We spent a weekend in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in February 2024. We were there for a church marriage retreat, and we did spend some time exploring Hot Springs National Park. It was a fun weekend full of interesting things!
During our weekend, we stayed at the historic Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, right at the edge of the National Park area. The Arlington was an interesting place to stay, and we enjoyed our time there. Here are a few photos from our visit.
Recently, I went on a quick business trip to San Antonio, Texas. And by “quick” I mean that I was there for less than 24 hours. Most of that time was spent either in meetings or sleeping. However, I did find a few moments to check out the San Antonio River Walk.
The hotel I stayed at was right on the San Antonio River Walk. So after an early breakfast at the hotel, I went outside and was immediately on the River Walk. I went for a nice morning stroll to check out the scenery, and I ended up walking about a mile by the time I had doubled back to the hotel. In that time, I only saw a small portion of the River Walk, but it was definitely worth the time. As you can see, the views are pretty nice all along the river.
The sun sets over the Ko Olina Lagoons near the Disney resort of Aulani on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi during our 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip.
When I was compiling photos for the trip report, I purposefully left out some of the sunset photos that I had taken. If you have already read the report, you know that there were lots of sunset photos in the report. But I took lots more photos than I could include in the report, so I thought it would be a good idea to share some of them from time to time, because the photos can definitely stand on their own.
On January 14 and 15, 2024, we got some snow. Lots of snow, actually. I took some preliminary measurements while the snow was still falling, but I never did go back and do a final measurement, but I would guess that we got around 5 to 6 inches of snow. And then we had some really cold weather after the snow, so that the snow has stayed on the ground for several days. It is actually still here at the time of this writing.
Waves wash onto the shore at Kaʻena Point Beach on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi during our 2023 Hawaiʻi trip.
If you have been following along on the posts from our trip, this photo may look familiar, because I posted a similar view several months ago. This view is not exactly the same as that previous one to begin with. And besides that, I like this one better. The processing makes the photo look clearer and brighter. And just like that previous photo, you can find Laura in this photo if you look closely. Obviously, I like this photo slightly better, as you might can tell from the title of this post.
Statues of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas mark the site of the Lincoln-Douglas debate in Jonesboro, Illinois.
During a trip through Illinois in December 2023, Laura and I stopped by the Lincoln-Douglas debate site in Jonesboro. As you may know, we both like history, and Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorite subjects. This site was not too far off of our path, and it was great to be able to stop by for a few minutes.
Here is a video look at some of the Christmas decorations around our house in 2023:
All our decorations are not included in this video, but I did try to hit some of the highlights. Yes, there have been photos as well, but sometimes video can capture just a little more.
Mickey Mouse shaped Christmas ornaments hang from Mickey Mouse lights in a doorway in our house for the 2023 Christmas Season.
Believe it or not, we do have Christmas decorations that are not shaped like a certain cartoon mouse. But we do also have several that fit that category, too. These are just a small sample of some that Laura ordered online from somewhere or other, and they go nicely on the Mickey lights which have adorned the doorway between our den and kitchen for a while.
Our Christmas tree for 2023 stands proudly in our den, lighting up the night.
You might not be able to tell here, but we like lots of lights on our Christmas tree. Lots and lots of lights. The more, the better. Is there a light limit on these things? Thankfully, the new LED lights use a lot less energy than the old lights, so we are not tripping circuit breakers or anything like that.
Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, as part of our Christmas 2023 decorations in our house.
If you know much about us, I am sure you can guess who each stocking belongs to. The football stocking would obviously be Jaylin’s. And it should be obvious that the cowboy boot stocking belongs to Laura, even if you do not see that her name is on it. The stocking on the right is slightly folded over, but you can probably see that it has Mickey Mouse ears and buttons, and that one is mine.
