Trip Report: July 29, 2008-August 2, 2008 --  We still had some points left on my parent's Wyndham Vacation Resort account so we decided to preview the Fairfield Bay, Arkansas location as we are planning to spend Christmas 2008 there.  Initially I had planned to trailer the Ninjette II part of the way and ride the Talimena Scenic Drive and perhaps a few other of the great Ozark twisties on the way.  Joleen was going to drive the Escort pulling the trailer while I road the Ninjette II.  Once at Fairfield Bay I would then spend part of each day exploring the two wheeled play ground that is northwestern Arkansas while the kids relaxed at the pool. This was going to be a "working vacation" as Joleen planned to worked on some of her teaching preparations for the next school year and I had several on going projects at Trenton ISD that I could coordinate via cell phone while not riding.  I went to bed on the evening of July 28th with great anticipation.

Joleen awoke on July 29th with a massive hormonally driven migraine.  Except for the mind numbingly boring and straight trip to Antlers, Oklahoma from Trenton the trip across Oklahoma and Arkansas is hilly and twisty with the roads becoming increasingly technical as one gets closer to Fairfield Bay.  Joleen can barely tolerate straight Interstate travel when in this condition and driving is out of the question.  The concept of trailering the Ninjette II down US 82 and then Interstate 30 to Little Rock at 70 MPH while dealing with 75 MPH traffic and tread-slinging semi-trucks as opposed to a the more leisurely 60 to 65 MPH back road travel originally planned was very disappointing.  After a heated discussion the Ninjette II stayed at our home and I would redeem the aforementioned riding time by working on our website and getting a further jump on the coordination of some summer projects for Trenton ISD.

We hadn't made it a hundred miles down the road before my cell phone started ringing "off the hook".  First the router and firewall at Trenton ISD was keeping everyone from getting to secure websites.  Next a VoIP communications bidder needed a contract signed.  Then our piano tuner called and mentioned he was in the area and wanted to drop by to tune our piano (sigh, sometimes it just doesn't pay to leave town).

We stopped to eat lunch at the Brown's Country Store Restaurant located in Benton, Arkansas on the way to Fairfield Bay.  Joleen and the kids enjoyed lunch while I fielded multiple phone calls on the Trenton ISD firewall and router issue.  The firewall and router issue was finally resolved after several more phone calls at about 9:00 AM the following morning.

The Wyndham Vacation Resort at Fairfield Bay accommodations were wonderful.  Spacious and comfortable the ceiling in the living room soared to over 20 feet and the master bathroom had a Jacuzzi tub sized to rival most Wal-Mart wading pools. If you like golf, boating, motorcycling, bicycling or just relaxing this is the place to be.  If you would like to do something else then this is not the place to be.  Fairfield Bay, Arkansas is a resort/retirement community and therefore very laid back with little in the way of distractions.  The local radio station, KFFB, serves to underscore that retirees are the area's primary clientele as the "Timeless Favorites" play list runs from the Bee Gees to Benny Goodman to Jerry Lee Lewis.  Joleen and I  thought it was great.  The kids on the other hand were less enthusiastic.

Tuesday evening we went to one of the local groceries and on the way back to the condo stopped by a road-side merchant to purchase a couple of watermelons.  We literally have not scene a decent watermelon in a couple years in Texas.  They are picked to early and shipped to far to be much better than drywall.  These were very good melons

Wednesday Morning I got up with plans to jog to the fitness center to lift weights and then jog back.  I looked over the map they gave us at check-in, plotted a route, and took off.  It soon became clear that details were left off and the map publishers weren't kidding when they put "not to scale" at the bottom of they map.  A little over one half an hour into what I thought would be a 20 minute jog to the fitness center I called Joleen to find out where I was on the map.  The intersection I found myself at did not exist on the map.  I did a direct back track and got an hour and 10 minute jog in.   Later that day I picked up a more detailed map of the area.

Joleen did damage control and tried to rid herself of the migraine and I spent time on the phone, looking over contracts for Trenton ISD, and working on the Yeager Group websites.  The kids slept in, watched television, and swam.  We all ate our fill of watermelon.  That evening Nathaniel and I went to the pool.

Thursday morning I got up looked at the detailed map and actually jogged to the fitness center in about 25 minutes.  The Hart Fitness Center is very well equipped with multiple weights stations, treadmills, stair climbers an in-door track, and a pool.  The vast majority of the patrons were much older than I and used the elevator to get to the second floor track.  Instead of rock the workout sound track was big band music.  I finished most of the website work and conducted school business for much of the remainder of the day.  Joleen planned some of her approach to geometry next year and took steps to keep her head ache under control.  The kids relaxed, swam, and watched TV.

Thursday evening we dined at Janssen's Lakefront Restaurant in Greers Ferry, Arkansas on the recommendation of the resort staff.  An excellent call.  Janssen's has excellent local fare including a fresh salad bar, (with perhaps the best German style potato salad we have had), home baked rolls, double-dipped cornmeal battered chicken fried steak and a six layered chocolate cake.  The evening special, a shrimp linguine, was capital as well.  Fine cuisine was backed by very personable service and an unobtrusive atmosphere with a pleasant view of Greers Ferry Lake.  We will be sure to dine here again when we return for Christmas.

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