The last week has been pretty intense! On Wednesday Lisa traveled with me to Fayetteville. I had meetings on Thursday and then would be attending the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Visitor Center at Hobbs State Park – Conservation Area. On the way up we picked up a used kayak that I bought from someone off the Arkansas Canoe Club Web site. Just a little recreational kayak.
Wednesday night started with a reception at the Clinton House (yes, those Clintons). This was where Bill and Hillary lived and were married while teaching at the University of Arkansas. A little wine, a little cheese and then off to dinner at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks for dinner and a tour of the gardens. The place is still under construction but it did give Lisa and I a few ideas for our own yard.
Thursday morning I was in meetings that were suppose to last pretty much all day but actually ended around lunch time. So I met Lisa at the hotel and along with my boss and his assistant we went to lunch in the town center. Lisa had gone for a run in the morning up Mt. Sequia and back to the hotel about 4.5 miles in all. Now I had a free afternoon.
We decided to take our new kayak out for a test at Lake Fayetteville just down the road from where we were staying. After paying the use fee ($6.00) we went to put our boat in the water. Luckily there is a Lewis & Clark Outfitters next to the park and they had some demo boats at the launch area. I asked one of the guys if I could borrow one so that Lisa and I wouldn’t have to take turns on the water. They were cool and although they were packing up, they left one for us to play with. We had a good time cruising the lake and taking turns in the new boat.
After that we thought we might walk a little of the trail around the lake and soon found ourselves walking all the way around. 5.5 miles later we were back at the truck and tired. Lisa had done around 10 miles of running and hiking plus some kayaking. What a trooper! We were also starving. We went back to the hotel and got cleaned up then headed out to Dickson Street for dinner at Doe’s — STEAK! then back to crash out tired and full!
Friday we headed for Hobbs for the groundbreaking. A couple of hours of speeches in the hot sun but we were rewarded by being able to go mountain biking on the Hidden Diversity Trail. We did a short photo shoot with the tourism photographer and then off for a 4 mile bike ride on some beautiful trail (the photo at top was taken at this time). Finally, we head for home but stopped at Lake Fort Smith State Park which is currently under construction on the way. This will be a beautiful park when it opens.
Next the weekend, but that’s a whole other story!
One Response
You guys really need to get out and about… what do you do for fun?
Real troopers, the both of you!