8-2-18
It was Hyla’s last day of pre-k. So sad!! I picked her up early, and we headed out around 3:40. We stopped at the McDonalds in Edgewood for a quick meal before a thankfully uneventful drive, though they did forget Hyla’s chocolate milk. Rude! We drove quite a distance, but made it to Elk City, Oklahoma around 11:30, at last. The kids were exhausted, but we made it. We stayed at the Super 8, where Hyla was obsessed with a cat in the parking lot. We had a decent night’s sleep for our first night out. An relatively easy start for our trip.
8-3-18
This was another long and drivey day. We hauled butt early in the morning, around 9am, and made it through OK City and Tulsa relatively unscathed. Then we headed through the cities in northwestern Arkansas. I had no idea how populated this part of the state was! We finally made our way to the Saddlebock Brewery in Springdale, Arkansas where we hoped to grab dinner. Other than a few people seated outside, there was almost no one around once we went inside. We saw someone working in the brewery itself, but no one was manning the restaurant. We considered leaving, but another couple came in just as confused as we were. We decided to stick around a little longer, and luckily the server suddenly appeared. It turned out we were just in time for happy hour! We wound up enjoying some nice beers (mine was a blueberry wheat!) and good food. It was a pleasant meal save for the fact that the kids were exhausted, and that Griffin has now discovered the joys of pushing the nipple on his bottle in and dumping the contents on himself, so we had to deal with a sour-milk-smelling kinda kid during our dinner. We made do, and I think we were all happy to stop and get some food.
From here, we continued on to Fast Lane Entertainment in Lowell, AR. It was a fairly typical family entertainment venue with pizza, games, and some rides. Our main purpose for visiting was the Python Pit kiddie roller coaster. I HAD to get this credit since we were in the area. I dragged Hyla along (well, not too much, as she seemed rather enthused by the whole thing), and we got a ticket. They sent us around 5 times, in typical kiddie coaster fashion. It wasn’t all that impressionable, but we still had a good time. Then Hyla played in the climbing structure for a while. I chased after her some, as best as I could. They really need to make these slightly larger to accommodate adults. It would be so much fun! After about a half hour of romping, we made it back to the car where Hyla tried to bite me because she was so mad that I wouldn’t let her play some game she wanted to play. Joy. Glad we left when we did.
After cleaning up, we headed over to Crystal Bridge Art Museum, where we wandered around. It was definitely worth seeing, on heavily wooded grounds with art both inside and out, not to mention trails all around. To top it off, it was also free! We had a great time exploring the grounds. Hyla especially liked the display of blue candy sprawled out on the floor. There were also a few exhibits you could climb into. Definitely worth a stop if one is in the area.
Once we’d had our fill, we continued on to St. Robert, MO for the night, where we had a reservation. Construction on I-44 was nuts, and we were stuck for an awfully long time. We didn’t make it to our hotel until about 12:30! By the time we arrived, the kids were asleep, but luckily we got them to the room without incident and we all went straight to bed once we settled in. What a day!
8-4-18
I heard Griffin stirring around 7 am, so I got up and took him down to breakfast. We sat there for over a half an hour during which time he devoured a whole banana, save for one bite which I had. Then we went back to the room and got everyone ready for our big day ahead. Our mission was the Missouri state high point, our 11th peak, such as it is.
It was a relatively long drive on country roads to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. We were greeted to lovely scenery of the surrounding area from the lookout point on the drive up. The walk to the high point was very easy, on a paved path, in fact. We played around on the rock marking the spot and made sure to get some pictures to commemorate the experience. We decide that we’d come all this way, we should at least attempt another hike, so we struck out to see Mina Sauk Falls, but after maybe a mile and a half of walking, H was getting hot and tired. On top of that, some fellow hikers informed us that the trail got super sketchy up ahead, and that the falls were dry anyway, so we decided it best we turn around and head for the car. On our way back, we leap frogged with a group that had a large puppy. Poor Hyla was so scared of it for some reason, and we just couldn’t shake them. Perhaps she was just using this as an excuse to ride on dad’s shoulders? Either way, that’s how it played out, and poor Nate was exhausted by the time we got back to the car.
Once back, we were thrilled to have some air conditioning. The humidity would take some getting used to again. We headed south, encountering the winding, nausea-inducing roads of north central Arkansas again. We wound up stopping at Taco Bell for lunch, since our empty stomachs were likely contributing to the nausea we were feeling. That helped a bit, but not 100%. There’s just something about those roads that really can get ya.
