2009 Hot Springs Spa 10K and 5K

On Saturday, 21-NOV-2009, we (Rosie & Bob) ran/walked the Spa 5/10K in Hot Springs, AR. The Hot Springs Spa 10K is always the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I guess after running/walking on Saturday, you don't feel so bad about "pigging out" over the next week. The race started at 8 am. The temperature at start time was about 50F. Much nicer than the 25-30F start temperature from last year.

Here's a group of Hot Springs Village residents (i.e. Village People), getting ready for the Spa Walk/Run.From left to right: Jean, Rosie, Barbara, Bob and Shirley.

We stayed inside the Hot Springs convention center as long as we could. Here's Bob and Rosie heading to the starting line.Rosie walked/ran the 5K in 40:38 or about 13.06/mile. Bob ran the 10K in 52.53 or about 8:32/mile. Both of us had a great time and look forward to next year. We hope you can join us. Just be sure to put in some "hill training" if you run the 10K. From mile 2.5 to 4 is almost all uphill. But from mile 4 to the finish is nice - plenty of downhill.

Leaf Looking - Drive to Mt. Petit Jean

On Saturday, 24-OCT, we drove to Mt. Petit Jean (about 75 miles north) to see the fall colors. Although the colors weren't at their peak, we still saw some very pretty sites both at Petit Jean and along the way. Here's the first photo taken from the car on the way up.

We stopped at the first lookout in the park. We not only saw some pretty trees but also some black vultures just "hanging out." They weren't camera shy.We next stopped at a place where we could get a good look at Cedar Falls. Since we've had a lot of rain in Arkansas, the falls was flowing very nicely (and making a lot of noise).We also got some good views back down through the valley.Here's a picture Rosie took on the way back.The green pine trees really make the color stand out.

We also stopped at The Shack - our favorite place to get an old fashioned hamburger. Since we had already had lunch, we shared a small peanut butter/hot fudge shake. Yummy!

We simply couldn't resist this final photo. Each year during hunting season, the local liquor establishments put up signs saying, "Welcome Hunters." That seems like a great idea - NOT! That's all we need - a bunch of "liquored-up" hunters roaming around the woods. Maybe this is an evil animal rights plot; i.e. drunk hunters don't shoot straight.We hope you're enjoying the changing seasons and getting a chance to see some of God's beauty.

Fishing with the HSV Anglers' Club

On Friday, , 23-OCT, I (Bob) fished in a tournament with the HSV Anglers' Club; Dallas Middlekauff was my partner and we fished from his boat. We have tournaments about twice/month during the "warmer" months. However, Friday was not one of those warmer or nicer days. The temperature was about 50F and the wind was 5-15 mph; a pretty blustery day to be on the water.

In spite of the lousy weather, I had an OK fishing day. I caught a largemouth bass that weighed about 2.5 lbs and a striper that probably weighed 8-10 lbs. The striper was especially fun to catch since I was using lightweight fishing tackle. He fought hard and took more than 5 minutes to get into the boat.
I also won the "big bass of the day" prize for my largemouth bass. What a surprise!

Trip to Texas

On Friday, 02-OCT, we (Rosie and Bob) left HSV headed for Killeen, TX, and Ft. Hood. Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie live in Ft. Hood after returning from Japan. We had a fun but short visit with them at Ft. Hood; on Saturday morning all of us packed up and headed for Dickinson, TX, to see Karen, Shane, Logan and Kayleigh. This would be the first time all 4 grandkids were together. It was also Chris and Amy's first time to see Logan and Kayleigh and Karen and Shane's first time to see Lottie (actually Shane's first time to see Adam, too).

Bapa (aka Bob) and Lottie are getting ready to leave Ft. Hood on Saturday morning.

Aunt Amy holding Kayleigh.

A key reason we all went to Dickinson was to see Kayleigh's baby dedication at their church - The Magnolia Creek Baptist Church. Here's Karen, Shane and Kayleigh with the pastor at the front of the church.Well - here's the picture you've waited for - the 4 grandkids all together.From the left: Lottie, Adam, Kayleigh and Logan. Aren't they a cute looking bunch!

