"It's the highest point in Arkansas", said Karla. 

 This weekend I would go to Mount Magazine State Park with Johnny (brother) and Karla (sister-in-law) and Kyle (nephew) .This is a 2,234-acre park and is the highest point in Arkansas. The area has lots of wonderful hiking and ATV trails. The park contains Mossback Ridge, including the peak of Mount Magazine (called Signal Hill) which contains The Lodge at Mount Magazine, cabins, trails, and a hang gliding area. You can't get any higher than this in Arkansas.

Native American Indians inhabited the mountain seaonally and in 1862 the mountain was opened to settlers who began to populate the area. The nearby town of Magazine was platted in 1900. The Great Depression forced many settlers off the mountain and the private property was purchased by the Resettlement Administration in 1934. In 1941, the area became a part of the Ozark National Forest.

(From Wikipedia) "1971, the Mount Magazine Lodge burned and was a total loss. After the lodge burned, tourism declined until new plans for a state park atop Mount Magazine came in the 1980s. The Arkansas Act 884 of 1983 allowed Arkansas State Parks to begin the process of a state park on Arkansas's highest point, and a partnership with the USDA Forest Service allowed the park to open in 1998 as Mount Magazine State Park ."

A rain storm was moving in as we enjoyed the views from Mount Magazine Lodge, and it was quiet a show as we watched the curtain of rain in the distance as it draped itself from the sky to earth. The lightening added drama to an already amazing display!

Later in the day we drove to Fayetteville, Ar to take a look at the University of Arkansas Razorback Stadium. We walked onto the field and watched as some youth groups were having a practice day on the field.

The following day we visited a very interesting Air Museum. They had lots of planes on display but also lots of military uniforms and artifacts.

Once we left the Museum we visited the very first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas. It was a very interesting experience and the store had so much history to it. It was impressive and I would recommend a visit by anyone in the area.

For a history of Wal-Mart I looked at Wikipedia: "The first true Wal-Mart opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas . It was called the Wal-Mart Discount City store and located at 719 West Walnut Street. Soon after, the Walton brothers teamed up with the Stephen Daschbach leading to the first of many stores to come. He launched a determined effort to market American-made products. Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who could supply merchandise for the entire Wal-Mart chain at a price low enough to meet the foreign competition.

 As another chain store, Meijer,  grew it caught the attention of Walton. He acknowledges that his one-stop-shopping center format was based on Meijer’s innovative concept.
Contrary to the prevailing practice of American discount store chains, Walton located stores in smaller towns, not larger cities. To make his model work, he emphasized logistics, particularly locating stores within a day's drive proximity to Wal-Mart's regional warehouses, and distributed through its own trucking service. Buying in volume and efficient delivery permitted sale of discounted name brand merchandise. Thus, sustained growth— from 1977's 190 stores to 1985's 800— was achieved."

Traveling with Johnny and Karla is always an enjoyable time that you don't want to end, and this weekend was no exception. I like taking Kyle along anytime I can because he is such a good travel partner and I enjoy his company. Thanks to each of you, let's do it again.