More about Eureka Springs, Arkansas

In Eureka Springs, they have 3 very special attractions.  First is the Great Passion Play, which is a reenactment of the life of Christ presented in an outdoor theater by a cast of 250 people.  The theater is on a mountain top and is next to a huge statue of Christ that overlooks the town. Here is that statue !

We then stumbled upon a section of the Berlin Wall that is on display near the statue.

At the Visitors Center we were told about the Thorncrown Chapel, which was placed fourth on the list of top buildings of the twentieth century by the American Institute of Architecture.  Its a glass chapel and it is gorgeous, especially because it is nestled in the woods.  A perfect place for a wedding but because they do not want to be known as a wedding chapel, they only allow a few each year.  Check it out !



Have a great day !  xxoo TML

Eureka Springs, Arkansas....a day trip

Off we went to Eureka Springs....the town where time has stood still.  The buildings are very, very old and the sidewalks are stone and hard to walk on.  Winding roads through the town that is full of local shops and eateries.  It was very cool just checking it all out in the 70 degree weather !!  I'm just going to post a couple of pictures and then tomorrow I am going to post about the Passion of the Christ statue and the Thorncrown Chapel, which were incredible !!  Enjoy these pics...have a nice evening !  xxoo TML

Birthday Princess !!

What a wonderful Birthday I am having.  We went to bed watching the Weather Channel and worrying about everyone in Georgia but it appears that everyone came through the storms pretty well !  We are so relieved.

Today we are heading to Eureka Springs, Arkansas which is about 50 miles from here.  Its a town where time stood still and one of the places on our bucket list, so off we are going.  On tap for me is a banana split, which is what I have promised myself for my birthday splurge !  I have opened gifts, cards, emails and texts and I am feeling the love.  I will do another post this afternoon but wanted to tell you all THANKS for making my day special !! Check out by princess tiara and sash...Kate has nothing on me !! 

Joe is doing all the housework today !! 

A day in Branson !

We are watching all the weather in Georgia and hoping it will pass by without incident.  We are pretty much past all of it here and our weather should turn sunny as the week goes by. We are heading west to Oklahoma on Saturday. 

Today we had misty rain, just enough to make it cold and keep you inside.  We decided to go hit some of the museums in Branson.  We first went to the "Worlds Largest Toy Museum" and it was pretty cool.  Lots of memories from all our childhoods.  I really enjoyed seeing the paper dolls and all the toys that came in Cracker Jacks boxes...remember those?

After that we went to a Five and Dime, where we had a great time shopping for "stuff" and boy did they have it.  It was in the older part of Branson so we walked around to all the shops.  We stopped for coffee and pie at a local cafe, that was a treat ! 

Last stop was the Branson Automobile Museum where we saw lots of old cars, including those metal ones that the kids would pedal around on the sidewalks.   The highlight at this museum was the Bat Mobile...that was very cool.  Here are some pictures !  ZAP !  POW !  Love TML

Hey, Throw me a roll !!

Today we drove out to Ozark, Missouri about 31 miles from Branson.  Why?  Because we wanted to go to Lamberts Cafe where they actually throw rolls at customers, and sure enough they did.  And those rolls are hot and delicious too !  They don't stop there either..people walk around with pots of beans, fried potato's or okra, sorghum molasses, tomato macaroni and more....that is in addition to your meal.  We had a wonderful lunch, very southern and very good !  A great place to go to...only 3 in the USA..2 in Missouri and 1 in Alabama ! 

So today we expect more rain in the evening and then the week will get warmer and dryer.  We seem to be camped in a pretty good place and there was much flooding from yesterdays storm but everything seems okay today.  We may venture into town again today to do some walking around or maybe putt-putt golf, just to get exercise before we are shut in tonight.  Oh and we have cable TV so definitely watching the royal wedding on Friday !!  Hope everyone is doing well...have a good week.  xxoo TML

Enroute to Missouri, a detour to Jordan !

Okay, so we are rolling along just before the Ozark mountains, about 40 miles from the Missouri State Line.  It's raining and basically a slow yucky drive....all of a sudden we, in the Moose Lodge, are losing acceleration and long story short....we had a hard time getting through the Ozarks but we pulled into Harrison and Jordan RV Repair quickly diagnosed our problem as a fuel filter.  While they did repairs and diagnostics, we took Chastine RV into town and did laundry and ate Mexican food...it took our minds off of the situation.  We got our RV back just as the rain started just hammering out of the sky and our last 25 miles into Branson were really wet ones....we saw lots of flooding along the way but we were okay on the highway and we went slowly just in case and the Moose Lodge is running like a champ !

We are tucked into our campground and we are staying in tonight.  Weather channel says this rain fall will stop around 1AM tonight and then we should have smooth sailing again.  All four of us are spent from all of it but we are all relieved that our RV trouble was minimal and all other diagnostics showed good.  So, good night and tomorrow I bring you happy news again !!  

