The Spa 10K - Hot Springs, AR

On Saturday morning, 22-NOV-08, Bob MacKendrick and Bob Callicott ran the Spa 10K in Hot Springs, AR. For those who don't know the conversion, 10K is a bit more than 6 miles. The run wouldn't be hard except for the fact that about 0.8 miles of the run is uphill. Starting at about mile 2.5, we faced a 0.5 mile uphill, 0.5 miles of relatively flat and then another 0.3 mile uphill. NOT FUN! However, the best part about running up a hill is knowing that you'll get to run DOWN. From mile 4 to the end, most of the run was either down hill or relatively flat.

The day was much colder than normal for this time of the year in Hot Springs. The normal low is about 38-40F. The temperature at race time was probably 25-30F - BURRRR! So we had to bundle up. Here we are before the race.

The start of the race!We're heading to the finish line (note: I always get excited when I see the end in sight).

Congratulating each other on finishing:Both Bobs did OK. Bob M. finished 2nd in his bracket- great job! RHC averaged 8:35 minutes/mile for the course. Pretty good for a couple of OLD GUYS.

Here's a picture of Ana MacKendrick, Bob M., Bob C. and Shirley before the race. Shirley, a friend from the HSV gym, did the 5 K race which starts at the top of the hill and comes down.

Well, I can say "I've been there and got the t-shirt" - an orange one in fact. So, I'm ready for next year, but hope the weather is a bit nicer. Any takers for 2009?

Tree Planting and Prunning

This week we decided to plant several trees under the pines behind the house. We initially planted a white dogwood and a pink dogwood. They're supposedly difficult to grow. However, they're guaranteed for 6 months and should bloom in the spring before the 6 months are up.

We also planted a red bud tree and sweet gum tree that we got at Home Depot. The trees were at a reduced price and guaranteed for 1 year.

Same picture as above but from another angle.

Ideally these trees - especially the dogwoods and the red bud - will give us beautiful spring color. All four should be colorful in the fall. We hope this will create some contrast to the green pines.

We have a weeping cherry in the front that was getting out of hand. We did some major trimming and tying the branches in place (more of a weeping drape). We also used a rope to pull the tree a bit more upright. This spring we'll see how our handiwork on the weeping cherry turns out.

Australia - Birds We Saw

We saw a lot of different birds during our trip to Australia. Many of them would be considered "exotic" here in the US. We don't know all the names but just wanted to let you have a look at some of the Australian birds.

Road Trip to Mt. Magazine

On Monday morning, Rosie, Bob and Sam (our faithful dog) left Hot Springs Village on a road trip to Mt. Magazine state park. Mt. Magazine is the highest point in Arkansas; woo hoo - bring out the oxygen - NOT. It's only 2200 ft above the surrounding area.

The drive up highway 7 (a scenic drive) was beautiful. There were lots of colorful trees against the green background of the pines - a great contrast. Here's a picture Rosie took from the car on our way to Mt. Magazine.

The drive took us a little over 2 hours. After we got to the state park, we stopped for a bio-break and picnic lunch. After lunch we headed to the Lodge. The view from the Lodge and the overlooks around the Lodge were really pretty.
Here's a picture of Rosie, Bob and Sam on the walkway behind the Lodge. Bob is wearing his Akubra hat he bought in Australia.
Here's a close-up of Sam taken behind the lodge.
Several people had to stop and pet him. He's always a big attraction.

After leaving the Lodge we drove around the circle at the top of the mountain (or close to the top). We stopped at several of the overlooks to take pictures. Here's a good shot of trees and rocks.
We call this next picture "carpet trees". The trees resemble a carpet pattern.
Next we have a picture of Bob blocking out the trees in the background. Oh well - so much for transparency.Here's a brightly colored tree Rosie captured on the drive in the park.

Finally, here's a scene Rosie really liked of the light coming through the trees. It may not come through too well on the blog picture, but it was beautiful in real life!It may not be New England or the Rocky Mountains, but we had a great day and enjoyed the beauty of God's creation. Hope all of you are having a beauty filled fall.

Australia - Returning Home - October 12

Time to Return Home

Sunday, October 12, was our last day in Australia. We had a leisurely breakfast and a relaxing walk through a Chinese garden near our hotel. At 10:30 am we had a brief group get-together where we shared some of our best experiences of the trip. Surprisingly for us, the opera at the Sydney Opera House was one of our best experiences on the Elderhostel tour. We say "surprisingly" since we're not opera buffs. At 11:30 we caught the bus for the trip to the Sydney airport.

We want to thank Elderhostel and especially, Phil Hayes, for a great tour of Australia. Phil was an excellent leader and made all of us feel comfortable during the entire trip. Here's a picture of Phil (on the right) with our Sydney site leader, Russel.

We also want to thank the Fletcher family (including Saffie) for taking us in for a week. We had an exciting week in Canberra and fun just "hanging out" with them. This really allowed us to get our feet on the ground before starting our Elderhostel tour.

Our flight back to the USA was uneventful - as all good flights are. We arrived in LAX a bit early and had plenty of time to relax before catching our flight from LAX to DFW - which left on time and arrived a bit early. John was there to meet us at the airport.

We want to thank John and Jennifer Stonecipher and family for taking care of us in Ft. Worth. John picked us up at the airport, Jennifer cooked some great meals for us, and we enjoyed getting to see Savannah, Whitney, Blayne and Reagan. They're such a great family. They also took care of Sam for the last few days before we got back - thank you very much for dog-sitting.

We also want to thank Becky and Keith Beckham and family for taking care of our dog, Sam. We knew he was in good hands while we were in Australia.

Finally, we want to thank Julie and Dale Stoncecipher for putting us up - again - before we flew out. Julie got up extra early to drive us to the airport on Wednesday morning, September 17. Thanks, too, for the road snacks for our return drive to Arkansas.

We left Ft. Worth Monday morning, October 13, at about 9:30. The drive through Dallas was interesting as construction delays made for messy traffic. Oh well - it makes us glad we live in HSV, where more than 5 cars is "rush hour." We got back to HSV at about 4 pm. It was great to get back home!

Australia - Bridge Climb - October 11

Climb the Bridge!

On Saturday we had a free day in Sydney. Our friend, Lorraine, had made reservations for the 3 of us to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The climb takes you to the top of the bridge for a fantastic view of Sydney harbor (and a lot of the surrounding area). We were very impressed by the safety of the climb; the climb company had obviously worked through many issues over the years and had continually improved their product. Everything was attached to the suit we wore. Also, we were not allowed to take anything with us - no cameras, watches, etc. We were "attached" to a line the during the entire climb.

Here are several shots of the bridge we took prior to the climb. If you look closely, you can see the people (look like ants) on the bridge.

Surprisingly, the climb was fairly easy. We stopped often to rest and enjoy the view. Here's a picture of Bob, Rosie and our friend, Lorraine, from near the top of the bridge with the Sydney Opera House in the background.

Thanks, Lorraine, for making the arrangements; climbing the Bridge was a great experience.