Burns Park in North Little Rock

Burns Park is one of the largest municipal parks in the country with 1,700 acres. The park is located between the Arkansas River and an Interstate Freeway. It has a handicapped accessible fishing pier, camping area, two 18-hole golf courses, two 18-hole disc golf courses, baseball, softball complex, 17 soccer fields, 27 tennis curts (6 indoor), 6.2 miles of paved hiking trails, 4 miles of unpaved hiking trails and 7 miles of the River Trail which runs up and down the Arkansas River from Little Rock. This pic is taken from the River Trail.

Log Cabin built in 1849.

Covered Bridge in the park.

Flowers along the river.

Bush near the log cabin.

Geese crossing the road in the park.

Pros and Cons of Hi-Rise Living

We've been Hi-Rise residents for 3 weeks now and have definitely formed some opionions about the pros and cons. There are a lot of positives. #1 is the view - it is amazing. This picture was just before sunrise the other morning. It's fun looking down on the world and watch people's comings and goings or emergency vehicles zipping past with red lights and sirens going. A few nights ago there was a false alarm at the museum across the street and 8 fire turcks plus ambulances and police cars responded. It was about 9 p.m. and that was good entertainment for awhile since there was no damage. It's really neat to be able to walk to the River Market area with the shops and restaurants or to walk a block to the neighborhood pub. There is a concierge on duty 18 hours/day in our building down in the lobby. David, the day person, knows everything about everyone and where to go for what. We like dropping the dry cleaning off with him on Tuesday and picking it up from him on Friday after the dry cleaner have brought it back. The parking garage is secured with a gate and there is assigned parking. The lobby is also secured.

And now for the negatives........It's 4 miles, one way, to the nearest grocery store which isn't far but I was spoiled with being around the corner from Albertsons. Plus here, you have to wait for the elevator, walk to the car in the garage and then do down a level, wait for the gate to roll up before you even get on the street. A new thing we noticed this morning, when we went outside our apt door was the strong smell of bacon that someone had cooked for breakfast. It was throughout the halls and elevator area. However, the single biggest negative is that we don't have any place to sit outside or get fresh air into the apt. We could go up to the outside deck area on the 18th floor but that's not like opening the door and going out on the patio. There is a door in our glass wall with a French balcony which is just a waist high heavy screen thing over the bottom half of the door so you don't fall out. However, we can't open the door because you know who would immediately jump up on it and keep going over the side while practicing his flying skills so we keep it closed.

All in all, it fun for 2 months but we can't imagine being here in the Hi-Rise permanently.

Busy Saturday Morning

The picture really doesn't have anything to do with today but I've been waiting for a chance to use it. 8-) We were over at the Peabody Hotel this week and I took the pic of a flower arrangement that was in the lobby. The arrangement is about 3 ft high plus the table it is sitting on. Absolutely gorgeous! Saturday is the main Farmer's Market so we were up early and down there by about 7:30 a.m. I swear there must be a waiting crowd waiting for them to open because it was packed a 1/2 hour after it opened at 7. Soooooo much goooooood stuff to pick from.... It was a light shopping day for us since we only got corn and tomatoes. Larry can't believe how much stuff some people buy! I've already developed my favorite stalls depending on what we are wanting. And then we can go back to the "mini Farmer's Market" on Tuesday morning to get stuff for the rest of the week. After we get our veggies, etc, we go to the bread store and have breakfast of coffee/coke and usually have hugh, fresh crossiants. The whole area is just packed with people parking 4-5 blocks away and walking down to it. Then it was back down to the Library store (2 blocks away) where they have "gently read books" and gifts. This weekend is the Library's 3 Day Book Sale. The main sale is in the basement of the library where paperbacks go for $0.50 and hardbacks for $1 - doesn't make any difference what they are or what the original cost way. Hugh turnout! It is wonderful to see the Libraries here supported like they are and open 7 days/week. Tonight is back to the Peabody to listen to the jazz duo in the Lobby Bar and drink Pink Lemonade. 8-)

Scott Plantation Settlement at Ashley's Bayou

All the buildings commerating plantation life were relocated to this Settlement Museum from actual plantations in the area. Above is the Ashley/Alexander Log House. This dogtrot cabin was built in the 1840's across the bayou from the Settlement Plantation Museum. A dogtrot house consisted of two log cabins connected by a breezeway or dog trot, all under a common roof. Usually one cabin was used for cooking and dining while the other was sued as a private living space such as a bedroom. The breezeway provided a cooler place for sitting outside.


