Jim Dailey

On our way to Ohio for The American Trails International Symposium.

First stop … Metropolis, Illinois … Home of Superman!

Wow … what a serendipitous find.  Actually we were only looking for lodging and a place to eat and had made reservations at the Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in Metropolis.  Only upon arrival did we realize we had landed in the home of Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Superman, the hero of Truth, Justice and the American way.

On to Dayton, Ohio with a detour of one night in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Other than a flat tire, this small town in Kentucky was wonderful.  Even the tire issue was as pleasant as could be because of the very helpful and professional staff at the Walmart auto center.  Thank you guys.

This entire area is beautiful and historic … rolling hills of blue grass horse farms, narrow winding roads with Civil War era hand made rock fences and to make it even more special,  dinner in a great restaurant  sipping Small Batch Kentucky Bourbon, eating the best baby back ribs ever while watching the Kentucky Derby. Now, if that ain’t livin’, I don’t know what is!

BTW… Copper River Grill is A+

Dayton, Ohio and the American Trails International Symposium

As an avid hiker/outdoorsman, this conference is right up my alley.  Dayton, was a great choice for the conference …   large convention center downtown, hundreds of miles of trails, river front activity center and the largest Airforce Museum in the nation drawing over one million visitors each year. Little Rock was the host city in 2009 and this year, I was honored to be chosen as a new Board Member of American Trails International.

The real highlight for me was having some of the finest staff members of any State Parks and Tourism Department in the nation.  I am honored to serve with them as we promote Arkansas Tourism and Arkansas parks. 

Thank you team … you make us proud!

On our return Patti and I stopped at one of our State Parks … Mammoth Springs

Located in the Northeast corner of Arkansas, this 60+ acre park is home to one of the largest springs in the Ozarks … averaging over 9,000,000 gallons of water per hour.  The day we visited, due to recent rain, the spring was producing almost 16 million gallons of water per hour.