April 1 / HSV Day at Oaklawn Park Race Track

Sunday, 01-APR, was Hot Springs Village Day at the Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, AR.  Villagers got free parking, free entrance into the track and a $2.00 voucher (for betting or simply taking the money - we took the money).  So - after church on Sunday, Rosie and I made a quick stop by home to change clothes and head out to Oaklawn Park.  Here's the "well trained horse" at the entrance to the track.

We enjoyed watching the owners and trainers getting the horses ready for the race.

The horses are heading for the gate.  Looks like a parade to me!

The winning horse had a comfortable lead at the finish line.

 The track infield was really nice.

We also went to the restaurant on the second floor (based on input from track regulars) to get a corned beef sandwich for lunch.  The sandwich was delicious; much better than the one we got during our last visit to the track (two years ago during HSV day).

We had great weather and stayed at Oaklawn for about 1.5 hrs before heading off for other errands in Hot Springs.  

Azeleas at Garvan Woodland Gardens

On Friday, 30-MAR, Rosie and I stopped by Garvan Woodland Gardens to see the azaleas.  The azaleas plus other flowering trees were beautiful.

Here's Rosie by a flowering tree at the start of our tour.

The view down the trail was really colorful.

We always enjoy the Japanese lantern.

Here's Rosie with some of the azaleas.

I'm sitting in front of white and pink azaleas.

We also saw some pretty wildflowers.

Rosie got a nice photo of a butterfly landing on red azaleas.

The carp were also busy searching for food.  These guys were so big we could see them from above the carp pond.

It was a great day at Garvan Gardens!

Rosie's First Bass of 2012

Rosie caught her first bass of 2012 at Lake Coronado.  Here she is with her prized catch.  

 Way to go!

Gone With The Wind - The Old Mill

On Friday, 23-MAR, Rosie and I visited the Old Mill in T.R. Pugh Memorial Park in North Little Rock, AR.  The Old Mill is on the National Historic Register and was in the opening scenes of the movie, Gone With The Wind.  The Old Mill was completed in 1933.  It was designed to represent an old abandoned grain mill - like many across the state.  Here are some pictures of the mill.

The bridges and other items around the mill look like wood, iron or stone.  However, they're all made of concrete.

We also enjoyed the flowers floating in the water trough.

After we finished at the park, we drove to Scott, AR, for lunch at Cotham's restaurant.  Cotham's is the home of the Hubcap hamburger and supposedly one of Bill Clinton's favorite places to eat.

Of course we got the chicken fried steak with lots of gravy, mashed potatoes and turnip greens - YUM!  We washed this down with lots of iced tea. 

On Spring Break in Fredericksburg, TX

On Thursday, 15-MAR, Chris, Amy, Adam, Lottie, Rosie and I left Ft. Hood and headed for Fredericksburg, TX.  We hoped to enjoy the wildflowers, the beautiful scenery and some good food.  Here's Chris, Amy and me in front of our cabin.

Here's the inside of our room - complete with squeaky bed.

Love that cow skin rug?

The first afternoon we were there, we made time to get into the hot tub.  Lottie, Adam and I enjoyed the hot tub.  When Lottie got in she said, "The water is hot!"  Yep - that why we call it a "hot tub."  From then on, she was ready to get into the tub every day.

That first night we made a fire outside, roasted marshmallows and made somemores.  YUM - they were delicious!  Chris and I toasted marshmallows for our somemores.

Here's we are making and eating somemores.

On Friday morning we went to the Pioneer Village in Fredericksburg.  The Village was having a special program since it was spring break for most of the Texas schools.  Lottie is working to clean the Sunday home, a "town house" used on Sundays when people came from the farm into town for church.  She's a hard worker!

Chris had fun with a pioneer flying toy.  He's pretty good at it.

The kids enjoyed looking at some of the weapons used in early Texas.  Notice that Lottie chose the most dangerous one!   

There was also a storyteller at the Village.  He was entertaining and told some great stories.  He also had a wide assortment of pioneer toys.

At the one room school house, I showed my talent with the spinning button toy.  However, their replacement of a button (heavier) with a piece of cardboard didn't allow the toy to work as designed.  But it still brought back many memories.

One of the docents is showing Adam how to sew on a button.  She was very patient.

The boys got the opportunity to sit/kneel in the bluebonnets.  Aren't we a good looking crew?  We also have a close-up of a bluebonnet.

On Friday afternoon we all went out into the yellow flowers to get a few photos.

 

Early Saturday morning we got our breakfast to go and headed out to pick our own strawberries.  We had a great time picking and got some tasty strawberries quickly.  Chris and Lottie are working hard to pick strawberries.

 We're showing off our berries.  Don't they look delicious?

The strawberry farm also had some beautiful peach trees in full bloom.  They are the only "pick your own" peach farms in the Hill Country of Texas.  We took the opportunity to get some pictures among the peach blossoms.

After picking strawberries, we headed over to the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site.  The first area we went to was the Sauer-Beckmann farm; typical of a 1900-1915 working farm.  There were plenty of animals at the farm.  However, one of my favorite parts was the kitchen - it smelled "heavenly."  The food looked really tasty.  Bummer - they didn't offer us a single bite.

 Here I am in the laundry room.  Don't I look like a natural at this?

 Adam, Lottie and I enjoyed a little time on the porch swing.

We drove over to the show barn on the LBJ Ranch.  Aren't the horn brands neat?  We've never seen this before.

 After the show barn we drove over to the LJB house.  Here's the officer telling us about the house before we go on the tour.

Lottie is "making a call" from an old telephone at the LBJ boyhood home.

On Saturday afternoon, we hit the hot tub again - at Lottie's request.  On Sunday morning we had breakfast in town, checked out and headed for Enchanted Rock.  The climb to the top was fairly easy thanks to the wind at our back.  Adam and Lottie did a great job of climbing to the top.  Rosie and I are at the top with Nani.  However, we didn't stay there long due to the gusty wind.

Yep - we made it back to the bottom.

 Here's Chris' family at the Summit Trail sign.  Oh, yes - Nani was also a great rock climber.

After we got back to the cars, we headed towards Ft. Worth to visit Julie and Dale Stonecipher.  Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie headed back to Ft. Hood.  We had a great time in Fredericksburg.  Thanks to Chris and Amy (especially Amy) for all the trip planning.