"Big House" c. 1880 from the Bearskin Lake Plantation. Also known as the "Master's House". This house was replaced by the Marlsgate Mansion in 1905 which was what we normally think of as a plantation mansion.

Outhouse

Blacksmith shop.

Minature bale of cotton.

Anyone besides me remember using a phone like this?

This 'n That

This is Morris in his new "feed me or die" stance. In Tucson, he would sit at at the end of the counter and patiently wait to be fed. Now, he sits right in the middle of the kitchen and won't budge. If I'm cooking then I have to step around him or call Larry to come feed Morris so I can get on with dinner. He does this anytime we are in the kitchen fixing us something to eat even though he has food in his dish. And his usual dry food doesn't cut it - we made the mistake of giving him tuna and now that is what he wants. His second choice is deli chicken - no special seasoning on it please - just the basic chicken. Is there a word stronger than spoiled? In between "meals", he does eat his dry food. He has put on a little weight and it fits his long, lean body plus his coat is really getting glossy and pretty. His staff will probably get in trouble with the vet if he gains any weight since she thinks Morris was already the perfect weight.

New hairdresser: Since I can't go 8 weeks without getting my hair done, I had to go to a new stylist today. There is a shop right next door and I took the easy way out and went there. She did an o.k. job but it was still traumatic!

Dugan's Pub: We absolutely love this place and it's only a block away! We went over there for lunch today and set out on the patio. Yes, it was hot but there was a slight breeze and we were in the shade so it was o.k. Larry had their corned b,eef and cabbage which he says is wonderful - almost as good as their fish & chips. I had the Ham & Navy Bean soup that they make themselves. It is really good but not quite as good as their home-made french fries which are my absolute favorite...
Laundry: Still fussing with the "european washer and dryer". It takes forever to do a load plus they have to be small loads! A load of whites is 2 regular size bath towels, 2 hand towels and 2 wash cloths. If the cloths are permanent press, then the load is smaller than that....

Old Statehouse Museum

The Old Statehouse is the oldest standing state captiol building west of the Mississippi. Construction started in 1833 and was completed in 1842. In 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state and government officials moved into the new building although construcion had not been completed yet. The building served as state capitol until 1911 when the new capitol building was constructed. The Old Statehouse became a museum in 1947. The building is beautifully restored and the wood floors are magnificent as is the hugh curving staircase going up to the 2nd floor. The building gained worldwide recognition when it was used as the setting for President bill Clinton's election-night celebrations in 1992 and 1996.

Little Rock National Cemetery

The Little Rock National Cemetery is out near where we had lunch today. During the Civil Way, Arkansas seceded from the Union. Following the Battle of Pea ridge in 1862, Union soldiers captured Little Rock and held the city for the remainder of the war. The land that is currently the national cemetery was located outside the city limits and was used for Union encampments. In 1866, with Union forces still occupying the city, a portion of the land was purchased by the government and set aside for military internments. In 1884 a Confederate cemetery was established adjacent to the National Cemetery. In 1938, the two cemeteries were combined, though the Union and Condederate burials continued to be in separate sections. The cemetery covers over 31 acres and is beautifully maintained.

Homer's Good Eats

Larry found an ad in a magazine for Homer's Good Eats so that's where we went for lunch today. It was listed as one of the top local places for southern cooking. Well......we got there at 11 a.m. and by 11:20 people had to wait for tables and there were a LOT of tables in the place. It was out in the middle of nowhere near the airport with a lot of industry around so most of the people eating there were on their lunch break. Today's specials, for $6.79, were Southern Fried Chicken, Oven-Baked Chicken or Country Fried Steak with gravy. The lunch plates are "meat n 3" which is a meat, 2 sides and bread. The bread is homemade yeast rolls or homemade cornbread. Sides included mashed potatoes, turnip greens, corn, pickled okra, potato salad,smothered cabbage, etc. Anyway, we had the fried chicken, fried potatoes, tomato relish and yeast rolls. The tomato relish was cut-up green tomatoes that had been cooked with onions, vinegar and pickeling spice. Different but good. I tried to talk Larry into having the turnip greens but failed. 8-) The food was really good!

How'd they do that?

Graffiti is old stuff to us who live in Graffitiville, USA - otherwise know as Tucson. However, here is some graffiti in downtown Little Rock that we keep looking at and can't figure out how they did it. They must have come down from over the top of the building.... Someone of it is quite pretty as you can see in the close-up. Some of it looks like it isn't finished yet.

Sweet, Little Morris

I think he has recovered from the latest move and is up to his antics again.

Last night we heard a noise and got out of bed to check it out. We dound him on top of the kitchen cabinets as you can see in the picture. He jumped up there from the counter top which was about a 5 ft straight up jump. And....he didn't want any help down so we left him there and sometime later he got down on his own. This sweet, little loveable cat is also back to being the 5 a.m. alarm. He jumps up on the bed and lets out a very loud, long meow that would wake the dead. Once he has seen sufficient movement of his staff, he lays down on the bed and goes to sleep. Of course by then we are wide awake. He has NEVER played with lamp cords and now he finds them very entertaining.

Arkansas Freeways

After 6 years of desert freeways where all you see is litter, cactus, dirt, rocks and weeds, the Arkansas Freeways are a delight to drive. The freeways in the city are typical city freeways. However, once you get out of the city, they are open, very clean, tree lined with wide grassy medians. The shoulders, from the pavement to the trees, are grass. We're amazed at how clean they are. Pleasure to drive on......

Meatless Dinner

Now, you say "What's the big deal bout a meatless meal?" When I was growing up in southwestern Missouri, you never had a meal without meat - beef, pork or chicken. That was just the way it was. However, tonight dinner was with no meat because we walked down to the Farmer's Market this morning and got our dinner. The Farmer's Market is on Tuesday and Saturday. Tuesday is a small one but Saturdays is incredible. We got there 45 minutes after it opened and the place was packed with people.There were 15-20 vendors and all had fresh fruits and vegetables. Larry even got to see what turnip greens looked like before they were cooked - another childhood staple but I wasn't very fond of it. Anyway, dinner tonight was corn-on-the-cob, cantelope, tomatoes and big slices of fresh cinnamon walnut rasin bread. No meat! 8-) I'm still stuffed and it was all soooooooooo good. I told the farmer that I wanted a cantelope that was ripe for eating today and he nailed it.

Historic Homes in Little Rock

Little Rock is full of old, beautifully restored homes. Today we drove around and looked at some of the most famous ones. Above is Ville Marre which combines the features of the Italianate and Secome Empire styles (whatever that is...) and was built in 1881 for saloonkeeper Angelo Marre. It became famous when the exterior was featured in the TV show Designing Women. Villa Marre is now a private residence.

The Impress of Little Rock was originally built by James H. Hornibrook in 1888 at a cost of $20,000 and exclusively used Arkansas Materials. It is described in the National Register of Historic Places as the best example of ornate Victorian Architecture in Arkansas and the most important existing example of Gothis Queen Anne style regionally. (if you say so....). When it was built, it was the most expensive and ostenttious dwelling in the entire state. Since it was built it has been a private residence, Women's College, Nursing Home, Apartments and is now completely restored and is a Bed and Breakfast. High Tea is also served on a daily basis.

Curran Hall was built in 1842 by Col. Ebenezer Walters as a wedding gift for his bride. The city of Little Rock acquired the house in 1996 and renovated it to serve as the city's official Visitor Information and Welcome Center. Several rooms in the old masion have been completely restored and are open to the public.

I don't know what the name of this plant is but it is in Curran Hall's garden. When I was a kid, my mother grew these and I knew then as "spider plants". These are the first ones I have seen since then.

The Old Mill

Today's expedition was out to The Old Mill located in a residential are of North Little Rock. This structure and park, dedicated in 1933, is a replica of a mill built in 1832.The water wheel still turns. The Old Mill was filmed in the opening scenes of the movie Gone With The Wind, which was released in 1939.

One of the flowers on the grounds of the park surrounding The Old Mill. It looked very different than it did when we saw it in January. Back then, there was snow, ice, bare trees and a bitter north wind blowing.

Pine Bluff, AR

We did a day-trip down to Pine Bluff which is about 50 miles south of Little Rock with a population of around 54,000. Rather interesting with it's history but not a place I would want to live in. Kinda out in the middle of nowhere and too far from civilization even if they do have a branch of the University of Arkansas there.

