Arkansas Trip

Last weekend Jon, Tim, and I went to Arkansas to visit our good friend, Charles!

I had some misconceptions about how the trip would turn out, but it was really great! I didn't feel left out from the group, and I never had to worry about lack of excersize. The first morning, after experimenting with a waffle recipe, we looked up Devil's Den national park to find some hikes we would like.
There was a middle school on a field trip, so we took the less popular trail first. On our way to that hill, we could hear little girls from farther away singing part of a song from Aladin: "Still I think he's RATHER tasty!" It made us laugh a little, and I said, "You guys should sing to those girls." Not wanting to miss a chance to show off their studliness, the guys simultaneously started singing "I can show you the world" really loud. I could fainlty hear some laughter on the other hill, before "SHH! guys! there're people on the trail ahead!" The guys shut up as a middle-aged man came around a bend ahead. "Could you guys keep it down?" he asked. He waited for our shocked expressions before telling us he was just kidding.

Three miles later, we ate lunch and began the trail Devil's Den is most famous for. We hiked to a little cave, got out our flashlights, and I was nominated to lead the way. The cave was pretty small. I had never been in one that didn't have lights or a guided tour. Tim had to watch his head, not just because the celings were low, but because there were bats hanging from them. We had to crawl over huge rocks and through tiny holes. Once we even saw a flattened bat on the floor. After we got home, Jon and Charles went to return the flashlights to Alex's boyfriend. "You didn't take a bat, did you?" he asked them. He then told them about his friend who tried to take a bat from the cave, but got fined $2,000.

The next day, we walked around Fayetteville. On our way to the farmer's market, we saw a guy on a moped go over a speed table without slowing down. As he was only going 20 mph or so, he only got like, a foot of air. It was only funny, though, because after he landed, he gave us a quick look that said, "That's right, I'm cool!" Later, as we were walking, Charles suddenly took off running, and jumped off the end of a speed table. After he landed, he shot us a "cool" look.
Later, a lady in a car passed a pedestrian she obviously knew, because she rolled down the window, and in a scary voice, said "Hey, little girl, want some CANDY?!"

Before we left from Charles's house, Jon called home. His mom had said I could sleep at their house so I wouldn't have to drive home and then back again for church. She told him over the phone that I couldn't stay in the guest room anymore because someone was staying there, but I could have a blow up mattress in the girls' room.

We got home around midnight, and Mrs. Belsan was really nice about me staying there, and told me that the girls could tell me where to find a towel. I told Dea and Asha a little about our trip, and then decided that a shower would be nice. Dea said, "Okay, so there're towels in the closet out there, and you can just use the shower in the downstairs bathroom." So I opened the door and was a little confused about the amount of doors there were. "Yeah, the door right next to you." she assured me. I opened the door, only to find that it was not a closet, but the guest room, and a huge guy from our church was on the bed looking at me! I had just enough time to say "I'm so sorry!" before I shut the door. I had to double check with Andrea that it was the other door right next to me before I got my towel.

I was still feeling all nervous, so it didn't surprise me that the next step I took sent me flying down the stairs! I made a lot of noise and hoped I hadn't woken anyone up before I went to the bathroom.

I was finishing my shower, and tried to shut off the faucets. The cold water turned off, but the hot water got turned on full-blast.It was incredibly hot, and I started getting burned all over and managed to jump out of the shower, but it was still on! I tried a few times to turn off the faucet, but it was so hot, I couldn't make it until I picked up the towel serving as a mat, and blocked the spray. I then got dressed quickly and discovered that I had red burns on my arm and the back of my hands.

It was a crazy evening, but it made a great story. Here are pictures from the trip: