.  Here is the bathroom/jacuzzi tub with the rock as part of the wall.  I could stand on the top of the rock when we were on the upper deck. 

After settling in, we had a good night's sleep.  The next morning, we headed out for a little hiking.  We just happened to meet another couple staying in one of the other cabins.  They invited us over to check their place out.  This was right outside their back deck.  Absolutely beautiful!

My sweet hubby walking along the creek.

One of my favorite sights on the hike was the little frogs we would find.  They were truly camouflaged.  Can you see it?

Here is the top of one of the cabins from a bluff we were hiking...

The colors were spectacular...not quite as brilliant as our area at home but pretty close.

Yes, it is another frog.  Can you find this one?

On one of our hikes (all on the property we were staying on), we encountered some cows.  This was nothing new for my husband but it was a first for me. I have never seen cows in the woods.  It startled me then I got tickled.  It still makes me giggle when I think about it.

I love these berries.  They are such a beautiful color...

Another cow friend...

We didn't just encounter frogs on our walk.  We also found this guy sunning.  Thankfully it was fairly cool out AND he had just eaten.  So it didn't scare me nearly as much as if it had been moving around...

Yes, it is another frog...this one is really hidden.

After a LOT of hiking, we headed over to Heber Springs (the closest "town" with food) for some lunch.  We enjoyed the scenery along the way...

A little more hiking...

Finally, we headed back to the cabin for the night.  We were truly "off the grid".  We had no television (it only played DVDs which we didn't have).  We had no cell phone service.  No Internet.  We only had one radio that was a bit fuzzy.  Though it was hard to not be in contact with the kids, we really enjoyed truly getting away from it all...

We enjoyed some time on the hammock on the back deck...

We ended the evening with a steak dinner (grilled) and feeding the raccoon (we didn't get a close up of him though but he sure did enjoy the treats we left).  The one and only bad part of the weekend was that I got really sick Saturday night (I am guessing from our lunch). The one good thing is that due to daylight savings, we at least had an extra hour of sleep.

We packed up and headed over to Mountain View to Blanchard Springs.  I have read a lot about this park in my hiking books.  But wow.  Pictures/photos just don't do it justice.  What a beautiful place!

Here is the "dam".  We hiked for a little in the area but had to cut that short so we could take a tour of the cavern.

The cavern.  Oh wow.  I had heard about it but again, pictures just don't do it justice.  It is a very easy walk and one of the most amazing caves I have ever experienced!  We have already said we MUST go back and explore some more with the kids.  (I tried to link to the website but the Internet wasn't cooperating.)

Blanchard Springs is a "living" cave which means it is still growing, still forming.

I thought this was really neat...it is part of the cave!

It was a beautiful and amazing way to end our day.  We headed on back home (with one stop for pizza) then stepped back onto the grid.  And back to the crazy reality that is our life...

Reba

New York, New York

Saturday morning, we awakened to a bright sun and got ready for the day.

This is a good time to mention the "bower". The bed and breakfast room/suite we were in had its own bathroom. It was in the corner (we were basically in an attic) and had really low ceilings. It had this really neat clawfoot tub with a handheld shower attached to the faucet.  So to take a shower, we had to crouch in the tub and hold this little handheld shower over our heads.  That was quite an experience.  We dubbed the set up as the "bower" (bath + shower= bower).  I will say, I appreciate our shower at home that much more now...

At 9 (prompt!), we had our breakfast part of the "bed and breakfast".  Our "appetizer" was a slice of grilled pineapple topped with a blueberry sauce. Oh, yum.  Then we were served homemade buttermilk pancakes with ricotta cheese between each pancake, also topped with a blueberry sauce.  Double yum.  After that, we were deeply disappointed that we would have to leave so early the next day that we would miss breakfast.  We were also thankful we had some walking planned for the day after such a big meal to start the day.  It was  neat/interesting to meet the other couples staying at the b and b...two were from Michigan and another from Florida.  We had to laugh...one of the big topics of discussion at breakfast was about vineyard tours.  Apparently they all had or were planning to do one.  We (who are not really drinkers) just nodded; we had planned to hike for the day, possibly grabbing a bottle of water along the way.

We set out for the Rainbow Bridge I mentioned in yesterday's post.  We had to pay 50 cents to walk across it which was quite a bargain compared to the many other tolls we had paid along the way.

Here is a view of the Falls from the bridge.

Horseshoe Falls

Walking across the bridge...that is Niagara, Canada to the right of Mark.

The American Falls and Bridal Veil (the furthest right)

Can you guess why it is called Rainbow Bridge? :)

Getting back into the US wasn't difficult.  In fact, it moved rather quickly for pedestrians. I think the great number of tour buses probably was a bit slower...

Once in New York, we decided to do a little hiking.  We followed the Great Gorge Railway Trail, a 2.5 mile trail along the Niagara River (away from the Falls).

Here is our bed and breakfast, a view from ACROSS the river.  (Loving the zoom on my new camera)

There were overlooks along the way.  We loved this view of Rainbow Bridge with the Falls behind it.

A view of Niagara, Canada.  You can see the Maid of the Mist boats already making their rounds.

Following the River...notice how "calm" it looks right now.

I have never been to New York City, but I will admit, that cityscape is the first image that comes to mind when I think of New York.  Yet New York also has some beautiful natural scenery.  We were amazed at the heights of these bluffs (and possibly cursing them later when we climbed a very high stairway to get off the trail...).

Another view looking back

After a while of walking along the calm river, we discovered the rapids.

The force of the water was amazing.  I wish we had been able to walk a little further down to see more of the rapids along with the "whirlpool" area but there was construction at the end of this trail and we had to exit.

Something I learned:  Though the high was only supposed to be 74 for the day, I learned that 74 is MUCH warmer there than it is at home.  I was really sorry I had worn jeans (and almost wore a jacket).  By this time, I was a hot, sweaty, mess, and not in a good way. :)

A glance at the Canadian flag across the river...

Something else I learned:  In Canada, if we were near the river, my phone was NOT roaming. I could call home, check e-mail, etc. as if I were at home.  Yet in parts of New York, I was "roaming" and would be charged international fees for calling someone!

Anywho, once we climbed up the stairway to exit the trail (huffing and puffing the whole way), we somehow missed where we needed to go and ended up walking along the streets of Niagara, New York.  It wasn't nearly as beautiful. We had a highway on one side, and a city full of cement on the other side.  But eventually we made it back to the Discovery Center where we had started our hike.  And there, two hours after we began (and about 4 + miles down for the day), we promptly bought trolley tickets to reach our next destination...

More to come!

Reba