We had a great time and got off the lake before the temperature got too hot.More fish tales later!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Another Fish Tale
Today, we went fishing on Lake Granada - about 5 minutes from our house in HSV. We started fishing at 6:15 AM and fished until 9 AM (the temp was beginning to get hot). We caught about 20 bass of various sizes - many in the 12" to 14" range. Rosie caught the "big fish of the day" with a 16.5" bass. Her arm got a real workout before we netted this guy.
We had a great time and got off the lake before the temperature got too hot.
More fish tales later!
We had a great time and got off the lake before the temperature got too hot.More fish tales later!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
2010 Purple Hull Pea Festival - Emerson, AR
Today Rosie and I drove down to Emerson, AR, to attend the annual Purplehull Pea Festival. We had heard a lot about the rototiller races and were interested to see this for ourselves. Really, we simply couldn't imagine how folks would race with rototillers (or why for that matter).
Well, it was quite interesting. There were two divisions: stock (as is) and modified. There were two "lanes" with a starting judge in the middle. Here's the starting judge saying, "Gentlemen (or ladies), start your tillers!" Also, as any tiller starter worth his salt, he's wearing overalls; even if the temperature was almost 100F.
Here's two of the stock tillers "racing" down the strip.
Next come a couple of the modified tillers. Both were fast and kicked up a lot of dirt.
We heard several complaints about the rule changes for the tiller races this year. Seems like the size of the engine on the modified tillers has been significantly reduced. Last year the modified tillers really roared down the track - some with large motorcycle engines. Oh well, maybe they'll revisit the rule changes after this year's festival.
One of the highlights of the festival for us was the pea sheller - this was a cool machine. Here's the sheller on its trailer.
The peas (purple hull of course) are added to the top - about a half-bushel.
The peas come out the side.
And the hulls drop out the bottom.
The pea sheller was able to shell a half-bushel of peas in 2-3 minutes. Wow - that would take me half of a day. We bought a half-bushel of shelled peas and brought them home to HSV. They look yummy. Naturally, we had lunch of peas, corn bread, peach cobbler, and SWEET iced tea.
There were also several antique tractors on display.
However, my guess is many of these are still used on a regular basis.
I don't know if we'll ever return to the Purple Pea Festival. Now that we've "been there and done that", we can mark it off the list. However, if you've never seen tiller races, it's an event of a lifetime.
Well, it was quite interesting. There were two divisions: stock (as is) and modified. There were two "lanes" with a starting judge in the middle. Here's the starting judge saying, "Gentlemen (or ladies), start your tillers!" Also, as any tiller starter worth his salt, he's wearing overalls; even if the temperature was almost 100F.
Here's two of the stock tillers "racing" down the strip.
Next come a couple of the modified tillers. Both were fast and kicked up a lot of dirt.
We heard several complaints about the rule changes for the tiller races this year. Seems like the size of the engine on the modified tillers has been significantly reduced. Last year the modified tillers really roared down the track - some with large motorcycle engines. Oh well, maybe they'll revisit the rule changes after this year's festival.One of the highlights of the festival for us was the pea sheller - this was a cool machine. Here's the sheller on its trailer.
The peas (purple hull of course) are added to the top - about a half-bushel.
The peas come out the side.
And the hulls drop out the bottom.
The pea sheller was able to shell a half-bushel of peas in 2-3 minutes. Wow - that would take me half of a day. We bought a half-bushel of shelled peas and brought them home to HSV. They look yummy. Naturally, we had lunch of peas, corn bread, peach cobbler, and SWEET iced tea.There were also several antique tractors on display.
However, my guess is many of these are still used on a regular basis.I don't know if we'll ever return to the Purple Pea Festival. Now that we've "been there and done that", we can mark it off the list. However, if you've never seen tiller races, it's an event of a lifetime.
Friday, June 25, 2010
HSV Anglers' Club / Cortez Tournament
The HSV Anglers' Club had a fishing tournament today (Friday, 25-JUN) from 6:30 AM to 11:30 AM on Lake Cortez in HSV. I fished as a co-angler with Dave Keith. Dave was the top angler today, and I took second place among the co-anglers. I had 3 bass with my biggest being 16.75". Dave and I also won the "boat prize" which is given to the angler/co-angler pair with the largest total weight of fish. Here's a picture of our winners. 
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Doug's Sand Volleyball Game
On Monday afternoon, 21-JUN, Rosie and I accompanied Doug to his sand volleyball game. Doug plays on a team with his roommate, Kyle, and friend, Tyler. In sand volleyball, there are two people on each team. Doug's team played three games against the opposing team; each team member played in two of the games.
Here's Doug serving the ball.
Next Doug and Tyler are waiting for the ball to come down.
Doug and Kyle are waiting on the ball.
Nothing like a little good "clean" fun. They were all covered with sand by the end of the match!
Traverse City, MI, with Doug and Ashley
On Saturday, 19-JUN, the four of us (Doug, Ashley, Rosie and Bob) left Midland for a day trip to Traverse City. Our first stop was lunch at the Old Mission restaurant on the Mission Peninsula. The food was excellent - as we expected. Doug and Ashley enjoyed the sites outside the restaurant.
After lunch, we headed to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. Doug and Ashley took time to pose in front of the lighthouse.
After a brief visit to the lighthouse, we headed to the Chateau Chantal winery. There are multiple vineyards and wineries on the peninsula. Here are several shots outside the winery. Editor's note, the day was a bit windy. Rosie's hair is typically not this wild looking.
