Maumelle Park: naturally full of splendour

by: Andrew Regan
Maumelle State Park, one of the natural treasures of Arkansas, is hidden in the Pinnacle Mountain Valley not far from the city of Little Rock; and as part of a 2000-acre site, it is undoubtedly one of the top locations for a nature enthusiast to frequent while in the area. Visitors will find a number of remarkable activities to partake in, the most popular of them being hiking; and with various trails to explore, two of which ascend to the breathtaking, one-thousand-foot high summit of Pinnacle Mountain, the experience certainly makes for awe-inspiring views and a peaceful sort of adventure.

While at Maumelle Park, visitors can look forward to encountering diverse types of wildlife in various habitats. And with a countless assortment of beautiful birds perching atop trees and in bushes, the area is especially ideal for bird-watching.

Aside from a remarkable means of recreation, the park also offers special educational programs which aim to build awareness of the environment and its preservation. And moreover, guests can pay a visit to the nearby Arkansas Arboretum, a 71-acre site which exhibits native flora representing Arkansas' six main natural divisions.

The 129 campsites at Maumelle Park are all equipped with water and electricity, making the park an ideal destination for extended camping trips; and visitors will also find loads of picnic areas and pavilions, some of which are right along the Arkansas River's banks. There is even a boat ramp and a playground for children to play in.

However, if you love nature but prefer the comforts of a hotel to those of a tent, you have various hotel options to consider, such as the Hilton Doubletree, which will enable you to take advantage of urban and natural life together. As Maumelle Park is only a fifteen-minute drive away from Little Rock, you can sleep at a hotel while spending your days taking in the splendours of beautiful scenery and clean mountain air. And if you're travelling with a group or your family, you'll most likely be able to find some great package deals on offer.

So with all the gorgeous mountains, valleys, woodlands and plains, it's no wonder that Arkansas is nicknamed 'The Natural State' - and it certainly comes as no surprise that so many flock to its parks to gain a bit of peace, relaxation, and pure natural splendour.

About the author:
Andrew Regan is an online journalist who enjoys socialising at his local Edinburgh rugby club.

Refresh your life with Cheap Bahamas vacation

by:Suzane Gray
Vacations are one of the best ways to rejuvenate oneself and at the same time can also help in balancing one�s life. With increasing competition all around, life has become even more complicated. It seems that everyone is trying to run to achieve success in their professional lives and trying to achieve deadlines and goals of their lives. In doing this, people at times forget that they have a personal life and they need to balance their professional and their personal lives. In this case, the best way to indulge the personal life is to go ahead and take a vacation, therefore what can be a better place than the amazing Bahamas Island. In addition, the best part is that going to the Bahamas Island for a nice and refreshing vacation will not even be very heavy on the wallet. One can easily opt for a cheap Bahamas vacation as their destination for a perfect vacation with family and friends.

Now let us talk a bit about the Bahamas Island. The Bahamas Island is a conglomeration of seven hundred small islands. The best part of a cheap Bahamas vacation is that one can get to have an amazing rendezvous with nature and can get to see some of the best possible scenic beauty all across the Bahamas. In fact, it seems that nature turns out to be in her best form to mesmerize the tourists and the people who come to stay in the Bahamas Island. One can actually be thoroughly enticed by the beauty and the greenery of the Bahamas.

In fact, the cheap Bahamas vacation offers a great a place for sports lover. People who love playing golf will get some of the best golf courses to indulge in their favorite sport. Cheap Bahamas vacation will have some of the most beautiful and enduring golf courses. Bahamas can be one of the best places to go ahead for a nice and a memorable vacation with your loved ones. To enjoy a great time in the Bahamas all you will need to do is look out for a travel agent who can give you some of the best deals and can at the same time provide you with staying facilities during a cheap Bahamas vacation and also help you in sight seeing. Moreover, if you feel that you cannot spend the entire amount from your own pocket, then you can easily opt for the loan scheme that is offered by these travel agents in association with good banks. These loans are easy and flexible in repayment and at the same time you can even have a nice time with your family and friends.

Learning how to balance life is indeed a difficult thing to do and one has to make sure that one does it in the best possible manner. Going to office, managing household and all the various things can at times become too exhausting and every human being needs to rest and relax so that they can get back into form. Life is definitely about achieving things and aspirations but one should not forget that life is also about living it and enjoying it. So now, pack your bags and go ahead for an amazing holiday on a cheap Bahamas vacation.

