This morn­ing we headed out on our way to one of the high­lights of the trip: Crater of the Diamonds State Park in Murphreesboro, Arkansas, where we hoped we’d be dig­ging up dia­monds left and right.

Using the occa­sion of a fam­ily reunion as an excuse, we decided to plan a fam­ily vaca­tion with cen­tral Arkansas’ dia­mond and quartz mines as our focus. Our trip would include a stay at some rus­tic cab­ins along the Caddo River and a trip to his­toric Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Today we woke up expect­ing some rain on our final day of the trip. We were pleas­antly sur­prised when we were greeted with clear, sunny skies instead! We hit the road between 8 and 9 am, headed for Beloit, Wisconsin and home. It was a gor­geous day, bright and sunny, on the warm side. Probably the nicest weather day we’d had the entire trip.

We awoke early to a bright, shiny day, grabbed a quick con­ti­nen­tal break­fast from the lobby of the Super 8, packed our bikes, and headed out of town. Destination? Shotgun Eddy White Water Rafting!

We rode back through Shawano past the Menominee Indian Casino before hook­ing a left onto a nice curvy, hilly, tree-lined coun­try road for about 10 miles before reach­ing a gravel entrance for Shotgun Eddy. On the way, I spot­ted an Bald Eagle fly­ing grace­fully above us.

In honor of the 75th anniver­sary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia’s small towns and com­mu­ni­ties along “America’s Favorite Drive,” are cel­e­brat­ing with spe­cial events and fes­ti­vals all sum­mer long.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is an iconic travel des­ti­na­tion, stretch­ing 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains. Reconnect with loved ones and nature in this pris­tine part of Virginia where music fes­ti­vals, arts and crafts fairs, and food and wine events show­case the tra­di­tions and hos­pi­tal­ity of Virginia’s Blue Ridge region.