Visit with Ben and Myka

We were anxious to see Ben and Myka, so we drove down to Little Rock to spend a few days with them. Ben had to work on Friday, so I got to hang out with Myka and Charlcie on a short shopping trip. That evening, we had dinner at ZaZa’s, a cool new salad/pizza/gelato eatery in Little Rock. Saturday morning we were up early to participate with 45,000 other folks in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Little Rock – Charlcie and Myka walked while Ben and I were part of the “3-miles of men” on the sidelines cheering them on. We then joined some of Ben and Myka’s friends at Myka’s parents to watch the Razorback football team lose to Auburn. But not all was lost as Rick and Janice treated us all to some very tasty grilled burgers and all the fixins. Bad outcome to the ball game, but we sure enjoyed getting to visit with everyone again. We always value the time we get to spend with our “kids”, so we were glad we got to work in a few days with them as we wind down our journey.

Back in Arkansas

It's a very short trip from Branson down to Arkansas. We are enjoying seeing the familiar scenery in the Ozarks. The trees have just begun donning their fall colors, the days are still warm with a hint of cool in the shade, and the nights are getting chilly - we're looking forward to witnessing the full brunt of autumn in Arkansas. As always, we had to stop at Neighbors Mill in Harrison for breakfast, but mostly to load up on the best cookies in the world, their White Chocolate Macadamia Nut (with oatmeal). Our stop in the Mountain Home area was to initiate our search to find a home to rent while we begin the process of building a home. While here, we treated ourselves to a stay at PJs Lodge on the White River (pjslodge.com). We had enjoyed their fine dining on previous occasions, but had never stayed there as part of their B&B package - but are glad we treated ourselves to a night at the lodge. We would highly recommend a visit to PJs - their fine dining in an incredible atmosphere is worth the drive (you had better call ahead for reservations as they book early). And now we know their rooms are very nice, with plenty of nice little touches and great beds! Les and Julie Stevens are fantastic hosts and make any visit very special. As many of you know, our current house plans incorporate a contemporary version of the Ozark vernacular "dogtrot". We have included a picture of the Wolf House in Norfork, AR to give you an idea of the original design from back in the day. On our departure, we had to also make our obligatory stop at KTs BBQ in Gassville to get a family pack to carry to Ben and Myka's for dinner - consistently excellent BBQ! White River Valley Estates; our future neighborhood Wolf House in Norfork, AR. Dogtrot in the center of the house. Room #7 at PJs Lodge B&B View of PJs from the river

fire and fish

We enjoyed another great visit with Tami and Kevin. Capped off the trip with the christening of their new patio (great job Kevin!) and fire pit - a very nice fall evening for sitting around the fire and having a weiner roast - the best-tasting hot dogs we've had in a long time. I was also excited to go fishing for a couple of hours two-days in a row on the Table Rock Lake tailwater (Lake Taneycomo) - and was excited to catch a couple of nice fish both days.

Arriving in Branson

We are taking a circuitous route back to Northwest Arkansas, to include stops in Branson to visit with Charlcie's sister Tami and husband Kevin, a night in the Mountain Home area to check on rental property, to Little Rock to see Ben & Myka, Ft. Smith to see my family, Siloam Springs to see Charlcie's dad, and eventually to the Fayetteville area, and then we'll see what develops. As we've said before, being homeless and jobless is not a bad gig so far. Of course, soon we will have to get serious about getting a place to live while we arrange to get a home built. We have not lost the travel bug, and at some point will hopefully have opportunities to do some more, but at the moment we are happy to be back "home". From Yellowstone, we have enjoyed following the autumn southward - we have been so fortunate to follow the colors of autumn and the very agreeable and refreshing weather along the way, and arriving in the Ozarks just in time to continue the trend. Once in Branson, we not only get to enjoy our visit with Tami and Kevin, but were pleasantly surprised that our nephew Ryan was home for the week-end for a bachelor party, although we missed his wife Kalen who had to stay in St. Louis to take care of previous obligations. We got to cheer for the Razorbacks as they defeated Texas A&M - in summary, we were fortunate to win as we played slightly less sloppy than the opponent. A highlight on Sunday evening was a boat tour on Table Rock Lake on Kevin and Tami's pontoon boat, with dinner at anchor in a cove as fish were feeding on the surface all around us - disappointed I didn't have my fly rod. Tami, Ryan, Charlcie Captain Kevin, first mate Tami, and pampered tourist Big Cedar Lodge

Over Snowy Range to Lincoln, NE

Leaving Saratoga, we took a leisurely pace over the Snowy Range mountains to the interstate in Laramie - we encountered few other people and the mountains were the prettiest we had ever seen them. Once we got to the interstate, we picked up the pace, except for an extended stop at the Sierra Trading Post outlet in Cheyenne to take advantage of the bargains we couldn't pass up. The disadvantage of speedier travel on the interstate is the prohibition of stops to take advantage of some very nice photo ops. But we did make an obligatory stop in Sidney, NE to partake of some runzas for lunch. After a long day on the road, we pulled in to Lincoln, NE for the night - regret we didn't have time to see more of the city, but we were in late and out early in order to arrive in Branson in time to see the Razorbacks play Texas A&M on television.

Encampment and Sierra Madres

Everett and Renie took us up through the historic western town of Encampment to the Sierra Madre mountains in the Medicine Bow National Forest. Yet another very impressive landscape. We were delayed for a few minutes in Encampment as a cattle drive was in progress right through town - with eight real cowboys and their cattle dogs moving the cows down the highway - a neat diversion. We went up the mountain as far as the Battle Lake campground - and on the return we were greeted with several rainbows, which we weren't able to adequately capture with the cameras, but we nevertheless were impressed and considered them good omens. Battle Lake in the valley below Historic marker at the Battle Lake overlook Renie took this picture that captures the incredible fall colors

In Saratoga to visit the Grubbs

For the second consecutive year, we were able to spend time in Saratoga, WY to visit my cousin Everett and his wife Renie, and some of their kids and grandkids. Last year we had visited in July to attend a family reunion. This year our stay was included as part of our grand tour because we are very fond of our relatives here and we always enjoy spending time with them. On our way from Lander, we made a stop in Sinclair to have lunch at the Su Casa restaurant – as recommended by our relatives who had grown up in this refinery town - it was worth the stop. In Saratoga, we were treated to dinner at the historic Wolf Hotel, lunch at Saratoga Inn, and dinner out in moose country at the Rendezvous. And in between, Renie fixed some wonderful meals. I fished in the North Platte for a few hours and did not meet with the same success as I had enjoyed last year. We also got the grand tour of the Saratoga area, including viewing all the homes and other properties that the family construction company have built. We just really enjoyed visiting with Everett and Renie, son Rory, son Lance and his wife Carly, and their two beautiful daughters Sophia and Haley. We have confirmed on this trip that we are very blessed to have such special family and friends and we are so looking forward to hopefully seeing all of them again in the near future. At the Rendezvous: left to right; Sophia, Lance, Haley, Carly, Everett, Renie, and you know the rest Haley with Cash Sophia and Cash Charlcie and Chili