Camping lifestyle.

 Back before Covid, I had planned a nearly three week road trip to travel through a dozen states, to visit an eclectic assortment of historical and nature hotspots in the United States. But those plans were cancelled because of Covid, and for now, I am just camping every other weekend in Arkansas.

I do want to share with you a link to a couple that also enjoys camping, and they have camped in many wonderful places in Arkansas, as well as around the United States.

They have great tips on camping, cooking while camping, and they are advocates of preserving nature and keeping nature clean. You can click on their logo above to go to their YouTube channel. Some of their videos include drone footage that really shows off the beauty of Arkansas. And you can also visit their website here.

This is something I had considered doing, but they already do such a great job, that I could never do. Enjoy.

Historic Washington State Park

I took Destiny to a town in Arkansas, about an hour drive from here, that was the state capital during the civil war. We got to see a lot of history, including a civil war demonstration.

Arkansas State Fair / New car

This last weekend, Suzanne, her boyfriend, Destiny, and I, drove to our state capital, Little Rock, to go to the Arkansas State Fair. The fair is held each year. They have rides, food, games, exhibitions, vendors, contest, music, and live performances. When we went, it was raining, so there weren't very many people there, and the rides weren't operating. We still walked around looking at all the animals, some of the exhibits, the vendors, and tried some of the food.

Before we went to the fair, I bought a new car.

It is a 2017 Ford C-Max energi Titanium. It is a plug-in hybrid. It can operate as a hybrid, using gas and electric together, getting up to 42 miles to a gallon. Or, it can operate as an electric only, with a range of about 20 miles. The total range of the car is around 570 miles on a full tank of gas, and full electrical charge.
I bought the car because my older daughter, Suzanne, needs a second car for her and her boyfriend to get to work. The car she has is old, a 1997, and needs a lot of maintenance. So, I am selling her my old car, a 2003 PT Cruiser, in very good condition and a brand new set of tires that cost $400. It is worth $2,000, and I am selling it to them for only $800.
I only drive twice a day, 0.3 miles, during the week to my other daughter's school, and back. Then I drive twice a week to our church, and once a week to the grocery store, each only a few miles distance from where I live. So, I mostly only use my car in electric mode. I will use the gas motor, in hybrid mode, if I have to go out of town, like we will do next weekend, to go to Magic Springs Theme Park in Hot Springs, for something special before Halloween.

Here is a little preview of what I will be wearing for Halloween.

Disney on Ice

I surprised my little girl on Saturday with a trip to our state capital to see a traveling show called 'Disney on Ice'. She had a wonderful time, and so did I. She really likes 'Frozen'.

We were going to go to another event, about a civil war battle, on Sunday that is once a year in our area, but the weather looked like rain, so we stayed home after church.

Spring Break 2018 day 8:

We left the campsite this morning and drove about an hour and a half to Malvern, where we checked into a hotel. We arrived early, so we went to see the Hot Springs Tower. Then, the idea was that we were going to go to Magic Springs Theme Park. This is our first time to have season tickets, and received an email about coming to the park today between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. to activate our season tickets. We thought the park would be open and we could go on the rides. It was only to activate the tickets. We are still going to stay the night in the hotel and return home tomorrow before noon. Then it’s time to get back to work for me, and back to school for Destiny.

Spring Break 2018 day 7:

We slept in, and went to the diamond mine at 10. We took some sandwiches, chips, and drinks with us. We dug, washed, and looked for diamonds, but didn’t find any. We returned to the camp and enjoyed the rest of the day by the river by practicing archery and going on a hike. In the evening, we had our last big campfire and made s’mores. Tomorrow, we are going to drive about an hour North to Malvern, Arkansas to check into a hotel for our last night of vacation.

Spring Break 2018 day 6:

Wow, it was a day full of activities and walking. We changed plans and went to Hot Springs today, because it was a little cool this morning. We started by going to a toy store and then saw a museum with Star Wars and superhero stuff. Then we had breakfast for lunch, (I had hash-brown potatoes, sausage, biscuits, and eggs covered in country gravy, and Destiny had bacon, eggs, and a pancake.), before going to see some model trains and town. After that, we went to an alligator farm and petting zoo. Finally, we went to walk around some nature trails called Garvand Woodland Gardens. We are both tired, but are going to enjoy a good campfire before bed.

Spring Break 2018 day 4:

Took my daughter and nephew downtown Little Rock, Arkansas to three museums: Old State House Museum, Historic Arkansas Museum, and Arkansas Museum of Discovery. We also rode on a trolley car, had pizza for lunch, and ice cream in the afternoon before returning to my father’s house. I recorded a really cool video using a thermal camera.

Spring Break 2018 day 2:

It was Saint Patrick's Day on Saturday. We went to Burger King for breakfast before going to the zoo. We were at the zoo when they opened the gates at 9 a.m., and stayed at the zoo until 2:45 in the afternoon. We saw lots of animals and even went on a train ride. We had lunch at the zoo, and while walking around after lunch, we found $28 on the ground. Our feet were sore from all the walking by the time we left the zoo, but we still had another stop to make before going back to my father’s house. We drove to the Verizon Arena in time for a real feast. There were games for kids. Destiny had lots of fun. There were a lot of people there. We ate catfish, chicken, buffalo, quail, deer, bear, turkey, and pig. We also heard singers singing songs of praise, and speakers giving their testimony. (The name of this event was called: John 3:16, which is a Bible verse that says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish, but have eternal life.” We left about 5:15 p.m. to return to my father’s house about 5:45. Enjoy the pictures.

Spring Break 2018 day 1:

Drove 2 1/2 hours after work to stay with my father in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival

Here are a few pictures taken over this past weekend at the Camden, Arkansas 25th annual Daffodil Festival: http://www.camdendaffodilfestival.com

Destiny and I enjoyed the beautiful day walking around downtown looking at all the vendors. There were many arts and crafts and homemade items for sale, as well as all kinds of delicious food, and many activities for kids. Later in the afternoon, we went outside and practiced archery.