Arkansas

Continuing on with my little series of Fifty-Nifty United States.  We have already explored Alabama and Arizona.

Arkansas is one of the states that Brad and I have explored more then once together on different trips.  It was a state that we even considered moving to at one time. All the different city's that we visited were great, cute towns with so much character.  The scenery was beautiful, BBQ food out of this word and a nice group of people that love their Razorbacks and yell "SOUIE"!!

Our first glimpse of this lovely state was when we headed from Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, MO owned by Bass Pro Shops (If you haven't been, GO!! I will do a whole post on the fabulousness of this place when I get to Missouri) down to Dogwood Canyon for a nature day.  While  in Dogwood Canyon you can rent bikes and go on a path that goes across the Missouri/Arkansas line.  The Ozark's are by far one of Brad and I's favorite places, the rolling hills and hillbilly atmosphere are one of a kind.  

Hello Arkansas

Gorgeous Dogwood Canyon

 We stopped by a cave called Mystic Caverns and got to explore one of the best caves we have seen to date.  They filled one of the Imax films here as it has a lake inside that they have determined is bottomless.  The divers for the filming actually stopped exploring the area as the lake was so deep they couldn't keep keep going for safety purposes. Our guide talked about putting fish in the lake which would always disappear in the current.  They bodies would never float to the surface.  (I just LOVE caves and all the mysteries!) The cave was for sale and I kid you not Brad and I tried to come up with how we could afford a $600K cave and if we could run a business there.  The cave sold and my dreams shattered! (Kidding aside we really tried to make this work).

We wanted to explore more of Arkansas and decided to visit Fayetteville, home of the beloved SEC Razorbacks.  We flew out for a long extended weekend and explored the whole Fayetteville area. This is the cutest town with a town square surrounded by the most charming shops and restaurants.  We went right after Thanksgiving and they had the whole square decorated for Christmas including an ice rink and horse carriage rides, it was like a scene out of a movie. We were sad that the Razorbacks were out of town that weekend, we would have loved to see the Pig call and all their loyal fans.  However we did stock up on lots of Pig gear!!

I was trying to snarl here with my hog friends

On a hike outside of Fayetteville (PS we look young and perm NEVER again)

Before leaving town we saw an episode of the Duggers where they went to Crater of Diamonds State Park and dug for diamonds.  We knew we had to give our luck a try and dig for the big rocks!!  It was a very neat, unique State Park.  You paid for time in the diamond fields, picked up a shovel, screen and bucket and could dig to your hearts desire.  We stayed and dug for about 3 hours, no luck digging for diamonds but it sure was fun to say "we dug for diamonds".  They displayed some of the specimens that had been dug up and the dollar value.  It really was a fun half day trip.  

photo source

Lots of dirt for digging, photo source

We decided to head back another 4 months later (March) and check out the town of Hot Springs and get some fishing in as well.  We fished with a guide out of Lake Ouachita.  (Side note: I won't get into our flight nightmare getting there including a LONG drive on the UPS super highway in the middle of the night or the gang bangers (kid you not) with guns in Memphis at a gas station, the 2 hours of sleep at a motel and then our fishing guide that kept peeing off the side of the boat!!  It was truly a trip to remember on so many levels, I regress.)   The lake was very pretty and we did get in some great bass fishing.  

Early Morning start

Good Fishing

We explored the town of Hot Springs visiting the Bath Houses, shopping and going to the botanical gardens.  It was a very short trip but were were able to see quite a lot.

National Park Bathhouse, Brad was creeped out by the whole idea of some one "bathing" you

Lots of really pretty flowers and trees

I encourage all of you to take a visit to the "Natural State".  There are so many fun things to see and do. The food is great and the people are so nice.  Defiantly one of Brad and I's top ten states.

Arizona

Continuing on with the wonderful Fifty-Nifty United States series {Here}.  Up next is the warm, desert of Arizona.  Brad and I traveled to Arizona back in the winter of 2011 when I surprised him with an after Christmas trip.  It was a great time to get away from the Colorado winter and enjoy some warm weather.  We visited both Tuson and Pheonix.  You can see the full version of this trip recap {Here}.

Lots of fun and sun

We stayed in Tucson but enjoyed a day trip to Phoenix. The weather was absolutely beautiful, it was only a little chilly in the morning otherwise it was a nice 70 degrees with no clouds or wind.  We stayed at the wonderful Hacienda Del Sol hotel.  You can get amazing winter rates and our package even included free Breakfast at their restaurant. We really took it easy this trip with no real itinerary (so not me!) relaxed and did what ever, when ever.  I did have a couple must do's on the list but other wise we would plan the night before for the next days activities.

View from the hot tub and Restaurant at the resort

Roadrunner

DAY 1: Our first desert stop was Colossal Cave. It was a pretty neat tour except for most of the cave formation's were dead due to the cave being so dry and people not taking care of it.  I am a cave connoisseur of sorts so on my cave list it was just ok, It would have been really neat if the formations hadn't been ruined.  But it was still exploring a new cave in a different area and both Brad and I really enjoyed it.  There was great views of the desert from the cave entrance and we saw 3 road runners on the drive.

At the top of the canyon before the cave Tour

Inside the Cave

After the cave tour we headed over to Sabino Canyon to take the tram to the top of the Canyon and enjoy some desert hiking.  It was a beautiful area where we saw lots of wildlife and enjoyed the views of the canyon.  The sun bursts were awesome as the sun was going down, we got some great photos.

