CROSSROADS BANDIT

We arrived in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Sunday, November 3rd. It was a relatively quick ride from Memphis, a little under 4 hours. The weather was sunny and 65. This was hot compared to the thirties in Memphis we experienced. The area is beautiful. The lakes here are amazing. We checked into Leisure Landing RV Park, a small campground on Lake Hamilton. We had a full hook up including wi-fi and cable. We were greeted by the owner asking if we were the Russell’s. He had a pile of brochures for us giving us ideas on what to do in the town. This was something we had not experienced at a campground before and were excited to know there was lots to do in the area.  Very nice greeting and tons of information on what we can do while we’re here. Well, let’s just say, we won’t have enough time to do half the things there is to do before we leave. Patriots were playing today and our cable at the campground did not have the channel we needed. We ended up at the local Buffalo Wild Wings. We pulled in and there were a couple of other Patriots fans walking in. Phew we were not alone. The patriots ended up losing their first game of the season.  

Fishing seemed to be a good way to pass some of our down time. I was able to get a 7-day license at the local convenience store. Well, the idea was good, but they have been draining the lake by 6 inches a day. They do this so winter months kill the algae. Needless to say, fishing off the shore wasn’t a good option. Renting a boat sounded good but VERY expensive. I took to Facebook Marketplace and found an inflatable boat for $30. Still in the box. Woman drove over 30 miles to meet us. That was perfect for what i needed to fish. 

Downtown Hot Springs is a great place too. It is in the middle of Hot Springs National Park.  We walked through the town and had lunch at one of the bath houses. Of course, tried some of the local brew made there. We were even able to bring Bella and Bentley in with us. There is also a casino and horse track here in town. We will no doubt be making a visit there on a rainy day. Hot Springs is a cute little town that happens to have a national park going through it. You go down Central Ave and there are businesses on one side and the national park on the other. We drove up to the tower in the national park to get a good view of the area and the lakes but the elevator was broken. Bo made it up about a third of the way before turning back and Crystal about two thirds before turning back. We later ran into people we met walking up the tower and the elevator was fixed, and they were able to ride it down. HA!

A rainy day so we decided to check out an internet café called San Fancisco Bread Company. They had big comfy chairs in front of a fire place and TV. This was like being at home. We spent a couple hours getting caught up on life with Wifi. We later went to the Casino to try our luck at some gambling. Well we are not winners, we broke even. We went over to a local steak house called Coltons. This was the eve of the start of hunting season. You could see all the guys taking their ladies out since they won’t see them for a couple of months.

We came across Lake Catherine State Park when we were looking to photograph a waterfall. Bo had just learned how to do a long exposure on the camera and wanted to try it out on a waterfall. We found the first trail that was nicely paved and was only a short 5/8 of a mile walk. We found a little creek with little water movement. We wanted more water movement so we stopped into the state park visitor center and they gave us the trail where there would be a more stunning waterfall. We had Bella and Bentley with us so we were not sure how they would do on the 2 mile hike. The ranger gave us a shorter hike to get in only a half mile. The start of the trail was super easy and wide, going the shorter way to the falls meant we were going in the opposite direction as the other hikers. We got to the falls; they were beautiful. We hung out there for a while playing with the camera and talking with other hikers. We thought since the walk there was so easy, and Bella and Bentley were doing just fine we would continue on the two-mile trail back. This was a narrow trail with rocks and roots on the ground. There were several stone steps we would have to go up, some we had to carry Bella. We ended up finishing the hike and are so proud of Bella and Bentley for being such troopers.

Check our YouTube Channel for the Hot Springs, Arkansas video.