What a beautiful day we had yesterday! My husband, daughter, and a friend drove up through the mountains in Arkansas and spent the day wandering and taking pictures. It was sunny most of the day and while the wind was kind of cool in the morning it warmed up in the afternoon and we just went where we wanted to and stopped when we felt like it. We have taken this trip several times but Dale has always driven before.  This time he got to be the passenger and not worry about anything but looking at the scenery.

Here is a picture of our friend, the fearless photographer!

You can find his photos on Flickr. I go to his site for desktop wallpaper – he does some beautiful work! This is a rare photo because he does NOT like to have his picture taken, preferring to stay on the other end of the lens. I will probably be in trouble over this one.
Here is one more I took. No great photography techniques – just a lovely, calming view.

We also stopped at a place that sold all kinds of rocks. Nothing fancy, the man had a small shop and about fifteen plywood tables outside displaying rocks and crystals of different sizes for sale. He was one of those people that loves to talk about his hobby and he wandered around with us telling us what the names of the different rocks were and where they came from. I bought a quartz crystal because it was pretty.

We had lunch at the Skyline Cafe in Mena, Arkansas which I highly recommend if you ever get up there. Go for breakfast or lunch though, they close at 2:30 in the afternoon. The salad bar is small but has a lot of choices, the food is good, reasonable, and plentiful, the waitresses are friendly, and you are on the road that leads out of town – up into the mountains.
We left the house about 8:30 in the morning and returned about 9:00 last night, tired and glad we went.