After we got back from Colorado in August, my wife and I decided we were going to stay close to home and travel around Arkansas. Of course, Titan and Choctaw are always ready to go.

On Thursday, October 17, 2019, we took a trip in the RV to the Gulpha Gorge Campground in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Hot Springs is a beautiful part of the state.  Since my wife and I are from Arkansas, we can tell you from experience that we live in a beautiful state that has so much to offer to anyone who loves nature, hiking, biking, water sports, horse racing, waterfalls, and the list goes on.  In fact, a lot of the state parks in Arkansas are usually booked from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day by out of state travelers who flock to the state for the amenities that I listed above.  Gulpha Gorge didn’t take reservations so it’s a first come first serve park.  Fortunately, there were several spots available when we got there.

On Friday morning, we all got up and went for a walk.  After the walk, we came back to the RV to have coffee.  As I was getting the coffee ready, I noticed that Titan kept shaking his head and he whimpered.  I told my wife about it and we looked at his ear.  My wife felt a large hematoma in the middle of  Titan’s left ear so she called the vet and to make an appointment to bring him in. She told the vet we were out of town and would be back Sunday afternoon, so the appointment was set for Monday morning.  My wife and I kept checking Titan’s ear throughout the weekend to make sure the hematoma hadn’t grown and hadn’t ruptured. After making the vet appointment and having coffee, we went on a long hike up the mountain that was directly behind our RV. Titan and Choctaw were so excited and couldn’t wait to get going.  I packed a backpack full of water then we all headed out.  It was a beautiful hike and the dogs were enjoying themselves. When we reached the top of the mountain, I took a great photograph of my wife and Titan having some bonding time in a small pavilion that was right off the hiking trail. As we were getting ready to leave and start the hike back down the mountain, an unknown female approached us and she was very curious about Titan.  She apparently got a little to close for Titan’s comfort because he started barking at her and she quickly turned to vacate the area. Titan is a retired police dog so he lets you know when you get to close to his family, especially if you are to close to my wife. Of course, we apologized and went on our merry way, but Titan didn’t apologize (LOL).

After the hike, we were all exhausted. We went back to the RV and relaxed for the rest of the day.  I know my wife and I were tired, but Titan and Choctaw were completely worn out.  The below photographs of Titan and Choctaw were taken after we got back from our hike.  You can tell from the photographs they were tired. If you click on the close up photograph of Titan, you can actually see the large hematoma that’s in his left ear. Bless his heart he’s such a trooper.  He only whimpered that one time over the whole weekend, but looking at that photograph makes my heart hurt because he was probably in pain.

The next morning (Saturday), my wife and I made a trip to downtown Hot Springs to eat lunch at Superior Bath House which is one of our favorite places to go.  They’ve got incredible food and their brewed beer is spectacular.  After eating lunch, we strolled around downtown then headed back to the RV to watch College Football.  The RV is equipped with an exterior TV so watching the games outside was so relaxing.  We grilled out and talked with the neighbors that were camping around us and just had a great afternoon!!

On Sunday, we packed up to start heading home. We really enjoyed our weekend at Gulpha Gorge and we will be back. There is a lot of trails that we didn’t hike so we will have to come back to explore those.  The campground has a lot of great camping sites and we would like to have a larger site next time.  All and all, it was a wonderful weekend!!

Next up, Titan’s trip to the vet!!