As many others, I really don't know where to start. I will say to Sue, Vicki and Poncho, Everything that my wife, Sharon, and I wanted and needed for a get away was not only met but greatlyexceeded at Riverview cabins and canoes. The warm and friendly smiles and helpful family that oversees all your needs make you feel like family and you feel very welcome. Our cabin was pristine and very comfortable. The River running through the cabins sounded like heaven and the surrounding forest gave you a sense of being wrapped in a loving blanket. My wife and I will never be able to fully express how great the entire stay was. It would take several pages and a lot of words that don't express the true feelings of the experience. I will say that ANYONE who is considering a vacation that truly is a vacation, we recommend Riverview Cabins and Canoes. We nicknamed our getaway "Second Wind" after a song from the Christian Rock group PETRA called second wind. There is a verse in the song that goes as follows: "Just when I felt that I couldn't go on any longer, I got my second wind." That was very true.
Our stay with Sue, Vicki and Poncho fixed all that.
May GOD continue to Bless Riverview and all who put so much effort into it so that people like us have heaven on earth to recover in. In case I didn't already make myself clear.... I Highly Recommend staying there.
Our sincerest thanks and our promise that we will return soon.
Jerry and Sharon Holtgrewe
Edgerton, Kansas
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We (2 couples) recently spent 4 nights in lovely cabin #6, Country Charm in the beautiful Ouachita Mountains at Riverview Cabins and Canoes. Their "campus" (for lack of a better word) was beautifully maintained, flowers and outdoor decorations galore. You can tell they love what they are doing and take great pride in looking nice. We had a GREAT TIME! Sue and Vickie were so very kind and helpful and told us of several hot fishing spots in the area, including the Ouachita River. Our cabin was fantastic, SPARKLING CLEAN and well-equipped. They had satellite TV which my husband enjoyed - he is not much of an outside person but relaxed and read and watched TV while the rest of us were out enjoying nature. The area is fairly isolated; one evening we noticed we needed ice and knew the office sold ice. It was "after hours" but we had to do something. We went to the office to check the big freezer they have outside that contains bags of ice. They leave it open (I guess) even after the office is closed. We grabbed a couple bags and returned to the cabin and then went back to the office the next morning to pay. We were very impressed that they "trusted" people and it sure saved us from a long drive into a neighboring town to buy ice. You don't get that much trust around Dallas area (where we are from). Sue also recommended a great place to go crystal hunting. We went to Sweet Surrender Crystal Mine located close to Mt. Ida. We spent 4 hours and found lots of crystals - some small, some larger ones inside bigger rocks. We took home all we could carry in our 5 gallon buckets.
All-in-all, it was a wonderful experience and we recommend anyone visiting in that area to stay here. You will not regret it.
Sincerely,
Nancy Riddick
Dallas, Texas
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Chris and Angie Garner
Glenwood, AR
Where exactly do I start? My sister honeymooned at RiverView several years ago and only had wonderful things to say. My response was a little skeptical and very curious.
My husband owns his own business and we were needing somewhere to get away from the hustle and bustle of our lives. We needed somewhere close to home so a long weekend wasn't wasted on the road. I remembered these cabins my sister spoke so highly about and called.
August 12 & 13, 2005 we spent our 16th anniversary in cabin #5 "South of the Boarder". We discovered the couple that we used to be before we had just gotten too busy with life. We knew that from that weekend of our lives would never be the same. We discovered that we should never let life take the place of our life together. That weekend was so wonderful and so much more that I could expect that we went ahead before the weekend was over and booked two other visits. We promised ourselves that we would spend our anniversaries right there in our little paradise that we had found. My sister was so right!!
November, 2005 we spent a long weekend in cabin #4 "Sunflowers" with our daughter celebrating her 8th birthday. What a wonderful time we had roasting marshmallows at the fireplace, and playing board games and being together as a family. Instead of birthday parties our daughter has chosen to spend all her birthdays a RiverView. That is exactly how very much fun we had that weekend before Thanksgiving!
December, 2005 we spent the weekend before Christmas in cabin #10 "The Bears Den" with my in-laws. This was going to be my Mother-in -laws first Christmas after her mother passed away and we needed something very special so she could just enjoy herself. It was a wonderful weekend for everyone!!!!! The Pool games in the basement, relaxing in the hot tub, putting puzzles together, etc. This was exactly what our family needed and we have wonderful memories of that Christmas. It was a special time that helped do some much needed healing.
August 11 & 12, 2006 we spent our 17th anniversary in cabin #11. "The Love Nest" is all you have to say. I love the fact that we have a place we can go and get way from phones, knocks at the door, car noise, just life in general, step back and celebrate the beauty of God's work. Our marraige has always been wonderful but this has just added to the romance of our lives. Leaving is always the hardest part because it is so relaxing.
In November we will be staying in cabin #6 "Country Charm" for our daughters 9th birthday and we are already planning more trips! RiverView is helping my family build memeories that we will cherish all of our lives. The cabins are all different and all you have to do is sit back and just let life happen. They are what you make of them. They themselves don't perform miracles but they do give us that we need as a family and as a couple that the world just doesn't have time for any more.
Our plan, as a family, is to stay in all the cabins and experience the discoveries we make in all of them. Just think we don't even fish, canoe, or hike!!!!!!!!!
See you in November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Carl and Vicki Crawford
Dallas, Texas
Much harder to leave this time. We enjoyed our extended stay and already looking forward for our return sometime later this year. We will get in touch with you way in advance to make our reservations.
We had so much fun traveling and exploring all the back roads while on our bike. Found more spots to explore and we finally found the Little MO falls.
