Spring Break 2012

Before I digress into our spring break action, first an update from something before...  Kenny is shown above with the poster he assembled from an experiment he (and with careful supervision of Mom) conducted looking at what effects carbon dioxide (CO2) and the lack of oxygen (O2) have on fire--basically, he added vinegar to baking soda and watched how the chemical reaction that ensued extinguished a small tea candle.  His work earned him a second place trophy at the school's science fair, which made him (and his parents) very proud.  We spent a good chunk of our spring break this week at another archeological dig--this time at a location in southwestern Arkansas called Dooley's Ferry:

Dooley's Ferry operated on the Red River near Texarkana, Arkansas, from before the Civil War until the 1930s or so, and was a key location on the old Southwestern Trail that led into Texas.  Nowadays, there is almost nothing visible on the site to indicate it's important historical role.  Above, I'm helping show Beth and a new volunteer the finer points of screening for artifacts.  We camped at a nearby state park--below, I play with the timer feature to capture a family portrait sitting around the campfire, with our pop-up camper behind us:

Below, Stephen hams it up for the camera while Kenny and Beth play in the background:

More playing with the camera--this time, a picture of our campfire:

And a time lapse picture of Kenny (barely visible in the O-ring on the left) and Stephen twirling their green glow sticks at night:

I helped dig for three days, and found the best stuff on the second day, including the 1941 silver Mercury dime in my hand below:

Yes, it was just that shiny when it came out of the ground!  Also found an Indian head penny that dated to 1895:

The site I was working on specifically seemed to be part of a store that had been on the site as late as the 1950s, when it burned down.  The last evening of the dig we went to a nearby natural area called the Grandview Prairie, and enjoyed an evening of listening to packs of coyotes howling at each other.  We also found some oyster shell fossils, like the one Kenny is holding below:

Millions of years ago, this part of Arkansas was under the sea, and this site in particular was an oyster bed.  Below, Hope and I posed for a picture--that's the kids on the dock in the background waving their arms:

The next day we went off on our own to do some sight-seeing in the Ouachita Mountains of central Arkansas.  Below, Hope and the kids admire a century-old eastern white pine:

What's so special about the pine in the picture above?  It was planted over a century ago by someone in a remote valley in Arkansas--eastern white pine is not native to this part of the world, but the handful of trees we saw here were doing well.  We were in this valley looking for a publicly accessible quartz crystal mine on the Ouachita National Forest, which we eventually found:

This site used to be a commercial quartz mine until it closed, and the US Forest Service now allows anybody to hike up the mountain to this site to dig crystals on their own--for non-commercial purposes.  Below, Kenny shows off one of his finds:

It was a steep hike to and from the mine, but it was a gorgeous day, the bugs weren't bad, and the forest was showing signs of life.  Below is a picture of the shortleaf pine (a native tree species) dominated forests that cover most of the Ouachita Mountains:

We have also gotten a fair amount of rain as of late, meaning that the local streams had water flowing in them:

And the springs were flowing, too--below, Kenny sticks his head into Collier's Springs not far from the crystal mine:

Here is Stephen also playing in the water:

The beautiful stone building housing the spring head was built in the 1930s by the CCC.  We also drove to a stunning overlook on top of Hickorynut Mountain, also in the Ouachita National Forest:

While not nearly as tall as the Rocky Mountains, the Ouachita Mountains are much older, and have some rugged terrain in placing.  Below, Hope and the boys enjoy the view of Lake Ouachita, a very large reservoir built by the US Army Corps of Engineers:

We really had a good day, but were happy to get home Saturday evening.  On Sunday, Beth finished the final touches on her "Powderpuff Derby" car (it is the Girl Scouts version of the Pinewood Derby).  This year, Beth painted her car to resemble the ones driven by the Arkansas State Police.  She was inspired to do this by Liz, our neighbor across the street who happens to be a state trooper.  Below, Beth poses with Liz in from of her new squad car:

Beth is also starting to learn how to ride a bike:

That's all for our busy spring break--now, back to school and work!!