Project Breakaway Vaca: Day 2

Good Morning, Petit Jean State Park

First thing’s first, blogging (Project Breakaway Day 1) and coffee! I got up about 6:30 AM, and started writing about our adventures yesterday, then Teresa got up and made some excellent coffee on the stove of her Little Guy (a very nifty camping toy). During and after coffee time I made some Morning Star Breakfast Biscuits for my kiddo and I, and then we 3 prepared for an early morning 2 mile hike down and up Cedar Falls Trail, one of the highlights of Petit Jean State Park.

Cedar Falls Trail

Ok, this was one fantastically beautiful trail with lots of rocks, some boulders and a great up and down marked trail. The goal at the end of the trail, Cedar Falls, a 400 foot water fall. We could not play in the lake it fell into, but we could “shower” in the falls itself. We had a ball playing in the falling water.

Lunch

After burning what left like 10 and a half million calories coming back up the Cedar Falls Trail, we had a quick bite to eat at Sonic. From there we treated ourselves to some ice cream from a local country shop on the state park grounds. In 94+ degree weather, it hit the spot.

Hammock Time

Back at camp, it was time for some hammock time! Relaxing, doing absolutely nothing. We had this great tri-hammock unit going on, and even set out a large fan to give us a bit of a breeze. It has become a pretty sweet spot in our camp site.

Petit Jean. Who Dat?

Apparently this park was named after a woman who disobeyed her husband (an explorer), pretended to be a man to go on a voyage with him, arrived on new land (here), lived on this land for a short time, became mortally ill, was discovered by everyone on board who she really was, asked her hubby for forgiveness, died here and was believed to be buried by the natives. Here. Her name was not Petit Jean, but when she pretended to be a cabin boy on the ship, she chose the male name, John. Petit Jean in French means “Little John,” thus bringing the story full circle on Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas.

Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming

Let’s face it, it was 96 degrees at 4 in the afternoon and we were spent! Teresa had the pup and could not go, and I could not get fully submerged in the water because of my bum thumb, but my daughter and I did go to the pool for a couple hours. Teresa and the pooch took a mile hike and played in some streams along the way before we all met back up at camp.

Fixer Upper, Round 2. Ding, Ding.

I’ve been walking around with a huge white wrapped thumb that did appear pretty concerning at a glance. I knew I had to clean it, so I grew a pair and removed the dressing from last night. It did not look as bad as it did the night it happened, but it was still pretty icky. The last time I cut myself (a week ago :/) my husband doctored my finger up using propolis to disinfect. I’m a believer now that I’ve seen it in action– it simple does not allow bacteria to attach and develop. I am so glad I brought some with me on this trip. Plus, double brownie points to Teresa and myself for not even breaking a sweat when reapplying a more subtle bandage! Hooah!

Winner, Winner, Veggie Dinner!

Teresa cooked dinner tonight, and after spraying the vegetarian burgers and meatless hot dogs on the grill with grease, we declared ourselves as something comparable to Dirty American Hippies. Dirty was self explanatory since we were camping, American for adding grease, and hippies for eating vegetarian food. Good times.