If you have watched the news in the past week, you know that there was a terrible flood in Arkansas on Friday. 20 lives were lost as the flood caused the Little Missouri River to rise 20 feet in a very short amount of time and flooded the Camp Albert Pike Campground. I have been going to the Albert Pike Campground my entire life (although I haven't been in several years). My family has been going to Albert Pike for generations. My great grandparents had a cabin there and my dad went there as a kid. Albert Pike is like no other place I have ever been. On one side of the river there is a public campground where people can come and set up a tent or RV and the other side is lined with private cabins. I spent many, many summers at the cabin and have awesome memories of time spent with my dear cousins. Sadly, my family's cabin did not survive the flood. The floor caved in, the roof was partway off, and a tree was stuck in the side. Here is a picture of the front deck- and that brown cabin used to be much farther away! 
This is the place where you could see our "river shoes" lined up to dry.
This is the place we set off fire works every 4th of July.
This is the place where we roasted marshmellows.
This is the place where we caught craw fish.
This is the place where we buried money under a rock and would check to see if it was still there year after year.
This is the place where I painted rocks with nail polish with my cousin Katie.
This is the place where I ate so many Astro Pops that I now can't stand to even look at them.
This is the place that had no TV or telephone (at least when I was little!).
This is the place where my Great Grandmother thought she lost me in the river and came running up to the cabin to tell my mom the horrible news...only to find me sitting on the front step eating oreos.
This is the place where my Papaw told me the the story of "Falling Rock"- which I found out later was really the story of the little boy who cried wolf but the Native American version made up by Al Kennedy.
This is the place where we would wash our hair at "hair wash rock."
This is a place with so many memories.
Luckily, no one in our family was at the cabin when the flood occurred. Our cabin can (and will) be replaced. One day I hope to take my girls to this special place- a place I LOVED when I was a girl.
Please pray for the families that lost loved ones. Many of the people killed were very young children.
And if you are ever in Southwest Arkansas looking for a camping spot- this place is amazing!
2 comments:
I'm so sorry that your family cabin was damaged by the flooding. You have such special memories of the fun you had there with your cousins and family. I know you are all very thankful that none of your family was there during the flooding.
Don't forget catching fire flies and pinching their lights off to make glow in the dark jewelry, The "car wash" bridge, sitting on either side of the tractor tubes rocking back and forth until one of us fell off, "cause thats the way we spelled it on our christmas cards" Oh the memories! I'm going back next summer. I don't care if there is a cabin there or not!
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