Petit Jean

We had a wonderful time this weekend! The weather was beautiful, although it could have been a little cooler when we went hiking all over the mountain on Sunday (but that is a whole other post.)

We made out usual stop at Wal-Mart when we got to Morrilton. We couldn't make up our mind if we wanted to eat out the whole time or cook. We decided to cook but just do easy stuff. (We brought over half the groceries home). As always we went way overboard. Next time we'll definitely just eat out all weekend!

I was in the market for a new camera and they had a Kodak Easy Share on sale so my precious hubby bought it for me. It's pink and very user friendly (i.e. this blonde could actually figure it out.) He had previously purchased me a digital camera and I was just a nimrod. I never did get it figured out. The pics on this one look great on the screen, we'll have to see how they look when I download them. (Which is my next project to figure out).

Sunset on Friday night was beautiful. Unfortunately we missed part of it since we were driving up the mountain, getting checked in, etc.... I've posted a few pics taken with the camera from Dale's phone. I wish that I had the real camera ready but oh well..............at least we got to watch the beautiful sunset together.

We had a spectacular view of the valley. You'll see those pics tomorrow. Dale was standing on a rock, again I wish I had better clarity.

The object you can see in the lower part of the picture is actually the Petit Jean River.

Dinner was really a treat! Our appetizer was "Portobello fries". Which were exactly as billed. Portobello mushrooms sliced, breaded and fried. The were wonderful!!! Dale had a "cowboy" Ribeye and I had Lobster risotto. We ate dinner on the patio of the restaurant. The conference center has many "water" features, so they provided a nice ambience. We shared off each others plates, but my risotto was so large and so rich, we had to bring part of it home for later. Our portions were so big that we actually skipped dessert. I know can you believe it!

We were actually staying in a special part of the conference center called "The Studio". It is not usually available to recreational guests so we felt very special! Our room was huge and we had our own deck that overlooked the beautiful valley. We also had access to the downstairs meeting area. It had a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms, a big screen tv, conference table, a rock terrace and of course THE VIEW!!! Our bathroom was nearly as big as our front office. The bedroom itself was nearly as big as our whole office space. The bedrooms have not been re-done to match the modern look downstairs, but I found them to be very nice. Better than our accomodations at the Peabody.

Again, Dale felt a little out of place. I think he described at as blue jeans at a tuxedo ball. The other areas that are avaiable for rent are very nice. They just don't offer that spectacular view.

More on our Petit Jean adventure tomorrow.......