Never a good sight to see !

Hoppy Easter !!

I had so much fun this morning, at 530AM our time, sending Hoppy Easter texts to my kids and grandkids from T.E.B. (The Easter Bunny).  We attended a Sunrise Service held at the pavilion of River Walk, which was really, really nice.   We were able to walk over there by way of a bridge that crosses the Arkansas River and is accessible from our campground, so we got lots of exercise today.  After service we spent our day playing cards, had a fabulous Easter dinner and ventured back over to the River Walk area again in the afternoon. We weren't looking for them but we managed to find 4 Easter Eggs full of candy on the grounds!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter !  Tomorrow we head out of for Missouri !  Love from us....

Clinton Library

Over the years I had heard that the Clinton Library was "a trailer" and in fact we heard that just yesterday in Little Rock by a local.  Well we went to the Library today and we just didn't see it so I'm guessing its the rectangular shape.  Its a modern architecture and not my taste at all, but it was more worthy than its reputation. Take a look !

Anyway, we learned about Clinton and I didn't have any aha moment there...to me he was just so-so as a president but what I found most unique about his library was that they had a notebook for every month of his presidency that had a copy of his daily schedule.  It was interesting to me to read how choreographed his days were, down to the minute. The normal history and documents, photos etc were also there and I think any president is interesting so definitely worth a visit.  Oh, and on top of the library there is a 3100 square foot apartment that is only accessible to Bill, Hillary or Chelsey when they are in town...you can see it on the roof of the picture. 

Presidental Boots with the seal !!  You go, Bill !

Hello Arkansas

We arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas today and our campground is directly, I mean toes in the water, on the Arkansas River. We took a quick drive out to Camping World to pick up a few things we need...you always need something there even if you don't !  We are a stones throw away from the River Market, Clinton Library and a slew of things to see and do.  That will be tomorrow....today its burgers and showers and a good nights rest.

This picture is taken about 2 miles past the actual Arkansas/Tennessee state line.  That line runs down the Tennessee River and the Welcome To Arkansas sign jumps out midway across the bridge so we did not get a picture of it.  When we walked into the Visitor Center, the lady immediately pointed us to the sign and told us that EVERYONE misses that picture and so this is the one they all get.  She took our group picture !! Welcome  to Arkansas !!  xxoo  and Happy Good Friday !  TML

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Today we toured St. Jude Hospital and it was a very emotional and humbling experience.  Seeing the children was difficult but learning that they were getting the very best of care was encouraging.  I didnt see parents that were confused or overwhelmed looking...that is not to say they were not, and I hope I am not sounding like I am minimizing these situations....I just expected something much less positive than I witnessed. 

I think the key is that the hospital has gone to great lengths to create an upbeat and purposeful environment for the children.  The halls are painted in murals that represent the seasons and activities that children like, such as pumpkin patches, playgrounds or forrests with children playing hide-n-seek.  It is not just the walls either, its the floors and the ceiling and while the kids are riding around in the wagons from area to area for their treatments, they are looking at the walls.  Its pretty amazing. The resources available to the families is pretty amazing too....they provide for language interpretation, counciling, nutrition, housing, financial and transportation needs and so much more !

I have to say that the artwork of the children that is displayed throughout was the most telling of how they are feeling. The children are encouraged to express themselves and they do through art.  The ABC wall really got to me....the kids wrote thier feelings in the forms of  'A is for....' and each letter of the alphabet has a list. The lists are frank and difficult to read. Here is a picture from the ABC wall where V is for Vomit...that speaks volumes doesn't it?   Joe says this will be a tour he will not soon forget, I think we all feel that way.  The phrase I saw most was "St. Jude Rocks" and clearly it does !  xxoo TML

Hanging Out Downtown !

My pictures from the Peabody Hotel Ducks did not turn out...very dark in the lobby and the setting I used to make pictures lighter also was slow motion.  Anyway this is all I have for you but the ducks did come down from their "Duck Palace" right on schedule and all is good in Duck-Land !

After the Ducks, we took a tour of the Rock and Soul Museum which was all about how Black and White cultures joined in music dispite the Civil Rights unrest in America.  What resulted at Sun and Stax Recording Studios was the music of Al Green, Isaac Hayes, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich and ofcourse Elvis.  It was really interesting and we got to listen to all kinds of good songs...Im still singing Love and Happiness in my head as I type this.

Beale Street was next we had a really good BBQ lunch at Blue City Cafe, recommended to us by a local.  It was wonderful...their motto "Put Some South In Your Mouth" and we did !  xxoo TML

Tennessee Ya'll

We got into Memphis around noon today, a short 100 miles from Tupelo.  We stopped at a Flick's Truck Stop for breakfast, and boy did we get a great breakfast...homemade sausage and strawberry jelly and the biscuits were really good too.

