Oklahoma In Review

Only photos for our last day in OK remained unharmed, so only a few photos for this post:(

Our drive into Oklahoma was flat with lots of oil rigs, cattle, pick-up trucks, and more pick up trucks.  And COLD!  I had in my mind that by traveling in the south rather than enduring the horrible Kansas winter, we'd be nice and toasty from fall to spring.  How wrong I was!  Not only have we hit many chilly temps, but a handful of days have been warmer in Kansas than where we are!  And wouldn't you know, in our coldest state (dropping to the teens at night) not only were our inverter/ electrical issues in our RV worsening, but our jeep was again experiencing transmission issues.  So as soon as we arrived in OK, we picked up a rental car and made an appointment for the Jeep... and prayed through the night our pipes wouldn't freeze!
Our first full day in Oklahoma, Jim spent getting the jeep to the shop & working while the girls & I got out of Oklahoma!  We were just too close to home not to see family, so we met Amber & little Emery at a Science Museum in Witchita.  The museum was super cool, with a Kansas In Miniature display, Tornado simulator (which even Emery experienced as it blew her hairbow right off her head!), various Kansas critters, and a huge toddler area where we spent most of our day:)  So great just getting time to sit on the floor and watch Emery play... and to chat with Amber without any loss of connection!  Our favorite part of the day was when Natalie & Alayna put on a puppet show for Emery.  Every time they brought out the puppets, Emery would laugh & laugh.  Her belly laughs went on for at least 5 minutes and were heaven to our ears.  What a precious day.  And we hated it to end, but with a 3 hour drive for each of us, we just had to go.  And just as we were leaving, snowflakes began to fall.  Wouldn't you know the only winter snowflakes we saw were when we slipped back into KS... ugh!  Thankfully, Amber's drive back was clear, but we faced blizzard conditions for nearly 3 of our now 4-hour drive home.  Regardless, it was still worth the visit:)
With the freezing weather and friends waiting for us in TX, we were ready to leave OK, but our jeep was taking longer than expected.  So we spent a day actually sightseeing in Oklahoma City.  We visited the Oklahoma City bombing memorial then down the street to Brick Town, a Power & Light- like area.

The Oklahoma City Memorial honors those who lost their lives on April 19, 1995 and is placed where the Murrah Building once stood. Large gates frame the monument and display the time 9:01am (representing the innocence of the city before the attack) and 9:03am (the moment the city was changed forever).

The "Field of Empty Chairs" holds 168 chairs representing those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Over 200 feet of the original fence give people a chance to leave their gifts of remembrance.

  We had lunch at a yummy wine bistro, then dessert at an amazing 5,000 square-foot cupcake (and lots of other cute things) shop, Pinkitzle.

We left with chocolate fudge, chocolate mint, lemon drop, and salty caramel cupcakes.
We hated leaving Oklahoma with so little explored, but it was just too cold for our home on wheels to stay.  In fact, before leaving Jim had to pour hot water over our frozen-to-the-spout water hose!

The jeep still wasn't ready (Jim would end up driving 3 1/2 hours back to get it in a few days), but we had friends waiting for us in Texas and we could hardly wait to see them.

GOODBYE 22 degrees!!!

On to Dallas!

