Eureka Springs, AK

I returned to Eureka Springs after at least 3 years. I met up with an old friend who had come to Tampa a few years ago to get a sailboat instructor's certification. I put him up for a week while he was taking the classes. Dan has become involved with national croquet tournament play, and after a brief coffee, he was off to Boston to play.  I have good memories of the time I spent here. Many of them came back as Windy and I drove into town.

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue has 6 RV spots for a moderate price. The sites are located near many of the animals and in the night, with the windows open, I heard restless cats roaring their greetings to one another. While setting up the RV, the first thought I had, after hearing the lion's roar for the first time, was that something was terribly wrong. I remember the feeling from when I sat at the door's edge of an airplane at about 5,000 feet. Looking out of the door, strapped to an experienced jumper with a chute, I realized something was terribly wrong with jumping out of an airplane into the air...with nothing between me and the ground.  Listening to a lion's roar for the first time, I felt exactly the same way.

Over the three day stay we had there, (I was joined by Sandy, my camping friend from Oklahoma City), we each became accustomed to the interruption of activities by a lion's or tiger's roar. It's really the greatest park in the US for rescues of big cats. Turpentine Creek has space for many animals, and recieves support from contributions that lead to the creation of a "habitat", for a rescued animal. These habitats are usually 50 to 100 yards of grassy, hilly area with plants and trees and a shelter for them. One resident, a bear named Cody, had a large ball that floated in his large concrete swimming area of his large habitat. Most often these animals can never be returned to the wild due to injury or other reasons. Some have come from families that could not accomodate the size and strength of the wild animal, although well intentioned when the animal was acquired. Cody loved playing with his ball, and seemed to put on a show for his audience.

Feeding time for the cats was a very active time. They were fed raw chicken most frequently. Donations of thousands of pounds of chicken were recieved from Tyson and from Walmart. A tourguide led a group of visitors around the park and provided the commentary as a tiger approached us from behind his fenced area. I have provided a YouTube link for you to watch.  Tiger at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Rescue 

Blues guitarist Robert Cray played a couple of great sets in concert at the Aud, the local reference to the Eureka Springs auditorium. He really is a polished guitar player, and has very smooth, mellow vocals. His melodies and lyrics reached my heart telling the story of love lost, and life's tragedy.

On one of our hikes near the Beaver Lake, we deicided it was time for a swim. I had my doubts about bushwhacking to the lake, but with a few landmarks taken, and some jointly administered adventure spirit, Sandy and dove into the lake from a boulder strewn shoreline. No trail, no beach, no lifeguards, just a great swim. The sun was strong and drying quickly we reluctantly hiked back to the car. The weekend turned into a great adventure for me.

Pictures are coming...I promise!

Windy and I stayed in Eureka for one more day after Sandy headed back to Oklahoma. It was just a quiet day for me, and I started to plan my trip up to Kansas City, Missouri. I really had to visit with the Harper's at Harper's Moto Guzzi. More about that soon!