Oklahoma and Arkansas

Time with the Family

This first section will probably be interesting only to certain people as I recall the various times with my family, so bear with me! ;-)

I hadn't seen my family in Oklahoma for right at four years, so it was nice to be able to see them again. The first day I was there, I was able to go observe my sister, Brenda, teach class. She's involved in teaching five teenagers in a home school setting, and it was fun getting to know the girls. Brenda was teaching English and math, and she and I both especially enjoyed the diagramming portion of the English lesson (yes, I know, we're BOTH weird!).

From there, I was able to go over to spend the afternoon with my mom (and see the house I bought her three years ago!). And then we went and had dinner with my brother Robert, his wife Jennifer, and their daughter Hallie. It was an enjoyable day!

The next day, we headed over to my niece, Rachel's house, and to meet her little boy, Zachary, who is 17 months (about 6 weeks older than Avery). My brother Rick (Rachel's dad) also came over. That was very enjoyable since I hadn't seen Rick in almost 16 years! (I know, it's a long story...). He also brought over his fiance Lani, and her young son. Brenda also came over, and we all went out to P.F. Changs for dinner. It was a fun evening.

I have to talk about Zachary -- he's one of the brightest little guys I've ever met! He's quiet and well-mannered, and is very analytical. He just watches you, and you can see his brain going a mile a minute. And when we went out to eat, he just sat there and ate, with the best manners! We were there for quite a while, and he was well-behaved throughout the entire evening. But the most impressive thing about Zach was his golf swing. His golfer daddy had gotten him a small set of (plastic) golf clubs, and that's his favorite thing to play with. But the amazing thing is that he would step up to the ball, and hit it every stinkin' time -- and with a great swing, I might add. Have you ever seen that footage of Tiger Woods when he was about 2 years old, hitting the ball with a perfect swing? Well, that's Zach. You remember the name, Zachary Rutherford!

Brenda and I had both brought our laptops over to share our pics. We dubbed it "The Battle of the Gramma's"! Everyone was just rolling their eyes. ;-) Brenda also had some old pics that she had scanned in of my grandparents and great-grandparents. I was very happy to get those.

Friday evening Brenda and I were able to go with my mom to a Mother/Daughter Banquet at mom's church. That was a rare, serendipitous opportunity! I'm glad mom could have both her daughters there for once! It was also enjoyable to see some old friends and relatives at the church that I was brought up in.

Saturday, Michael and I went over to the home of my cousin David and his wife Robin. Also there was David's mom Janie, and his brother Dale (who I hadn't seen for probably 30 years!). I also got to see all three of his (grown) kids, who were all there briefly. We had the best time, just gabbing and laughing all evening long!

Finally, Sunday morning, I went to church with mom. I had been asked to both sing a solo and sing in an ensemble. Singing in this ensemble was pretty cool because in it was Nolen and Redonda, John and Georgia, and Don and Carolyn -- the same people I was singing with 35 years ago when I went to OU. I also got to see several other friends and relatives that morning. I'm glad I got to go.

I've put pics of all the family members on my photosite.

The entire time I was in Oklahoma City, it was cloudy, extremely windy and muggy, just like April/May usually is. I kept wondering whether or not a tornado would be coming through. I usually enjoy tornado season, but it was a little different this time since everything we are travelling with is in a relatively lightweight fifth wheel! Instead, there was a deadly tornado that ripped through Kansas and northwestern Oklahoma. Travelling through these parts is pretty risky this time of year!

Time to Head East

We left Oklahoma City and headed east. I hadn't been out that way since I was 8 years old, so I had forgotten just how pretty the rolling green hills were. The one thing that stands out, though, is the roadkill (yes, we've already previously established that I'm weird!). Actually, all through Oklahoma, and then into Arkansas (more on that later), I saw dead armadillo after dead armadillo! I guess they're too slow to get out of the way. The only other thing I saw was one dead monkey (ok, Mike says it probably wasn't a monkey since they're not usually indiginous to this area, but it sure looked like a monkey!). Anyway, I hadn't seen an armadillo since I left Texas about 22 years ago, so I thought that was pretty cool.

We also passed through several Indian nations -- the Potawatomi, the Fox, the Creek (actual native name Muskogee), and others. And we also passed through a lot of towns with Indian names -- Sallisaw, Okamah, Okfuskee, Shawnee. So I was used to seeing this when we came up near a big lake, and there was an exit there named "Lotawatah Drive". I had to do a double take to realize that that wasn't an Indian name at all, and I busted up laughing! Someone had a sense of humor on that one! :-)

There was another notable sight as we drove through Checotah OK, since that's the home of American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. There was a huge green metallic highway sign with "Home of..." on it, then another mile down the road, a huge billboard with her picture on it. They are certainly proud of their native daughter!

