arkansas bound

i'm on a boat!!

this friday, my mom, dad, oliver, and cousins scott and tonya and their boys are heading up to arkansas for a week long house boat adventure.  we are going to be staying on the GORGEOUS lake ouchita in the ozark mountains, right outside of hot springs. 

my dad's dad passed away earlier this year and we are taking his ashes to spread on the lake.  papa had a little house on lake hamilton (near lake ouchita & hot springs) and every summer when i was little, we would drive to lake hamilton and rent an old cabin and hang out with papa.  one or two days during that week, we would always go to lake ouchita and hang out for the day.

papa loved that lake, and he would set his folding chair right in the water at the lake's edge and smoke his pipe all day long.  none of us had a care in the world besides swimming, feeding the fish, and riding around on the boat.  both of my best childhood friends, annie and melissa, have been to lake ouchita, along with most of the members of our extended family. 

we haven't been to arkansas in quite a few years, probably since i was in college, so it will be bittersweet returning this weekend and not getting to see papa.  but we are going to honor him and send him to his final resting place on one of his favorite places in the world. 

papa was originally from st. louis and a huge cardinals fan

lake ouchita has a pretty amazing history.  it was actually a flood plain and was causing major problems for the area and the population with how much it flooded in the early 1900's.  it was discussed that the town should dam the flood plain, thereby creating the lake in about 1909, but the plans were rejected and not looked at again until the 1940's.  finally the project was approved and farms, houses, schools, and even graves were forced to move to allow for the damning and building of the lake.  some of the citizens were opposed to the idea of making a man-made lake and didn't want to be forced off of their property, so the town flooded it anyway, trapping and killing some of the townspeople. 

the lake is over 66,000 acres large and at its deepest, over 200 ft deep. its rocky bottom and the water is cold, coming straight from springs in the ozark mountains.  the land that the lake and mountains are on was actually indian land, mainly inhabited by the Washita indian tribe which the lake is named for.  when the land was being prepared for the lake, the trees were not cut first so there is an entire forest on the lake bed.  (for more history about the lake, check this link out: http://www.lakeouachita.org/lake-ouachita-history.htm)

it is illegal to build any kind of property on and around the lake front, so the entire area is unmarred by buildings and houses.  it is absolutely breathtaking and one of the prettiest bodies of water i have ever seen.  the lake holds all types of great fishing, including very rare freshwater non-stinging jellyfish.

i won't be blogging from the lake (sorry!) but i will take tons of pictures to show you guys when we get back.  i can't wait to take oliver to this place from my childhood, and to honor my papa's memory at such an amazing creation of man and nature. 

see ya'll in a week!

 Kristin