Razorbacks and Big Cats

August 25, found us in Fayetteville, Arkansas to start the day. We began with the Clinton House Museum.  This is a very small house where the newly married Clintons lived near the University of Arkansas.  They were actually married in the living room.  If you listened to President Clinton's speech at the Convention, this is the house he talked about.

After that we drove through the university campus.

We also had lunch on the square, saw the Peace Prayer Fountain and checked out the view from Mount Sequoyah Park.

At least 3 times people told us that Fayetteville is often compared to Austin.  It felt like Austin but much smaller.  We need to come back and spend more time here.

Then we drove to Eureka Springs to the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.  This is a non profit refuge primarily for big cats, although they do have small cats and bears. All of these animals have been rescued from deplorable situations or from people who suddenly realize owning an exotic cat as a pet is not a great idea.  We walked around the complex looking at the animals, reading the signage and talking to the zoologist interns.

We watched feeding time.  Tyson Foods donates about 300,000 pounds of food for the big cats every year.  We watched as tigers were fed 2 whole chickens.

We drove into town for dinner and then to the Christ of the Ozarks statue.  It was built in 1966, stands 7 stories tall with an arm span of  65 feet and can be seen for miles around.  It is the largest statue of Christ in North America.

Then we returned back to the Wildlife Refuge for the night.  We stayed in their Treehouse.  We could hear the lions "caroling" off and on throughout the night and into the morning.   Today we will go on the guided tour led by one of the interns before heading to Branson.