Heber Springs Arkansas! A trip to Greers Ferry, just enjoying time with family!

 April 11th  we left Branson MO and headed for Heber Springs where our son Bryan and wife Cheryl settled last August.  We had a beautiful drive through the Ozarks and landed at Bryan and Cheryl's about 1300. We ended up having a later lunch and just visiting with them. 

One of the reasons we're here. Ken got the hearth done and
                the basic fireplace in. We have to find the kit and 
rest of the parts for when we're back in September/October. 

Cheryl made an awesome sheet pan chicken and veggies for dinner. YUM. 

All the days run together honestly. I Know Bryan barbecued an awesome tri tip one night and we had cauliflower pizza one night. I made cabbage lasagna and that lasted two nights with a caesar salad. Every night was delicious food! 

Bryan's place 

Planning for where the firepit will go! 

Chery's garden on the day we got there! 

                                             They've got six chickens

Cheryl and I went to the thrift store in town, but i ended up with nothing. They have a beautiful nursery just down the road from them. Got a few plants for her.

We went to Lowe's in Searcy, Arkansas to pick out bricks for the fireplace. Got what they needed to get the job started. We took two cars just because. Cheryl and I went to TJ Maxx just for fun. 

We did make a trip to the local liquor store, as Cleburne County is dry, so we had to go to the next county to pick up some beer and wine. You do what you have to do 😁 Bryan bought us sweatshirts from our favorite Arkansas liquor store 😀

We did go to the Aarow Cafe one morning (Saturday I think) I had a great brunch with a chicken sandwich. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. 

Yesterday we took a ride around some of the town roads and ended up near Greers Ferry Lake. Beautiful. 

Today we decided we were going to brunch at Bentley's Restaurant on Greeers Ferry Lake. It was awesome, we all enjoyed it! It is a dry county, so no alcohol was served. The iced tea was awesome though! 

We took the long way home and it was beautiful! After we got back to Bryan's, Ken and I headed for Walmart once again, to pick up stuff I can cook tomorrow to start getting us home again. 

We are heading to Ken's brother's home in TN Saturday morning. We don't have long to stay, but figure a little is better none at all :)

Tomorrow is a cooking day for me, to get ready for us to start heading home. We'll be back end of September or beginning of October to finish the install. Hopefully Adam and Erin can come near the same time! 

Bentley's Restaurant. Great food! 

Bryan playing out there with Raider! 

Ok, this had a place of deja vu. Night before I had a dream that Ken
drove into the water somewhere and my car and us went under.  Ken and
Bryan thought this would be the way home rather than listening to the girl in the car. Sign said "Road ends, water
1000 feet" UH..heebie jeebies!! 

I posted this post last week and then realized it needed some tweaking. Didn't get to it until today. The days jar fly by. 

At this point we've left Bryan's and gone to TN to spend a couple of days with Don and Dana. Now we are headed home and are in Hazen, Arkansas for the night. Will be posting a new blog shortly 😁

Happy Hour with the Hubby!  Have a great night!! 

Laramie, Wy to Lincoln, Nebraska and now we're in Branson, MO! Heber Springs tomorrow! :)

 Tuesday morning about 0730 we left Laramie after a horrible night's sleep for me. I swear they forgot to put the mattress on the box springs! We've stayed in several Motel 6's along the way before, especially when we were moving Bryan and Cheryl to Arkansas. They don't charge for animals and they've always been great! 

A great drive across Wyoming and Nebraska. Our goal was Lincoln, Nebraska and we made it. I made reservations at a Travelodge and it was great! Newly remodeled and everything was brand new! The bed was awesome! 

When I had just turned 6 years old and in 1st grade in FL, Lincoln was
my favorite president. For Christmas that year I got a brand 
new desk and a puzzle of the US. I also got a book all about
President Lincoln. I believe this book inspired my love of reading.
I remember sitting at the desk all day reading and putting 
together the puzzle. 😀 I still have a special place for Abe! 

What he's looking at in Wyoming! 

