Petit Jean, Part 4

A little further West is this old cabin, if I'm not mistaken, I believe it was built in 1815.



Just a little further past the cabin is the old CCC Water Tower. Looks kind of like part of a castle doesnt it? Until a few years ago, you could go inside and climb the rocks. Not something I would have recomended though, it was dangerous to say the least.



My daughter and I on during one of our rides to the car show.

Petit Jean, Part 3

As we traveled West on Hwy 154 we came to the Antique Automobile Museum. Its well worth the entrance fee. If your there at the right time of the year you can catch the Annual Car Show and swap meet. There is a show in June and I believe in September. The shows used to have alot of motorcycles also, but now its almost exclusivly cars and trucks. I guess that makes sense, it is a car show.

A convertible Corvette that was selling for $11,000.

I'm pretty sure this is a Roadrunner and the price was not bad on it.

A little further East is Cedar Creek Bridge, this is the creek that feeds Cedar Creek Falls which is just a short distance East. To get to this bridge you make a turn to the right just after a pavillion on the right. If you keep following the paved road it will take you past Rockefellers Ranch, where his Prize Santa Gertrudus cattle are raised. There is also an airport in the area. If you like horses, there is a rent a horse business in the area.
Cedar Creek Bridge.

Petit Jean, Part 2

Also at the overlook near Petit Jeans grave is this old rock building. It was called the College Lodge. I dont remember exactly what it was used for, but I do know it was sometimes used by the Boy Scouts of America. You can see the triangular emblem of the BSA in the chimney rockwork.

IM EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS WITH UPLOADING PICTURES AGAIN. When I upload pics its different now. I get the message block - open, save or cancel. I have no idea why this is happening. I shall investigate further when I get the time.

What not to do with a camera today.

Or maybe a better title would be "what not to take pictures of with a camera". I had no idea I wauld be opening a can of worms when I took these pictures. I will say this, unless you want to be contacted in person by a person of authority, dont do it. I was told of the patriot act and how a person just cant go around doing what I was doing anymore without be checked out, and I'm all for that. The thing is, I didnt know what I was taking a picture of until I had already taken pictures. Security got my tag number and well, I was maybe still a little surprised. Probably twenty years ago I had gone to this same spot and there wasnt even a fence, now its one of those places you need to avoid.
Im not going to say what it is, or where it is and I told them I wouldnt show any close ups. So here they are, its not like the place is a secret. I did get the feeling though that 9/11 took away alot more of our freedoms than what we know about. I'll say again though, in this instance, I should of been checked out.

This what it looks like from a distance.


This is a little closer.


Up close and personal, which is where I made my mistake. Unless you like having to talk to the man, dont do this. I cropped the bottom portion of the picture for security reasons :).

Pictures

I have soooooo many pictures in 35mm waiting to be scanned. I started not long ago with my Military pics. I've scanned around 100. I'm really looking forward to getting all the pics scanned, its the actual process of doing it that bothers me.

Petit Jean over the years

I believe the year was 2002, just after the space odyssey. I was kind of busy in 2001 preparing to be whisked into the trail of a visiting comet so I didnt take many pictures. Actually, I dont think I had a camera that year (If I'd had one I would be rich now :)).
I had contacted Charles earlier in the year and let him know I had purchased Cindy. We planned a ride to Petit Jean for the annual car show in June. I rode to Morrilton then to Oppello, the planned meeting place.

I was at the corner gas station when Charles came riding up from the direction of Houston, Ar. on his 1998 Dyna Convertible .

Charles on a ride with his Dyna in 1999.

These pictures arent very good, due to the quality of the camera I had. I did the best I could though, with what I had. They were taken from the Eastern end of the mountain at the tourist overlook near Petit Jean's gravesite.



You can read all about Petit Jean by going here http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/history/ (I have no idea how to make that into a link, when I started the blog it would, now it wont). I'll be putting more pics of PJ on in the next couple of days.

Interesting old house.

I always liked this old house. Why I dont know, I guess there was something about the way it sit next to old Hwy 64 with the big oaks in the yard, the shake roof or the little chimney. It sat on a piece of land just West of London. The old highway went directly in front of it, but the new one went below, so for years when driving West you could see it up on a little hill to the South.
I went metal detecting there several times. My best find was a 1941 Walking Liberty Half Dollar that looked like it just came out the roll. As a matter of fact that was my first really exciting find. There nothing like digging up a shiney coin. The newer coins change color after being in the ground a short while.
Thats my brother Dick standing outside the house. These are the only pics I have of it. Back around 1982 when the pictures were taken, I had to be very careful with what pics I took, getting film developed could get costly. Thats why I love digitals so much, I only wish they had come out sooner.
The old house is gone now.