Enjoy the "Pinnacle" Moments

We are in North Little Rock at the Downtown Riverside RV Park on the shores of the Arkansas River. This was supposed to be a fun week of exploring Little Rock, but Doug has been a bit preoccupied with the broken leveling jack problem.  Well, initially, I thought that Happy Hour at one of the many local breweries would ease his worries. But I soon realized that I would need to take him away from the his current project problem ... This would involve a "Pinnacle" RVenture!

With a forecast of 80 degrees and sunny, Tuesday was the day for a bike ride. After finding out that the route programmed into Doug's GPS was about 40 miles, I knew we would need some extra calories, so I whipped up a batch of:

Blueberry Muffins

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup frozen blueberries

Combine egg, milk and oil. Combine dry ingredients and blueberries. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined. Spoon into muffin tin sprayed with Pam. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

Make them for your honey...and enjoy the smiles!

The Arkansas River Trail is a 15 mile loop in which you can bike around the Arkansas River by crossing over on the Clinton Bridge and The Big Dam Bridge; two of the three "pedestrian/bike only" bridges in Little Rock, After the Big Dam Bridge west of the city, the Two Rivers bike trail leads you to the Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

Our goal...to get to Pinnacle Peak shown in the middle of this picture! The bike route was beautiful: well maintained trails alongside and over the river, through tall pine forests, and alongside magnificent homes and quiet parks.

Nineteen miles and two hours later we reached the Pinnacle Mountain State Park Visitor's Center, got a map and information on how and where to find the hiking trail to the top of Pinnacle Mountain....and decided to grab an ice cold Coke for calories, caffeine and courage!

We ate lunch at the scenic overlook by the Visitor's Center. While there we talked with a couple who was picnicking with their 3 and 5 year old girls. They reassured me that the climb up the western slope of Pinnacle mountain was very doable. They had even done it with their young daughters. Well, what the heck...Let's get climbing!

Another 3 mile bike ride got us to the western (and easiest) side of the Pinnacle Mountain trail. The 3/4 mile trail would take us the 756 feet up to the summit. Can't be too difficult...a 3 year old had done this!!! The first half was really a nice hike in the woods, but then came the boulders...

I was glad that they had marked the "safest, most direct route" with yellow paint marks.

I'm still smiling, but secretly thinking: What parent in their right mind would let their 3 year old climb up this boulder field???

Slowly making it to the summit, Doug says, "Look back at that gorgeous view!" I think not....

But yes, it was "picture perfect" at the top!

Coming back down was probably more tricky then going up, because I had to look out at how high I was.

I was very grateful when the trail mellowed out halfway down. At the end, I was so happy that I had gone through "RVenture", but would I have been OK with bringing my sons up here when they were 3? What do you think???

As luck would have it, the strong tail wind that we enjoyed on our way there, died down on the way back creating an easier end to our ride. This picture may look like I was on the road, but that was the nice, WIDE bike trail!

The chance to enjoy a warm evening sitting outside with my sweetie as he photographed the night lights on the Clinton Pedestrian Bridge provided the perfect end to a wonderful day.

Until next time, enjoy the daily adventures in your life!

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