Hot Springs Visitors and Hawgs

Today David and Bobby, two friends of ours who used to live in Kansas City, came down to Hot Springs to visit us from the Memphis area, where they now live.

We showed them the Majestic Hotel below. Built in 1902, the Majestic closed for business in October 2006 when it was sold to ARC of Arkansas.

Their plans are to restore the building with historical accuracy and make it into a residential and commercial development.

Then we went to learn about the history of Hot Springs National Park at the Visitor Center. For inside pictures of the Visitor Center, be sure and use the link at the bottom of the page.

While at the visitor's center, Doug attempted to break the camera by taking this picture. It didn't work.

This is the view from the pool area of The Arlington Hotel...another historic hotel in Downtown Hot Springs. Owned by the previous owners of The Majestic, this hotel is also up for sale. That's the Hot Springs Observation Tower in the distance.

Here's a couple of lushes we encountered at the poolside bar.

Here's several of the motorcycles we encountered while we were in Hot Springs. This is but a few of the THOUSANDS of motorcycles in town this weekend as the 2nd Annual Hot Springs Rally was underway.

And the police escorted Friday Night Parade was just about to begin.

Here's a motorcycle that would be about our speed.

Marlon caught some of the parade on video as evidence that, yes, we WERE there.

Then we went swimming.

For more pictures of today, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/hotspringsarkansaspart1/ .

To be continued...

Branda & Jeremy at the Little Rock Air Force Base

Today we went to visit Branda and Jeremy, Doug's cousin and her husband, at their house located on the Little Rock Air Force Base.

Mr. Vittles welcomed us by rolling on the floor.

And then Marlon caught Mr. Vittles and Branda in a very brief video.

Branda's youngest cat was glad we were there but wondered what that thing was we were holding in his face.

Branda makes candles and also makes candle kits which she sells on her Ebay storefront. Here she shows us a big spool of candle wick.

Jeremy is preparing the main course of the day.

The main course was sitting on the counter moments before when we decided that Cashew Kitty sounded pretty darn good.

Actually he would be guarding the food for us as Branda and Jeremy took us on a tour of the base.

The Little Rock Air Force base maintains an outdoor museum-type display of a wide variety of aircraft from the history of the Air Force.

Hold that plane!

Branda attempted to demonstrate her strength by pulling the sword from the stone but was, alas, unsuccessful.

Marlon, however, WAS successful in his first attempt at cooking. Here he melts butter in a pan.

Jeremy showed us how to make homemade shrimp egg rolls. Of course, supervision was necessary in case any shrimp fell on the floor.

A brief cameo appearance was made by these two pooches, while 2 other cats in the house remained virtually hidden.

One final picture of Jeremy and Branda before heading back to Hot Springs.

For more pictures of our visit with Branda and Jeremy, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/visiting-branda/ .

To be continued...

Lake Hamilton RV Park, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Today we left Branson and headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas where we would be staying at Lake Hamilton RV Park.

Here was the view out the front window (we cheated and took the picture outside). We would be keeping this view unless and until someone parked in the lakeside site in front of us.

Here was our site. As you can see, sometimes we have to adjust our positioning in the site to account for the full-wall slide and trees. We are actually farther away from the hookups than we might normally be and this decreases the patio area on the entrance side of the RV, but that pesky innocent looking tree was a little too big and had prickly things on it.

Here we are from afar with a decent looking sunset above us.

Here we are from anear. Note Doug's $7 haircut he got in Branson at a beauty school!

This family was camped very near us and came running up to us a honking.

We gave in and let them have some old stale crackers. They didn't seem to mind.

Chatfield took a break from his bowl and sang us a song.

For more pictures of Lake Hamilton RV Park on our arrival, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/lake-hamilton-rv-pa/ .

To be continued...

Branson Part 2 Titanic and Variety Show

Today we went to see the Titanic Museum which is the largest museum in the world devoted to the subject.

We were quite frustrated to pay over $20 per person and then not be allowed to take photographs anywhere inside the museum. No flash photography..okay..but what about pictures without a flash and videos...But wait...you can of course buy a video of the museum for another $20...NOT.

The museum was pretty interesting with its artifacts and information.

We were rebels and managed to snap this picture in the restroom.
After arriving back from Titanic, we attended a Variety Show in the activity center of Fall Creek Resort. It had a Mexican Fiesta theme.

The party included an "all you can put on your plate at one time" mexican buffet and performances by many of the stars of Branson area shows.

We managed to capture some video of the performances and put it together in a video below.

One star, Lisa Layne, sings the hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You." She let us take this picture with Marlon.

Marlon enjoyed playing in the sand at Fall Creek Resort with this Tonka truck.

For more pictures of Branson Part 2 go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/titanic-variety-sho/ .

To be continued...

Fall Creek Resort and Branson Part 1

Today we left Carthage, Missouri and family behind to head on down the road to Branson, Missouri. Final destination Davenport, Florida.

We would be staying at Fall Creek Resort for 5 nights. Here was our campsite.

The sites seemed a little closer than most we had been in so far. But besides staying at the Palmer house for free, this resort was the lowest price we had paid for an RV site yet-$8.00 per night plus tax. It was part of the Coast to Coast Camping network which we joined in March with over 300 resorts around the country members can stay at for $8.00 per night. So far we had paid an average of about $20 per night everywhere we had been.

Fall Creek Resort is a huge complex consisting of 3 different campgrounds, multiple buildings which look like hotel rooms and multiple buildings of condos.

Here's Marlon relaxing in front of one of the ponds on the property.

Doug decides to stop on the bridge and contemplate life.

Marlon challenged Doug to a game of checkers...and won. Doug thinks and knows that checkers is a boring and stupid game.

Marlon's mom, Angie, just happened to be in Branson for the weekend with Georgie, Jack and Tanis. They all stopped by to visit us after their Saturday morning shopping spree across the border in Arkansas.

Sunday, we sought out show information. As it had just entered off season, our choices seemed to be somewhat limited. But we WERE able to find a show that we thought we would enjoy.

We opted for the Hamner Barber Variety Show. This show combines a little song, dance and comedy with a lot of magic and ventriloquism. We DID enjoy this show.

Co-Star of the Show Dave Hamner posed with Co-Star of the Blog Marlon.

Other Co-Star of the Show Jim Barber posed with Other Co-Star of the Blog Doug.

After the show we drove around Branson and happened upon the Table Rock Dam. This photo is of the Table Rock Dam Powerhouse.

We took the scenic drive above Branson to take this picture. We could actually make out the RV in the distance.

Here's the Co-Stars of the Blog. Again.

Sunday night we decided to go swimming and walked over to the activity center. Here's a view of Fall Creek Resort at night.

It took about 5 tries to get this non-blurry picture of Marlon swimming (he swims too fast).

For more pictures of Branson Part 1 go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/fall-creek-resort-b/ and http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/mom-georgie-jack--t/ and
http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2007/september/hamner--barber-show/ .

To be continued...