Day 44

We forget once we're in the south that putting four bodies in one tent might be a little warm. Gone are the extra blankets. Gone are the sleep pants and sleeping bags. We were definitely back in the heat and humidity even at night.

I got up before the sun this morning to edit pictures and write as I knew once we got home I would have zero time for such things (I was right!!). We had no big museums left and no awesome attractions to hurry to get on the road to see. We had one of those rare days where we could be spontaneous and do whatever the kids wanted. Of course after breakfast the kids wanted to play campball. This was quite possibly our last game so we wanted it to be a good one. While we were waiting on Grammie, Dave and Ryan decided to have a campball duel. It didn't end well for either of them!

We picked teams - Brayden, Laney, and me against Dave, Grammie and Ryan. We'd had trouble the entire trip trying to make the teams somewhat even. The adults sometimes ran a little extra slow to help with that, but these darn kids are so competitive sometimes it didn't matter what we did (or didn't!)!

All the players were finally connecting with the ball and the game was heated. Team Grammie was beating us pretty bad so I was trying to relax the rules a little bit for Laney but Ryan called me on it. We had to forge ahead and attempt to win fair and square.

Team Grammie ended up winning in a big way so we practiced being good sports and shook hands when we all really just wanted to go throw them in the lake.  These pictures crack me up today as both of these boys are no longer furry!

On our way out of the park, we stopped by the visitor's center because I'd noticed a discovery center next door. The kids were excited to explore and they ended up learning quite a bit about the Trail of Tears. We also learned about many of the plants and animals native to the area as well as the geology from the past million years or so.










Once the kids got their buttons for finishing their ranger books we got on the road for our last long drive. Our drive was about 6 hours and we only stopped for gas. It wasn't as bad of a drive as Oklahoma or northern Montana, but I was more than thrilled it was the last one of the trip. We arrived at our next spot at dusk to set up one more time and have dinner. We were situated on a lake once more with a nice view of jumping fish!

I spent some time reorganizing a few things in the car we had haphazardly stuffed in unstrategic places. We settled down in our tents with countdowns from the kids. They were down to how many hours it would be until we got home.

Day 43

It's been awhile I know. Rest assured we are not stuck without communications in St Louis. We have been home for a few weeks but I'm just getting a few minutes to breathe and write. Sadly some of what we experienced has slipped my old mind, but thanks to some notes I'll still be able to include most of what we did.

We were up early this day and eating cereal for breakfast to get on the road early once again. We didn't have a terribly long drive, but we had a must-stop museum in Memphis - the Civil Rights Museum. We'd studied the Civil Rights Movement during our modern history year last year so the kids were familiar with it. I'd actually been to this museum about 15 years ago so I knew they would really enjoy and learn a bunch. Dave wouldn't be able to join us this day as he would be working at a coffee shop around the corner.

This museum is actually housed partially in the hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying when he was shot. Immediately as I walked into the museum I knew things had changed drastically. The tour I remember issued each person an audio player that guided them through the museum but apparently the museum had been updated since then. We first went into a room with photographs taken at the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington D.C. Sadly, this room of photographs was never allowed to be published into recently.

We began our tour learning about how slaves were brought to the country and who benefited from their labor. We'd spent a lot of time on this subject in our studies and I was glad the kids recognized and remembered much of what we'd learned.  Next we went to a movie about the Jim Crow laws to learn more about life in the 1950s and 1960s.  As we walked out Grammie began to talk to the kids about her experiences growing up in that time frame. The kids couldn't believe some of what they were reading and hearing.

The museum was now set up in a way to provide a full history building up to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. There were many events I'd never even heard of that played big parts in the movement. The kids were especially interested in the integration of the schools and how the children were treated.

We spent the next few hours reading and learning all about the events and what it was like to grow up in this time of prejudice, hate, and violence. There aren't really words to describe the shock and sadness I felt going through this museum. I don't think the kids felt it quite as much as they were skimming the exhibits in the rooms after about halfway. 

The end of the museum details the last day in Martin Luther King, Jr's life and you are led to a display of the actual rooms where he was staying when he was shot. Everyone was silent as they read the timeline of the day hour by hour and looked into the room where they'd been sitting there talking and joking that day.