We eventually made it to Salem and checked into our hotel, the Cottonwood Inn. I got to talking with the owners, two sisters, one of whom was born 10 days before me! How fun. They gave us room 28 (because of my birthday?), and I gladly retreated there, so I could change my sweat-soaked, smelly shirt and look and feel decent again. Then we headed off for Barbra’s (my former 5th grade teacher and friend) house.
As always, it was so wonderful to see her – it’s like reuniting with family. She is always so gracious and welcoming. We made our way into her farmhouse, being greeted by her dog Shadow on the way. Hyla’s nervous around dogs and wasn’t too thrilled, as he could be a bit barky, but once inside she was fine. We were treated to a lovely dinner of pork roast sandwiches. The kids took to running all over and exploring – it was exhausting to keep up with them! Thank goodness Barb was there, because she had no problem chasing them all over the place! I think she’s healthier than I am, and 40 some years my senior! We visited until it was apparent the kids were just too tired, and we retreated back to our motel for the night. I walked around the motel to get my steps for the day and then admired a grasshopper that had found its way into our room. What an eventful day it had been!
8-5-18
Got up at 8 and made it to Barb’s around 10. She had a lovely pancake and sausage breakfast set out, which we all enjoyed immensely. Then we set out for Blanchard Springs Caverns. It was a long, twisty journey, and Barb told me how it took her a while to get her stomach used to the crazy roads out here. It felt so good to stop once we’d arrived. We were very impressed by the Caverns. The visitor center and gift shop were huge, and the cave was impressive! We did the one-hour tour, which Barbra hadn’t done before. It was the shorter of the two, and we figured it was better with the kids along anyway. It was an impressive cavern and a very nice tour. At the end, we took an elevator up and were bused back to the visitor center. From there, Hyla played in the playground for a few minutes before we headed over to a short hike to a waterfall. To prevent a meltdown, Hyla had a picnic of snacks along the way. This was such a beautiful and secluded place! I would highly recommend checking out Blanchard Springs Caverns to anyone who is in the area.
We headed back through the winding roads, stopping briefly to pick up some distilled water at a grocery store. We also ate at The Anglers Restaurant at the crossroads in Sylamore – we enjoyed some catfish, beans, and mashed potatoes, all of which were a hit. The view of the White River was phenomenal, too. Then we headed over to Barb’s museum: The Museum of Imagination. It was so great to see Hyla explore it – last time we were here, she was just a baby. And now she could finally interact with the exhibits and appreciate the things at which she was looking. She especially liked the hanging balls or “planet” exhibit. Barbra was wonderful showing her around. She even gave her some dolomite and a clam fossil! So cool!
Once we got back to Barb’s, we hung out there until about 8pm, catching up, doing laundry, and just relaxing. Well, some of us relaxed. Shadow was barking like crazy, so Barb went to investigate. She was outside, and I heard her yelling and hitting something over and over. I checked on her, and it turns out that Shadow had discovered a copperhead, which Barbra fought off valiantly. It was super scary, and man oh man, is she tough! You’d have to be, living out there with the venomous snakes, ticks, brown recluse, scorpions, tarantulas, etc. that she cohabitates with. She said it had been years since she’d seen a copperhead, and in those dark environs, that’s the last thing you want to tangle with as you walk to your car. Wow. While I feel for the snake, it really was a danger for all, especially Shadow who refused to let it be. What an eventful day it turned out to be.
8-6-18
After all the adventures the last couple of days, we slept in to recharge. After finally checking out, we grabbed a few geocaches around Salem before heading back over to Barbra’s house. We enjoyed another lovely breakfast with her, and then we all headed over to Mammoth Spring and did a lap of the lake. Then we headed over to the fish hatchery, which I don’t recall ever having seen before. They had some amazing gar and an alligator, too, since they are found in Arkansas. We had such a wonderful time visiting with Barbra, it was sad that it had to come to an end. After our busy morning, we drove her back home and said goodbye. I definitely hope we’ll be able to make it out again before too long. I feel so lucky to have been able to keep in touch with her all these years.
