July 27 – Early to rise this morning (first day of the trip with an alarm) because our plans for the day were full to the brim. We left Petit Jean before 8 AM en route for the Ozarks.

Arriving in the hamlet of Silver Hill, we hired two canoes and took to the water. The Buffalo River is a national scenic river that winds through limestone bluffs and gravel banks. We dined al fresco beneath one of these overhanging cliffs and the kids had a little impromptu swimming and river walking. Nick was eager to share the experience with the family as he had floated on the river many years earlier and remembered it fondly. Everyone agreed the experience was worth the early rise and then some.

We finished the voyage with a round of stone skipping while we waited for the shuttle driver to collect us – Nick’s record that day was 11 skips.

After driving through the Ozark National Forest, we arrived at the town of Mountain View AR, the self-dubbed “folk music capital of the world”. We had time for a short visit to the Ozark Folk Center, a living history museum where we saw demonstrations of many 19th century crafts and trades.

The restaurant by the Folk Center featured an excellent buffet of Southern cooking, and entertainment courtesy of the squirrels outside. The animals made us laugh with their antics on the “squirrel feeders”, man-made contraptions with a pivoting arm that held an ear of dried corn at one end. The squirrels had learned how to hold on while swinging in an upside-down circle and grabbing the food at the same time.

Our post-dinner entertainment was of the musical variety. The concert at the Folk Center included performances by five different groups including a former mountain dulcimer national champion – you haven’t heard mountain dulcimer until you’ve listened to Jeff Hames play Rock Around the Clock!

The music continued after we put the kids to bed – our RV park was close to the square in downtown Mountain View, so Nick and Susannah got to experience first-hand some of the famed local outdoor music jams. What a day!

Day 29: Petit Jean State Park AR to Mountain View AR, via Silver Hill – about 150 miles driving plus 4.5 miles by canoe.