We exited the museum to another area with exhibits of current day issues and displays of winners of the Civil Rights Museum's Freedom Awards. We didn't spend too much time here as we were already over our time I'd told Dave we would take.  I took a quick picture of the outside of the museum showing the hotel rooms and original cars parked there.

We all grabbed a quick snack and hopped back into the car for our hour drive to our next campsite. We were back in Arkansas for a night before making our way closer to home.  We arrived to a mostly empty campground and set up pretty quickly. There was quite a bit of mud around our spot so we decided to just set up one tent on the gravel so we would be sleeping with two stinky girls.

We were nestled high up off of a lake in our own private little loop. After a quick dinner we played about 4 minutes of camp ball before it just got too dark. We promised the kids we would play in the morning as we didn't have much of a rush to get anywhere for the rest of the trip.

We decided instead to play some cards for a little while on the picnic table. At one point I thought Lola had fallen off the edge of the small cliff until I saw instead she'd treed a raccoon that was now peering at me halfway up the tree. The kids sung their "awwwwws" and we retired to the RV to get away from the bugs. After a few more rounds of cards we retired to the tent with the girls for the night.  

Day 3

The three adults started this day by bringing our laptops out while the children slept. Dave began working early so he would be able to go on a hike with us to the waterfall later that morning. We all devoured a breakfast of potatoes, fruit, bagels, and eggs then mostly packed up and showered.

We picked the 2 mile waterfall trail thinking it would take us about an hour to go down and back. We would be able to get on the road and Dave would be able to finish his work day as we drove. As we walked out to the trail head we were greeted with this beautiful view!

 And that was the last time that lens worked with the camera. It was a favorite lens of ours and had been just about everywhere with us for the past 11 years. Thankfully, Dave had thought to bring an extra lens along so we'll be able to use that one, but it is definitely a little more difficult to work with.

We started down the trail and were then greeted with a very large red sign warning us of the strenuous, rocky trail ahead. Over the years we'd finished all sorts of rocky and strenuous trails so we weren't deterred in the least, but I quickly realized it wouldn't be something we could do in an hour.

Our fearless, furry leader took the job of navigating us through the rocks taking frequent detours thanks to her keen sense of smell. We kept trying to teach her to look for the trail markers on the trees but she just wasn't getting it. She kept lookout while the kids climbed all around off the trail too.









We made it down to the waterfall and were all in awe of the rock wall surrounding us. It was a 100-ft rock wall whose middle had just collapsed leaving a waterfall and pool full of boulders. And where there are boulders, there will be children climbing them!

Here is Cedar Falls:

It doesn't look all that impressive until you add the kids in the picture for perpective! Shortly after this the girls got soaked when Grammie kept telling them to move to the left!

And Lola just waited every so patiently as they played.

Normally on our hikes we don't have much of a schedule so the kids are used to being able to freely climb around and explore. With Dave on a work schedule we had to get back so the kids had to pick only one spot on the way back to climb around. They chose to go through the rocks and water instead of going across the bridge with my warning, "You need to keep up or catch up". Only to find out they beat us to the other side!

The walk up was especially difficult for all of us, but we made it! The kids talked about going to the pool while we packed up but knowing we would be finished within about 30 minutes decided to just get sprayed by Grammie's hose and get on the road. They even drank from the hose like real-life 70s kids!

Brayden was especially excited to get to ride with Grammie today, to pick out his own snacks from her stash, and do many of the activities in his bag she'd put together for him. I was excited to have two girls in the card with us and no fighting!!

After a few hours we were nearing the state line but there was NO SIGN!! There was a sign welcoming us to Cherokee Nation, but nothing for Oklahoma. So the kids took a picture at our state park once we got there.

Reason #344 why we love Gramme coming with us - she brings fish and shrimp for dinner! We feasted like kings and queens on Joe Patti's shrimp and fish grilled, quinoa and rice, salad, and baked beans. And if that wasn't enough some famous white chocolate chip cookies that were simply awesome. With all that I was ready for a long nap.

