Charley and Tami

Tami and Charlcie were able to work out a scheme that would get their Dad over to visit us to see our house and property. It's not easy to get him out of Siloam Springs, but it worked out and based on his reaction, we're pretty sure he had a real good time.

Crooked Creek - Kelly's Slab

One of these days, our plan is to float portions of Crooked Creek to pursue Smallmouth Bass with a fly rod. We also wanted to see the work performed by Trout Unlimited and many other volunteers to stabilize the banks with new tree plantings (shown in one of the pictures). To learn a little more about it, we ventured over to the Arkansas Game and Fish access at Kelly's Slab. The area also is home to a fantastic AG&F Conservation Center where primarly groups of school kids can get a better grasp of the treasures of the great Arkansas outdoors. We took an enjoyable 1-mile self-guided hike through the nature area. The wine-colored papaw tree blooms were really interesting.

DUBYA

Diligence and kindness on the part of Tami and Kevin (Charlcie's sister and her husband)netted us tickets to hear President George W. Bush speak at College of the Ozarks. Kevin's position on the faculty allowed him two tickets, but he called a radio station at 5 am to net another two tickets, which were very hard to come by. The President turns out to be a very entertaining and competent speaker. The speech was non-partisan, non-political and highlighted some of his experiences and the story behind many of his key decisions. We very much enjoyed hearing some of his anecdotes and are convinced more than ever that whether you agree or disagree with any of his policies, his actions were made out of strong convictions and with the good of the country foremost in his mind. The more I read current affairs books by and about him, the more optimistic I am that historians in the future will judge Dubya much more positively than the savage treatment he received from many quarters during his two terms.

Fishing with the Vaughns

One common theme you will notice is that we are blessed to have such great friends and family. Since I got a late start in starting the blog, I have not chronicled all our visitors to this point. And, due to my lack of focus sometimes, I have failed to take the desired pictures. In this case, our good friends Sam and Marsha Vaughn traveled over from Bella Vista for a week-end and I didn't get very many photos - and I really messed up by not getting a pic of Marsha (sorry Marsha, we'll get you on your next visit!) The weather cooperated enough to allow for a few hours of fishing which was very enjoyable, but mostly we truly enjoyed having them here to spend a lot of time just relaxing and telling tall tales.
When water levels are favorable, we usually choose to fish at the walk-in access at White River Valley Estates, the area where we plan on building. Charlcie and I enjoy the trains around here and nearly every visit to this fishing spot we are entertained by a passing train on the tracks that parallel the White River.

Spring Break Trip to Birmingham

Spring Break for Myka afforded us the opportunity to make a trip to Alabama to visit some dear friends. We had been wanting to reacquaint Ben to our friends that he had not seen since he was very young and to introduce Myka to them - and vice versa. First we visited Ben's "Alabama grandmother", Katheryn Shipp. It was great to spend a couple of days with her and her sister and her son Jim and his family. We also were able to spend a couple of days with our great friends Gene and Linda Murdock at their Lay Lake lake house (and to receive a visit from daughter Jennifer and her son). In addition to spending some quality visiting time with our hosts, Charlcie, Ben, and Myka enjoyed a couple of shopping trips (allowing me to catch up on nap time!). We were really pampered on our visit - part of that great Alabama hospitality is to feed you until you are in a gluttonous semi-coma, but what a way to be sedated! These are such special friends and it seemed as if all those years had not passed since we last saw them.

Spring wildflowers

One huge advantage of being retired is to be able to go at a more relaxed pace, unencumbered by rigid schedules or the normal everyday stresses of career, etc. What we've found, and we certainly aren't setting any precedents here, is that we linger longer to really enjoy and appreciate wonders that we previously might have rushed right on past. We entered this mode initially when we were on our western camping adventure, and are happily "snailing" along now. Some think it's the result of us being almost senior citizens, and that is probably a little bit true, but we tend to believe it is more about savoring the moment(s). Okay, that said, I'm going to bore you with some pictures of spring flowers found mostly in our yard, but a couple were taken on one of our hikes. As you probably know by now, it doesn't take much to give us pleasure and entertain us these days!

On to the Fishing!

After reviewing plans for some time and scoping the future homesite, it was time for a little recreation at/on/in/around Buffalo Shoals, which so far is our favorite part of the river.




Dusk closing in at Buffalo Shoals

Future Home Site

Dickie Brenner, the architect that is doing the plans for our house has been over a couple of times and we are usually able to mix in some fishing along with the business of discussing form and function and visiting the land where our house will be. Since he really enjoys fly-fishing, it is not too difficult to convince him when we need a visit. Our 15 acres is about a river mile up from where the Buffalo River runs into the White River at Buffalo City. It is in an area called White River Valley Estates. One of the benefits is a POA-managed walk-in access and boat ramp to facilitate quick access to a beautiful stretch of shoals on the river.

Papaw Tabor on Dry Run Creek

One of the highlights since we've been here is a visit by my Dad, my brother Ronnie and his son-in-law Jeff. They were up primarily so we could take Dad fishing on Dry Run Creek. This incredible resource is dedicated for fishing only by youth and mobility impaired adults. It is a beautiful stream packed with many large and spunky trout. This was Dad's second trip there, but his most productive. He caught around 40 very nice fish in a matter of a few hours before the cold weather nudged us on our way. He was wishing that his experience could be formulated in a pill since he could not be coaxed to rest on his walker and he "felt no pain". We left a few trout flies in the overhanging branches as a result of missed strikes - led to a lot of laughs and some good-natured kidding.

Inside our Cotter home

Some pics of our house after we have settled in. Very cozy temporary residence that is working out great for us.