Pine Bluff, AR - Delta Rivers Nature Center

Exhibits show the history and importance of Arkanss's delta streams and wetlands. It was really interesting. Pictures top to bottom: (1) We did the 1/2 mile walk out through the area. Really good trail but pretty isolated. Larry kept listening for the banjo music. (2) Black Dog Bayou. I shrudder to think what is below the water. (3) Red fox in a diorama setting. (4) Bob Cat in a diorama.

Pine Bluff, AR - City of Murals

13 Murals depecting the city's past make downtown Pine Bluff an outdoor art gallery. The murals are painted on the sides of buildings and are really amazing!

Odds and Ends - Again

Finally settling into "living here" and doing some cooking, laundry, spending more time in the apt, etc. Trying really hard to not just be a "tourist" and on the go all the time. Today we drove out to an area of Little Rock we hadn't seen before and on the way back stopped at the grocery store. We just can't get over how many trees there are everywhere. We've noticed that when they tear down an old building in the downtown area, they put in a parking lot. However, it is nicely done complete with trees. Got our first rain today but it didn't amount to much. I'm still waiting on a big midwest, summer thunderstorm. We can't believe it was only 2 weeks ago today that we left Tucson! It seem like much longer. We got a phone call yesterday from a neighbor in Tucson letting us know that another neighbor died. After we got to thinking, we realized that 5 people who were there when we moved in 5 years ago have died. Kinda scary..... Arkansas ended their fiscal year $95 million dollars UNDERBUDGET. This fascinates us and we're going to do some checking on how they do it and how schools, etc rank compared to Arizona. This is "His Majesty" on his pillow in front of the window last night after the move. Hard day!

Settling in - Again

This is a diaroma at the Central Arkansas Nature Center here in Little Rock that we visited last last week. The bear is about 4' tall and the tree was about 30' tall. Cute!

We're settling into the new apt today. I think the last 2 weeks caught up with me since I was tired when I got up this morning. We didn't do much today but at least I got the "office" set up so feel more settled. I even have a printer now! We really like the new appt - especially the window blinds which roll down to filter out most of the sun. Morris is back to just eating and sleeping. He didn't even greet and help the cable installer that was here today like he normally would have.

Today was really hot again which doesn't thrill me. The difference here is that the heat is for a couple of months instead of 6 months like in the desert.

Tomorrow we will look at out Arkansas Bucket List and get a plan together.

Moved to a different apt today

We moved down one floor today to another apt, directly below the other one, after the bank foreclosed on the owner of the original unit. The corporate housing leasing agency we used had no idea there was a problem. They offered us 3 choices, including a much larger unit in another building, but we really wanted to stay in this building so we took this one. Actually we like it much better than the first one. The ONLY problem is that Morris doesn't have his throne (ottoman) anymore. He'll have to find a new spot which will hopefully be on the back of a big easy chair that is right by the window. He sure has been in a lot of new places lately! By the way, if anyone has any magic tips for cooking on a ceramic cooktop then I sure would appreciate them. I've never used one before and I hate them - either the skillet isn't hot enough to brown something or it burns whatever is in the skillet!

Raccoon

Here is a raccoon having breakfast in a bird feeder at the Pinnacle Mtn Visitor Center. I couldn't believe how much he ate. Then he hopped down and went for a swim in a small water hole.

Pinnacle Mountain Park

This morning we drove out west to Pinnacle Mountain State Park. However, it was too hot to do any hiking or anything so stuck to the observation deck at the Visitor Center. This is a view of the Arkansas River from there. Would love to go back when it is cool enough to do some hiking.

By the way, Morris has perked up a bit today and met us when we got home to give us heck for being gone. First time he has done that since we got here. We have decided that he was just wore out from the trip, stress, etc. However, his appetite was not affected as he is eating much more than usual. Maybe we'll get our fat, lazy cat after all. 8-)

Little Rock Organ Transplant Support Group

We went to the monthly meeting of the local group today and it was quite interesting. In Sacramento and Tucson where we have attended support groups, the groups were organ specific. i.e. Sacramento was liver and Tucson was kidney with liver being recently combined with the kidney group. Here, the group is for all transplant recipients. There were 5-6 people there who have had heart transplants. One woman has had 2 heart transplants - in 2004 and again in 2007 after her body rejected the first one - and she is doing great now. Others have had liver, kidney or pancreas which we are much more familiar with. They made us feel very welcome. I don't think people in the south have never met a "stranger". They act like they have known you forever.

