One year ago, on May 19th, Lesley and I got married and to celebrate our anniversary we decided to take a few days off of work and head north into the Ozarks of Arkansas . Fairfield Bay off of Greers Ferry Lake was our destination. It sits 80 miles north of Little rock and is a nice little mountain area. We left after work and stayed over night in Little Rock, AR before we headed to the condo. We knew we were getting close when the roads became windy two lane adventures with a steady upwards climb.
We arrived and set out to explore our new surroundings. We decided that we should go find the swimming areas and parks around the lake so we could relax, read, slackline, and of course swim. Well, that was the plan. We quickly realized that the tremendous amount of rain Arkansas and other northern states have been getting has all but cut off access to Greers Ferry. We ran into one submerged road after another.
This set back led us on an exploratory journey that involved paved roads transforming into dirt roads and eventually requiring a little four wheel drive, I didn't complain, the truck loves the opportunity to show off it's 4x4 and diff locker skills. We did manage to make it to the marina by taking a lengthy trip around but soon realized that the 14 extra feet of water had put the picnic facilities and most of the marina under water. This didn't really frustrate us that much because we knew that we would find a lot of other fun things to do... and we did. We discovered that only a short 35 miles north of us was Americas first national river designated by the Park Service, the Buffalo National River. Over 100 miles of river and trails through the Ozark mountains sounded like our type of adventure. We got up early and made chocolate chip pancakes , packed up and drove to the park.
After conversing with the park ranger about such things as climbing in the area and good day hikes we filled up the water and trekked off down the trail.
Not too far down the trail we ran into our slimy little friends the snails. They were streaking and sliming their way across the rocks, this was only the first wildlife encounter of the day.
We saw our first Indigo Bunting
(Passerina cyanea) it was a beautiful little blue bird that squeeked in the under brush. After consulting the Parks bird guide I discovered that the Pileated Woodpecker (
Dryocopus pileatus) was common in this area. This is my totem animal and the source of my power I'm sure. I looked and listened very hard and although I'm sure I heard him calling out to me with his pecking I never was able to catch a glimpse. .. yet beware Dryocopus pileatus I'm coming for you. The unsuccessful hunt of the Pileated woodpecker made us hungry so we hiked back out and found our way down to the river for lunch and a swim in the beautiful clean, cold, Buffalo River.
We had our sandwiches and jumped in to cool off; Les would say that it was a little too cold but I think it was perfect. I haven't seen such a clean river in a long time.
After swimming we made our way to another trail to do a little bird watching. It was an old homestead and it was fun to see all of the old buildings and birds.
The day was a success and we took a slow drive back to Fairfield Bay stopping in the little town of Leslie (I like to think it was spelled Lesley) to look at the little Ozark town. Back at the condo we relaxed by reading, knitting, and relaxing. The next day was the 19th, the big day. We had more pancakes for breakfast and then relaxed. Throughout the day we celebrated our wedding by popping a bottle of champagne (an original bottle form the rehearsal dinner) and having a toast.
We also made a top 10 list of the best parts of our first year of marriage, of course the wedding and honeymoon were off limits, and we read them to each other. And then the coup de grace, the eating of the wedding cake. We lit special candles that were given to us by our friend Tom for our wedding and then dug in, it was as good as I remember it.
We also had a bottle of wine from the wedding day that we were able to enjoy as the full moon came up over the lake.
I do have to say that I think our first anniversary was a success and I can't wait until the next one.
One year ago, on May 19th, Lesley and I got married and to celebrate our anniversary we decided to take a few days off of work and head north into the Ozarks of Arkansas . Fairfield Bay off of Greers Ferry Lake was our destination. It sits 80 miles north of Little rock and is a nice little mountain area. We left after work and stayed over night in Little Rock, AR before we headed to the condo. We knew we were getting close when the roads became windy two lane adventures with a steady upwards climb.
We arrived and set out to explore our new surroundings. We decided that we should go find the swimming areas and parks around the lake so we could relax, read, slackline, and of course swim. Well, that was the plan. We quickly realized that the tremendous amount of rain Arkansas and other northern states have been getting has all but cut off access to Greers Ferry. We ran into one submerged road after another. 
This set back led us on an exploratory journey that involved paved roads transforming into dirt roads and eventually requiring a little four wheel drive, I didn't complain, the truck loves the opportunity to show off it's 4x4 and diff locker skills. We did manage to make it to the marina by taking a lengthy trip around but soon realized that the 14 extra feet of water had put the picnic facilities and most of the marina under water. This didn't really frustrate us that much because we knew that we would find a lot of other fun things to do... and we did. We discovered that only a short 35 miles north of us was Americas first national river designated by the Park Service, the Buffalo National River. Over 100 miles of river and trails through the Ozark mountains sounded like our type of adventure. We got up early and made chocolate chip pancakes , packed up and drove to the park. 
After conversing with the park ranger about such things as climbing in the area and good day hikes we filled up the water and trekked off down the trail. 
Not too far down the trail we ran into our slimy little friends the snails. They were streaking and sliming their way across the rocks, this was only the first wildlife encounter of the day. 
We saw our first Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) it was a beautiful little blue bird that squeeked in the under brush. After consulting the Parks bird guide I discovered that the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) was common in this area. This is my totem animal and the source of my power I'm sure. I looked and listened very hard and although I'm sure I heard him calling out to me with his pecking I never was able to catch a glimpse. .. yet beware Dryocopus pileatus I'm coming for you. The unsuccessful hunt of the Pileated woodpecker made us hungry so we hiked back out and found our way down to the river for lunch and a swim in the beautiful clean, cold, Buffalo River.
We had our sandwiches and jumped in to cool off; Les would say that it was a little too cold but I think it was perfect. I haven't seen such a clean river in a long time.
After swimming we made our way to another trail to do a little bird watching. It was an old homestead and it was fun to see all of the old buildings and birds.
The day was a success and we took a slow drive back to Fairfield Bay stopping in the little town of Leslie (I like to think it was spelled Lesley) to look at the little Ozark town. Back at the condo we relaxed by reading, knitting, and relaxing. The next day was the 19th, the big day. We had more pancakes for breakfast and then relaxed. Throughout the day we celebrated our wedding by popping a bottle of champagne (an original bottle form the rehearsal dinner) and having a toast. 
We also made a top 10 list of the best parts of our first year of marriage, of course the wedding and honeymoon were off limits, and we read them to each other. And then the coup de grace, the eating of the wedding cake. We lit special candles that were given to us by our friend Tom for our wedding and then dug in, it was as good as I remember it.
We also had a bottle of wine from the wedding day that we were able to enjoy as the full moon came up over the lake. 
I do have to say that I think our first anniversary was a success and I can't wait until the next one.
