Camping week-end at Bull Shoals State Park

We were excited to go camping again after a two-year respite following our 4-month camping trip out west. We met Charlcie's sister Tami and husband Kevin, along with their friends/colleagues from College of the Ozarks. The Branson crew fixed many outstanding meals and campfires and we had a perfect week-end to hike, fish, kayak, and visit around the campfire. Was our maiden trip for our replacement truck tent and Charlcie's new kayak and they performed very well. Fun week-end with some really nice folks!

Larry, Kevin, Craig, Kurt, Charlcie, Tami, Laura, Jerri

 



Celebration in Dallas

Double celebration road trip to Dallas to mark Charlcie's birthday and Myka's rise to the ranks of the professional pharmacist. And great opportunity to spend time with our kids and have a great deal of fun. Highlight was Ben and Myka treating us to dinner at a very fine Italian restaurant. Also got to go to A Dallas Cowboys pre-season game at Jerry's World, which is an amazing structure. Lots of other fun activities on the week-end, including too much good food and just the right amount of marathon shopping :)

Birthday Mug - Go Hogs!

 



Kayaking

 

Beth and Todd Harmon at Roundhouse Shoals

 Charlcie, Tami, and Kevin

Charlcie on concrete rapids in her new kayak



A new activity for us has been kayaking. We are fortunate to have many miles of beautiful rivers up here to kayak and fish. Charlcie enjoys it so much, I got her a new kayak for her birthday. We have been several times so far - the cold, clear water, the beautiful Ozark scenery, and the wildlife viewing, make this calorie-burning activity so enjoyable, whether fishing along the way, or not.

Catching up

Boy, I'm really getting behind on keeping the blog up-to-date. Here it is the first week of October and I haven't posted since early July. Ronnie, Sally, Heather, Jaden, and Dad came to visit at the end of July. They enjoyed the rides on the Polaris Ranger - we were able to see many deer and wild turkey on our little jaunts -it's neat living in the country!

Week-end with great friends

For a number of years, our friends Kim and Nancy have hosted our "cabin group" at their river cabin on Indian Creek in Missouri. We always enjoy spending the week-end with our great friends from Northwest Arkansas. And it is fun to float and fish this neat little stream. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the group, but I did take a camera on a Saturday float - and was able to finally catch some nice-sized smallmouth bass on a fly rod. Fun week-end; thanks Kim and Nancy!

Don't know how this picture turned out like this, but kinda interesting

Sucker on a fly?

Cluster of damsel flies on a twig in the stream

House is completed!!

We had some items to be completed after our move-in and now it's all done with the exception of the final grading and grass planting, which will have to wait for milder weather.  The entry arch and lights, the garage door on the "toy" barn, and shelves and lights on the screen porch were the final things to be finished and we are extremely pleased with the final product!

To say we see a lot of deer out here is an understatement. Up until lately, most were does, often with fawns. The past week we have started seeing large groups together, many of which are bucks (as many as 9 together). We take an evening drive at dusk every evening to see the wildlife in our neighborhood. Always deer, sometimes wild turkey.
 

Interior shots: new house

We are still combing through boxes and trying to get more organized, but have progressed enough to offer some pictures that should adequately capture the interior of our new home. We really like all the wood we were able to incorporate:  alder for door and window trim and cabinets, hickory and cherry for the floors.  We used slate for bathroom and entry floors. 

Sample pics of exterior; new house

We're still sitting on a construction site dirt pile, stonework to be completed, garage door to be put on the "toy" barn, landscaping to be done, etc.  but we are in!  We are extremely pleased with the home we ended up with.  Architect Richard Brenner, Contractor Bob Crider, and Charlcie and I combined to end up with a house that exceeded our expectations for architectural detail, quality of construction, and functionality. Richard and Bob were very accommodating in every regard and offered many suggestions along the way that added so much to the final product - while being very patient with our fickleness - both are great guys.  Charlcie and I even managed to survive each other during this mostly exciting process!

 

Celebration time!

Ben and Myka made the trek from Little Rock to Mountain Home to see our new house - we kept our promise that they could be our first guests. We think they were impressed. We also used the occasion to continue Myka fest, July being the month of her birth. And for the past four years we have also had the pleasure of celebrating the anniversary of Ben and Myka. And we naturally had to dine at PJs to mark the special events.

Morning Walks

It is really nice to wake up and take an early morning or late evening walk in the country. Since we are in our new house, we manage to get in at least a couple of miles each day, and sometimes double that. But, it is really not that grueling considering all the wildlife, the cool morning air, and some mornings we have the mist off the river. We always see many deer, a variety of birds, and sometimes wild turkey. We have landed in the place we need to be and we're diggin' it.

Anniversary #38: Goodness Gracious!

Celebrated our anniversary with dinner at PJs, our favorite restaurant over here, in a very nice setting on the banks of the White River. Les and Julie provide great food and make the dining experience very special. As we were going back to our car, a couple of beautiful horses entertained us - one trying to impress, the other remaining unimpressed - fine looking animals enjoying the perfect summer evening.

Tami's Birthday

Enjoyed another trip to Branson to celebrate Tami's birthday. Too much dinner at Lambert's (Home of the throwed rolls), followed by an evening cruise on Table Rock lake, and then home to open presents. We always enjoy spending time with Charlcie's sister and her husband Kevin.

Crooked Creek Clean-Up Float

Charlcie and I joined the Friends of the North Fork and White River group on a float on Crooked Creek, with the mission of picking up as much trash as we could haul from a stretch of the creek. Had a great time, and hauled out 38 automobile tires along with bags of other trash. The tires apparently were washed downstream from a Harrison tire shop that was flooded. Ended the day with a fantastic crawfish boil and blues music, until it was interrupted by a storm. A bolt of lightning struck nearby when Charlcie was in the Porta-Potty, eliciting a loud scream. Shared a few chuckles about that - only after being assured she was OK, of course. A fun day with a lot of nice folks in great natural Ozarks setting.

Critters

                                          Creepy crawler

                                          Tree swallow in our bluebird nesting box