Apple Dumplings

One of the best things about being Down South!

Back Log--Crooked Creek

On Friday, September 26th, I headed into the wilds of the Ozarks. A few of my friends from college heard that I was back in town, and invited me to go camping. Because they are still in college, we didn't get to start our adventure until after 8pm that evening. It was well past midnight when we made it to the campground.

Setting up tents by a river in the pitch black is a little exciting. I kept wondering when one of us was going to step over a bank on accident. Other than that, I really wasn't worried about what may be out there in the dark. Living in Alaska legitimized my fear of a bear eating me, so compared to that, the Arkansas darkness seems really tame. I did have a dream that some animal brushed up against my tent during the night, but (even in the dream) it was probably only a raccoon.

The next morning we all got up and fished in the creek. Everyone caught at least one fish, and several people caught four or more. The little small mouth bass that I caught was "cute." We would have had a difficult time making a meal out of those guys. The water was great, so I took a dip when everyone was done fishing. It didn't take very long for my clothes to dry out with the sunshine and heat.

After camping we stoped at an A&W to get one of the guys a famous A&W root beer float. The A&W was attached to a Long John Silver's and there were little bottles of malt vinegar on the table. Several people asked what the vinegar was for, and I happily told them it was to put on beer batter halibut. They kind-of wrinkled their noses at me.

We spent the rest of the weekend at a friend's house playing football and soccer in the front yard. Sunday morning I woke up to see the sun rising and burning off the mist from the river that was covering the hay fields and apple trees. It was such a different site than I had become accustomed to. This is the picture that is attached.

It was quite a lovely weekend. I'm definitely looking forward to doing more camping and fishing before it gets cold.

Yall C'mon Back Now

As you all know, I recently moved from Juneau, AK, to Batesville, AR. Leaving Alaska was one of the hardest things I've ever done, and I'm still not sure the move "stuck." Having said that, I am truly enjoying the company of my family and friends here in the Lower 48. Since the blogs of my friends in Juneau are SO appreciated by me, I thought I might give them a venue to keep up with my goings on.
It is amazing what can happen in two short weeks. I arrived back in AR. on Sept. 17th. My sister and mom picked me up from the airport in Little Rock, which was a total surprise. They weren't supposed to know that I was arriving in town a month before my sister's wedding. We weren't even out of the airport parking lot before I had been offered fried chicken and a whoopee pie. Yes, "Whoopee Pie." I laughed so hard that it hurt. Apparently, a whoopee pie is some sugar filling smooshed between two chocolate cookies. My little sister had made a whole batch that she said "went like hotcakes at church." It is going to take a while for my system to adjust to all the grease, and I'm pretty sure that I don't want to adjust. There is enough fried food consumed in Arkansas to satisfy the suggested daily value of fat for the whole United States. No kidding.
Back to the wedding; my little sis is getting married on October 18th. I've swooped in like Batman to help solve all the impending planning disasters. So far, I have gritted my teeth through the wedding shower, picked up the bride's maids' dresses, and volunteered to help Sis arrange her new home. Keep in mind that even though I am totally complaining, I did have to make a four and a half hour drive to get those dresses. Really though, it is neat to see her so excited about something. Since Beth's wedding is going to be my main preoccupation for the next few weeks, those will probably be the pictures that you get to see. Lucky you. :)