3-day weekend

I went to visit my brother in Fayetteville on Independence Day, with plans to go see some fireworks that night. We thought we would go see a game at the new minor league baseball stadium, which would have fireworks afterwards, but the game was sold out. So we ended up going to see a movie instead.

But we missed seeing a big professional display, but lucked out because apparently people in Fayetteville love fireworks.

I had my tanks and hens, which would not make for a long-lasting fireworks display. Luckily there were two stands set up within walking distance of my brother's house. The stands were set up in people's frontyards, who were in a fierce competition against each other. One of the stands was called Uncle Sam's, and the other store had a sign up that said something like "Don't believe the lies at UNCLE SCAM's, we are cheaper!" We ended up going to Uncle Scam's since it was closer, and tried to find some fireworks that would give us a good bang for our bucks.

The cashier said that someone had been in and spent over $500 that day on fireworks. It must have been someone in the neighborhood because there were people setting off some decent-sized fireworks all around us. It put our little display to shame.

This was taken in the backyard of my brother's house, with some sort of firework that would shoot up and then explode with a rather unimpressive and anticlimactic poot. We ended up just sitting out and watching the neighbor's fireworks, which lasted a few hours...


The next day I drove over to visit some other family who were camping along the White River near Mountain View. The drive out there was along Hwy. 412, which has a lot of neat old buildings along the way. I was a bit pressed for time, so I didn't stop to take as many pictures as I should have. But I did pull over and get a shot of this old building, in some random small town that I can't remember the name of.


The morning after it was time to break camp and start heading home, which was good for me since it let me take a stop at the Buffalo National River on the way home. The Buffalo River is really one of the prettiest places around, but I just happened to be there on a sunny day around noon, which isn't the best of conditions for taking pictures.

My first stop was to go by one of the put-ins along the river, at Woolum. I got this shot of a field along the road.


After that I went to Tyler Bend and went to take a few pictures of the river. The river was up, all the rain the past few days had it running high and muddy.


I then went and did some hiking, which probably wasn't a great idea since it was about 95 degrees out that day. But the trail was short, and led to the old Collier homestead, built in the 1930s.


The light was really harsh, and this is the only view of the building that I liked. This is actually the back of the cabin, the sunlight and shadows ruined any shots of the front. But the homestead is well-maintained, and you are able to go inside. There you can still see some of the old wallpaper and magazine pages that the previous residents used on the walls.


The Collier family left the homestead in the late 1960's, which still had no electricity or running water. When the National Park Service took over the property, the land was nearly covered in vegetation. It's nice to see them preserving these old buildings instead of letting them fall apart. But anyways, here is a view from the inside:


From the homestead, a short trail heads out to some overlooks of the Buffalo River. The trail runs right alongside a tall bluff, so there were a few of these signs to remind people that bluffs and gravity aren't a great combination.

I like how someone added a little board to the stick figure's foot.

From the first overlook I got this shot of the flooded Buffalo River.


And another shot from further down the trail. I've seen the river higher than this once, on a disaster of a float trip a few years ago when me and a few friends tried to put some canoes in the river when it was nearly flooded. Good times! I really want to head back up there for another float trip sometime soon.


After the hike I went back down to the river at Tyler Bend, and tried to get a few more shots in the awful light.


The Buffalo National River is a great place, if only it was just a bit closer to home. I'm trying to convince some friends to head back up there in some canoes, hopefully soon.