Over Into Arkansas

As pretty as eastern Oklahoma was, it paled in comparison to Arkansas. There was almost an immediate difference as soon as we crossed the border. Arkansas is incredibly green and lush, and very hilly (with the Ozarks being right there). We headed north out of Fort Smith and headed toward Fayetteville. We had to pass through the Boston Mountains -- remember, they call them mountains, but the highest peak is around 2500 ft. They were beautiful nonetheless.

The RV Park we chose ended up being out in the woods, outside of Rogers. I knew I was in Arkansas once we met the manager of the RV Park. This is out of context, but at one point he said, "I dun throwed that thang ovah they-er." Let me translate: "I threw that thing over there." Good thing I'm bilingual, huh??!! ;-)

Beautiful Eureka Springs

Michael's mom and dad were from Eureka Springs, and his older brother and sister were born there, so we wanted to go check it out. I had no idea how beautiful it was there! We climbed through rolling hills until we came upon a charming historic town built in the late 1800's. In fact, it's the only city in the US whose entire downtown area is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Eureka Springs is also well-known for its Passion Play. We didn't get to see it because it doesn't show until 8:30 at night, but we went through the grounds. It looks like quite a big production. Also on the grounds is a 67 ft statue of Jesus overlooking the valley. It's called the "Christ of the Ozarks" and it's really something!

Just outside Eureka Springs is a building called the Thorncrown Chapel. It has won numerous architectural awards over the years, and is truly a sight to behold. It is 48 ft tall, and contains 425 windows and over 6000 sq ft of glass. We walked in and it was quiet, except for some beautiful relaxing Christian music over the speakers. It was truly a spiritual experience just being there -- the beauty was overwhelming.
I have a picture here, and another one on my photosite, but of course, the pictures don't do it justice. If you want to see an entire slideshow, or find out more about the chapel, you can go to www.thorncrown.com.

Finally, we drove out to Beaver Lake. It was a beautiful, HUGE lake! There were hundreds of squirrels everywhere, and the woods consist of thousands of small diameter trees. Very pretty.

Arkansas Razorbacks

We drove into Fayetteville to see the University of Arkansas campus. Very impressive. It's much prettier and more spread out than the University of Nebraska campus. But most impressive of all is, you come around a particular corner, and all of the sudden you see the famous Razorback Stadium. That thing is HUGE -- It seats 71,000 people.
It's fun to see all these famous stadiums -- Nebraska and Arkansas, and of course, I've been to the Oklahoma and Texas stadiums. So when we see these big college football games on TV, I can say "I've been there."

There was one thing on campus that made me laugh. As you may know, Tyson Chicken is really big around here, and there's one big building, the John W. Tyson Building, called the "Center of Excellence for Poultry Science". I'm just trying to imagine all the things they do and talk about in that building! Funny, huh??

The Battle of Pea Ridge

Outside of Rogers, there is a "National Military Park" commemorating the Battle of Pea Ridge, a significant battle within the Civil War. I didn't even realize the war came over this far, but I guess this was a significant battle that determined the control of Missouri. We watched a re-enactment movie, then drove around the battlefield with a written guide.
It was very interesting, although that kind of stuff usually makes me sad. I hate war, and especially that one with Americans killing Americans. But it was impactful to actually be out in the battlefield and imagine the blood spilt there. As we travel, I want to see all the significant Civil War battlefields, but it will be difficult for me, I'm sure.

The Original Wal-Mart

We drove (not too far) over to Bentonville -- what a cute little town! They have a Town Square that totally reminds me of the town square in "Back to the Future". It has the park area in the middle, the big county courthouse on one side (although without the big clock face), then surrounded by little shops. Very cute -- total Americana!

On one side of the square is Walton's 5 and 10 Store -- Sam Walton's original store. They've made it into a little visitor's center, as well as a "shrine" to Sam.
I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart (not for any reason other than they're too big and crowded), but I must say that seeing how Sam built his empire from one little store was very inspiring! Of course, Bentonville is the world headquarters. They employ over 9000 people in Bentonville alone! It's an amazing American success story.

Up to Missouri

Well, tomorrow we're heading up into Missouri to see my dad in Bolivar, then on up to Kansas City and beyond. I'll be curious to see what develops in the "beyond" part since they're having tornadoes, floods, and all kinds of stuff up in those parts. We'll see how it goes after we leave Dad's.