Chris got a chance to play with Kayleigh. However, I think the dogs wanted to join in the fun.
After lunch it was POOL TIME! The kids and some of the adults really enjoyed Karen and Shane's pool. However, it was a bit cool that day, but not bad to be able to get in the pool in early October.
We had a great time with the kids, spouses and grandkids. We plan to get together again at Thanksgiving; this time Doug and friend, Ashley, will get to join us.

Cincinnati Kobe Ladies

The title may sound a bit confusing, but there is logic behind it. Five ladies from Cincinnati that lived in Kobe, Japan, the same time as Rosie and Bob (yes, all their husbands worked for P&G), drove down to HSV for a brief visit. They arrived on Friday morning after spending the night in Memphis, TN. On Friday afternoon, Rosie took the ladies to Hot Springs. One of the stops was at a pottery shop. Here are the ladies (from left to right): Brenda Baird, Betty Johnston, Sharon Coleman, Cindy Long and Barb Kitko.

In Hot Springs they took a bath house tour.Between visiting and making cards, they went to the Rochelle's Tea Thyme Treasures in Lonsdale for lunch.Barb Kitko's sister, Linda, also lives in HSV. Two of our visitors spent Friday and Saturday night with Linda and husband, Ted. Linda got to join the group for many of their activities.

We hope the ladies had a good time; Rosie certainly did! We hope they visit again and bring their husbands next time.

Karen, Logan and Kayleigh's visit to HSV

Karen, Logan and Kayleigh got to visit us in HSV from Sunday, 13-SEP, until Friday, 18-SEP. We had a great time and really enjoyed their visit. The weather was rather rainy all week, but we did have enough breaks to get outside. Bapa (aka Bob) and Logan enjoyed playing outside in the rocks.

When the weather got a bit drier (on their last day in HSV), we had fun loading the big dump truck with rocks and dumping them out. We also has a great time throwing rocks into Lake Sophia; a short walk from our house. Bapa would find rocks and Logan would throw them - a great division of labor.We also took a quick trip to the storage facility to see Bapa's boat. Logan had a great time driving and playing in the boat. He especially liked to play with a piece of rope.Gram (aka Rosie) was busy making a t-shirt quilt for Shane. Kayleigh was a great helper.Gram also enjoyed playing with the kids at "toy central."The toys we've kept over the years are now coming in handy.

Our friends from HSV, Wayne and Delma Jensen, came over to see Karen and Logan and meet Kayleigh for the first time. Wayne got a chance to hold Kayleigh. Karen and Logan got a picture with Delma before she had to go.

The three girls, Rosie, Karen and Kayleigh, has a girls' luncheon at the Tea Room in Lonsdale. I think they had a great time. Kayleigh is doing a great job of sitting up. She also got a chance to wear Gram's crocheted shawl and cap.Finally, here's a good shot of Karen and Logan. I think Mom is teaching him how to take photos.We had a great visit and plan to see them again soon - in 2 weeks in Dickinson, TX!

Dow Gardens, Midland, MI

While Doug was at work, we (Rosie and Bob) visited the Dow Gardens; not far from Doug's house. The Gardens are 110 acres of beautiful horticultural displays. They were started by Herbert H. Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical.

We'll walk you through some parts of the Gardens. Here's Rosie in front of a waterfall:

The water fall is part of the stream that flows through the entire Gardens.There are many interesting bridges in the Gardens. Bob is standing on the "Red" bridge. This is followed by the "Sun" bridge. The Sun bridge reflects in the water to make a complete circle.Here's Rosie in front of some flowers and grasses plus additional flowers around the Gardens.

Rosie is standing by "Dora." Dora is "an Alden Dow stature modeled after a "Sprite" designed by Alfonso Lanelli and Frank Lloyd Wright."

Our last stop was the rose garden. We saw some interesting colored roses and enjoyed the nice display of grasses.We thoroughly enjoyed our early Fall trip to Dow Gardens, but look forward to seeing the Gardens in the Spring. We think Springtime in the Dow Gardens would be outstanding. Maybe next year!