Friday, December 31, 2004

Eureka Springs, Ark

Eureka Springs, a 19th century Victorian village nestled in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, is known for its historic buildings and downtown. The entire downtown area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a neat place.



We decided to drive up for the weekend and celebrate New Years somewhere new. This is a laid back charming place. It is a peaceful place. The weather was great and we explored the town and the areas around it for 3 days. At this time of year, a lit of the restaurants and shops are closed. There were a lot of people out and about but it wasn't crowded by any means. I like visiting places in their off season. That is when you get a true sense of the area.



This town is loaded with Bed and Breakfast, Inns, Motels, Hotels and restaurants. Downtown offers a lot of speciality shops. They are also known for the Passion Play.



Saturday, September 11, 2004

Colorado Road Trip 2004



We both love Colorado. We have been known to catch a flight and go for a long weekend. In September decided it was time for our Colorado fix. So we loaded up the jeep and drove from Dallas to Colorado for a wonder ten day vacation.


It was also the the week that Durango has it's annual Roaring thru the Rockies Bike rally. We made reservations for a cabin on the Delores River at Priest Gulch RV Park.


The campground/RV Park features 88 sites, many right on the river. Each site is spacious and has a picnic table and fire ring. They offer free firewood to our guests. They are open May 1 through October. It is a beautiful place We would love to live there! Priest Gulch - In the heart of the San Juan Skyway - longest National Forest Scenic Byway in the country.


The campground is located between Delores and Telluride.

We spent a day in Durango during bike rally and parade. We spent another day riding the Durango- Silverton Narrow Gauge train. This was so much fun and I shot a lot of pictures.


The train is a historic coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive. It winds through 46 miles of the San Juan National Forest to the old mining town of Silverton.


In Silverton we had a couple of hours to explore. We had lunch and shopped.

Then we rode the train back to Durango. We spent a day exploring Telluride. This is a neat little town with lots of photo ops

Every evening we looked forward to returning to our cabin. We would build a fire in our fire ring next to the river and listen to the soothing sounds of the water roll past us. This was a really relaxing trip.

Friday, September 10, 2004

The Trike

Dawn has said she was going to buy a motorcycle for her fiftieth birthday.



Even though she is not fifty yet, she bought a Honda Gold Wing and had a Trike conversion put on it. Short legs create a problem for people that insist on large bikes!

It took a few weeks to get the conversion kit done. She couldn't wait to get to drive it.

She just beemed when she finally brought it home. I believe it is the largest toy she has had so far!

We have more fun on that thing. We go on Sunday rides with friends and cruise around town. We ride when it's cold, windy or HOT.

She really loves that thing. She spends her Saturday evenings washing and waxing it for the Sunday rides.


Thursday, March 25, 2004

San Antonio Trip


We decided it would be fun to take Mom to San Antonio for her 60th birthday. We decided to fly because time was limited for all of us. We flew Southwest Airlines out of Dallas Love Field to San Antonio on a Thursday night.



Mother doesn't have much experience flying and was a little nervous. As we were boarding the plane I mentioned to the flight attendant that it was Mom's birthday. Once we were in the air, the flight attendant made the announcement that it was her birthday. everyone on the plane sang Happy Birthday To You. The flight attendant then presented her with a bottle of bubbly and a bag of snacks. The flight was a lot of fun.




We had made reservations at a hotel downtown. We had a nice large room for the four of us to share.

We spent the weekend exploring the river walk, Alamo and all the other neat things San Antonio has to offer. We had a great time and ate a lot. Good thing we walked so much.






"Happy 60th Birthday Mom"

Friday, February 13, 2004

South Beach and Key West


This was our first trip to Miami, FL. We went with a couple of dear friends. We flew from Dallas to Miami for a week long adventure in Florida. We rented a car in Miami and stayed the first night in South Beach.

South Beach is a colorful town loaded with art deco buildings. The beaches are beautiful with the white sand and the weather was great even though it was early February. The people here party until the wee hours of the morning. Did I mention how expensive everything is in South Beach? Everything, food, drink and hotels are very expensive here.


After a good nights rest and a hardy breakfast, we drove through the many keys to Key West. It is interesting how different each key is. It was a fun drive.

Key Largo Florida is the first of the Florida Keys as you drive south from Miami. Key Largo to be amongst the finest in the world for diving.

Islamorada is known as the Sports fishing Capital of the World. As called “purple isles”, named for the violet sea snails in the area. Located on Upper Matecumbe Key, the Islamorada area actually spans from Long Key to south Plantation Key, covering an area of about twenty miles.


Marathon Florida is the halfway point in the string of islands called the Florida Keys. It's Mile Marker 50, with Key West at Mile Marker 0 and Key Largo more or less at Mile Marker 100. It's home to the Seven Mile Bridge and anglers know this is the place to be in Spring for Tarpon fishing. Marathon Florida, as the heart of the Florida Keys.


Big Pine Key is is the second largest Key in the Florida Keys, after Key Largo. It's also got more trees and deer than most of the other Keys, and features a large preserve for both. The tiny deer are federally protected and stand less than three feet tall. Mid-twentieth century hunters nearly decimated the Key Deer population on Big Pine Key, and cars did a good job as well.

It was late afternoon when we arrived at Key West. We checked into our hotel, freshened up and began exploring.

Key West is small but offers a lot. They have sport fishing, museums, historical attractions, lots of dining options, fabulous sunsets and plenty of bars. This is a happening place. It's the most populated, the most visited, and has the most preserved historical buildings in the Florida Keys. We found that it is very laid back in Key West and the parties go late. You can walk everywhere. The weather was great and the people are friendly. We rented an electric car that we drove around. The food was good too. The sunsets are beautiful in the keys.