We enjoyed our little kitty and she/he was back this morning to tell us goodbye. I fed him some more food and gave his some fresh water. That cat was such a special little surprise. I wanted to bring him home but was afraid if I had, he would have brought our little Tootsie to us as a gift like he had the big field mice he brought to us. That rat made two of our little dog.
It has always been a treat to return year after year to your heaven here on earth. Oden, AR - population 202 has to be God's Country. The most beautiful spot on this earth. And folks like you, Gene, and your daughter-in-law, Vicki and little BoBo and her little daughter are precious. Sue, you and Gene have got to be the most down to earth and good people on earth. You guys are so fortunate to have such a place to call home.
We left early this morning (around 7am) and made it back to Dallas around noon. Back to the hussle and bussle, the drivers with all the attitude that make us hate this place! They drive like their pants are on fire, you can be going 90 and they still try to drive over you. Makes me so nervous . No wonder we look forward to getting to places like yours. So relaxing and calm. Now we get to get back to reality and get back in the groove of this crazy place we call home.
Can't wait to return later this year. We will contact you in advance to make our reservations.
Thank you so much for always being so friendly and down to earth.
Until we meet again - The Crawford's - Carl and Vicki
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A. Michelle Robbins
My husband and I have always spent a weekend SOMEWHERE every year for our anniversary. This past year some friends of ours recommended a place only an hour drive from our home. It is called Riverview Cabins and Canoes in Oden, Arkansas. Whoever would have thought we would spend a weekend in ODEN, ARKANSAS, population 220, when we live in Sparkman, Arkansas, population 586!!! From one small town to another, trust me, we will be returning to Oden for future anniversaries!
Riverview Cabins are unique in that each cabin has its own "theme." Most of the cabins have views of the river, but as with our cabin (#11), we enjoyed the short walk through the open woods to the river bank where we sat on a fallen tree and watched the river flow by and just spent time with each other - alone. As you will see from their website, they also provide horseback riding, canoes, bicycling . . . and fishing!! With my husband being an avid fisherman (and our stay being in November), now he's ready to go back for a weekend this summer.
Also, each cabin is very secluded from the other cabins and each comes with a grill on the deck. We had a great time just grilling hamburgers for lunch and steaks for dinner. Besides the charcoal and food, they provide so much stuff for you, it truly gives you that home away from home feeling. And the sunken hydrothearpy massage tub . . . we are talking of building a home in the near future, and we are sold on this type of tub. We will find out exactly what kind was in our cabin and we will install one in our home!
Another bonus with Riverview Cabins is Hot Springs, Arkansas is only a short drive which, as you know, provides all types of entertainment for all ages including Oaklawn Horse Racing, Garven Gardens and Magic Springs amusement park. Not to mention the shopping and eateries. And the drive from Oden to Hot Springs is breathtaking.
Please, do not let the pictures on the Riverview website fool you. I was very skeptical from the website but our friends were constantly raving about how nice the cabins and the staff were. They were right. Absolutely, hands down, one of the best weekends my husband and I have had in our modest 8 years of marriage.
Our only complaint . . . in a way - there are no phones in the cabins. If you do not have cellular service, which we did not through our provider (Cingular), you have to go to the office and use their phone either with a calling card or collect. When we left Riverview, we had not been on the road 5-10 minutes and had full service on our phones. A little inconvenience but if you're looking for a weekend (or more) of seclusion and relaxation, you will definitely find it at Riverview Cabins.
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Cabin No. 9 Gone Fishin'.
February 23-26, 2006- Honeymoon. David and Penny
Green; married 2/18/06.
From West Monroe, Louisiana
DAY 1- Arrived Thurs. 5:30 p.m. Wow! Thrilled at what we have found. We are eager to settle in and I am already dreading leaving. Made drinks, fired up the grill, and uncovered the Hot tub! This place is great! Utter contentment!
DAY 2- Got up kinda late for us... hey, were up late! Made breakfast together(including deer sausage form my wife's deer). It was noon before we ventured beyond the deck. Great place for coffee-sipping, bird watching, and reflecting. Spent the afternoon hiking around the place, picniced down at the river, hunted for "keeper rocks and skipped rocks"! The evening found us back in the Hot tub with champagne and strawberries! Wow!! A great night!!!
DAY 3- Up a little earlier. Had breakfast with the squirrels (there's a den tree straight out from the deck). So beautiful and peaceful. Puttered around the cabin till almost noon again. Drove into Mena (a really cool old town) and took the Talimena Scenic Drive up to and around Queen Wilhelmina. State Park. Really nice drive!!...some awesome views and some light hiking. Made it back home just in time to take a sunset walk down by the river. It was a beautiful day, clear and as cold as it has been so far, Hot tub will be sooo good tonight!
DAY 4- Ahh! I love waking up in that loft. Up earlier still. We are soaking it in like someone getting ready to walk across the desert with no water. Beautiful morning! We hate to leave, but we have made memories that we will carry a lifetime... wonderful accomodations, beautiful surroundings, good food, good drinks, hot tubin'... Ahh this has been fantastic!! Going to spend the afternoon in Hot Springs on our way home. Bless you all who stay here and read this. May you find as much joy here as we have.
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December, 2007
Hello Sue,
My name is Joey Hobson. My wife and I spent this weekend in the Ranchouse and let me say. We were absolutely shocked at how great your cabins are. I was expecting them to be great but I can't even describe how impressed we were. Everything was perfect about our experience there. Even the lights going out! :) Your staff is absolutely second to none and I can guarantee that Riverview cabins will continue to be our only place to go to get away from the crazy outside world.
We will soon be booking our next trip to the cabins. I think we are going to try #10 out this time.
Again thank you for creating such a great atmosphere and the perfect rustic feel with beautiful scenery and the peace and quiet that everyone needs in their lives.
Thanks so much
Joey Hobson