Our view from the Travelodge in Lincoln, NE. Added bonus,
trains all night long! 😁

This morning (Wednesday) we left around 0740 and headed out. Our goal was Springfield, MO for the night. A beautiful drive, not a lot of traffic other than hitting some commute traffic this morning. No problems though and nothing like other cities we've seen! 

We got through Kansas City MO with no problems. As we neared Springfield we decided we'd be there too early to check into the motel so we moved on and decided to head for Branson, MO. We did make a stop at Ozark, MO to pick up a few things at Walmart. 

coming into Kansas City, MO

Crossing the bridge with our dirty, bug filled windshield

No desire to visit, but it's a big city! 

WE've been to Branson in the past and thought it'd be a great place to spend the night and it's only 142 miles away from Bryan and Cheryl's place in the morning! 

We hit rain and a little fog as we neared Branson! We got checked into our room at a Baymont  Thousand  Hills motel.  Newly remodeled and it's beautiful! Everything again is brand new and top of the line. The bed is incredible! Reasonably priced too! 

The highway was beautiful! 

Coming into Branson 😁

The rain was pouring as we got registered. We asked for first floor and we are right where we can see the car. 

We've had a little thunder and heavy rain as we've enjoyed ourselves during happy hour! 🍺🍷

Now for some dinner and then tomorrow we will head for Bryan and Cheryl's house!💙💖 Have a great evening from rainy Branson, MO!

Some spraying, Arkansas bound, Wendover, Utah and now Laramie, Wyoming for the night

 Last Saturday the weather cooperated so we could spray the weeds that pop up yearly at our place. We'd been waiting for good weather and it finally happened. No wind and mild temps. 

It was so pretty sitting on the quad, while Ken was spraying 

In the morning we each did our thing and then around 1100 or so I got on the quad and Ken followed behind with the magic wand to spray. We didn't want to be gone for a few weeks and come home to a jungle in the desert. 

With that done we knew we could leave for Arkansas on Sunday morning. Saturday evening we headed next door for a good bye Happy Hour with John, Karen and Linda (who's visiting from So Cal). Hugged the puppies too! 

We wanted to leave about 0700 but got out of there 0730, so that's ok. We thought we were going to go 50/70 across but when we were nearing Ely, NV decided to head up to I80. You know how that goes LOL! 

For a small car it holds a lot when the seats are folded down

Highway 50 on the way to Austin, NV

Mc Gill  NV quiet little town on a Sunday!

We drove to Wendover, UT just over the Nevada border and got a room at the Super 8 there. Very reasonable and newly remodeled, everything in the room was brand new. We enjoyed our evening with Happy Hour and then we had oven fried chicken, potato salad and coleslaw that I brought from home. Reminds me of when we were kids heading to Arkansas to visit grandparents and cousins every summer. Mom would cook up a storm and we'd eat in the hotels. Every once in awhile Daddy would go get us hamburgers (Not McDonalds) and fries in whatever town we were spending the night. I can still smell the smell of the paper it was wrapped in 😋

Gotta say hello to Wendover Will! 

This morning we got out of there about 0730 (we were hoping for 0700) LOL. We had breakfast burritos I brought from home and we heated in the Hot Logic and then at lunch sandwiches I made this morning in the motel room. This way we can drive and eat LOL. We are on a mission to get there! Hopefully on the way home, it'll be easier driving. 😊

A little weather nearing Salt Lake City

Utah, out of Salt Lake City

Tonight finds us in Laramie, Wyoming in a Motel 6. Why? We wanted a place we can park right outside the room and carry things in from the car. We have everything we need with us, so a simple room is ok. Price is right too! LOL. 

Tomorrow we hope to be around Lincoln, Nebraska and then we'll go from there! 

Happy Hour and a movie. Life is good! 💙

A wonderful Easter weekend and beyond. Love our Family, Happy Birthday Karen!

Last Friday Russell, Lori and Adam were here with us. We so enjoyed the night and on Saturday Diane and Jesse joined us. 

Not only was it Easter weekend, it was Karen's 60th Birthday on Saturday. John wanted to plan a surprise birthday party for her so Izzie (Karen's mom) and I put it together. We went with a Mexican theme and some extra dips. Karen was definitely surprised. 

