Easing On Down The Road

I was in Hot Springs maybe 4-5 years ago when I first started traveling in the RV. Even back then, I had a quest to see all of the National Parks, Monuments, Battlefields, Historic Sites, etc. What I wasn't doing was my more current quest of Junior Rangerdom. I thought that since Hot Springs National Park was sort of on my way south, I should maybe stop and rectify this particular oversight.

I rolled into Lake Catherine State Park and secured a site way down at the end of the campground. It is a lovely site, right on the lake except for the steam plant right across the lake. It is rather pretty at night when it is all lit up, but it sort of puts a damper on the nature aspect of the place. The lake is in front of me and there are hiking trails up into the mountain behind us.

My site on the lake

And the steam plant across the lake

We've had a terrible wildlife problem here. Every morning around 7:30, a male cardinal starts attacking the RV and my car. I think he sees another cardinal in the windows and mirrors. He is incessant – bang, bang, bang. At first I felt sorry for him – I didn't want him to get hurt. Now, after he has woken me up with his racket and it goes on for most of the day and I've seen the mess he has left all over my car – I guess I have mixed feelings. Silly boy.

We spent our mornings hiking. Nice hikes, steep and rugged hikes. On one hand, it is nice that the leaves are all down – you can see quite a bit farther. On the other hand, it is sort of monochromatic.

I did find a waterfall though

I went into the National Park and asked to be a Junior Ranger. The lady looked at me and said, 'OK – but you have to do every single task in our Junior Ranger book. No exceptions.' I guess they are going to be pretty hard core about it. The booklet was one of the best Junior Ranger books I've seen so far. Lots of info and a lot of scurrying around trying to find answers in the Park. When I went to turn in the book, she started looking at it and said, 'Good thing I'm checking you out – Ranger Bob would have flunked you right off the bat'. I had done every single task except filled in my name on the front of the book. As I said, these guys were tough.

Hydrotherapy Room.  L-R: pressure guns to shoot water at you, Needle shower, Sitz bath where they did Mercury Rubs if you had Syphilis and a big tub where they would put you in the water and send electrical currents thru you. You can just see the corner of the enema table - privacy was not a big requirement back in the day

Steam box and ice box 

Gymnasium

It wasn't all torture machines - this was a very luxurious place

I am a barefoot type of gal – I really don't like to have anything on my feet at all. This has been hard because it has been getting down into the low thirties at night and the floor of the RV is not insulated at all which means it is freezing. I finally broke down, stopped at Dollar General and got me a $6 pair of slippers. What a difference it makes in my quality of life. Of course Dollar General is not known for having the greatest selection of slippers.

And the sun sets again