Hot Springs, Arkansas

We woke up well rested in the middle of Wyoming, knowing that it was officially time for some epic driving.

 

We drove through the day in Wyoming and dodged the huge wildfires in parched  Colorado. The kids passed the time by bundling wild collected sage into smudge sticks. We made it to west Kansas as night fell, took shifts driving through the night, and watched a beautiful sunrise as we crossed into Oklahoma. 

Arkansas welcomed us soon after, and we arrived at Gulpha Gorge campground in Hot Springs National Park around 3pm. Road weary, we sat in our camping chairs, drank a beer and watched the kids explore the river. They explored the shallow rocky areas 

and even the underground pipes which carried the creek under the campground!

The kids were well into an elaborate rock river dam when injury struck. A rock meant for the dam dropped on Lotus' knuckle with force. 

He was okay, but the mood shifted from dam building to quiet RV cuddle time and a movie. 

The next morning the swelling had gone down and Lotus was ready for early morning exploration in the gorge. We swam, caught a few fish, 

and enjoyed the scenery. 

Footloose and carefree!

We left Gulpha Gorge and set out on a mission to find an old friend. 

Eight years ago, we took the Karma bus on the Heartland of America tour, driving through Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.  While seeking out local advice on the best crystal mining spots in Arkansas, we met Gary Correll. He was selling crystals by the highway and we stopped to chat. That chat turned into a lifelong friendship. We mined together and he invited us to park the bus on his property. 

We pulled up to his place and were thrilled to find him still there! Gary lives in an old house and store that are literally built into a very special mountain laced with freshwater springs. Behind Gary's house and up ivy covered steps,

antique aqueducts covered with freshwater seaweed drip with the freshest water you can imagine. 

In fact, Mountain Valley Spring Water is bottled on the other side of the same mountain!

He has two main buildings that run along busy Highway 7.

One is his home and the other a store built in 1900. I hand painted a sign for the store 8 years ago- it's holding up pretty well!

The store is full of antiques and interesting Arkansas oddities.

But the most interesting thing by far is a quartz crystal lined wishing well that is fed from the mountain springs inside the shop!

I wonder if this frog that lives in the well grants the wishes...

We caught up on all the happenings of the past few years with Gary and he got to know our much bigger kids. We departed for our next destination, the quartz crystal mine, feeling thankful for such a great friend.