Eureka Springs & Northern Arkansas Railway

My husband, daughter, and I took a two-day trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas just before Memorial Day. It’s less than a 2-hour drive from our home in Missouri. The nav system took us on a scenic route…curvy 2 lane highway all the way, with frequent road cuts that were generally well back from the shoulder (I wondered if students on geology field trips use them to see the underlying rock of the area), and over a narrow part of Table Rock Lake.

We arrived a little early and drove through the town. I remembered the main street from more than 50 years ago; the streets that turn off are very steep and narrow up the side of the valley. The place is a driving adventure! We parked in the Eureka Springs & Northern Arkansas Railway just after the terminal opened; we had reservations for the morning excursion train. It was a cloudy morning and had rained recently; the first photographic opportunity of the morning turned out to be butterflies in the gravel parking lot! The mourning cloak on the curb was not moving but all the others took some patience to photograph.

There was collection of old rail cars and engines. I was interested in a tractor that must have been quite a change on farms where horses or oxen had previously done the heavy pulling.

The car and engine that took us on our excursion was waiting for us. They had a ramp mechanism that enabled wheelchair access to the car, but we could also get into the car using stairs.

The train follows a stream, and I managed a few pictures while we were in motion. I saw a pawpaw tree with fruit beginning to grow (but didn’t get a picture); pawpaw is the food plant of the zebra swallowtail butterfly (like I photographed in the parking lot for the train).

The route is only 4.5 miles up and back (and takes about an hour). At the halfway point, we got out and I took some track and vegetation pictures.

The conductor gave us a tutorial about putting pennies on the track as an optional activity for this excursion. My daughter had told us ahead of time (she had done the excursion last fall) so we came prepared. I gave a penny to a man that didn’t have any change with him. We all stood away from the tracks and the train rolled over our pennies – waiting to retrieve our pennies from the track until the conductor got the word from the engineer that it was safe to do so.

Below is a picture of a penny and a train-flattened penny. I am thinking about putting some earring posts on two of the flattened pennies….wearing them as earrings!

It sprinkled a little while we were on the train but had cleared by the time we returned to the station. The train was an excellent start to our Eureka Springs adventure.

Ten Little Celebrations – February 2023

A lot to celebrate this second month of 2023….here are my top 10 little celebrations:

A new low weight for the year. This happened several mornings of the month….and I celebrated each time since it was an indicator that my careful work to maximize nutritional value of more limited calorie intake was working.

Barbecue lunch at homecoming. My husband suggested that he get barbecue take out to have when I arrived home from my road trip from Carrollton. It is always a celebration to return home but the barbecue made it more festive.

Finding black bean chips. I have assumed that I wouldn’t be able to find my husband’s favorite chips (because they don’t cause blood sugar issues) when we moved to Missouri…so I celebrated when I found them again….a different brand but they taste the same. We are both enjoying them as our chip-or-choice.

Finding snack sized edamame pod packages. These have become my favorite high protein snack. I’ve enjoyed them before…but celebrated when I found them in smaller packages.

Spaghetti sauce soup. It’s a great way to use leftovers…or have a quick meal. I use a jar of spaghetti sauce, frozen sausage (cubed) or leftover baked chicken (any meat that is already cooked and seasoned) and lots of veggies. So easy…and so good. Worth celebrating.

Frost pictures (columns and ferns). I always celebrate frost days…particularly if the crystals are a type I haven’t photographed before!

Ice and algae on our neighborhood ponds. Winter field trips on 2 days not far from my own back yard! I celebrated getting outdoors for a short walk…not having to get in the car. My favorite sight were the neuron type shapes in the ice/snow of the pond.

Table Rock Lake. Celebrating a little field trip close to where we live in Missouri.

Birds at Josey Ranch. There always seem to be birds around at Josey Ranch…and this year I am visiting every month when I am Carrollton…celebrating the changes with the seasons.

Elm Fork Nature Preserve. A new-to-me natural area near Carrollton, TX. I celebrated the birds and forest there. I’ll be posted about the experience later this week.

Table Rock Lake

On a sunny day last week, we headed south to Table Rock State Park – situated on the shore of Table Rock Lake. The drive down had many roadcut cliffs….curving highway…scenic. We parked near the boat launch and walked along the paved lakeside trail. There were frequent ad hoc trails going all the way down to the lake…using ‘stairsteps’ in rock down to water level. We saw at least one person fishing. There was rain in the previous days so the eroded rock held small pools of water.

The first side trail we took down to the water included a surprise. There was a whole watermelon at the water’s edge! How did it get there? Did someone put it in the water to cool down then forget it was there? We wondered how long it had been at the edge of the lake since we are well past the season for them to be in grocery stores. It was the only ‘trash’ we saw during our walk!

I was fascinated by the intensity of the color on wet rocks compared to the rocks that had dried out on the shore.

The water itself changed the way the rocks look too. These two pictures are of the same area but the water acts as a distorting lens!

I turned aroud and took some zoomed images of drying debris, a chuck of rock, and the layers in one of the ‘stairs’ – then made my way back up to the paved trail.

We started looking at the sights along the trail. There were limestone boulders along the edge and I started noticing inclusions in some of them. Some areas were forested…with enough underbrush to support communities of lichen and moss….and, my favorite, turkey tails (shelf fungus).

We didn’t see a lot of birds – and I didn’t get any pictures. It was not the best time of day for bird watching. I saw a nuthatch, crows, and turkey vultures…without even going into ‘birding’ mode.

There were not a lot of people in the park this time of year even though the day was warm enough for a picnic (there was one family with one children that was enjoying a snack). It is easy to imagine the place being full of people when the temperature is warmer…and everyone would enjoy the activities on or in the water!

Now to plan some other day trips….take advantage of any pleasant day to do a little more exploring of places within an hour of where we live!