Suzane Gray has been offering Bahama travel and vacation packages advice for quite some time.To find bahamas golf vacation, freeport bahamas,cheap bahamas vacation package that best suits your needs, visit http://www.gobahama.com

7 Tips for a Fun Filled Family Holiday

by:Jenny Brewer
With five children ranging from four through to sixteen, I have experienced some of the best and worst of travelling with children. Tempting as it often is to postpone our annual trips away together, albeit with backseat fights, clothing of every shape, colour and size hanging out of seven overstuffed suitcases, and of course the never ending hunger pains, we seem to forget all the reasons why we shouldn't do this thing called the 'Family Road Trip', and continue to plan our next great adventure into unchartered Australian soil and what undoubtedly becomes the making of memories.

Below are some tips we have learnt along the way for a more enjoyable family campervan holiday:

TIP 1: Choose a family friendly destination. This should be common sense, but many parents don't think carefully enough about where they are going and what route they are taking with the kids in mind. Travelling Australia in under a month is a great ideal, but little children may not appreciate the hours upon hours of sunburnt country as much as you. Setting up camp next to the 'Beware of Crocodiles' sign in the Outback Aussie Caravan Park also might not be the best choice.

Do some internet research and find some family friendly parks that offer children facilities, or base yourselves near some great family attractions that will become an exciting part of the holiday. Talk about where you are going as a family and get the children involved in the research and planning. This will double the anticipation as well as provide some extra information along the way.

TIP 2: Preparation. Lists are my sanity savers. Write them weeks in advance of your packing frenzy. Stick them on the fridge or on the toilet door if that works. Food lists, what to bring and what to buy lists, what to do with the pets lists. The list goes on. Once you are on the road and away from your day to day routine you will be glad you put a lot of effort into your luggage.

Being organised does not come naturally to me, so this step is always a long and arduous process, and then once we pull out of the driveway, I allow myself a few deep breaths before someone remembers that inevitable item that Mum forgot to add to the list.

TIP 3: Make it fun. This is a must do in our family. What is the point of a holiday if there's no fun involved? Of course there are always the moments that sneak up on us (usually in the back seat) but the general plan is to have as much fun as possible even when circumstances don't go as much to plan as we expected.

Rain can be one primary dampener of fun, but children are adaptable, and having to resort to Plan B, or C, won't wreck the holiday. Travel games, packs of cards and some books for a possible few days inside the campervan are always a great idea. Turning up to an attraction on the one day it's closed for maintenance doesn't have to spoil the fun either. Head to the nearest information centre and make the most of your day together. Being flexible is the key to a fun family holiday.

TIP 4: Shorter trips and longer stops. Being a very relaxed person but having a big family means there still has to be a daily plan, even if we don't have to stick to it. Writing up a day to day schedule allowing enough time for day to day tasks helps to minimize the stress of travelling, and the children will remember a more relaxed holiday.

Allow enough time for everything, from getting all the kids up in to morning to preparing dinner. Instead of leaving at 6am to make the most of the day, leave refreshed a few hours later with a happy family in tow. A more leisurely itinerary with longer stops will give you a chance to enjoy the moments, the scenery and your time together, instead of rushing around and getting stressed. There are always days when you need to get up early, but if you incorporate a few relaxing days you will be glad.

TIP 5: Lots of good food. The family holiday is not the time or place to start a weird diet or health kick. Before you shop, ask everyone in the family what favourite meal they would like, and try to slot it in somewhere. If you are eating in, allow for lots of extra treats and a change from meals at home. There is something about holidays that increases the appetite. Maybe it's the salt air, or change in routine? Whatever it is, embrace the moment and enjoy your dinners! If you are eating out, choose a family friendly restaurant or take away so that everyone is enjoying themselves. Stock up on delicious good food, and of course buy plenty of snack food for any lengthy road trips. Some of my best family memories are eating ice creams together on the beach, a simple tradition that we made sure took place every holiday.

TIP 6: Exercise. Children need to exercise every day, its that simple. A family holiday is a great opportunity to get out in the sunshine and play together. Pack a soccer ball, tennis racquets or fishing rods and enjoy the outdoors with the people you love most. Choose a destination with plenty of walking tracks, or close to the beach. Visit attractions where there is exercise involved, or just make sure you visit a park daily and play. There are many tourist parks offering kids programmes that will get them out and about and also give you the break you much deserve. Interacting with each other as a family is what your holiday should be about anyway, and its so easy to do.