Odds & Ends

MORRIS: He has settled in so good! But, all he does is eat, look out the window and sleep. This is the "Morris Throne" and where he spends his time. He has certainly become a lazy cat but then there isn't the stimulation that he had in Tucson with the golfers, animals, etc.

EUROPEAN WASHER/DRYER: The concept is great but it takes forever to do the laundry. To start with, you can only get about 1/2 the clothes in it that we usually can put into a washer. Yes, it's great that they go from wash to dry in the same machine. But then you can't put any Bounce or any thing in the dryer cycle. What people do is do the wash, set it for abut 40 minutes dry and then put it into a European Dryer with a Bounce, etc. It takes 1.5 hours to get through the wash and initial dry plus another hour in the regular dryer. It takes forever! I can't imagine someone with a family using these machines.

STAINLESS STEEL SINKS: People who have them and live in Tucson know that it is a constant battle with water spots on the sinks. After about 3 days here with one, I realized there are no water spots on it. What a difference the water makes!

OFFICE: We miss having an "office" with a printer, etc. The laptop has worked out better than I expected since I don't like doing much typing on a laptop keyboard. But having it on a corner of the counter isn't the most efficient. I do have a small printer but haven't figured out where to set it up. But oh well......

RESIDENT VS TOURIST: We have a list of things we want to do and keep forgetting that we are going to be here for more than a week so don't have to get them all done in a few days. Today we kicked back and played dominos for the afternoon.

It's Friday night so we're going back to the Peabody Hotel to listen to the duo who will be playing in the Lobby Bar again. 8-)

Big Dam Bridge

Yes, it's name is the Big Dam Bridge! It is one of two bridges over the Arkansas River along the 19 mile River Trail that I have mentioned before. This bridge is the longest pedestrian/bicycle bridge in North America. It is 4,226 ft long, 3,463 ft of that over water and 90' above the water surface. This picture is taken from the bridge looking down at the open lock at the Murray Dam. The Big Dam Bridge is built above the river dam, one of 18 locks and dams on the Arkansas River.

Larry pointed out some typos when he was reading the blog yesterday but hey, you probably figured out what I meant anyway. 8-)

Yes, it's humid...

Over lunch today at our favorite, local pub, Larry and I discussed "Living with dry heat versus living where it is humid." When you walk outside here, it doesn't feel like you are walking into a furnace - it's just hot. I don't like the condensation that forms on a cold glass or anything else that is cold. But the humidity makes it easier to breath and the hot, dry air doesn't burn when you take a deep breath. Morris can now actually purr since his sinus problems have cleared up. However, that is not a good thing when he is purring in my ear at 1 o'clock in the morning while we are sharing a pillow. While we were having lunch on the patio, a breeze can through and it was cooler air - not a hot wind blowing on you. Yes, 96 degrees with 40% humidity (currently) is hot. But it doesn't seem as bad as 110 and 5% humidity - at least in our opinion.

Farmer's Market

Crawled out of bed this morning and walked down to the Farmer's Market which is 3-4 blocks away, down by the water front. It is held on Tues and Sat, May - Oct. Tuesday's market is much smaller than the one on Saturday, so they say, and we'll find out when we go back on Saturday. It's in a permanent structure and next door are coffee shops, bakeries, etc. It was so exciting to get field ripened tomatoes, corn that was picked yesterday, peaches that are ripe when you buy them and field ripened cantelopes, etc. However, no fire roasted chilies... 8-)

July 4th Fireworks

The fireworks were spectacular! They are set off from a bridge that is about 5 blocks away so we had a great view.

Busy 4th of July

We started the day by going to the Clinton Library which had free admission today. They have a special Elvis exhibit right now that is pictures of him taken by a photographer who followed him around for about 6 months. During this time he recorded "Hound Dog", "Don't Be Cruel" and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was mostly candid pictures and really good. The usual admission is only $5 for seniors but it was the idea.... 8-) Then this afternoon we went next door to the Arizona Historical Museum for an open house type thing celebrating their 70th year. Kinda scary to think it is 4 years older than we are! The oldest house in Little Rock is on their grounds and dates back to the early 1800's. After a "militia" marching on the grounds, they had a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Then tonight, we walked down to the Riverfront for dinner and a concert. The group in this pic is a Dixieland Band. After them was the Symphony Pops Concert. Then at 9:30 is firewalks. They shoot them off a bridge that we have a perfect view of so it should be interesting. We had to get home before the fireworks since the "kid" doesn't like fireworks, thunder, etc. Different kind of 4th for us - usually we just stay home and do nothing.