We headed west through Mountain Home and then up to Missouri to check out Fantastic Caverns. We kept seeing billboards for it all around, so Hyla just HAD to check it out, and we were curious, too. Driving cars through a cave? That’s different! It was fun to travel through the cave in the electric vehicles. The kids did great, and Hyla even played a bit with the girl sitting next to her. That girl was nervous about the cave, and Hyla tried to ease her worries. The cave itself wasn’t as exciting as others we’ve seen, but that makes sense because, if you’re going to drive a car through it, you don’t want a cave with too many features and obstacles. Once out of the cave, we wandered the grounds a bit before heading off for Branson.
The drive to Branson was met with some intense downpours and lightning. We were glad that it finally let up once we got to town, but wow!! After driving through town and gawking at all the touristy stuff, we finally made it to Welk’s Resort, where we’d be spending the next two nights. Hyla’s enamoured with waterpark hotels, and this appeared to be just that! It had an indoor and outdoor pool section with a waterslide and supposedly movies at the pool. How exciting! I got Hyla into her swimsuit and did a tick check for good measure. I found and removed 3 of them, but I think one’s mouthparts remained. Yikes! I found one on my ankle, too. Eep! This is something you rarely think about in New Mexico – we have it so good.
Anyway, we made it over to the waterpark, and Hyla, despite my telling her not to, ran and wound up doing a spectacular slip in which she fell on her back and hit her head. She seemed ok, but hopefully she learned her lesson not to do that anymore. We explored the indoor pool area, and for as muggy as it was outside, it had nothing on how it felt in there! Yikes!! Another thing we’re not used to anymore. I walked around with Griffin for a while until he’d had enough, which was evident when he started getting really angry and frustrated about everything. We retreated to the room so he could be fed and get some sleep, while Hyla and Nate stayed and played at the waterpark some more. We were glad to be settled in one place for the next two nights.
8-7-18
Got up and took Hyla swimming. We had a great time, though she really didn’t want to try any practicing, like jumping in or holding her breath. We still had fun making our way around the pool and playing in the sprinkler areas, until lightning forced us out of the water. We came back and ran off for lunch at the Fall Creek Restaurant, home of the “tossed rolls.” Unfortunately, we didn’t have any diapers with us, so Nate had to go back to the hotel (luckily close-by) to get some, and he returned a half hour later. We were mostly done and had experienced 2 roll tosses at that point – they really fling ‘em, and often miss, but we had a couple. Sadly, Nate never got to witness this spectacle. I had salmon and mashed potatoes and saved some for Griffin. Hyla had popcorn shrimp and corn (which I ate much of), and Nate had the catfish. It was all ok, but not that great. It’s all about the show more than the food, I think.
After lunch, we went to the Runaway Mountain Coaster a few spots down. It had been closed for lightning too, but was now open. Hyla and I went together, and we enjoyed the journey up the hill. She enjoyed the ride down, too, and told me not to hit the brakes. Fun! Glad she likes these rides, too.
From there, we drove around looking at sites. Griffin fell asleep so we went to the Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area, and Nate and Hyla hiked to another overlook. I went once they returned. It was hot and muggy, but there were a few interesting views of the surrounding area. When heading back to town, we got rather lost on all the roads but still saw a lot of stuff we’d like to do eventually.
We made our way to the Toy Museum eventually and toured that – it was big, with a number of separate areas, and it was fun to see things we may have had ourselves. They even had a Rail Runner model train (just like our NM commuter train)! Hyla got a baggie of colorful rocks as her souvenir. During our visit, she kept picking up a brochure that Griffin kept dropping, so I told her she deserved ice cream for all her efforts.
After our fill of toys, we did a tasting at St. James Winery and then had lunch there. They featured lots of sweet fruit wines, which I may have liked in the past, but this time found them kinda gross. For dinner, Hyla had a kid’s cheese pizza, I had French onion soup and a cider and a cranberry ale, and Nate shared a charcuterie plate with the kids. We came back to the room to prep for the evening movie in the pool (dive-in movie), and discovered the water in the room is scalding hot if you’re not careful – something to be mindful of for next time. We went down to the pool, and Nate and I took turns trying out the waterslide. It wasn’t huge, but it was fun! We got ready for the movie, but lightning shut it down again. Griffin was shivering from the cold, too, poor guy, so it was for the best that we leave. We came back to the room, changed, and went out for custard, as (sort of) promised. We were going to try to hit another attraction, but Griffin fell asleep, so we ate the custard in the car and just came back. I wandered around the resort a bit. Griffin fell back asleep quickly, luckily. We hope to try mini golf tomorrow, and maybe another attraction in town before heading out of here. We ended the evening by watching “Madagascar” and filling out postcards. It had been a good day.
