Fall is in the Air!

Although we are not quite experiencing Fall weather in all its splendor yet, we have been enjoying some cooler weather which in turn caused us to want to get out of town.   Living in a large city has been quite an adjustment for us and we really REALLY felt the need to get out into the great outdoors.  So we left Friday afternoon and  journeyed about 3 hrs away to Northwest Arkansas and to the Buffalo National River in the Ozark Mountains.  I kinda hesitate to call them "mountains" because they are nothing even close to the glory that is the Rockies but it was still really nice to see some land that wasn't flat.  We really miss the mountains.

Anyway,  we started our adventure at the visitors center and then from the visitors center we took a .8 mile hike through the woods to a cliff that overlooked the river.  It was a fun hike and Lilly had a lot of questions about why the leaves of the trees change colors (luckily I remembered enough from my Botany class to answer her questions).  From there we had lunch and then, after taking an unplanned scenic drive, we  went to an abandoned mining town called Rush. Of course we can't go anywhere without doing something historical.  Lilly is definitely her father's daughter because she loves all things old and historical.  Its great and I learn a lot too.  On the way back to civilization, we drove to a little town called Gaither, AR.  My mom's family is from NW Arkansas and I wanted to see if I could find their graves so I can add them to my family history.  I didn't find the people that I was originally was looking for but I did find their children which was cool.

It was a great trip and we saw some great fall colors.  I so miss being  close to nature but hopefully we'll be able to make more trips like this before it gets cold this winter.  Here are a few pictures of our trip.

 

 

 

 

As a side note: If you ever go to Branson, MO (even if it's just to say you've been there or to go to the outlet mall)  Think twice.  The traffic was horrible.