Spring Vacation Part 2: Ouachita Moutain Fun

  Our grandparents and my dad live with in the Ouachita Mountains. Which are so beautiful year round really. But I love the late spring and mid fall. One thing we do is go up on Rich and Iron Mountains every time we are there. Which both are in the Ouachita National Forest. It really is not like most mountain drives that has sharp curves, steep hills to deal with, but there are some in Arkansas that do that. So day one late morning early afternoon we went up to the mountains. Grandpa, Grandma, my Dad, Joel, and I all went up together. It is hotter on top of the mountains than what it is in the valley mesa where our family lives.

Lake Willamena in Back

  We pulled over at a couple of the look out areas where you can take some neat pictures of the mountain areas. I caught some beautiful ares with my new camera which I truly love because it really catches detail. At one look area you can see Lake Willamena in the distance like in the picture. When I crop the picture just focusing on the lake you can see the old hatchery building there. At this look out we are around an hour away (due to mountain terrian)

On top of Rich Mountain they have a lodge, camping area, and a old train that you can get up on. Joel loves this train. So he requests to see it every time we go. You can only go in where the train engine is. This time Joel, my dad, and I got up there. Grandma snapped the picture for us. Joel loves to pretend he is driving the train. He said, "Some day I will have my own train, and I will name it Bubba, because Thomas the Train doesn't have a Bubba friend." He is so hillarious. But it is true there is no Bubba train on Thomas the Train and Friends show.

  One of the new things that Joel got to see while we were up there was the Rich Mountain Fire Tower. He has never seen it. I did when I was a preteen. The tower is a little ways from where the train sits. We can drive up to it. Just the park rangers can go up on this one. So , Joel was a little bummed on that one, but he got over it. I am really glad that you can not go up and see out the top. There are some in Arkansas that you can go up. There is no way I can handle all those stairs. My dad and grandparents would have no business doing it either, but they would give it their best shot anyway. 
   The Ouachita Mountains fun was quite the time. Between the awesome views, wonderful plant and tree life, and even the wonderful drives that takes you through this area. Sometimes you never know what you will find or discovered. A year ago we found our turtle along this beautiful area. Sometime people will see other animals such as deer, bears, birds, and many more animals. We have seen deer and birds, but not much more that that.