Anyway, we arrived at T. O. Fuller State Park, just outside of Memphis. We have lots of gusty wind today and possible rain tonight. Seems we hear that everywhere we go !  We will take a day trip into Memphis tomorrow and see what we can find there.  We do have WIFI here, so can update blog etc this week. 
xxoo TML

They're Here !!

Linda and Henry arrived today and our trip really begins at this moment.  The four of us have been planning this trip for 2 years, so having them here is very exciting for us.  We were at the gate waiting for them when they arrived at Trace State Park.  Tomorrow we all head out to Memphis !!  HERE WE GO !!  xxoo TML

GeoCache Hiking Today !

We attended a church service in the campground which was very nice.  We then set out for a GeoCache trip with a picnic lunch.  We found all three caches (pictured below) and we ate our picnic lunch at the last site, which just happened to be a graveyard.  Not where you would normally have a ham sandwich but we just kind of go with the flow.  In one of the cache containers we found there was a Geo-coin that had instructions for us to remove the coin from the container and register online.  We did and learned that the coin was initially put in place by a lady in California and it has traveled around the USA and she hopes it will find its way back to her one day.  We registered that we had retrieved it and now we will place it in another location, which we are thinking might be Texas.  Anyway, another part of GeoCaching that we will enjoy.  Linda and Henry will arrive tomorrow and travel with us the rest of the trip.  Hope everyone has a great week !   .xxoo TML

Old Cars

Today we awoke to cloudy but sunny skies and a forecast of no rain until Wednesday.  We also learned of much devastation in Tuscaloosa Alabama and we were grateful that we had left.  We spent yesterday watching weather reports and analyzing Dopler Radar, but we were comfy and got through the storms just fine. 

With the ground still soggy, we are holding off until tomorrow before we hit the hiking trails again.  This morning we decided to go to the Tupelo Automobile Museum which had a slew of old cars and tractors.  Joe was sooooo happy !  I saw lots of cars with features that we remembered but that no longer exist.  Example: The Wind Wing....that little window where cigarettes ashes were flicked out of.  Another thing was that fuzzy material that was on the ceilings...I remember scratching it and it would come off like dust.  Bring back memories for you too?  The hood ornaments were fun to look at also!

At the campground we had a lot of people arrive late last night.  How they get those big rigs parked in the dark is scarry and this morning there were no open campsites.  By 930AM, a group of 8 RVs who are in a camping club had vacated and so now we have open lake side sites.  So, we will have to walk around and check out all the new tenants and their RV's....Lookie-Loo !!  xxoo TML

Elvis is in the house !!

We went over to Elvis' birthplace and took that tour.  Not sure it was worth the price but we did get a good sense of where he got his musical roots.  They had a re-enactment of a church service and the preacher was the person that tutored Elvis on the guitar and if you watch this guy play his guitar to gospel music, you can see clearly where that first influence came from.  We also enjoyed seeing the Tupelo Hardware Store where Elvis' mom took him to buy a birthday present and while he wanted a rifle, she opted for a safer guitar and told him that he needed to learn to play that and see where it takes you.  He did and .....

Weather update: We knew that today would be a rain day and a good storm has now passed us with no real impact to us.  We will be in all day, boning a roasted chicken we bought at Wal-Mart so we can make BBQ sandwiches later on.  We also found more GeoCache locations in this campground so we will be doing that over the weekend when the ground dries up some. Weather behind this storm is supposed to be really nice...sounds good to us !  xxoo  Happy Tax Day !  TML

Tupelo Buffalo Park

Tupelo acquired a rare White Buffalo from the Dakota Indians...local children named it Tukota, for TUpelo and daKOTA.  Here is a picture of him, laying under a tree.  He is 8 years old and will live 25-35 years in captivity and they keep him away from the herd because he is considered sacred to the indian nations.  We got to feed buffalo, zebra and a camel. The camera friendly buffalo is named Elvis and behind him you can see a water buffalo that is underwater in a pond...they can stay underwater for 7-9 minutes.  We also saw giraffe, a mountain lion, black bear, a lemur, kangaroo, emu's, etc.... it was a really fun day !

Tomorrow I bring you Elvis !!  xxoo TML

Checking out Trace State Park

We decided to hike a little trail that runs along the lake to the office so we could mail postcards...then we found the disc golf course and had to check that out.  We had a really nice hike and then played some cards.  Lots of RV's in the campground now but everyone is very friendly and we enjoy checking out all the different rigs...funny thing about humans and comparing their stuff !  Anyway, heres a picture of us by the lake.  The weather is amazing still....hope it holds out ! xxoo TML

Welcome to Mississippi

We arrived in Mississippi today and the weather is wonderful.  We have WIFI to boot !  We have a campsite overlooking the lake at Trace State Park, just outside of Tupelo.  Its cooler here than in Alabama, we think its because of the storm that came through last night....it was a good one !  Anyway, here are a couple of pictures...one of our campsite and one with the view from our campsite....its going to be a rough week (LOL).  xxoo TML