Category: travel

Garvan Woodland Gardens

December 29, 2011
A koi fish charges through the water to see if we have any food for him. We didn’t.

I’m talented at losing things for brief periods of time, such as these pictures of Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs. I went to the 210-acre forested peninsula on Lake Hamilton earlier this fall with my aunt as a Saturday get-a-way with our dogs. It was definitely interesting and was still filled with plenty of flowers despite the approaching cold weather.

One of the things I like about the place is its Hixson Family Woodland Nature Preserve. The Garland County Audubon Society says it has more than 100 different birds including the pileated woodpecker, tufted titmouse and the occasional bald eagle.

A Pileated Woodpecker we passed on our Sept. 10 hike.

The Garvan Woodland Gardens opened nine years ago and is a department of the University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture. It was initially the beloved property of Malvern businesswoman Verna Cook Garvan, who dreamed of tranforming it into a public garden for all Arkansans to enjoy. She donated the private garden to the university in 1985 (26 years ago) with the understanding it would be developed into a first-class botanical garden.

It’s easy to get lost within the property that includes Evans Children’s Adventure Garden, Garden of Pine Wind (has a cool koi pond, see top picture), Singing Springs Gorge and Millsap Canopy Bridge, Three Sisters of Amity Daffodil Hill and Anthony Chapel where more than 355 couples were married in 2010 and 2011.

I can’t wait to go back in late spring, early summer, especially since it was that gorgeous in late fall. Until then, below are some of the pictures I took:


Fontainebleau State Park

December 28, 2011
We saw lots of deer at Fontainebleau State Park.

I recently spent a three-day vacation in Covington, La., visiting my cousin Stephen (see here) with my parents. The majority of our time was spent at the seminary, although we did take time out to visit Fontainebleau State Park.

The state park is home to the crumbling ruins of a 1829 sugar mill near Mandeville, La. The 2,800-acre park abuts Lake Pontchartrain and is also the home of Bald Eagles (which I unfortunately never saw). It is filled with live oaks with Spanish moss draped across the branches and is absolutely teeming with wildlife — we especially saw an abundance of herons and deer.

I absolutely loved the visit. My only complaint was that I didn’t have enough time to spend at the park. I am hoping one day I’ll be able to go back for a second visit.

Live oaks with Spanish moss.
It was easy to spot the moon in the blue sky above the state park.
A heron flies overhead.
The cabins I hope to stay in one day within the next year.

St. Joseph’s 86th annual bonfire

December 28, 2011
The bonfire raged all night long.

I’m proud to say that my cousin is in his final year at Saint Joseph Abbey and Seminary School in Saint Benedict, La. (which is right outside of Covington, La.). Stephen is the student body president and organized Saint Joseph’s 86th annual bonfire this year. He invited my hometown Knights of Columbus to cook for the event. The KC’s (of which Stephen and, really, all the men in my family are in) said yes and ended up cooking 16 Boston butts to feed the seminarians and their families as well as the attending monks and priests. The bonfire took place after the annual football game between the St. Joseph Seminary Ravens and the Notre Dame Seminary Hunchbacks. Unfortunately, the Hunchbacks won the tough, but fun flag football game. Continue reading “St. Joseph’s 86th annual bonfire”

A crazy weekend

December 12, 2011
Gillett parade.

It was a crazy weekend. I was hopping all over the county to photograph parades, fundraisers and an open house. On Sunday, Stuttgart residents also held their 80th annual Christmas Candlelight Musicale and there were 42 girls that competed for the coveted Miss SHS crown.
It might have been hectic, but it sure was fun for all involved (including me):

These Stuttgart boys lit up the night with decorative strands of Christmas lights wrapped around their shoulders during the 2011 Stuttgart Christmas Parade.
James Gosney performs "Away in a manager" and "Amazing Grace" on saxophone at the 80th annual Christmas Candlelight Musicale.

 

Miss SJHS Charlsi Konecny talks to her sister Kelsi, the 2001 Miss SJHS after being crowned Sunday.

 

Home Sweet Home

December 4, 2011

I’m home! I’m safely tucked into bed and couldn’t be happier.

The flight from Houston to Little Rock was rough due to the bad weather, however, the drive to Stuttgart was worse. Yes, I was that driver going 35- to 40-mph even on the Interstate. I freak out driving in the rain so driving very slow helped calm me down as well as the steady stream of Guardian Angel, Hail Marys, Our Fathers and Blessed Be prayers that I said. I didn’t realize how bad my fear was until I started messing up the words to prayers I’ve said my whole life.

But all’s well now that I’m home. I had trouble downloading my Tucson pictures onto my IPad this weekend so I can’t wait to download and go through them tomorrow. I’m hoping to add pictures to my Arizona blog posts soon!

Layover

December 4, 2011

We ended up spending more time then we meant to at The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and I just wish I had more time to look about!

It’s a combined zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden that has living animals and plants native to the Sonoran Desert region. I didn’t have much time before I needed to be at the airport so we did a quick tour.

The best part of the trip for me was the hummingbird aviary, the cat area and seeing the javelinas (related to feral pigs). The hummingbirds were my favorite though. There were several species in the exhibit and the birds were obviously used to humans. They just flirted with the camera, played with each other and had us dodging so we wouldn’t hurt them if they ran into us. It was a blast. We even got to see a hummingbird nest!

