Day Two--Blanchard Springs Caverns

The world is an amazing place.  And to think God put it together for us--to feed us, clothe us, to teach us and to just delight us.  The caverns have a complicated life cycle from bacteria on up the food chain to the mighty cave salamander--top of the food chain in these caves (there are bats, but they feed outside of the caverns).  The bats' poop provides the life sustaining food for all cavern dwellers in some way or fashion.

the top of the food train here

As my kids will remember, I like doing the movies when we are at a historical or national park.  So much in the world to learn....

We went on the Dripstone tour which is about an hour tour...

We learned a lot of interesting facts about the caverns, bats, and bugs.  Google it if you want to know more.

Because of the white nose fungi killing bats in the north east, we all had to walk through this soap mat to clean our feet to prevent gathering spores out into the world.  They have had some bats die in Arkansas but are trying to prevent spread in this way.  It is not dangerous to humans.

The world is amazing!

We then took the roundabout way home, stopping along the way to take pictures or visit other spots of interest.

Accidently passed by the Church in Mountain View--a small one with a family history center in one end of it.

Downtown Shirley, AR.....

I didn't mean to capture the first word of the sign in the photo below. It reads
"Dirty Business Soaps"---whatever that means...

 More wildflowers along our route

In the parking lot of the Natural Bridge, they had several of the trees labeled so I took pictures of the trees and their leaves.  One of my post mission goals is to take a college botany class so I am trying to be prepared for possible assignments.

The site had several displays of early settlers in the area including two restored cabins on the property.

They also had rocks from the area on display.

The round rock---there are many in this area but they aren't sure what caused them.

Turtle rocks....

A display in one of the cabins--I loved how the textures and colors fit together.

The natural bridge--not sure it was worth the cost of admission but it was interesting...

On the road again and off to take other photos....a display of animals  (not sure why)--

The Razorback, of course

and a chicken, in honor of our chicken purchase...

Cacti ???

and on the porch of the nearby Western store, these "interesting" bar stools!

Down the road a piece, Jena mentioned seeing a bug climbing on my chair.  Since I had been bitten by a tick a few weeks ago, we were a bit cautious and pulled over to see what she was talking about.  This is a Japanese beetle. It doesn't belong in Arkansas as it has no natural predators here.  We learned that after we tossed him outside.  He was a pretty bug.

Later after being outside, I found a big winged dragonfly/moth clinging on my hair which I flung ungracefully OFF my hair.  Fortunately, it landed on Gary's window and he could push it out the window back to nature where he belonged.

Crossing the Arkansas River on a new, but boring bridge at Perry, AR.

Do you like Beetle bugs?

or more Razorbacks...

and more and more birds and animals...

all along the front of the same house?

The end of that yard.....

Another sighting of a chicken...

a decaying barn....

Even junk is interesting when it is an old classic car....

Look at this amazing mural on a store in Magazine, AR (I think)

Full view of building

After taking the long route home, making a stop for ice cream and getting it to the Church last night, we finally rolled into our home at 7:00 pm.  What a fun way to spend two days! Back to work immediately with a transfer newsletter to finish and a talk to prepare.