View at looking west into the Canyon

Canyon Waterfall

Sun setting behind us

The colors with the sun set were so vibrant

Saguaro cactus, blooms in the spring with the Arizona state flower

DAY 2: We shopped around town some and picked up some small gifts and an ornament to add to our collection (we always get an ornament from every place that we travel to, this way it always brings memories back when we hang it on our Christmas tree each year). We visited Biosphere 2 and did the tour of the building.  It was very interesting with lots of scientific data collection.  In the early 90's a group of people were shut inside for 2 years to see if they could live off the sphere, they made it but it was a long, hard road.  It was a very interesting tour to see the self sustainability factor and how they made life work inside.

Getting ready to go on the tour

Biosphere 2 in the middle of the desert

DAY 3: Road trip to Pheonox with many stops along the way.  Brad's dad and step mom Julie sponsor a pot belly pig named Mel. Ironwood Pig Sanctuary is a place were all unwanted/abandoned potbelly's can go to live out the rest of their pig life.  Most of the pigs live to be 17 plus years old.  The owner Mary does an amazing job with all of the pigs, Brad and I were so impressed with the facilities and how happy all the pigs were.  She has rescued over 600 pigs that are at the sanctuary.  The pigs have tons of land to roam around with many volunteers that take amazing care of them.  We had to stop and see our "brother" and his family.

(Side Note: If you are looking to give money to an animal rescue that does an amazing job please click on the link above and sponsor a pig in need, get on their mailing list or email me for more details.)

Mel was such a "ham" in all of his photos

Their faces just crack me up

Twinkie (One of Mel's GF)

After spending all morning with the Pigs we headed to the Ostrich farm to go on the big wheel truck tour.  While waiting for the big wheel we were able to feed lots of animals including Donkeys, White tail deer, goats, ostrich and birds.

Nice Donkeys, they were so gentile

Don't get too close Brad they will bite you!!

Feeding the Ostrich Grapefruits

White Tail Deer

After lots of stops we finally made it to Phoenix. Brad found out there was a Bass Pro there so of coarse had to check it out!!  (I have only been to 20+ other stores around the US). For dinner we went to a Mexican Restaurant named Aunt Chiladas.  It was some of the the best Mexican food I have ever had in any of our travels!  I know my Mexican food as we have it EVERYWHERE and let me tell you this place trumped them all. I had the Pepper and Quaso which was a Pablano Pepper stuffed with chorizo and cream cheese and topped with a savory red pepper sauce, all I can say is DELISH!!

Brad in front of his "homeland"

DAY 4: We visited some small museums around town.  We went to the Miniature Museum, postal and stamp museum (I want to volunteer there when I retire) and San Xavior Mission.  The weather was great so we decided to go back to the hotel to get some pool time, hit up happy hour at the hotel restaurant which had amazing food and margaritas and then watch the sun set over the dessert mountains while in the hot tub. 

Out side of the mission

Beautiful wood carving inside by the alter

We were in Arizona a total of 4 days and it was a great long weekend get away. There was quite a bit to do mixed between adventure and relaxation.  Our next trip back will be to the Grand Canyon together.  We both have been when we were kids but think it would make a great "family" trip one day.  Arizona is a great place to visit I especially liked it in the winter as the temperatures are pleasant and sunsets over the desert amazing.

If you missed my Alabama re-cap please click {Here}.  

Alabama

Oh Sweet Home Alabama with your cute southern twang and gorgeous white beaches. Brad and I made the trip here in Fall of 2012 and tagged it on to his 30th Birthday extravaganza in New Orleans (We visited Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee).  For those of you that don't know Brad is a HUGE bass fisherman and a lot of our trips revolve around bass lakes especially in the south.  The main reason for going to Alabama was a #1 bass fishing lake called Guntersville.

Quick picture as we drove by

First we decided to stay in the Gulf Shores/Orange beach to soak in some rays and enjoy the beach. I must admit that almost every blog that I follow had featured some post about the Gulf Shores and the pure beauty of Alabama.  There was a lot of hype for this Colorado girl and let me tell you these beaches were G-O-R-G-O-U-S!!  First lets start with the pure as white sand that almost looked like snow, then the gorgeous water against the beautiful sky.  These beaches were amazing to walk miles on and take in the beauty.  Being that we were there in September  the crowds were small and we were able have more of a private beach experience and not have to fight the crowds at the restaurants.  One of our favorite eateries were Louisiana Lagniappe the seafood was excellent and the view of the water was breath taking.  Brad and I both agree that the Alabama beaches are a must see for anyone, by far one of the best.

After our beach bliss we heading across the majority of the state to good ol' Guntersville.  This is where Chris Lane (one of the professional bass fisherman) lives and fishes out of Lake Guntersville. The lake itself was one of the best fisheries that we have experienced, gorgeous scenery and big bass.  We guided out with one of Chris's friends and got to fish a large portion of the lake.  The unique thing about the lake is the LARGE lily pads and the year round frog fishing.  This by far is Brad's favorite and most unique technique.  Due to a cold front we didn't have the best of fishing days but we enjoyed the lake and the beautiful scenery.  Guntersville was very cute but VERY small with out the lake there really isn't much to do.

First thing in the morning with the fog

Look at those Lily Pads!

We then continued onward with our road trip into Tennessee.  Before crossing state lines we made a quick stop in Huntsville to visit Brad's Uncle Scott and Family.  It was great to visit and get to see the cute town of Huntsville.

On another note I had been crushing over Alabama ever since the first Episode of Hart of Dixie, one of my all time favorite shows.  It takes place in a town called Bluebell.  Much to my dismay this is a made up town but it still reflects the true Heart of Dixie!!

Alabama is defiantly in Brad and I's top five states.  We absolutely love the southern charm, white picturesque beaches, scenery and bass lakes.  Next time we for sure need to hit up both Auburn and Tuscaloosa.