Mid February outing to Mountain View, AR

Our first house (trailer) guest was most anticpated! I'll let the pictures tell the story of this past weekend. My highlight - and not pictured - was fording the swollen South Sylamore Creek . The low water bridge wasn't so low and the jeep plowed through with aplomb. If you order the "Local's Favorite" at Cody's restaurant in the town of 56, you'll get a bowl of pinto beans, fresh sliced onions, pickled tomatoes and 6 hushpuppies for $2.99.



>The means to get there - courtesy JR
>Tornado Damage in Mountain View
>Gunner's Pool (how on Earth did I miss this when it was 110 degrees this summer?)

Click here to see Jon's public album (snapshot collage >>>>)

1 inch of rain

It has rained and dripped constantly for the last 24 hours yet the official count is only 1+inch. I would have guessed 4. Everything is high but not flood stage - yet. I wonder if Spring will wash this tire away. (the top pic is the creek behind our house. the bottom pic is the creek our creek feeds into - I'll get the true names later; seems to be some discrepency)

Upcoming Posts

>Review: The Bodacious Ozarks; 1959 by Charles Morrow Wilson

>Natural Gas Industry boom in White County.

>White County: may be a dry liquor county, but it sure is wet this February with swollen creeks and branches.

Outpost Command Control

I am not so steady with a tilted 2 x 4 as a tripod....

Ozark Valentine Gift

1 camo long john T with faux jewels

1 Carhartt ladies overalls with zip up legs. ( I LOVE the overalls)

Big Creek Natural Area

Big Creek NA is about 15 Miles North of Holly Springs, AR (the 3xw). The unimproved roads leading to the NA crossed many waterways - running and otherwise. The road was perfectly suitable for a Jeep - post winter rains. Motorized vehicles are stricly forbidden - too bad for you DD - camping isn't allowed either. We actually had to WALK to the creek. With all the recent rains, you could hear the creek/gushing river from a mile up the path. We wished we had canoe/kayak, but settled on a solid tree that was hanging over a bend in the river with some white water below us. Sue Dog fell in, and loved the tough current.

Bamboo, very mature Holly and River Birch trees, moss and ferns hug the creek. Look forward to returning with more foliage on the trees and fishing poles in hand. There must be a lot of trout and small mouth in there. I caught wind of some good summertime swimming holes as well from the local geocaching forum.

weather letter from our friends at Exploring Izard County

Hey, EIC Readers!Our weather has run the spectrum here in Izard County the past two weeks! From a few inches of snow that transformed the landscape into a winter-wonderland, to a windstorm that spawned destructive fires and blew roofs away, then a direct hit by the F4 tornado that tracked over 120 miles and claimed lives in the county, to finally...a close brush with a nasty ice-storm last night, Izard County has had it's fill of Winter!Not that winter is all bad, mind you. This time of the year in the Ozarks offers views that are otherwise unnoticed during the months of foliage. For the amateur explorer, the bare trees offer insight into hollows and hillsides that hide delightful surprises during the warmer months. This year, winter has given us several excellent posts for the pleasure of our readers.Though we have not gone on any specific excursions in the past few weeks, we did get a chance to take one of our readers and his family out this past Sunday to see City Rock Bluff and the Natural Bridge near Dolph on Calico Creek. Jeff Hodges and his family, Sun-Ai, Sa-Ra, and En-uk are visiting the 'States for a couple of weeks all the way from Seoul, South Korea! Jeff is an assistant professor at a University in Seoul and found EIC nearly two years ago when he was trying to find an online photo of an outhouse. We've been in touch ever since. The day was wonderful and the crew was proud to have had the opportunity to share some of what we've been experiencing with friends of the site.Keep checking the site and looking for our e-mails. We're hoping to offer a group excursion to our readers sometime this Spring! If you're interested in something like that, shoot us an e-mail and let us know so we can get an idea if it is worth doing.Until next time, remember: Every place you haven't been is just another place to go!Cheers from the EIC crew!Denny Elroda.k.a Al-OzarkaFor Izard County Tornado Disaster Relief info: Disaster Relief for Izard County c/o FNBC 1001 W. Main Street Melbourne, AR 72556 (870) 368-4448 Fax: (870) 368-4337From the very heart of God's Country!

trailer trash Good Job?

trailer trashy pics

previous tennants at 3xw left mountain of beer cans in the backyard. Property owners considered burying it to be the best way to handle this situation.

http://uberphoto.com/index.html jamie harmon

have ya'll seen his new page yet? http://uberphoto.com/index.html
oh my.

(there are ozark pics. it qualifies)

I crave snow.

lack of head proctection

A concerned blog reader sent us this photo after viewing this blog entry.

the weather map that night...

Watching the squall line march across the State of Arkansas the night before last was an event I will not soon forget. As the line was approaching our county, the 'casters were counting 40+ rotations. I was in a trailer with no emergency plan. Reading the news this AM and seeing the aftermath that is still being tallied, I am aghast.

This storm kept marching Eastward and affected so many people I know, yet no one has been directly hurt by it that I have heard. Mega Funnels, 1/2 mile wide - typical of Kansas and OZ - were reported almost everywhere I have ties: Mt. View, AR, Jackson MS, Oxford MS, Memphis TN and so on.

Yes, it was the worst tornado outbreak in 20 years. But this storm made the record books for being the deadliest storm EVER in February.

Hard Frost on the ground this AM as dawn breaks.

Super Storms on Super Tues

We knew it was going to be hairy today b/c it was 70 degrees for the past two days. (treefogs and mosquitos for goodness sake!)
At the top of the day, Accuweather predicted it was going to be a record breaking storm day.

The stats aren't in yet, but it indeed, probably was. It's now 9:30pm. I'm watching the second round of tornados head into MEM. Tornados at the airport, Germantown, South MEM already hit around 5:30.

I joined a blog of amateur/junior forecastors/ enthusiasts to keep in the loop. http://forums.accuweather.com/index.php?showtopic=4656 What a thrill this was for me. My comments heat up on page two - look for Delta. Due to the fact that I am in a TRAILER in ARKANSAS, I caught the attention of several junior meteoroligists; they helped me hone in on cells headed my way or not. (eveidently we were in the clear by about 20 miles). But so many people were not lucky tonight in AR. I heard that a tornado hit the one hospital in Mountain View. I40 got shut down for some time. Perhaps there were 4 or 5 f3 tornados in AR this eve.? Fatalaties, yes.

I am not sure a helment, a blanket and a closet are going to help if I do get hit here at the 3xw. There was much discussion if I should drive away, crawl under the trailer or go to the creek through the woods. When the storm hit, my instinct put me in the closet. We need a different plan going forward.

Daren was in town reporting on the election and weather, I guess. Still haven't heard from him.

Weather Today

Tree Frogs out. Mosquitos! High of 74. Moderate Breezes. Humidity 90%. Tornado weather tomorrow ?

Mountain View, On any Saturday

Click any image for a larger - mo'betta view...

Pre Jump: Sue Dog assessing terrain and relative ground tempertaure.

Gail, the Super Hero.

"DO NOT enter Virginia and Daren's property", says Norm..

This mudpuppy is all we caught today.