Our First Arkansas . . . (Can you guess how this statement ends?)

We found that the wind can really blow on the top of Arkansas's Rich Mountain. After one of the windiest evenings we've ever spent in the motor home, we woke up to a pleasant morning for our last day here at Queen Wilhelmina State Park. We didn't know that this day would lead to our first Arkansas . . .  What word do you think will finish that statement? Read on to find out.

We decided to drive down Scenic Highway 88, checking out some of the overlook views like the one above. We had driven right past those stops on our way up the mountain in the motor home. Right across from the natural view of the green hills, was this nice rock face--totally covered with painted graffiti. Interesting, but it certainly blurs the beauty of this scenic drive.  But it wasn't our first Arkansas . . . graffiti.

We also decided on hiking a piece of the Ouachita Trail. Pronounced like "Washita," this trail runs for 225 miles through the mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas. It starts at Talimena State Park in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, and ends at Pinnacle Mountain State Park west of Little Rock, Arkansas. 

We drove to the pull-out near the Pioneer Cemetery, and decided to hike in both directions from there. We're happy to see the blue skies, the blue wildflowers, and the blue painted trail markers on the trees that indicate we are on the Ouachita Trail.

Besides the pioneer cemetery, we found long rock walls that were evidence that early settlers once lived and worked here. But this isn't our first Arkansas . . . rock wall.

We hiked four miles on the Ouachita Trail. Denisa is minding her business, taking way too many wildflower pictures like usual. This obviously isn't our first Arkansas . . . wildflower.

We heard some movement in the forest above the trail, and we always assume that it's a squirrel. That wouldn't be our first Arkansas . . . squirrel. But when we heard twigs snap and bigger movements in the forest, we decided it must be a deer. That wouldn't be our first Arkansas . . . deer. When Denisa took more miniature wild iris pictures, it obviously wasn't our first Arkansas . . . iris.

As we continued up the trail heading toward the sounds, the rustling suddenly stopped. That's when we saw the brown fur through the trees.

We were looking up into the forest about 20 yards away when we realized that we were looking at our first Arkansas . . . BEAR! It was hard to get a good picture through all the branches of the trees, but with our eyes we could see him quite clearly. He watched us for quite some time.

Then he turned to the side, and wandered off in the direction of our campground. We certainly weren't expecting to see a bear on our mountain hike in Arkansas! Mark considers it a late birthday present on our last day at his birthday destination. We also think that we are wandering another of God's wonders as we got to see our first Arkansas . . . bear today!