Relaxing, Southern style

Where are you heading? people ask us at the airport. With a big toothy grin, we say, Arkansas - and keep watching their faces closely. The confusions sets in, maybe they were expecting Hawaii, Mexico, Florida - at the very least, California. But... Arkansas? You have relatives there? Why, yes, we do, and mighty fine ones too. We count ourselves among the lucky few who have many reasons to visit the largely-but-not-entirely undiscovered state of Arkansas. Chief among the reasons are my dad and stepmom, but there are lots of other folks and rivers and mountains (small, sweet ones) and birds and festivals and such to enjoy there as well.

We all had so much fun. Seeing folks we love tops the list for fun. A close second for Rob and me: the screen porch with a bird belt behind - that is an enormous woods with millions of birds in it that we could listen to and watch. Jasper and Lucy loved the birds too, but for both of them, the second favorite thing about the trip would have to be the airplane rides themselves. Lucy especially loved the turbulence - I think she called it the jostling on the way down. Yikes - it was a little much for me... Here are some pics of it all -