Big Cedar Lodge cont’d…

And so we come to part two of our Big Cedar Lodge adventure.

Day two was earmarked for soaking up the beauty of and just enjoying being in “America’s Premier Wilderness Resort”.

After a leisurely start to the day a gentle ramble led us to Devil’s Pool Restaurant.

The atmospheric country feel and decor..

..made for a great place to eat breakfast.  (Let’s pretend William’s eyes are not shut in this picture).

There was some construction work being carried out while we were there and this covered bridge was one of the projects.  Looking down through the sides of the bridge is the scene in the photo below where I’m standing on an older or maybe temporary bridge.

The log cabins on the other side of the lake are all part of Big Cedar.  We had a peek inside one of them many moons ago and they are fantastic.  Being such a lovely day people were canoeing and fishing on the lake.  You can just make out a fishing boat on the water behind  me.

The weather was superb.  Not too hot and not too cold.

Just perfect for wandering around the resort.

Resting by the pool.  Doing nothing but having fun can be very tiring!

This was an unusual sight for William and I to see.  Neither of us have ever seen buzzards in real life.  We’ve only ever seen them in films circling overhead when the main character is at death’s door in the desert.  Happily that wasn’t the case for us.

A drive into the country music town of Branson on day three found us browsing the hunting/fishing/shooting/camping goods in a Bass Pro Store.  (Let’s pretend William’s eyes are not shut in this picture.  Again).

Driving on through Branson now.  We don’t ever see sights like this in Great Britain!

Only in America do we see sights like this! :-)

Day four brought an end to our Big Cedar stay.  We had had a great time and just loved everything about the whole experience but as the saying goes all good things come to an end and soon we were on the road home again but even the drive home was fun too.

A short  detour off the Interstate highway was made so that we could take a peep at Gilbert, the coolest town in Arkansas.  Literally the coolest that is.  The coldest temperatures in Arkansas have been recorded in this little town.

Cool and quaint.  I love these old clapboard houses and buildings.  I love all the old front porches.

How quaint is the rickety old porch on this house?  I like that the Penny Pincher Machine gets a mention on the campground sign.

Colourful canoes for hire.  The Buffalo river was very close by.

Talking about which, here it is.   We made another detour to take a breather, stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery.

Very pretty scenery it is too.

Friendly canoers gave us a wave as they paddled by.

William hurt his arm - tried too hard with the pebble spinning.

Looking for fish rising on the calm water.

Don’t know why these butterflies were down amongst the pebbles but they were.  For ages too.

More beautiful old barns.

It pleased me no end every time I saw one of these old structures and we saw a lot.

I have one more post to go before our USA 2014 trip is finished and I’ll be back before too long with it.

Until then,

 

Big Cedar Lodge, Missouri.

It’s been a while I know and this post is definitely overdue but here is a further instalment of our April trip to Arkansas, USA where we holidayed with my sweet sister, Maureen and her wonderful husband, Jerry. 

This post brings us to a major highlight of our trip, a weekend stay at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.

Several years ago at the end of a visit to Branson, Missouri with Maureen and Jerry, they took us on a detour on the way home to see a wonderful place they had recently learned about and that place was Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.  I saw the lake and the log cabins dotted around it and was besotted with the whole caboodle.  There and then I said that one of these days we must certainly go back for a visit.

Well, on our USA trip in April this year (with a huge club member helping hand from my nephew and niece-in-law) “one of these days” came to pass.  I can’t tell you how much William and I had both been looking forward to this part of our holiday. 

The old timey registration building with its rocking chairs either side of the doors.  I loved the look of it.

In fact I loved everything about this building.  Its rustic country decor thrilled me no end.

A shady corner.  I’m quite partial to jigsaws and every time we wandered near this table my sister and I couldn’t help but spend a few minutes slotting a couple of pieces in place.  I could easily have spent a couple of hours finishing the jigsaw but there was just too much else to do.

A bright corner.  Imagine cosying up here in the depths of winter, a glass of mulled wine in hand, the fire roaring away and the snow coming down outside.  How super duper would that be?

Still in the registration building there’s an emporium full of all kinds of interesting goodies to browse through.

Checking in complete we found our rooms.  We had a fantastic, spacious adjoining suite between us.  The country rustic feel ran throughout.  We all loved it.

The to-die-for-view from our rooms.  Log cabins, wooded hillside and lake. Wonderful!

Maureen and Jerry are  no strangers to Big Cedar having stayed there several times in the intervening years so were able to show us around the extensive grounds.

There was plenty to discover for us newbies. 

A day spent on one of these party boats would be fun I’m sure.

Lots of water activities to take part in…

.. but the activity we were interested in was this one.  A sunset cruise on beautiful Table Rock lake.

Tickets booked we boarded the shuttle bus and popped back to the suite until it was time to come back and ...

… board Lady Liberty.

The interior of the boat where nibbles and drinks were served.  Very nice.

 

William totally enjoying the experience.

Cliff top houses like this  lined the lakeside.  I’d think I’d died and gone to heaven if I lived up there in that beautiful humongous house!

After a great couple of hours all too soon the boat landing came back into view and …

… it was back on that shuttle bus up the hill to our suite.

What a lovely day and evening it had been and there’s plenty more to come.

To be continued…..

A Damp November Day

Our good old British weather hasn’t been up to much lately.  It’s been damp mostly.  The picture below just about sums it up.

Taken from the car while we were driving over Blackstone Edge yesterday it shows the low lying cloud obscuring the moors from view.  And really the weather doesn’t bother me too much.  As long as I’m dressed appropriately the weather can please itself what it throws my way.  Maybe not too much rain.  And, let’s not forget, we are in November so damp weather is only to be expected.

On our agenda yesterday was grocery shopping and because Charlie was with us a visit to the park in Hebden Bridge with a cup of tea in our favourite cafe thrown into the mix.

As we walked down the main street we could hear the sound of happy folk  music filling the air.  Playing his fiddle with a cute/weird marionette dancing in front of him this busker was one of the happiest buskers I’ve ever come across.  He smiled from ear to ear all the while he sang.  I could have listened to him all day but we had promised Charlie a play in the park and that’s where we were headed.  Charlie dropped some change in the basket.

You wouldn’t believe it from the expression on their faces but they were having fun!

Charlie had brought a little gun with him and thought he’d try a little target practice.  

Unfortunately he missed the target and the bullet got lost in the bushes.  We spent about an hour and a half, okay ten minutes at least, searching for that thing!  Happily I eventually located it and play resumed.

Play time over we sauntered back to the car.  Charlie reading as he went along.

This is the publication Charlie was so engrossed in.  The Playmobile toy catalogue.  It kept him entertained all the way round the supermarket too.

I snapped a picture just before we crossed the bridge over the canal.  Pretty as a picture even on a damp day in November.

Until next time,