TIP 7: Record your holiday. It doesn�t matter how you do it, but in this modern age we live in, there are so many ways to preserve your holiday for years to come. Video footage from your children can be the funniest to watch when you get home, and captures the moment from their perspective. Take plenty of photos and use them as a slide show on your laptop later on. Buy a visual arts book for your child/children and suggest they write a travel journal. Every night before bed they can draw or write about their day. This is a great way to get them asking questions and writing, even at an early age. Collecting mementos from every place visited is another fun idea and will end up as holiday treasures when they get home.

A campervan is the perfect choice of travel for the family getaway, and with a lot of kids in tow, the savings in accommodation and food alone is a drawcard for us. Our travel costs are almost halved when staying in a campervan as we would normally require two motel rooms each night. Multiple beds, a kitchen and a loo on wheels, what more could you ask for? Wherever you decide to travel, plan carefully, have lots of fun each day and eat lots of good food. This will ensure you are on the road to great family holiday.

The Sunny Northwest Territories

by: Ashton Billesberger

The capital of The Northwest Territories is Yellowknife. It became the capital in 1967. The Northwest Territories are located west of Nunavut, east of Yukon, and north of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. There is a lot of industry mining activity up here. There is an abundance of diamonds, gold, coal, and oil. So most of the towns and citys are booming with industrial activity. Some of the mines will let you take a tour through the mines, which is an awesome experience.

There are eight official languages in the province of The Northwest Territories, which is the most in Canada, they are as follows
-Chipewyan
-Cree
-Dogrib or Tlicho
-English
-French
-Gwich'in
-Inuktitut, includingInuktitut proper
-Inuvialuktun, Inuinnaqtun

Quick facts about The Northwest Territories

-Largest city is Yellowknife
-3rd most Land in Canada as a province
-Population is 42,944, 11th out of all provinces
-12th province Admittance into Confederation
-It’s in the 5th Time zone

There are many neat things to do in The Northwest Territories, in the summer there is great flyin fishing as well as hunting. There is so much wildlife up here that you can enjoy nature spotting. Touring the local communities is also very neat, there is a lot of history up here with gold and diamond mines. This province is one of the neatest provinces because in the summer you get so much sunlight that it seems to never go down. So get out and see this province and enjoy true nature at its best.

About The Author

Ashton Billesberger is the owner and operator of Northwest Territories Canada - http://www.northwest-territories-canada.com, which is the best site on the internet for all Northwest Territories related information.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

other Articles by Ashton Billesberger

Wedding and Honeymoon on the Beautiful Cayman Islands

by: Wanda McDowell
The love of your life and you are sure to spend your honeymoon in an ambiance of luxury. Your wedding is sure to be the talk of the town with an “intimate beachfront ceremony for two.” No need to spend hours looking for a wedding planner, caterer, photographer, or florist because the Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac have plenty of connections with on-island wedding professionals that are waiting and willing to make your day remarkable.

As if the ceremony would not be unforgettable, spending your honeymoon on the Cayman Islands will be like paradise in heaven. They offer luxury accommodations, exquisite
dining, and amazing vistas. They have snorkeling and diving in their turquoise seas and beautiful beaches. The Cayman Islands has three islands. The largest island is the Grand Cayman. This is home to George Town and where most people go to shop.

Then there is Cayman Brac where you can go climbing, diving, birding, and snorkeling. Lastly, there is Little Cayman with lovely white sand beaches and wilderness. There are over 150 restaurants with excellent culinary offering and diversity. They also have “some of the finest wine lists in the world” They have two golf courses. There is one located at the Britannia Golf Club which has grassy mounds, rolling dunes, lakes, and oversized bunkers. The North Sound Club has a 18-hole course, spread over 103 green acres and sweeps to a vista of the Caribbean Sea. You can also go fishing at the Cayman Islands. In their waters lurk popular game fish, including yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado and barracuda. They have fitness centers and spas as well as babysitting services available.

Don’t forget your passport because guests of the Cayman are required to present it and must complete an immigration form. Guess must also possess a return airline ticket. They also note that U.S. citizens are aware of new passport regulations from the US government. Visit http://www.travel.state.gov for more information. For more information on honeymooning in the Cayman Islands visit http://www.caymanislands.ky

About The Author
Wanda McDowell is the president of http://www.infacity.com - an online bridal marketplace where you can buy/sell new and used wedding supplies. Every month we giveaway a free cake topper.