Two Rivers Trail

Spent the week-end in Little Rock for Myka's graduation and Jessie Miller's wedding. So we had a great week-end celebrating! Charlcie and I found some time to enjoy another of Little Rock's trails across the Arkansas River. This is the newest and is in west Little Rock. The bike/pedestrian trail goes from the "mainland" to an island and circles around the island, mostly through the forest of many tree varieties.

Mark's big brown

Pics of friend Mark Koehler's nice brown trout. He makes a habit of catching the big ones, so I am hanging around him to pick up pointers :)

Smallmouth Bass Class

Got to participate in a smallmouth bass flyfishing class at Dally's Ozark Flyfisher. The morning was spent in classroom and then we were paired with guides for actual fishing on Crooked Creek. Although we didn't catch fish of any size, I learned a great deal and enjoyed the time on this classic Ozark stream with guide Ben Levin and some other fine folks.

More fish

Luckily I was able to grab a few hours to get in the river this week-end. This is setting up to be a great year for fishing. The ones I've caught lately are so healthy, colorful, and plump. Many in the 16"-18" range. Sorry to bore with all the fish photos, but this serves as part of my fishing journal :).

Big brown trout

Fished with friend Mark Koehler at Rim Shoals on Monday and set a personal best record. Among the many fish caught, the highlight was this 20 1/2 inch perfect specimen brown trout. Justified the relocation to this area :)

Ben and Myka return

Ben and Myka returned to Cotter this past week-end for a visit.  We enjoyed showing them the progress of our home construction.  Also enjoyed meals at Shady Grove store, KTs BBQ, and 870 Bistro.  Most of all, it was just great to spend time with our kids!

Road trip to hear Condoleeza Rice

We had never been to Batesville, Searcy, or many points in between, so we used the occasion of attending a speech by Condoleeza Rice at Harding University to complete a road trip. We toured the campus of Lyon College before enjoying lunch at Josie's overlooking a lock on the White River in Batesville - very nice campus and a neat place to grab a meal. The campus of Harding University is also very nice, but the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to hear Condi Rice speak. We were rewarded by the best speech either of us have ever heard. This lady is intelligent, classy, and humble, and gives a great talk without the aid of teleprompters or notes - her message comes from the heart. A great American success story and her personal and professional journey is an amazing example of achievement against all odds. A vivid and positive contrast to some of the rhetoric that is swirling around in the political atmosphere today.

Pileated and snail

Coming back to our house one day, we were able to get very close to a pileated woodpecker that was so focused on his food source that I was able to get close enough to grab a quick pic - ain't he pretty? It did not require as much stealth to take a picture of the snail on the trail.

Special Celebration: Papaw Tabor's 90th!

To celebrate Dad's 90th birthday, my brothers Ronnie and Steve brought Dad up to Cotter for his special treat - fishing at Dry Run Creek. We were also joined by our nephew Andrew, niece Heather, and great niece Jaden. Something about a fishing trip that whets Dad's appetite, so at his insistence, we started each day with a big country breakfast at the White Sands cafe. We then headed to Dry Run Creek for many hours of fishing on Saturday and Sunday. Dad is so happy on the stream catching big trout - especially when he has a supporting crew of admiring children and grandchildren. Charlcie was busy taking pictures to journalize the festivities.

Heather and Dad gearing up

Would you please hurry up and tie that thing on so I can continue fishing!

Focused on the big one

OK Steve, hurry and release that fish so I can catch another one

Heather guiding Jaden on her first Dry Run Creek experience

The whole group, with exception of Andrew, who had to get back to Little Rock

And many more!!!!!

Cotter Trail Hike

After the area tour, Heather and Jeff and Charlcie and I hiked the Cotter trail and enjoyed the fantastic March weather and the early-blooming wildflowers. I had failed to take the camera along, so Charlcie and I went back the next day to take pictures. Although it was a little too overcast to get good light and the full bloom of some of the flowers, we were still able to get some decent pictures along this neat trail.

Active bald eagle nest across the river

Great blue heron rookery across the river and next to eagle nest

Flox among group of yellow trout lilies

Hillside covered with small white flowers

A solitary red flower on a bluff

Trout lilies galore

Grape hyacinth in our front yard

Grape hyacinth at an abandoned old house in Cotter

Reptile crossing the road near our new house - not for sure of the make and model, so I didn't get any closer

Fishing Buffalo Shoals with Heather and Jeff

Enjoyed a week-end with our niece Heather and husband Jeff; valued kinfolk and devoted fly-fishers. This was Heather's first trip to the area in which she was able to see it all - and we obliged with our standard full day tour on Saturday. And Sunday we all spent a beautiful day fishing our favorite spot at Buffalo Shoals on the White River - and we were all rewarded with good numbers of fish caught.

Charlcie's first fish of the day - not the largest :)

Fishing was so demanding that Charlcie had to take time for a little island relaxation

Heather coaching Jeff on how it's done, or something like that

Annual President's Day road trip

We again made the annual trek to the President's Day races at Oaklawn with Ben (Myka couldn't attend due to school demands). Luck was not with us at the wagering window, nor in the cash drawings after each race. But we had a great time spending time with Ben and Myka and enjoyed some good meals together, including some baked ziti Myka had waiting for us when we returned from the races.

How many Tabors are needed to perfect a bowtie knot?  Actually only one, along with two advisors, and one YouTube instructional video.

He did it!  Ready for the Derby!

Trout Lily

White trout lily.  We find individual flowers like this scattered on our acreage. 

 "Trout spots" on foliage

Yellow trout lilies.  We viewed acres of these on the hillsides of the Cotter trail

Follow the signs home

Building our home in a rural area, where the streets have not been named, we were allowed to pick our own street names to comply with the 911 Emergency Response protocol. Some of our initial choices were already taken, but we had been asked to choose several options.
We had to come up with two names, one for the road coming off the last-named main road, and then the road back to our house.
Dragonfly Trail: Dragonflies are prominent in most areas where there is water (and fishing) and they are also a common theme in Craftsman/Arts & Craft style homes/design, which ours is.
Trout Lily Lane: The trout lily is a flower we have admired for a long time - it arises from the leaf-covered ground in the woods in springtime and is common in Arkansas. The name apparently came from the foliage of dark-green mottled leaves that resemble the flank of a brook trout - and is topped by intricate yellow flowers that decorate the forest floor. A passion for trout and for the forest, and the prevalence of these flowers on our acreage, presented a perfect choice for the name of our physical address.

 First turn

Our physical address will be on this lane

Annual Winter Outing with the "Cabin Group"

As we have done every February for the past umpteen years, we recently had an outing with our great friends from Northwest Arkansas - all of us former soccer parent "road warriors".  This year we gathered at a lodge somewhere in the woods off state highway 7, south of Jasper.  Although I didn't get to participate much in the festivities due to recent hernia surgery, and an inopportune stomach bug, it was so good to spend time with our good friends - regrettably, we don't get together enough in my opinion.  Anyway, everyone had a great time as usual and we are already looking forward to our next annual get-together - hopefully we can rally again long before next February.