Can-U-Canoe Review
Yes, it had a spectacular view—more than their web site could convey. We were perched on the top of a “mountain” (Ozark-style) about 500 feet above the White River. Below we could see canoers like toy figures paddling the river below us. Both “cabins” were new and well furnished, including even Dish Network TVs (how appropriate). Perhaps the only complaint was that the “one-bedroom” cabin for the “parental units” (as the kids like to say) was exactly that: it was a combination living room, kitchen, bedroom, and gigantic spa in a single room. Only the bathroom was enclosed separately. As Susan put it: it must have been designed by a man, because there was almost no storage space for clothes, etc. Other than that little gripe, all the rest of the amenities were excellent. Even a dish washer and a clothes washer/dryer in the larger 3-bedroom cabin...

Our Heroines | Can We Canoe? | Lake Leatherwood

Our Heroines: Angie & Susanna
After picking up David & Elizabeth at XNA on Thursday afternoon and taking a brief overview tour of Eureka Springs, our outdoor adventures began on Friday. The consensus was: “let’s go horsey-back riding” (as Susan likes to call it). Lydia was a bit too young for this activity, so Mark and I volunteered for the major challenge of watching her while the others saddled up and hit the trail. After seeing them mount up on their gentle beasts—including Angie and Susanna (almost swallowed up by her helmet) on the horse said to be the gentlest of all—Mark and I were off to Wal-mart, since that’s Lydia’s favorite activity these days. We returned about an hour and a half later, greeted by a sober-faced Peter who told us: “there’s been an accident, but everyone is OK.” Inside the barn we found Angie, with torn jeans and a bleeding hand and numerous bumps and bruises, and Susanna happy as always, but with a slightly bloody lip. It seems on the return trail home their horse had been spooked by some unknown threat, and had suddenly taken off out from under Angie and Susanna. Instinctively, Angie had fallen off the horse with her hands outstretched to protect Susanna, one of which experienced a deep cut from a rock below. Even with Angie’s noble protection, Susanna hit hard enough that her helmet was split in two, presumably by another rock. Angie absorbed most of the falling energy, and had numerous small cuts and bruises that later grew into rather large areas over the next several days. We were proud of our two girls who walked away from what could have been a disastrous accident in relatively good cheer. When Susanna arrived back at the stable, this time in a four-wheeler sent out by trail marshall, she pointed at her horse and said “more, more.”

Mark and family spent the remainder of the afternoon in the thinly manned ER in Eureka Springs awaiting the lone doctor to look them over. He concluded that Angie didn’t need stitches in her hand, but as a precaution prescribed an antibiotic for Susanna, since her lip and teeth had some trauma that might have absorbed germs from the trail. We are happy to report that both girls seem to be mending fine, with no serious injuries. Later in the day we received a call from the trail managers indicating that subsequent riders had a similar experience at the same spot, but without a fall. Closer investigation found a rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, at that point on the trail: undoubtedly the source of the spooking on both occasions. We rejoiced our girls hadn’t fallen on the snake, and we all had a time of prayer thanking the Lord for his protection in an incident that could have been much, much worse.

Can We Canoe?
Saturday found the 4 boys embarked on the second outdoor adventure: a 6.5 mile canoe trip (in two boats) from the Beaver Lake Dam down to Houseman access, the latter just down river from Can-U-Canoe. The trip had the usual features of Dishman canoe adventures: water bomb fights, ambushes, capsizing and general nonsense. Here the injuries were much less severe than Thursday’s: Mark was hit in the head by a water bomb, and David received a paddle blade punch in the mouth when he launched a surprise island attack. Pop remained mostly dry (unlike the other paddlers) except for his shoes, when he had to abandon ship to a nearby island during a counterattack. (Oh yes, he did get his shorts wet during a botched ambush attempt from shore when the boat tilted perilously close to capsize angle.) None of the injuries were severe enough to warrant an ER trip this time, though, so we were actually on an up-tick by the end of the day!

Lake Leatherwood
Lake Leatherwood is the local city park which has numerous mountain bike trails. However, it had been taken over for the weekend by the participants in the annual Fat Tire Festival, involving bikers from all over Arkansas. We gallantly decided to spare the festival from our attendance, not wanting to spoil a racing victory for a native Arkansan. Instead we showed up just as the festival was ending and all the trails were clear of racers. The festival guru saw us coming and greeted us warmly, even recommending the best trail to ride. We decided to follow his advice. Unfortunately, the right turn we were suppose to take to put us on the intermediate trail was taped off, and we missed it. After some serious ups and downs over rocks and roots we began to realize that we were on the expert trail that wound around the lake. Not wanting to surmount the hill we had just come down when this realization dawned on us, we gamely pushed on in the direction we were heading. It was a mistake. The terrain got worse, not better. Even the young guys (Peter and Mark) had to carry their bikes up many hills: they were just too steep even with our fancy equipment. Yours truly began to seriously wonder whether he might have to have a medivac helicopter summoned to take him out. Somehow, we got through it all. My pulse rate was off the chart for much of the journey, but I guess my low fat diet has been doing OK: no chest pains and after a couple of hours of rest I was as good as new. Best of all: no endos!

So, in closing, in answer to the question: “can you canoe?” Our answer is: yep, and we’d do it again (except for the rattler....).