Mountain View, AR

We went to Mountain View, AR this weekend for Hubby's bday. It is right next to the Ozark National Forest. Actually, it is as close to the national forest you can get without camping. It is about a hour and 45 min drive from where we live. We took this insane mountain road, crazy twists and turns and ups and downs. There were just a few towns we went through to get there. The first town we drove through, literally just outside of our city, was called Pickles Gap. Yes, Pickles Gap. There is a place called Pickles Gap Village. I want to go. Further along, on the crazy mountain road is a town of 300 people. I am still trying to figure out how a town of 300 people, in the middle of nowhere with only one crazy mountain road in and out of it, can sustain itself.

So we checked into our hotel (no B&B b/c they wouldn't take the dog, Jerks.) and went to tour the caverns. They were very cool and beautiful. We were 22 stories beneath the earth's crust. I was sure that was the place I would go into labor just b/c it was so inconvient. Did you know that there is a disease killing off bats all across the US? very sad.

Next we needed to find somewhere to eat dinner. We had seen a sign for a seafood restaurant on the river and thought that had sounded promising. We went to check it out. It was a restaurant/convinent store/ old motel from 1941/ mini golf/ tackle and bait store/ gas station all in one. I definitely think it was the gas station and bait store parts that sealed our decision to not eat there. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant in town. Making me wonder, what exactly possessed a Mexican family to settle in Mountain View, AR a very hillbilly, capital of Folk, town?

The next day we went for a hike through the Ozarks. It was really beautiful. We started off on a trail, but I'm pretty sure it stopped well before we did. Chad insisted that it was still there. I think that when you are in the woods you can pretty much "see" a trail anywhere you want if you are really looking. We hiked for over an hour through trees, weeds, stumps, leaves and along the river on this so called trail. I think it needed a good weedwacking.