Hot Springs National Park

Last national park of the year! Neil and I slipped out for a few days to celebrate our anniversary with a road trip to a national park--doesn't everyone dream of this??



It was a long drive and we didn't get there until after dark, but it was so fun to see all the Christmas lights. 

And to start exploring the thermal waters! 

Hot Springs is a really unique national park; it's preserving both a natural feature and a major chunk of history. The thermal baths here became a huge health industry and it was "the place" to go to see and be seen for a certain chunk of society (including Al Capone!) but most people came here and spent a month or two "taking the cure." The bathhouses were built so people could experience relative luxury, but there originally people were just soaking their disease-ridden selves in the springs above the town. Overall there are 47 springs; the average temperature of the water is 143 F. 

Bathhouse Row is really cool to walk down and see all the bathhouses; only the Buckstaff has been in continual operation and still offers the standard baths that you would have been able to receive a century ago. (The Quapaw does offer a more modern experience.) 

And some have been turned into things like breweries! We ended up eating here two nights of the three we were there (not a lot of variety in town). The fried cauliflower is excellent. 

We thought about staying at the Arlington Hotel but the reviews weren't great (essentially saying that the lobby/public areas are nice but the rooms are really run down) so we just went over to check out the lobby, etc. 

And of course the room that Al Capone always stayed in. 

The next morning we were up bright and early to get in line at the Buckstaff since they don't take reservations! 

Obviously not a place you can really photograph once you get inside, but I did grab a photo of the services sheet posted inside the changing room cubicle. I really loved the bath experience (except the steam cabinet because I think my bath attendant lost track of time) but I got out a full hour after Neil finished, so I think I had the deluxe extended version...unintentionally. (My initial soak was 40 minutes! You're just kind of waiting at each station until the attendant comes to get you and takes you to the next one.) Also sidenote on apparel: all the women skipped bathing suits, and apparently the men's side did not. 

Then after our baths we went for a run. I would have greatly preferred to reverse this, but I also didn't want to get up at 4 am. So we went for a run and it was sooooo humid and gross. 

But we partook in the terrain cure! I think it would have been more fun to hike. 

But it was cool to run down the Grand Promenade! 

All of these boxes everywhere are capping off springs, and they're hot to the touch. 

Then we went over to the Fordyce Bathhouse, which is now a visitor center and hands-down the most interesting visitor center I've ever seen. 

It's been restored to look as it would have in its heyday. 

I was actually very interested to do the needle shower (above) but it was closed at the Buckstaff because of legionnaire's disease, so that's fun. 

Sitz bath (left) and steam cabinet (right). My sitz bath was much more luxurious than this and had a backrest and magazines to read, but Neil said this is what his looked like (in his words "a nasty sink"). The steam cabinet is kind of crazy; that hole is for your head and the rest of you is just sweating more than you would believe possible. 

Gorgeous stained glass in the men's changing room. 

And all kinds of crazy mechanical massage devices and exercise equipment! 

So if you come here to "take the cure," you have a nice hot bath every day, a massage, a walk through the mountains around town, and then you come sit with your friends and talk and eat. No wonder everyone felt great afterwards! 

These are all from the ladies' parlor in the Buckstaff. 

Gymnasium (above) and elevator mechanism (below). 

I thought this was a really cool exhibit to see how much mineral deposition was going on from the thermal water. 

And of course, we got our sticker! 

That night we went to go see a movie and I can't even remember what it was except that our kids wanted to see it too and I felt slightly guilty. But not enough to stop, apparently. 

The next morning we got up bright and early for a day of mountain biking, first filling up our Camelbaks at one of the cold water taps in town. (I did not say anything to the MAGA guy about what his felon president is doing to the country, but I wanted to.) 

And then we spent the day mountain biking which was soooo fun! 

And then the next morning we went home. A quick and very fun little visit! 

 

Sequoia

Jules walking up the Congress Trail 

This is the General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world by volume. Can you see the people in the left-hand corner? It is a BIG TREE. 

We were all excited to see once we actually got to Sequoia National Park that the sequoias were indeed very impressive! Much more so than the ones we'd seen earlier in other parks. This is (yet another) park where I really really want to come back to backpack through it (and hike Mt. Whitney!!)

We headed off down the Congress trail and then eventually Juliet and Neil split off to go back to our car and I took the boys down the Alta trail towards the Big Trees area. 

So interesting to see how much fire damage the trees can tolerate. 

One thing I was not expecting is that the sequoia bark feels kind of sponge-like? Basically they get to a point where they aren't really growing taller but just wider, and the bark layers provide protection from fires over their thousands of years of life. 

Once we passed the McKinley Tree and headed down the Alta trail, we saw almost nobody--I think maybe we saw 4 people in the next 3 miles? Seriously amazing after the crazy insane crowds around the Sherman tree. 

Legit had the place to ourselves and it was so so so beautiful. 

I really enjoyed the time with my boys. Tons of people have expressed sympathy for me with a house full of all boys now that both Juliet and Abigail are in college, and you know what? I really like these dudes. They are so fun to be with and I love them to pieces. We miss the girls so much, but I don't for a minute wish that I didn't have all four of these guys together to enjoy. (I mean, come on, I have teenage sons who still kiss my cheek every night before they go to bed?! How lucky am I??)

Matty doing the Three Amigos salute, smh. I didn't realize this is what he was doing until one of the older kids explained it to me...

Meanwhile Juliet and Neil were enjoying the other half of the Congress Trail; we both were positive that the other group could not be seeing such magical things as we were seeing & then had serious FOMO when we shared pictures!

Then we went to the Giant Forest museum and wandered through the nearby groves. 

Crazy to learn that so many sequoias were cut down and hotels built in their place; it was really interesting to read about the restoration work and to see how incredibly difficult it is to regain and regrow what has been damaged by corporate greed. I really hope our national parks survive the horrors of the Trump Administration. 

A few final photos with a Matthew for perspective. 

This is a sequoia cone--can you believe how tiny they are? The cones can stay on the trees for twenty years before they are released, and the resin sealing them closed does not melt until it is immersed in fire (more specifically the fires of Mt. Doom, haha). The issue now is that the fires burning through the sequoia groves are so hot and so intense that they ignite the crowns, so the trees' fire resistance is essentially not a match for the current mess of climate change. 

Some very very beautiful flowers that were smaller than my pinkie nail. 

Near the end of the day we climbed up Moro Rock, which is a cool view but it was so crowded and I was so annoyed by the people who had their dogs with them, which is absolutely not allowed. And the people flying drones (I did yell at the drone people). 

And then back to our Airbnb, where we all enjoyed showers and food made in an oven!! And ice cream and Netflix, let's be real. (Although I just laid in my bed while everyone else watched Netflix and enjoyed the quiet and my book.)