Enjoying Cousins and their spouses

We were excited to have my cousin Mike and his wife Laura down from Whitewater, Wisconsin to stay with us for a couple of days on their rounds visiting kinfolk in Arkansas. We always enjoy spending quality time with them whenever we get the opportunity - especially reflecting back on times together growing up, catching up on news of family scattered across the country, and punctuated by lots of smiles and laughter!  Their visit was made more special as we were joined by my cousin Lonnie and his wife Karen. Lonnie was selected as the superintendent of Mountain Home Public Schools around the same time we moved up here - a wonderful coincidence as far as we are concerned. This bunch of cousins and wives from the Meyers side of the family had a great time together!

 Charlcie, Mike, and Laura

 Mike and Laura with iconic Cotter Rainbow bridge in background

 Laura and Charlcie leaving us:  faster they talk, faster they walk!

Charlcie, Larry, Laura, Mike, Lonnie, Karen

Veterans Day 2011

A special Veterans Day 2011! Charlcie joined her sister Tami in the Branson VA Clinic entry in the Branson Veterans Day Parade (the largest in the country by some accounts), and followed that with some marathon shopping. Meanwhile, Dad and my brothers came up for a couple of days of fun and frivolity with the primary goal of getting Dad back to some choice trout fishing before winter arrives. Special times with family!

 The Tabor Men: Larry, Merrill (Dad), Steve, Ron

 Steve: Net Man-in-training

 All Hands on Deck

 One of dozens brought to hand

Tami and Charlcie: Stars of the Branson Veterans Day Parade

How do you beat this?

Ignoring the potential for rain that had been predicted and had threatened all morning, after lunch Charlcie and I decided to take a trip down to our property and while there get a little exercise and fresh air. With temps in the low 70s, overcast skies, beautiful foliage, and the White River at perfect wading levels, how could we stay indoors. Of course, I was able to get in a couple of hours of fishing at our walk-in access to my favorite place to fish over here - Charlcie enjoyed her exercise walk, taking photos along the way, and then kicked back in her lawn chair with a good book in hand and watched the river roll by. Oh my, how do we deserve this?

View from Fletcher Mountain at White River Valley Estates 

 Getting geared up at the walk-in access

 Autumn Brown trout

 Colorful rainbow trout

Our favorite stretch of river

Papaw's Pizza and Grandpa's Birthday

From time to time, Papaw Tabor fixes his famous homemade pizza for the family and it's always a fun gathering. A raucous card game usually breaks out after everyone has eaten enough to require a belt loosening. Didn't manage to get enough good pics to post to include everyone there.
We got up the next morning to visit Charlcie's Dad to celebrate his birthday. Our travels this week-end included awesome displays of the Ozarks autumn colors as we traveled Hwy 412, I-540, and then up Arkansas 59 from Ft. Smith to Siloam Springs - a stretch of rural Arkansas that has changed appearance very little over the past 50 years. We were able to take Charley to his favorite dining venue - the famous Catfish Hole in Fayetteville - it was as good as ever. The evening was capped off by watching the Razorbacks notch another gridiron victory - over South Carolina. Lots of fun with our families!

Papaw tending to the pizza over and everyone else chowing down

Arkansas 59 Highway

Happy Birthday Charley!

Fishing ain't always about the catchin'

I hadn't fished the Catch-and-Release area directly below Bull Shoals Dam in some time. Since it is closed to fishing November through January to protect spawning brown trout, I awoke early on Oct. 31, and arrived at the access before daylight. With the air temps in the high thirties and water temps in the 50s, dawn is magic and surreal with the mist rising from the river as the sun provides some daylight before the direct sunlight dissipates the mist. Although generation of 5 units prohibited wading, I fished from the bank for a couple of hours - enjoying almost total solitude in this setting is what it's all about. And to catch a few quality fish at the same time - that ain't bad either. I did catch a 20"+ fat male brown trout that I didn't get a photo of - he had a couple of strands of monofilament line wrapped tightly around his head/eyes, and after spending some time freeing him from his predicament, I didn't want to stress him further and so released him without the photo - take my word, he was absolutely beautiful!

 

Sun starting to peek through and reflecting on the water

Catchin' definitely enhances the experience

Cardinals fan meets Lou Brock

Cardinals great Lou Brock's playing days were over before Ben was born. But Ben is a huge Cardinals fan, so he knows some of the history of the great franchise. So when he had the opportunity at an Arkansas Diabetes Association event, he grabbed a shot with his cell phone. That's my boy!

Steve and Kelly in Cotter

We had a great week-end with my brother Steve and his wife Kelly. They were up from Ft. Smith for the first time, so we packed in a lot of activities, in between periods of relaxin'. Seems like it has worked out this fall that we are able to enjoy Razorbacks and Cardinals victories with family - this time it was a Razorback victory over Vandy (another heart-stopper) and the Cardinals winning the World Series! But first, we began with an early 2-mile hike on the Cotter trail along the White River -actually Steve and I added another mile, up the hill to our house, because someone, who shall remain unnamed, didn't grab the keys to the shuttle car before beginning our hike - luckily, we were only a mile from home! Between games, we went on part of our standard tour of Bull Shoals Dam, the Visitor Center, etc., and included another 2-mile hike along the upper White River, on Gaston's Nature trail.
Sunday, we toured our property at White River Valley, Rim Shoals Resort, Norfork Dam and National Fish Hatchery, and Dry Run Creek.
Probably left something out - it was a busy, but relaxing and very enjoyable week-end. Perfect weather in the middle of an Ozarks autumn, spent with special people - priceless.

Trailblazers

Beginning of Cotter trail

Ending Cotter trail at Rainbow Bridge

Along Gaston's Resort Nature Trail



Week-end with Ben and Myka

We were invited by Ben and Myka to join them for a night on top of Petit Jean Mountain - with lodging at one of the Pines Houses at the Winthrop Rockefeller Convention Center. How could we refuse? Getting to spend time with them is a treat in itself, but spending the time in such a wonderful place was indeed a bonus. Friday night at Ben and Myka's, we enjoyed a lasagna dinner that Charlcie had prepared in advance. On Saturday, we had to get going early due to the need to find a place to watch the Razorback game on the way to Petit Jean. Since the early kick-off prevented early check-in at the house, we had to stop en route at Conway. Other than the stress of having to watch the Hogs struggle against Ole Miss before finally pulling out the win, we had a great time at ZaZa's at The Villages at Hendrix. Happy with the outcome of the game, we then enjoyed the beautiful Ozarks autumn drive up through the farm/ranch countryside and then up the mountain. We were able to get the steaks off the grill before the rain and the next Cardinals victory was televised. We had such a fun and relaxing time with our "kids", before heading home, taking time to stroll along the Buffalo River on the way.
I don't know what we've done to deserve it, but Charlcie and I are so blessed to be able to truly enjoy a fun-filled retirement, to experience all that we have, and especially rewarding because we are able to spend more time with family and old and new friends.

Buffalo River at Grinder's Ferry access

Buffalo River looking downstream of Hiway 65 bridge

Charlcie and Tami on the Katy Trail

While I was hosting my Dad and brothers for the week-end, Charlcie and her sister were spending some quality time together on the Katy Trail in Missouri. The walking/biking trail traverses Missouri in some very scenic locales and is dotted with wineries and nice places to grab a meal. They capped off their trip with a couple of days in St. Louis with Tami's oldest son Ryan (our nephew) and his wife Kalen. This was the latest in what has become an annual Sisters Retreat.