Petit Jean

WARNING:::: lots of pictures!

We took advantage of a day off and went exploring this beautiful state of Arkansas.  About two hours from our town is a state park called Petit Jean.  We ventured out with our friends, the Bomars.  Mom is Anissa, who is raising three lovely ladies - Parker who had other plans than hiking this weekend, and the twins - Ryan and Drew.  Ryan and Drew are Charlotte's age and since they only live a street away, we are frequently swapping kiddos.

We hiked, we picnicked, and we swam.  It was a great day!  James had serious troubles with the hikes, even though we only tackled the easy ones.  Luckily, Anissa brought along Casie - their huge black lab.  She pulled James up the hike.  Literally pulled him as he walked.  It was a godsend.  Good girl Casie!  He was able to join us on a beautiful day in a beautiful place.

Here are a few pictures of our amazing scenery:

We hiked two trails - James only managed one, then took the rest of the day off.  This ravine is from the second trail - down and around through tall rock formations and trees growing in strange places - amazing.

James atop a rock.  This will give you an idea of the size of this "cave".  It's a huge hollow rock.  You could literally fit a basketball court under this rock overhang.  It would be really cool to be there in the rain.

Jay Michael in the same cave, different rock.  This little man had a huge day exploring and playing.  I was worried that he wouldn't keep up with his sisters - HA! - they had to keep up with him!

Josephine in a hole in the cave.  She said it was almost cold in there!

More vistas!  It was a beautiful day.  Truly.

Silhouettes of Rachel and Josephine in the "cave".

These are called the turtles rocks - sleeping turtles!

James and Tina - in a cave!  Look at us on the blog...

This tree was growing up the side a huge rock formation and then reached for the sun.  Amazing.

If you look closely you can see the mountain across the valley through the trees.  The whole landscape was mountains and forests and it was so cool and quiet in the trees.  I'm a beach loving flatlander, so this park really was impressive to me.  The mountains have a lot to offer.

The group - well, some of us.  It's hard to see in the shadows, so I'll tell you who these people are - standing from the left we have Rachel and her friend Hunter.  Sitting on the rock from left to right we have: Josephine, Jay Michael, Drew, Charlotte, Ryan and Reagan.

 

I highly recommend visiting this park if you are in the area.  There are more trails - some of them have waterfalls and grottos.  Plenty of exploring awaits us.  I'm hoping we can go again in the fall - the scenery will be amazing then, I'm sure.  You are ALL invited.  Come visit us, too!

 

James and his trail buddy - Casie the Black Lab!