European Washer/Dryer

If you have been a viewer of House Hunters International, you have seen the washing machines in Europe which are also dryers - all in one unit. Well, that is what is in the condo! I currently have a load of towels in it since I figured towels were a safe start. I'm curious to see how it does. However, I sure like the idea. One drawback is that you can't put as much in them as we do in out traditional washers.

Summer night on the town

After dinner last night, at around 7:30 pm, we headed down to the River Front area. The sun was starting to go down so it wasn't quite so hot. It was absolutely delightful down there. Little Rock really did a fantastic job in the design of the River Front park. There is somthing there for everyone - trails, gardens, gazabos, play gounds for kids, schulpture garden, etc. It was amazing how many people were there. The park and trail goes 8 miles up the Arkansas River, goes across on the Big Dam Bridge (honest, that is the name), comes back the other side of the river which is in North Little Rock and than you cross this bridge to get back to the main area which is 4 blocks from our condo. This bridge was once a bridge used by the railroad but was abandoned when the rail road was rerouted. When they built the trail a few years ago, this bridge was turned into a pedestrian bridge. After wandering around for awhile, we cut through the Peabody Hotel to get back to a street. However, we ran across a duo that was playing in the lobby bar of the hotel. One black guy was on keyboard and another black buy was on sax. The were outstanding! Their music ranged from blues, jazz, 60's to current. We set in the bar for over an hour listening to them and drinking pink lemonade. 8-) Then we walked home at about 10 o'clock. A fun way to spend the evening.

He's at it again....

This morning the climber discovered the top of the TV in the bedroom. The dresser is 4.5 ft high and it's a 46" TV. I guess our first clue was when he was on the highest perch possible at the rescue shelter where we got him...

Settling In

It was sooooooo good to wake up this morning and not be getting on the road again! Instead, we got up and enjoyed the sun rise over the city. Now it is settling in time. The block of windows between the 2 gray columns (where the red arrow is pointing) is home for the next 2 months. In Tucson, Morris sleeps on the bed, usually I share my pillow with him. However, he didn't sleep on the bed at all either of the 2 nights we were on the road which I thought was kinda strange. However, last night he was back on the bed as usual. Even he is settling in and just doing his usual things - eating and sleeping. The first thing on the list for today was finding a grocery store. Tried out a WalMart Super Center but not happy with it so will look at another store tomorrow. Gotta also find a Target and shopping malls. 8-) We had lunch today at Dugan's Irish Pub which is about a block away and it was really good! They make their own french fries each morning and they were so, so good. Larry had the corned beef and cabbage and not even crumbs were left on his plate. I think we will be frequent visitors there... And then there is the chore of getting used to all new TV stations.. The list goes on and on but we will slowly work our way throughthem all.

His Majesty Surveying His Kingdom

It didn't take him long to find the window ledge - a few hours after his previous escapades. This was as the sun was starting to set. Had a great dinner tonight in the restaurant downstairs. Now that, I can get used to... Down the elevator, out the front door and back into the restaurant next door.

Life with Morris is not dull!

Are you saying to yourself "This picture has to be a mistake." Well let me tell you how our first 3 hours went in the condo. First of all, we were all tired this morning and Morris was kinda noisy but not temper tantrums. He didn't go to sleep until the last hour which means we listened to him for 3.5 hours. We get here and everything goes smooth with the check-in, etc. The condo is really nice and the view is incredible. Of course we went through it like they do on House Hunters - "only one bathroom sink? No lamp by the sofa to read by, etc". I put the litter box in the laundry room which seem like a good location and show it to Morris. A few minutes later, after having just seen Morris back in the laundry room, I hear this "meow" and it is coming from up high. Yep, you guessed it.....He was up in the open ceiling in 3 jumps - one to the counter, one up to the top of the dryer and one on up to the open ceiling. I can see him but can't get too him. The building maint. person happened to be here fixing a faucet and he went and got his ladder. Still, Morris would come close to the edge where we could see him but not come down and not close enough to reach him. I wouldn't have worried except the guy said the ceiling is open for the whole floor and there are some hollow spaces between walls he could fall into. By now I'm somewhere between worried, mad and pissed. I would have waited him out if I knew he would have been safe. He would come to the edge but not close enough we could grab him. Larry said to just ignore him and he'll come down when he wants to. We decide the only thing that will entice him is tuna so off to the store I go. By the way, when you are right downtown, there isn't a grocery store around the corner... So with some tuna on a plate, I climb up and finally coax him within reach. I grabbed his head and started pulling him down as he is screaming all the way. I give him to Larry to set him down on the floor and he just meanders off as if to say "what's the big deal?". The laundry room is now off limits but he keeps trying to get back in there. I think he liked it up there wandering all around.

