Frannie's Cabin on the Buffalo

Oh my goodness, this post is WAY overdue. During the second week of August we were able to meet up with Travis and Lisa in Arkansas for some much needed R&R. We rented a cabin in the Ozark Mountain area (near Buffalo River). It's called Frannie's cabin and we recommend it for groups of 6 or less.

I see you! (This was a swing set/fort that was on the property and Zoe loved it!)

Inside the cabin, we ate plenty, including big juicy steaks that Travis and Mike cooked on the outdoor grill.

Zoe looking on as Travis fills the deer feeder.

A little later we decided to just fill the whole thing. We wanted to see lots of deer. And it worked! We had deer there almost all day every day. Because it was a large private forest these deer had probably never encountered a hunter. They were pretty brave (for deer). We thought we might see one or two, but they were always around. Mike took a nap on a hammock near the feeder and he awoke to a large doe walking right by him. If he had stretched he could have touched it. He said that must be what it's like to see a unicorn.

We waded in the Buffalo River. The water was really cold and the ground was really rocky. You can barely see a butterfly sitting on the ground on the left hand side of the picture. Zoe chased it for a while. Here's a tip...if you want to experience the buffalo river in all its mighty power, don't go in the middle of the summer when it's dried up.

This was at one of many lookout points. I was standing at the top of an old, rickety, scary tower while taking this picture. It was the highest point on the mountain. Notice Mike stayed down below. Actually, he did climb up after this photo to impress Zoe, but he turned around as soon as he reached the top.

We had lunch one day at this Cliff House restaurant. It literally sat on the edge of a cliff. I don't think my nerves ever really calmed down the whole time we were there. But...the food here was SOOOO good. Highly recommend the chicken fried steak and the green beans cooked with bacon bits.

Mike is deathly afraid of heights and so it was fun seeing him react to all the high spots.

View from our table inside the restaurant.

Of course, everywhere we went, Zoe hammed it up for the crowd. She had such a blast the whole trip. So did we!

We made a campfire every night and ate LOTS and LOTS of s'mores. Yeah, even though it was hot, we didn't care...we wanted s'mores!!! Aside from those gooey treats from heaven, Mike shared a ghost story from a book that he found in the cabin's library, and we all star gazed. (The little touches that Frannie, the owner of the cabin, provided were great--including binoculars, deer food, books, games, dvds, travel guides, local maps, etc.)

There was a hot tub sitting on the huge wrap-around porch. We spent a lot of time in there. Zoe thought it was really cool that we had a pool on our porch. :) The coolest was sitting in the hot tub watching the deer eat and listen to wind rustling through the trees....very relaxing!

Lisa and I ventured out for a couple of runs while we were there. This run was on a trail that followed the Buffalo River.

We asked a deer to take a picture for us (just kidding....it's just the camera timer)

Let's get ready to run!

Going up...

...and going down.

Check this out. Those are real motorcycles hanging from that tree! We just have a peach tree in our yard...maybe we should plant a motorcycle in our backyard. :)

Wilderness explorer Zoe and her walking stick.

Zoe loved feeding the fish in the Coi pond every day.

Travis and Mike grilling some steaks. YUM.

This cabin was great. It was very clean and comfortable. We enjoyed having some down time to play board games and watch some T.V. (the So You Think You Can Dance finale to be exact).

Zoe looking for deer.

Zoe playing