Arkansas In Review

Because of my recent computer issues & loss of some photos, Arkansas & Oklahoma will sadly be without illustrations...
We were most excited about the friends we'd get to visit during our stay in Arkansas, and we were able to see them all in the same day.  We met Dave & Rhea Lana at the Inc. 500/5000 conference Jim & I attended in D.C. in the fall.  Being a Sunday, we were thrilled to get to meet up with them at their church in Little Rock.  It reminded us so much of our church we miss at home.  After the service, we were invited to their home where Dave immediately showed the girls his homemade backyard amusement park.  Oh, how I wish I had our pictures!  The 20ish foot high zipline flew them through the trees and they had to hold on for dear life as it abruptly bounced them to a swinging stop.  They couldn't imagine anything more fun until Dave led them to his next concoction... a rope swing hung between two monstrous trees, on their incredibly steep backyard hill.  It was so steep, that at the height of the swing, the rider was probably 30 feet from the ground.  Thankfully, he installed a circus-type net under the swing:)  Needless to say, the girls had a blast.  And Jim & I enjoyed our time getting to chat with them about her thriving children's consignment-event business and his missions work in India.  With their Kansas connections, we pray for future get-togethers with them after our trip.
Jim was super excited for our next stop to visit his good friend Brad from college.  Brad & Lori had us to their home to watch the super bowl, but the boys spent most of their evening catching up on the 19 years they'd had apart!  The girls had fun meeting and chatting with their sweet daughter, Annie.
Our Arkansas home was located just across the Arkansas River from the Clinton Presidential Library.  Though the museum was not among the attractions we visited during our stay, Natalie and I enjoyed our morning runs on the beautiful bridge over the river and around the landscaped wetlands in front of the presidential library.
Our next Arkansas destinations were a bit too far for a day trip, so we packed overnight bags and headed on our drive (full of trailers & chickens as Jim would say) toward Murfreesboro, AR- home to Crater of Diamonds State Park, the only diamond-producing site in the world open to the public.  Farmer and owner of the property found the land's first diamond in 1906 and after several changes in ownership, the diamond mine site became an Arkansas state park in 1972.  We all envisioned chiseling our way through sparkling caves and were thouroughly dissapointed when we arrived to see before us a field.  A muddy, 37-acre plowed field.  With diamonds thought to be only in the earth's mantle, this area of surface diamonds is explained by a supposed volcanic erruption which created a funnel-shaped crater, exploding rocks, minerals & diamonds to the earth's surface long ago.  Only our Creator knows for sure, but what a cool treasure the place is, with loose diamonds hiding within the soil for anyone to find!  We took a short class on diamond-finding techniques and we tried everything... from skimming the surface for any hint of sparkle, to digging buckets of soil, carefully washing bit by bit through the seives with water.  Supposedly, visitors often find white, brown & yellow diamonds here, and as excited as we were with the park's "finder's keepers" policy-  we left with nothing but a fun memory:)
We drove another 1 1/2 hours to Hot Springs, AR and stayed the night just steps away from Bathhouse Row where we spent the following day.
For years people have flocked to the emerging waters of Hot Springs, AR.  The traces of minerals and average 143 degree temperatures are thought by many to give the waters therapeutic properties.  Centuries ago, Native Americans enjoyed the waters of the hot springs, but the government's exploration of the area after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory brought growing interest to the public.  In 1832, the federal government took steps toward protecting this natural resource and by 1921 it became our 18th national park.  The beautiful Bathhouse Row was built and catered to vacationers & health remedy seekers.  By the 1960's, popularity declined and all but one bathhouse closed down.  The Buckstaff was the only bathhouse to stay in continuous operation since its opening in 1912 and is the only bathhouse on the Row to still provide the traditional therapeutic bathing experience.  Though the street is still lined with the 9 100-year-old bathhouses, only 2 are used as spas, while the others serve as museums, gift shops & cafes, and the Hot Springs National Park visitor's center.  People still come to fill their jugs with the mineral waters pouring from fountains along the Row, and to soak in the spa's warm waters.  Today, the park collects 700,000 gallons a day for use in the fountains and bathhouses!
We, of course had to try it for ourselves and chose the traditional treatments of the Buckstaff.
Jim stayed on the men's first floor, while we traveled up the ancient elevator to the ladies' second floor.  We changed in the dressing rooms and were wrapped with sheets- toga style.  First was the tub bath in 100 year old pedistal tubs, with water pouring in directly from the springs and regulated to a perfect 103 degree soak.  Twenty minutes later, we were led by our personal bath attendants to the steam cabinet... a stainless steel box with only a hole at the top for our heads to stick out (though short Alayna only had eyes peeking out!)  Steam filled the box as water from the springs dripped into the bottom.  On to a sitz bath which only my nurse friends knew the definition of:)  Best described as a tiny bath, close to the floor in which we sat- with super hot water only covering up to our lower backs.  Interesting.  A quick "needle" shower was then followed by a soothing rest on massage tables where we were covered with hot towels in places we felt the most pain.  Of course the girls couldn't recall any recent pain, so were simply covered head to toe:)  A quite interesting, but relaxing day, we followed it with a yummy lunch at Rolando's for Latin American cuisine.  Then back to Little Rock we went to prepare our home for yet another move.
Our short trip to Arkansas was packed with friends & fun!