Lake Leatherwood & Blue Springs

 Yesterday, it was a beautiful morning.  We woke up to low 60's.  Yeah!  We sat outside and drank our morning coffee and listened to the birds.  We spotted this bird who looks like a cardinal with a haircut.  I could not identify him in the bird book. 

 We went out to Lake Leatherwood City Park.  Lake Leatherwood is a "no wake" lake.  We debated taking out the sea eagle and going for a paddle but decided on the hike.  It was so quiet and peaceful - a great place for a paddle or a hike.

 We hiked around the lake to the dam.  Along the way, there were huge lily pads.

 We did not see any wildlife, which was OK since there were warning signs for feral hogs.   There were some really pretty dragonflies.  This one posed for a close up.

 We made it to the dam and then decided to go back.  The trail goes all the way around the lake but it was starting to get hot.

 After our hike, we drove over to Blue Spring.  Blue Spring is a huge natural spring.  They usually have it planted in all kinds of flowers.  However, it was flooded twice this spring and most of the flowers did not survive.

 They discounted the admission but it was still a disappointment.  The water was beautiful though.  30 million gallons of water per day come up from the spring. 

  This bluff shelter above the spring is on the national register of historic sites because many Native American artifacts have been found here.  Blue spring was also a stop over on the "trail of tears."  The Cherokee rested here and took advantage of the fresh water on the forced march from Georgia to Oklahoma.

 We finished off the day with a burger at the Basin Spring Hotel.  It was a great burger.  We should have shared one because it was so big, especially since I could not resist the dessert offering of a fried Huckleberry pie topped with a scoop of Huckleberry ice cream  mmmm.  It was a late lunch and I was perfectly happy to skip dinner :).

When we arrived in Eureka Springs, Catherine noticed that our "other" awning arm also had some damage.  The aluminum had torn around the rivet.  So, I decided to "patch" it by using a washer stuck on with some J-B Weld epoxy (I love that stuff).  I put it back on the bracket this morning and so far.... so good.  Later Catherine will help me attach it to the rig.  

Today we are going downtown to watch the VW parade.  See you down the road.....