3 Year Anniversary Suprise Trip to the Buffalo River Valley

My husband suprised me with an overnight getaway for our 3 year anniversary. I was totally clueless as to the destination which was very exciting! This is the first time he's ever done anything like this so I was very suprised. We dropped the kids off and headed toward our destination.

We ended up in Ponca, Arkansas at the Buffalo Outdoor Center located at the Buffalo River in the Ozark mountains.
http://www.buffaloriver.com/

Brian had booked a beautiful cabin for an overnight stay! The name of the cabin was Mt. Ecstasy, which of course is pretty funny considering...haha! It was absolutely perfect!




We were really hungry and hated to leave our little cabin right after arriving but there wasn't any food and we hadn't had dinner so off we went to seek out some grub. The nearest town was Jasper, Ar. which was about 20 miles away. We found a pizza joint just in time! They were closing in 28 minutes...our pizza would be ready in 24 minutes. Phew! Couldnt have timed it any more perfect. It was such a cute place.


Then, back to the cabin we went....

It was an absolute dream to stay there! It's just what we needed. Very romantic :)



We woke up early the next morning. While Brian started a fire to get the chill out of the air, I went to sit on the porch swing and watch the sun come up over the valley. Gorgeous view!




We then went back to Jasper to have breakfast at the Ozark Cafe. Great place! Such a small hometown feel. Complete with all the town's gossip. haha!

And now it was time to start our day! We wanted to spend the whole day outdoors. The weather was absolutely amazing and the ozark mountains were calling our name!


The Hike to Whitaker's Point

You may have seen this famous Arkansas Picture:


It's featured on the Arkansas Atlas. Well, thats where we were hiking to!







And after a beautiful hour hike, we reach our destination..Whitaker Point! One of the most amazing views I have ever seen! I felt like I was sitting on the edge of the world!






FUNNY STORY
While we were at Whitakers Pointe, there were also about 4 men (photographers)there. They were perhaps in their 60's I would guess. They were quite nosy about Brian and I. I'm kind of used to it though. With Brian being 15 years older than I, we do get those people who feel the need to be nosy about it. One in particular...asking Brian, "How did you end up with a woman that age?" and "soooo, you guys are married right?" and asking me "What'd that guy do to land someone like you?" and it was pretty invasive! One of the others even said to their friend "Maybe you should keep to yourself Frank!" I tried to laugh it off, but this guy really was being too nosy. SOOO...at the end of our trip, we get back to the parking lot, which is just our truck and the guys truck that we met at the rock. Their car was really dirty and so on their window I wrote....BECAUSE HE'S HUNG LIKE A HORSE! complete with a smiley face! hahaha!


Brian loved it! haha!



Second Hike, Lost Valley hike to Eden Falls

This was my favorite hike of them all. The first part is extremely easy and absolutely beautiful! You follow a very large creek (Clark Creek) the whole way through a very well made path through dense woods. At the end of the path you will see Eden Falls. You can stop there or take the more adventurous approach and go into the cave on the other side of the bluff. This will lead you to a valley of huge boulders and another tiny cave, which you'll need a flashlight to get into. Of course we took the more adventurous path and i'm so glad we did! Absolutely beautiful!

The Hike to Eden Falls








Eden Falls



Eden Falls Cave






Once we were out of the cave, you come into a small valley of HUGE boulders! We were boulder hopping and it was soo fun!





While boulder hopping we found another cave..verrry small and completely dark! Luckily we brought a flashlight! yay! Keep in mind when looking at these pictures that it was total darkness. The only time I could see what was around me was when I took a picture with the flash on! It was crazy! We could see that the cave went even further underground but you had to crawl on your hands and knees for about 25 feet in a few inches of rushing water. We started to do it and got about 10 feet in and Brian told me about a spider web up ahead...AND OUT WE WENT! ahaha! I really wanna go back here and see what was around the bend though! I have to find out what was at the back of the cave! Supposedly it opens up into a big cave room and theres another waterfall inside! Brian said we'll go during spring break and this time we're taking flashlight helmets! Seriously!












MORE PICS ON THE EDEN FALLS HIKE






After the two hikes were finished we were ready to get some dinner and head home!
Brian had the great idea to drive to Eureka Springs to eat. I love Eureka Springs so I was excited! We ended up at a Catfish Restaraunt! Our Anniversary Dinner was perfect!
Crab legs, Catfish, hushpuppies, fried pickles, fried okra, and Corona! Yummmy!




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