Friday, April 30, 2010

Spring Vacation to Texas

Gil and I love vacations in April because the weather is so nice - not too cool and not too hot! We reently went to Mena, AR, in our motorhome to look at houses there in anticipation of moving there if/when our house sells in Camden. After spending two nights at Iron Mountain, just south of Mena, at the CMA campgroud and looking at about a dozen houses, we headed south to Texarkana, then west to my Aunt Margie's for a visit. We also visited Jeff and Patty Fletcher, my cousin, and their daughter and grandson.

We camped in Canton for three nights, then headed to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to see dear friends, Sylvia and Lucio Bustamante, whom I have known since 1968 when they and I lived in Germany. It was a wonderful visit with them and we tried to catch up on news of children and grandchildren and the past 40 years of not seeing each other.

After a wonderful time with the Bustamantes, we headed to McKinney, TX, just north of Dallas to visit my cousin, Charlie Haddox, his wife Judy and their 16-year-old daughter Sarah. Charlie and Judy showed us around the area of lovely homes, downtown McKinney, and their beautiful church, First Bapitst of McKinney. We dined out a couple of times and then Judy fixed a lovely evening meal for us our last night with them. Charlie and Sarah also entertained us with songs - some of Charlie's many ballads, and a couple of Sarah's lovely songs she has sung for school or choir groups. It really was nice to visit them and catch up on their lives, and catch them up on ours.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Garvan Gardens in April

Gil and I took a field trip today to Hot Springs to see the lovely gardens there. It is past "peek tulip time" but we were able to see some lovely flowers in the garden, and a few tulips. It was an absoutley lovely day, perfect temperature and the picnic lunch was so good on the deck under the shade trees just inside the gardens. We knew there would be a lot of walking in order to see the entire garden, so we took advantage of the carts and a driver. One other couple rode with us through the trail of flowers, ponds and waterfalls. The Gardens are near Lake Hamilton on the outskirts of the city and only a 2 1/2 hr. dirve from our home.

The tulips will be dug up in May, bagged up and sold to individuals at a very cheap price. Then in the fall, another 130,000 bulbs will be planted for the new crop in the following spring. Enjoy the pictures and plan your own field trip to see Garvan Gardens. They are also open during the winter with millions of Christmas lights.