One Brian

Last summer I took the two Brians camping. (See blog from July 22, 2007) This year we were out of town when Big Brian from Atlanta Ga. was in town. So this year it was Little Brian and I.

We went to my favorite campground, Siloam Springs State Park. I like it because it is close and not a lot of people go there. It does not have swimming and the fishing is not good either. But it is a good place to go to relax because you are surrounded by nature.

After setting up we decided to try our luck with the fish. Siloam has a 58 acre spring fed lake that is stocked with trout in the spring. I have caught a bass or two over the years, so I know there are fish in that lake.

Brian pumped the boat about half full, then we loaded it into the jeep to fill the rest of the way at the lake. We fished for about two hours with only a bite or two. I had forgotten the camera so there is no evidence of the stick fish, moss fish or weed fish that we caught. Since there was no camera I can tell a fish story of the one that got away. Just as we were giving up Brian decided to try a surface lore out of desperation. It is such a sight when you see the lore hit the water and a large mouth bass hits the lore. Their mouth is open and they snatch the lore as soon as it hits the water. Then the fight is on: trying to keep the fish out of the sticks and moss while reeling him in without snapping the line. Then the thrill of reaching in the chilled water to pull out an exhausted fish and seeing the shimmer of his scales. Well when that surface lore hit the water nothing happened on this day and that is the way fishing went all day.

After retreating from the lake Brian built a fire while I got the meal ready. It is tradition that we have foil dinners of hamburger, carrots, potato and onion cooked on an open fire. We topped that of this year with sweet corn. No Big Brian it was not burnt.

In the morning after a late breakfast we tried our luck at the lake again with the same results. However, a friend of Brian arrived just as we were leaving and on his first cast caught a nice small mouth bass. I am pretty sure the fish knew we were leaving!

Jim, Brian's dad, picked up Brian just after 1:00. While I stayed to do some maintenance and cleaning on the RV.

About 1:30 it started to pour! It rained really hard. There was just a light breeze and no lightening, but the rain came down in buckets. Later on the radio I heard that some places had between 2 and 3 inches. Finally about 3:00 the rain slowed enough to hear the rolling thunder as the storm moved on.

After the rain, I decided to take a trip to the grave of the "Worlds Heaviest Man."

Robert Earl Hughes was the worlds heaviest man during his lifetime. He died at the age of 32 from complications brought on by the measles. He is buried behind the Benville Church. The town of Benville is no longer there, all that is left is the Church and its' cemetery.

The road to Benville from Siloam Springs is a narrow gravel road that opens into a valley then onto a very narrow blacktop before coming to a "T" just before Benville. The round trip is about 12 miles.

You can see from this swollen creek that we had a hard rain!

When the road opens to this valley there is a cross on the hill. If your not looking for it you will miss it as it is so far up on the hill that it is almost not visible. The story goes that a man buried his wife's ashes at the base of this cross.

At the cemetery I was surprised to find flowers at grave site. But I should not have been because I had heard that curious visitors like me often bring flowers to his grave.

I had heard about Robert Earl Hughes years ago. Rumor had it that he was buried in a piano crate and set in the grave by a crane. Also that a pair of his pants were on display at the Buckhorn General Store. In actuality Mr. Hughes was buried in wooden box the size of a piano crate and he was lowered into his grave by a crane. I have my doubts about the rumor of his pants being on display in Buckhorn. They may have been on display years ago but I have my doubts that Buckhorn even has a general store any more. I did not drive to Buckhorn to find out because I had no idea which way to go to get to Buckhorn!

During that 12 mile round trip I bet I saw at least 12to 15 deer either on the road or by the road. They were around ever bend and over every hill. Amazing!

Now that I goofed of all day, I'll have to do my cleaning and other chores tomorrow. As the sign at Mikes' Place says "Life is short eat dessert first." I like Mikes' attitude!

Ken F.