But with this big, beautiful field right by our campsite we just had to initiate Grammie to camp ball! Laney had a plan already for teams. Since Dave was more like a kid than an adult, Grammie and I would be team captains. Grammie picked first by taking Brayden, then I took Dave. She looked at me like I was cheating, then grabbed Ryan for her team and Laney went with us to go bat.

With Grammie's softball pitching expertise I knew it would only take her a few minutes to get used to our homemade balls. She only hit Laney a few times before giving her a few she could hit. At least they were pretty soft! My team ended up scoreless that inning and our rivals scored four before we got them out. The remaining innings were scoreless and with the old people no longer being able to see the pitches so we called it a game. Grammie/Brayden/Ryan 4, Jen/Dave/Laney 0.

We don't have many good pictures because this is what happens when you give the kids the camera.

Shortly after the end of the game we quickly planned the next day since there was supposed to be more rain coming early in the morning. We hoped to be packed up and on the road early with a long drive ahead of us. We tucked into our respective sleeping areas for the night and I wrote and edited pictures until my eyelids were heavy. Late night computer time is the best sleep medicine!

Day 2

We all slept remarkably well for having 6 people in a 10 foot radius! We made up all the beds pretty quickly and had a delicious breakfast of cereal and homemade muffins. One of the many reasons the kids love the summer trip is because of the amount of breakfast cereal they get to consume. As a general rule we try to stay away from processed sugary food, but the rules get a little looser on the trip!

As we were packing up the kids played in the water a little bit looking longingly at the huge waterslide we missed out on because of the thunderstorms. It wasn't set to open up again until noon and we had a long drive ahead of us so we dragged them away with promises of a pool at our next stop.

Once we packed up our sleeping bags we were ready to leave and were asking Grammie what was taking her so long! It was supposed to be quite a long drive this day so we were going to break it up with a stop at Hot Springs National Park. But first we had a surprise drive through the glorious
potholes of Louisiana!  I was giggling as Dave's laptop bounced with every bump and he accidentally hit all kinds of keys along the way.  If the kids hadn't been in the car I do believe a few choice words would have been said!

We weren't able to get everyone in this picture as it was on the side of a busy interstate with no access. And after about 40 minutes we rolled up on this one!

Within about 30 seconds from taking this picture we were driving in the kind of downpour that you just stare at the white line on the side of the road to make sure you're still on it.

After dropping Dave off at Starbucks to get more work done, we drove through the very small town of Hot Springs and were in the park almost immediately. We found two lucky parking spots on the main road and walked toward the Visitors Center.

Back in the 1920s, this town served the area and tourists by providing bath houses from the 37 local springs. After the kids stamped their passports, they went to watch the movie and I sent Grammie in to enjoy it with them. Lola and I walked down Bathhouse Row and learned about this history of the area. The buildings were so very different and beautiful.

And this one even still operates as a bathhouse! Sorry, that's only half of the building. My furry tour guide was anxious to get back!

While everyone else was exploring, Lola and I relaxed on the front porch....tough life this furry girl has!



Learning from my kids is especially difficult. The lesson I usually get from them is disjointed and half of the story. Thankfully Grammie was there and could fill in all the extra parts.  This is the gymnasium in one of the bathhouses and some of the clothes the ladies wore after their treatment.



Lola and I took them behind the Visitors Center next where we were able to feel the 114 degree water straight from the spring. The water looked deceptively cool and refreshing, what a surprise!  But with the 85 degree weather not one of us was interested in a bath.  We walked back through the park to our cars and to pick up Dave.

Another bonus of having Dave along is having a second driver! He'd already finished work for the day so I was able to take a break and relax for the 90-minute drive to our park. Although I couldn't really relax as the county "roads" we were driving on, which just happened to be called Narrow Rd, was exactly that with some added S-curves.

The adults were all pretty exhausted by the time we got set up at camp. Brayden has been itching to play some camp ball so he was having some batting practice and the girls were exploring the park on their scooters.















We had a quick dinner and went for a walk by the lake to catch some of the sunset. I am also lucky to have a personal photographer along on the trip!

After a few minutes of RV time, we all headed to bed. I do believe I was asleep before my sleeping bag was zipped.