Co-Pilot Morris McClelland

Today was much better with our co-pilot. We carried him to the car this morning with his leash on and just put him in the car. The leash came off as soon as we were through McDonalds. I don't know that he made much more noise that he does when we are home and there certainly wasn't any of the temper tantrums like yesterday. He's always active and vocal (just meowing) in the morning and then quietens down and goes to sleep for a long nap. Larry and Morris had their usual morning conversations but today it was about other vehicles instead of the usual birds and lizards. Morris spent quite a bit of time on the center console looking out the window as he is in this picture. He was dead to the world by noon in the back seat. He would occasionally let out a "meow" without out even raising his head. We converted that to "are we there yet" in people talk. He checked out the hotel room when we got here and "settled in". One thing we have noticed is that he doesn't eat, drink very much or use his litterbox while we're in the car. From what I've read, that isn't unusual.

It is taking forever to get across Texas and what a boring drive it is! Yesterday we were on the road for 9.5 hours, today was 6.5 hours and tomorrow will be about 4.5 hours. The 2 hour time change was tough yesterday but we'll get used to it. I used to do it about every week and not think twice about it but that was when I had had fewer birthdays. On to Little Rock tomorrow - finally!

Traveling with Morris - Day 1

The first 30 minutes of the trip this morning was our worst nightmare come true. We got the car all loaded and then tried to put Morris in his carrier. All 4 of his long, bony legs went in different directions. We would get 3 in and one would escape. It was like putting an octopus in a box.... But we made it and he immediately started in. He yelled, screamed, howled, cried, hissed - you name it and he did it - all at the top of his lungs. We left McDonalds and then Larry unzipped his carrier so he could come out. He didn't shut up but every few minutes we would get a moment of quite. We had decided that if he didn't shut up by the time we got to Wilcox (about an hour) then it was time for the Kitty Valeum. But the quite moments began to be more frequent so we kept driving. By the time we had been in the car for about 1 1/2 hours he began to quite down - maybe he was exhausted but whatever it was we were thankful for it. He started exploring the car and setting on Larry's lap while looking out the side window. By El Paso, he was sound asleep on top of the suitcases. The last few hours he slept in his carrier which really suprised us. In the above pic, he has just woke up from a nap and was having a conversation with Larry. We got to the motel and he immediately checked out every single square inch of the room before settling down for a nap. Hopefully, tomorrow will be quieter at the beginning... 8-)

We were suprised that the speed limit, after we got out of El Paso, was 80 mph for cars and 70 mph for trucks. Both drop to 65 at night. Miles and miles of nothing..

On The Road Again

Car is packed, road map is marked, hotel reservations made, house ready to close up and in the morning we are on the road again. This time we are heading to Little Rock, Arkansas to spend 2 months in a furnished condo on the 12th floor of a building that is right downtown and 3 blocks from the river. The big difference for this trip is that Morris gets to go along. His stuff takes up about 25% of the car with his crate, litterbox, box of food, etc. His Kitty Valium (tranquilizers) is within easy reach if we need it. We have this dream that he will fuss for no more than 1/2 hour and then settle down and be the perfect traveler. Morris knows we're going somewhere because of the suitcases, etc but he will in for a big suprise when he gets put in the car to go along. We're looking forward to the trip but there are a lot of unknows... How will Morris travel? Will we like Little Rock in the summer as much as we do in the fall and winter? Will we like living in a high rise? Will we like living right down town? Will Morris settle into a new place as easily as he did when we brought him home 3 1/2 years ago? How long will it take for me to go back to my mid-western accent? Can Larry and Morris get used to thunderstorms? Should be an interesting 2 months!