From Water Leaks to Barred Owls

This morning I made a quick trip to the store to buy fixins for breakfast burritos. When I got back home and started to set the grocery sacks on the kitchen table I noticed that it was very wet. I looked up and saw that the water was coming from the ceiling. The water pipes for the upstairs run between the upstairs floor joists. What a way to start the day.

After such a unsettling start to the day, we decided to take a drive. We drove up the Talimena Drive to Queen Wilhelmina State Park on Rich Mountain.  As we drove up the mountain we saw that the trees were iced over at the higher elevations.  The ice made the scenery even more beautiful than usual.

We turned off of Talimena Drive onto Polk County Road 100, a rough dirt road that goes down the back side of Rich Mountain and connects with Highway 8.  Polk County Road 100 is a seldom traveled road through uninhabited land.

As we were slowly making our way down the road , my wife pointed out an owl .  We watched as the owl landed on a dead tree.  I drove the car carefully until we were right beside the tree.  The owl's head was turned away from us.  My wife called to the owl and I snapped the photo just as he turned his head.

Getting to see and photograph a Barred Owl today made me forget for awhile the problems that I had to face back home. It was a very special moment.

P.S.  The plumber is supposed to be here in the morning.

Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Wilhelmina was queen of the Netherlands for 58 years, from 1890 to 1948. Because she was only 10 years old in 1890, her mother, Queen Emma, was the regent until Wilhelmina's 18th birthday in 1898.

She guided the Netherlands through World War I and was able to stay neutral.  She was always wary of a German attack, especially in the beginning. However, the chief violation of Dutch sovereignty was the Allied blockade. After the war, the popularity of the young Queen helped restore confidence in the government. Wilhelmina brought about a mass show of support by riding with her daughter through the crowds in an open carriage.

During World War II, the Germans invaded the Netherlands. Queen Wilhelmina and her family fled to Britain, planning to return as soon as possible.  She took charge of the Dutch government in exile, setting up a chain of command and immediately communicating a message to her people. Following the end of World War II, Queen Wilhelmina traveled through the countryside to motivate people, sometimes using a bicycle instead of a car.

 
In 1947, bad health caused her to considered abdication but her daughter Juliana pressed her to stay on for the stability of the nation, urging her to complete 60 years on the throne. Wilhelmina tried to comply, but exhaustion forced her to relinquish her monarchial duties to her daughter on May 12, 1948.  On September 4, 1948, she abdicated in favor of her daughter Juliana.  Throughout he reign, Queen Wilhelmina remained popular with her people.

Just a few miles from my hometown of Mena on the top of Rich Mountain is Queen Wilhelmina State Park.  The state park is located on the sight of the Wilhelmina Inn that was opened in 1898.  Because many of the investors were Dutch, the luxury hotel was named for the newly crowned Queen Wilhelmina.   A suite of rooms was located in the southeast corner of the second floor and named for Wilhelmina in the hope she would visit. Soon, Wilhelmina Inn became known as the "Castle in the Sky."  The mountaintop Inn with its breathtaking scenery, fine accommodations and exquisite service, only lasted a few years.  The inn closed in 1910.

The site was abandoned and the inn fell into disrepair.  In 1957 plans were made for a new state park on the site where Wilhelmina Inn had been.  Plans were made to construct a new lodge on the site of the original inn.  The new inn opened it doors on June 22, 1963.  The new building, which was not as grand as the original hotel, contained 17 guest rooms and a restaurant.  Occupying the same site as the first inn, the second structure was built with some of the rockwork still remaining from its predecessor.  Operated for 10 years by the State of Arkansas as an Arkansas State Parks lodge, the facility was a popular travel attraction until, on the evening of November 10, 1973, a fire that began in the kitchen area destroyed it.

To carry on the lodging tradition atop Rich Mountain, Arkansas State Parks replaced the inn with a $3 million lodge that opened in 1975. Today, this lodge is the crowning attraction of Queen Wilhelmina State Park. The lodge is currently closed while undergoing a major renovation.  It will reopen later this year.

Queen Wilhelmina State Park is one of our favorite places to visit. The views from the top of Rich Mountain are spectacular. Here are some photos I have taken at Queen Wilhelmina over the years.












One of our family's favorite things to do at Queen Wilhelmina State Park is to ride the miniature train. We have been riding the train for almost 30 years. Here is a picture taken in 1981 with my mother, my wife, and my daughter riding the train.


QUEEN WILHELMINA MINIATURE TRAIN 1981

This picture was taken in 2008 while my wife and I were riding the train with my daughter and our grand daughters


QUEEN WILHELMINA MINIATURE TRAIN 2008

With a spectacular mountaintop setting and breathtaking panoramic scenery, Queen Wilhelmina State Park is great place to visit.

The ABC Wednesday Meme is a fun way to see some great blogs.

Sky Lanterns

Article published in the January 17, 2013 issue of The Mena Star

After being rained out in December, the Relay For Life Sky Lanterns event was held Tuesday evening outside Rich Mountain Community College.  The sky lanterns serve as both a fundraiser for Relay For Life, but also a special opportunity to honor friends, family, and loved  ones who have battled cancer.



On the evening, 51 sky lanterns were purchased and launched into the night sky, glowing as they rose and floated out of sight.  The evening also served as the 2013 Relay Kick-Off event.  The event raised over $1,200 for the Relay For Life Polk County organization.

Arkansas Color

This weekend was beautiful and the fall colors were exquisite.  We made a trip to Little Missouri Falls to look at the fall scenery.  The road out to Shady was lined with glorious colors.  I'm not sure why, but the newest owner of the house my parents owned a number of years ago had made his yard look like a plane crash scene.





At the falls The Little Missouri River plunges through a cleavage creating a spectacular waterfall during periods of high water. Then it tumbles over a series of natural rock dams 2 to 4 feet high, intermixed with relatively quiet pools (natural swimming holes) it continues as a cascade for several hundred more yards.  The falls are beautiful any time of the year, but they are particularly spectacular during the fall color season.






Sunday afternoon we traveled the Talimena Drive up Rich Mountain to Queen Wilhelmina State Park.   The Talimena Drive stretches across the very top of the Ouachita Mountains in Eastern Arkansas and Western Oklahoma.  Normally there are great views from the many vistas along the road, but as we drove up the mountain fog closed in around us.  Visibility was very limited.  We were disappointed because we were looking forward to seeing lots of color.  As we turned on to County Road 100 and started down the side of the mountain we stopped to take photos in the fog.

A friend said, when seeing the pictures, “This is making lemonade out of lemons! I'd just complain because the fog kept me from seeing things not take advantage of it to make great photos".  

Hope Floats

The Hope Floats - Wal-mart 67 Relay For Life team held a innovative and interesting fundraiser on October 20, 2012.  When people made donations to the team their name was written on the bottom of a rubber duck. The ducks were then taken to the middle of the pond at Rich Mountain Community College and set adrift.



When the ducks were set adrift, Lady, a black lab, was sent into the water to retrieve a duck.  The name on the first duck retrieved received a 40" flat screen HD TV, the second a Nook e-reader and the third a rocking chair.

  



It was a breezy day, and when all of the rubber ducks had been blown to shore, the kids present had a great time collecting the rubber ducks from the lake.





It was a great fundraiser and over 2200.00 was raised for Relay For Life.