8-8-18
We slept in, somewhat, and then got packed to go. Griffin did wake up around 6 when they slid a slip of paper under our door. He somehow got a hold of it and was so angry when I tried to take it away that he bit a huge chunk out of it! Yikes! Once we were ready to check out, we did just that, and then headed over to the free 9-hole mini golf course on site. Hyla did pretty well and may be ready to do the real thing! Good for her!
Next, we headed over to see if we could ride the giant Ferris Wheel, but it wouldn’t open until noon, so Nate and Hyla opted to ride the adjacent spiral lift go-kart track. This was her first time go-karting, and she had a blast! Griffin and I just watched and enjoyed the break. After this, we really had to get out of town to make decent time, so we bade farewell to Branson. I’m sure we’ll be back again one day.
Our next stop, as suggested by Barbra, was the Golden Pioneer Museum, located in Golden, MO. She said it was an amazing collection of all manner of things, and definitely worth seeing. When we arrived, we were greeted to a run-down-looking building that really didn’t grab one’s attention from the road. But inside, it was actually quite impressive! Definitely worth a stop. They had collections ranging from glassware to minerals, Native American artifacts to lunchboxes. It was really fascinating! And on top of it all, admission is free (donations are accepted, though). There was so much to see, it easily took an hour, if not more. Sometimes the most unassuming places are really surprising.
We continued on from there, crossing back into Arkansas, where we did the Amazeum, the local childrens’ museum. It was full of interactive stuff, and was certainly entertaining, but I’ve seen better. On top of it, I got really sick once I got home, and I’m pretty sure I picked up whatever that was at this place. Ick. Regardless, Hyla had fun running around and exploring. It was worth a stop. Then we did some geocaching on the inter-museum campus (Crystal Bridges Art Museum was here, too). One was pretty easy to find along the wooded trails, but the second one required some pretty serious off-roading to approach, at least from my angle, and I almost got in trouble for doing so, but I’m just stealthy enough (maybe). Once there, I was met with muggles (non-geocachers) and a baby black widow. Luckily, I told the muggles about the black widow, so they thought that’s why I was poking around so suspiciously, and it all worked out. Geocache grabbed! It was fun exploring the woods, and the temperature was decent, but that humidity, man. It’ll really get ya.
From here, we headed back into the center of town and checked out the site of the first Walmart. It is situated right on a lovely square and contains the Walmart Museum. We explored that and then wound up at its olde tyme ice cream shop next door, serving up surprisingly cheap ice cream, in which we indulged. I had a strawberry soda, Hyla had cookies and cream, and Nate got mint chocolate chip. We crammed ourselves into a kid-sized table and enjoyed our snack. Griffin loved sampling all these things, too. After this, we wandered around the charming square a bit before heading back to the car for the continuation of our journey.
We drove until we hit Fort Smith and grabbed dinner at the Bricktown Brewery. I can attest that their French onion soup, mashed potatoes, and beer were delicious…Griffin thought so, too. We had a lovely meal, and it really hit the spot after another long day of adventuring. We continued on to Henryetta, OK for the night and checked into a Super 8. The kids had fallen asleep in the car, but were thankfully quickly transferred to the room where they fell right back asleep again. What an exhausting day!
8-9-18
Happy birthday, Hyla! Nothing says celebration like being on the road, but she’s a trooper. We all did manage to sleep in a bit before that, though. We made our way to Oklahoma City where we zeroed in on the Museum of Osteology, an amazing place showcasing bones of all sorts, from just about every taxa you can think of. And exoskeletons, too! Hyla fixated on the collection of abnormal domestic cat skulls and wanted to repeat what their ailments were and say how she wants to be a vet so she can help cats with those problems. So sweet. Since it was her birthday, so I let her pick out a present in the gift shop – and what a gift shop! So many interesting things you don’t see elsewhere, like rat embryos in vials. She picked out a purple and pink dolphin and a yellow lollipop with ants inside. Always the gourmet.
We continued on, eating lunch at an Italian restaurant in Yukon, OK called Primo’s. It was pretty good, and a nice change of pace from fast food. We mostly just motored back from there, stopping in Santa Rosa for some McD’s. We did encounter some rain in Texas, and then stronger stuff around Milagro, NM with lots of lightning! It was amazing! And a bit frightening at times. We got home around 9pm, unpacked, and exhaled – it had been a busy and tiring trip, but lots of fun, too. As always, we can’t wait for the next one!