We all had a good evening and ending with a surprise snow.  

Some new glasses that were used later in the evening

Jesse 

Gluten free cake I made her 

Jesse, Adam, Russell, Ken and Karen's friend Linda 

Jesse and Adam 

Diane and Karen

Sunday morning was Easter. I cooked in the outdoor kitchen for everyone and then Lori and I enjoyed Champagne Sunday. OH YES we did! LOL. 

We were going back to Karen's later in the day to enjoy Easter dinner. Ken smoked a small turkey and I cooked a Conder Ranch ham. Both turned out delicious! 

Monday morning Russell and Lori left to head home. Great spending time with them. 💕💖 Nothing better than family! 

It was a pretty slow day. Much needed. LOL. Did a little cleaning and that was it. 

Jesse went out for a ride in the Can Am and Adam did a hike in the desert. 

Later in the afternoon we all met out back for a nice fire and barbecue. 

Enjoying the day until a fire was needed

Delicious burgers with anaheim chilies

Adam enjoying his dinner by the fire 

Tuesday morning Adam left early to head to work. He left about 0545 as he had a 2 hour PTO time because of a safety award. He didn't have to be there until 0900. Diane and Jesse left about 1000 to head home to the Sacramento area. 

Jesse and his mom Diane💙

We left not long after as we needed to pick up Ken's prescriptions in Gardnerville. A nice linner at Sharkey's and then back home. It's been so cold and windy this week that we've been inside enjoying a nice fire. 

Wednesday we made a trip to Carson City and our Subaru dealer to meet with the techy guy to answer questions we had. Well, apparently they let him go so our salesman Pablo helped us with that. He is a great young man. Got a $25.00 VISA card that we spent on gas. 

Thursday and Friday we've spent the days getting ready to head for Arkansas. We're hoping to leave on Sunday if all goes as planned. Monday at the latest. 

We had a great weekend with our family and friends.💖 Life is good! 💖

Adam's sign board in the El Dorado National Forest 👏

A quick catch up!

 Good Friday Morning! Waking  up to a cool, cloudy morning here in Yerington, NV. 

Erin was in a wedding last weekend. Love this picture of
Adam and Erin!💙

Such a cute pic of 4 cousins when they were into BMX Racing!
Mason, Seth, Jacob and Aaron 💙 Now they're all grown up! 

💙

Cousins! Russell and Jesse! 

The time has flown once again! Last week Ken had his angiogram done and came out with nothing but good news. No blockages were seen. The doctor saw improved heart function since the last procedure was done. Some of the best news we've had in a long time! 😃

WE've been home mostly, just getting a few things done. Hard to believe it's Easter this weekend and then it's on to April already. 

Bryan got a new toy last week. A brand new zero turn 
lawnmower. 😀

Went to Tru Value last week and now we are half owners 
of chickens with John and Karen. They've got the coop! :)

Since I was going to be cooking for a lot of the day in the
outdoor kitchen, Ken suggested champagne to start the
day! Who am I to argue?! 🥂

Ken's used this 2 burner stove a few times but I hadn't til
yesterday. I love it and will definitely be using it more! 

A good days work 😁

WE have an appointment on Wednesday with a techy guy at Michael Hohl Subaru, where we bought my car. He's supposed to show us how to work all the gadgets on the car. We'll do some shopping after that.

A few days later the plan is to head out to Arkansas for a bit. Bryan got a wood stove delivered the other day and Ken will help get it ready to be installed. Some brick work etc. We definitely don't want to be there for the eclipse. Heber Springs will have over 4 minutes of eclipse, so the place will be packed. Actually, we don't want to be in any of the states that has a good viewing of the eclipse. LOL. Another reason, they're jacking up motel rates everywhere. So we'll wait a bit. 😀 This trip we're taking the car. When we return in October we'll take the Mansion. 

Hoping for some company this weekend, but it all depends on weather over the Sierras. We shall see. 

Enjoy your day, time to get this one going here!