Cherries are an important crop in this area of Michigan. Here's a cherry tree within "photo-op" of the car. 
After bumming around the peninsula, we headed back to town for a quick stop at the Traverse City Pie Company - always a great place to stop. Their cherry crumb and cherry-peach crumb pies are excellent choices.
We walked around in "downtown" Traverse City and before having dinner at a local pub. Yes - we basically ate our way around Traverse City - it was fun! After dinner we headed back to Midland.
Thanks to Doug and Ashley for a fun day in Traverse City, MI.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Inn At Cedar Falls
We left HSV on Wednesday, 16-JUN, heading for Doug's place in Midland, MI. On the way, we stopped for a brief visit in Cincinnati and a night at The Inn At Cedar Falls - one of our favorite places to stay in Ohio. The Inn is located near Logan, OH and Cedar Falls state park.
Following our check-in, we headed over to the park for a quick walk down to the falls. Here we are in front of the falls. Due to the recent rain, the water fall was running well.
We walked back up to the car park area but did stop for some "photo-ops" along the way.
Rosie also managed to get a good picture of a butterfly as we walked back up the trail.
Here's our little cabin in the woods.
We enjoyed sitting on the back porch. Our view was nothing but woods - very peaceful.
The food at the Inn is fantastic. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage on Friday morning before leaving for our drive to Midland.
The Inn at Cedar Falls is a place we can highly recommend to folks who need a quiet "get away" or a place to stay in central Ohio.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Canoeing Down the Buffalo River
On Monday. 07-JUN, Rosie and I canoed down part of the Buffalo River with Delma Jensen and her dad, Delmage Pharr. We drove up from HSV to the river access point (about 2.5 hrs) and stayed in a cabin on Sunday night. We started our canoe trip at about 8:30 on Monday morning.
As a bit of background, the Buffalo River is a national river located entirely in northern Arkansas. It was the first national river established by an act of Congress in 1972. The Buffalo is also one of the few remaining rivers in the lower 48 states that is not dammed. Its status as being a national river now protects the river and the surrounding area from destruction.
Now - back to the trip. For Sunday night we had a nice cabin that was really back in the woods. A one-lane road led down to the cabin which was totally surrounded by trees. Delma took a picture of Delmage, Rosie and me in the swing on the front porch. It was so nice and peaceful - very relaxing.
Here's the four of us getting ready to canoe down the Buffalo bright and early Monday morning. We had the river to ourselves.
Here's another photo of our put in point - Tyler Bend.
On Sunday afternoon there were several families swimming in the river at Tyler Bend. The water was rather shallow and very clear at this point.
Next are several photos Rosie took as we canoed down the river.
Delma and Delmage are having great fun paddling their canoe.
They seemed to do a better job than Rosie and I did of keeping theirs straight. We drifted sideways a lot - not the preferred technique.
Delmage did get to do a little fishing as we went down the river. He caught one little small mouth bass. However, we did see a lot of fish in the clear river water.
Our stopping point was Gilbert; 6 miles from our Tyler Bend starting point. Thankfully, there were some people fishing in the river and we asked them, "Where is Gilbert?" They told us we had arrived; the Gilbert sign was up on the hill. We would likely have missed it if it hadn't been for the fishermen.
It took us about 3 hours to make the trip. Luckily, we reached Gilbert about the time a thunder storm hit - not much lightening but a lot of rain. It passed quickly as we waited for our canoe livery folks to pick us up. It was then back to the car, a quick lunch at a local establishment and then the drive back to HSV. We had a great time and are ready to "float the Buffalo" again!
As a bit of background, the Buffalo River is a national river located entirely in northern Arkansas. It was the first national river established by an act of Congress in 1972. The Buffalo is also one of the few remaining rivers in the lower 48 states that is not dammed. Its status as being a national river now protects the river and the surrounding area from destruction.
Now - back to the trip. For Sunday night we had a nice cabin that was really back in the woods. A one-lane road led down to the cabin which was totally surrounded by trees. Delma took a picture of Delmage, Rosie and me in the swing on the front porch. It was so nice and peaceful - very relaxing.
Here's the four of us getting ready to canoe down the Buffalo bright and early Monday morning. We had the river to ourselves.
Here's another photo of our put in point - Tyler Bend.
On Sunday afternoon there were several families swimming in the river at Tyler Bend. The water was rather shallow and very clear at this point.Next are several photos Rosie took as we canoed down the river.
Delma and Delmage are having great fun paddling their canoe.
They seemed to do a better job than Rosie and I did of keeping theirs straight. We drifted sideways a lot - not the preferred technique.Delmage did get to do a little fishing as we went down the river. He caught one little small mouth bass. However, we did see a lot of fish in the clear river water.
Our stopping point was Gilbert; 6 miles from our Tyler Bend starting point. Thankfully, there were some people fishing in the river and we asked them, "Where is Gilbert?" They told us we had arrived; the Gilbert sign was up on the hill. We would likely have missed it if it hadn't been for the fishermen.It took us about 3 hours to make the trip. Luckily, we reached Gilbert about the time a thunder storm hit - not much lightening but a lot of rain. It passed quickly as we waited for our canoe livery folks to pick us up. It was then back to the car, a quick lunch at a local establishment and then the drive back to HSV. We had a great time and are ready to "float the Buffalo" again!
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