I love to travel. Unfortunately, it’s not something I have a lot of money to do! So, I’ll look through old photo’s of places I’ve been and loved. One of the places I visited was in Bull Shoals, AR. We stayed at Copper Johns Resort. They are a mixture of cabins, mobile homes and campers. You can hook up your camper there. It’s right on the White River.
One day we went canoeing down the White River. Here is some of my group as we are about to hit the Rapids. We had an absolute blast!
Canoeing on the White River
Being from the East Coast, there are things to do, I won’t lie. But, being in this area of Arkansas? It was like visiting a different time. I had honestly never been on a vacation like this. My sister, daughter and I drove 19 hours to take this vacation with our cousins. This vacation actually reinforced my want of living in a smaller community and just living a simpler life.
While we were there, we visited the Bull Shoals Caverns. This was so much fun! Walking though the caverns, it took about 50 minutes or so.
Bull Shoals Cavern Information. There was also a little town there, that we could peek in and see how things were a few generations ago!
Did you know, whenever you touch some of these formations, they can change over time? Yes, your fingerprint can leave a lasting impression!
Bull Shoals Caverns
We had quite a few kids with us and they had so much fun here in the underground caverns! Heck, so did the adults 🙂
During this vacation, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to see The Wilder Homestead, where Laura and Almanzo Wilder lived! I am a huge Little House on the Prairie lover. Watching how our ancestors lived? Watching the creation of towns? Who could NOT love it? The Homestead was about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Bull Shoals, in Mansfield, MO.
The Laura and Almanzo Wilder Homestead
The ceilings were quite low! I am 5’3″ and I didn’t have to straighten my arm up to touch the ceiling. Almanzo had built it for Laura, with her height in mind. I didn’t realize she was so short! Their daughter Rose had another home built for them with all the updates. But, when she left to go home back east, Laura and Almanzo moved back to their home that he built.
While in Bull Shoals, you got the full experience of small town life. One grocery store. There’s a Dam that the kids had fun with, saying, “We’re at the Dam light!” Well, they were! They had a pizza place called Bush’s Pizza. Oh. My. Gah! This was probably THE BEST PIZZA I have ever had! They are a very small place. Our party of 15 took up most of the restaurant. And looking at their site, they now offer WiFi and deliver to boat docks. This is a place I plan to go back to! The owners lived in Chicago. They were in Bull Shoals area on vacation and fell in love with the place. He stayed behind to set up shop and his wife went home and sold their home to move to Bull Shoals.
The roads in those mountains? Very curvy and steep inclines. You had to be careful. Wildlife was out in abundance. It was a beautiful sight!
What is a vacation that you took that made a lasting impression on you?
What a fun vacation! I would love to visit The Wilder Homestead. I’m a Little House fan too. I read all the books as a young girl and never missed an episode.
We were in Key West recently and that definitely left a lasting impression on me. It was not what I expected, in a good way 🙂
My daughter went to Key West with her grandparents last summer. I tried getting her to do a guest post, but she decided not to lol. She loved it though!
Every year we take a ski vacation, and every year it makes lifelong memories. The snow and the mountain and coming in to a blazing fire is so magical. It really never gets old for us.
I am totally with you! I have always love to travel and when I can I do. I’m pretty sure I work just so I can have money to travel LOL. I have never been down to Arkansas so I need to get down there. It looks like a beautiful place to explore.
I love to travel as well. So many great places I want to go see and experience, unfortunately money and time is always an issue. It is great you were able to visit this beautiful looking place and ejoy every moment.
Visiting the Wilder homestead would be so cool! I loved the Little House on the Prarie series and so did my daughter.
Are those caverns really 350 000 000 years old?! My that is incredible!! What an amazing adventure!
Those look like some really great places to visit! I haven’t traveled out that way and these sound like nice family friendly places to check out. It would make a fun road trip 🙂
Your photos look amazing. I really enjoy traveling though I can’t do it as often as I would like but to think back to places I’ve been does leave good feelings.
This place looks amazing! I love traveling and been enjoying road trips with my kids!
I am on the same boat with you on this. We love to travel but money can be an issue so we only do it once a year.
Traveling is something I have always love myself but never really had the money to do much of either. This sounds like a gorgeous place to stay and visit. The Wilder’s Homestead would indeed be awesome to see some day. I too am a big fan of the show and watched I believe ever episode. Thanks for sharing your experience.
We love traveling too. Some of my favorite memories as a child involved road trips with my parents. Now I’m always trying to set up road trips with my kids!
I live in Arkansas but have never been to Bull Shoals!! It looks beautiful and I will put this on my travel bucket list!!
I remember visiting something like this and they didn’t allow us to touch . That is like the only tiip I recall.
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I’m glad you enjoyed yourself! I love traveling as well but am in the same boat as you funds wise. I have a friend who lives just a couple of hours from where you visited. It’s a beautiful place!
I have always wanted to visit the Wilder home. I loved the Little House on the Prarie books when I was a kid. She is an inspiration to me.