Unfortunately I did have a flight to catch so we had to hightail it out of there. My last trip in Arizona was also the shortest. We stopped at El Tiradito, a Tucson historical landmark where visitors write wishes on a piece of paper that they then stuff into little crevices in a wall. I’m hoping my wish comes true-I’ll let you know when (hopefully) it does but not a minute before.

The flight from Tucson went well (although perhaps not for the toddler riding with me). I’m now at the Houston airport waiting to board the plane to Little Rock. Unfortunately, it’s been delayed an hour. Still, I have the latest book in the Stephanie Plum series so I’m set for the wait.

Sunrise time

December 4, 2011

Fog kisses the top of mountains. Coyotes howl in the distance as nearby a woodpecker chirps nearby flirting with us as it flints from one tree to another.

This morning, we went to the campgrounds of the Saguaro National Park before hiking it’s nature trail. It was incredibly peaceful and the cactus looked mysterious through the fog. we even saw a rabbit. We’re now making our way back into the city with a pit stop stop at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I just bought two cool, colorful necklaces made out of corn kernels and took pictures of a male and female tarantulas.

Locked out

December 4, 2011

So, we were locked out of our hotel room when we got back to Hotel Tucson tonight. Our keys refused to work, and finally maintenance had to come help us out. The guy ended up visiting us a second time after we learned the hotel staff had failed to replace our non working hair dryer that actually would smoke if turned on. Needless to say we know have a working hairdryer. Yay!

We headed to Saguaro National Park once we got back to Tucson. It was still raining but the sights were amazing! I’m used to parks with hundreds of trees as far as the eye can see. If you replace the forests with cactus, then you have this park. It was neat, but different.

Catus as far as the eye could see.

I knew there were different types of cactus and that they grew pretty high, however, it really never registered until this trip. By the way, I have never traveled this far to the west before.

We found the perfect for sunrise tomorrow while leaving the park. Our waitress on Friday night had told us to get on Speedway and follow it on out, and we should have taken her advise. We left the park and followed Speedway roughly 15 miles into town and we plan to go back in the morning to watch the sun come up.

Today wore us out. We ended up eating left overs along with deserts from Whole Foods. I ended the day packing, during which I fell asleep. My aunt had to wake me up to finish clearing off my bed. I can say I was able to pack my all my new items into the already full luggage. I am only leaving behind a post card for my aunt to mail to me (a tradition when I go someplace new) as well as some jelly and sauce that I bought as gifts since it was all made in Arizona. Not bad at all.

Checking out Tucson

December 3, 2011

A marriage proposal marked the entrance of our arrival in Tucson. The flight from Houston was slightly uncomfortable with the plane being hot and stinky. We were also bounced out of our seats during bad weather. Still, we made it.

Last night we went to Casa Molina for dinner. It was a Mexican restaurant that was adorable and easily had some of the best food ever. The only problem was that the portions were huge. I had to take two thirds back to the hotel for dinner tonight.

Today, we went driving to watch the sunrise at A Mountain, however, it hadn’t opened yet so we went driving around instead. Lol, I got so excited about the sights that I forgot I was next to a cactus. I ended up with a couple of needles in the bottom of my jeans. Ouch!

Saturday's sunrise.

We then headed to see 4-month old lion cubs at Reid Park Zoo. The three cubs are being introduced to their dad. It was cool to see the playful lion cubs in person and the male lion kept walking right in front of us – I could have touches him if there was not glass separating us- as if we were lunch. It was also cute seeing three giraffes who were quite hungry.

One of the three lion cubs.
This child got so excited when the lion would pace right in front of us. I was excited too, but that lion wanted us for lunch — thank goodness for the glass separating us only by inches.
They were hungry guys!

We headed an hour away to Tumacacori National Park next for a local Hispanic festival and to shop at Santa Cruz Gift Shop, Chili Products, Spices and Everything Nice. We took advantage of it to buy ornaments made out of cactus for gifts, watch folkloric dances and singing, as well as try the local cuisine. I had a chili taco, which was a little too hot for me. It was good though and my Dr. Pepper helped take off the heat. We had a churro- I think I might be getting the name wrong-for desert. It was like a cinnamon twist with Carmel in the middle.

One of the many dancers at the festival.

 

chili taco

It’s now 3:55 p.m. and we are headed back to Tucson. The rain has finally caught up to us, but we’re determined to go see Saguaro National Park, the west district, next. Hopefully the rain will end by the time we get there.

I haven’t been able to upload pictures yet, but I will soon!

Taking off

December 2, 2011

A forgotten water bottle led to my purse being searched today as I begin my trip to Tucson, Az. It was a series of mishaps from my boarding pass on my cell not working to nearly missing the flight from Little Rock.

It got better. My “A” seat meant I was seated alone on my side of the aisle, and the view was gorgeous as we flew to Houston. I also had a delicious Mexican meal for lunch.

My aunt and I are now sitting on the next plane – once again I have an awesome “A” seat as we prepare for the plane to leave Houston for Tucson.