Adventures in Travel - part 2

Days 4-6

(part 1)

Since it was quite late when we got to the MIL's house, I didn't see her until Monday morning.  She goes to bed early and therefore gets up crazy early.  She just had her 80th birthday in mid-June - the Spouse sent her picture in to the local news tv station so she saw herself on tv!  That made her really happy. 

So the MIL insists that a married couple should always share a bed, so she gives up her room for us when I visit. 😵  She's got a spare room with 2 perfectly fine twin beds, but we get stuck on her saggy, creaky mattress that's probably as old as me!  But the Spouse went and got a nice air mattress and set that up in the spare room for us - it was glorious!  

We did some touristy stuff.  We always drive up to the top of West Mountain and hang out at the one or both of the overlooks and just look down at Hot Springs.  We stopped to get some water at the Happy Hollow spring, which is different because the other fountains around Hot Springs are, you know, HOT!  This one is not.  Speaking of - I did NOT visit the bathhouse.  I've gone there in July before and it's just not enjoyable when it's hot out.  Then we went to have some BBQ for lunch and then just vegged in the a/c the rest of the day and planned the rest of our trip!  Luckily, we didn't have anything planned already, since the delay in me getting to Arkansas would have messed up plans. 

The Supreme Spud at Stubby's BBQ.

OMG.

an enormous baked potato, pulled pork AND brisket, baked beans & coleslaw. 

Tuesday, we got up and went to this little Mom & Pop restaurant for breakfast - those are the best kind!  Phil's is located right across the street from Oaklawn Racetrack and is in an old house.  I don't know what I was expecting, but the decor was a whole bunch of vintage kitschy collections ~everywhere~ one wall had a bunch of porcelain spice sets, another had a bunch of "wall pocket" vases in the shape of various people & animals.  Another wall was a variety of kitchen implements; mandarin blades, potato mashers, ice cream scoops, etc, etc.  There was a LOT to look at! 

Biscuits with chocolate gravy, cheesy grits & sausage patties. 

My first time having chocolate gravy. 

 It was like a room-temp runny pudding, but less sweet than Jello pudding.  Very interesting.  

The Bobby Hopper Tunnel on I49

We left MIL's around noon and headed toward Fayetteville.  The Spouse & I have been married 20 years now and I've never met his best friend & family in person!   Before we got to their house, we drove around the University of Arkansas campus, since the Spouse is alumni. 

It was pretty cool, since I never did the college thing.

After visiting & dinner with the BFF & his fam, we finished up our day in Eureka Springs. 

Home for the next 2 nights. 

Our welcoming committee

Wednesday was our 20th anniversary!  We got up and did some touristy stuff and figured out the trolley system.  When we were riding thru the "entertainment district" in downtown Eureka Springs, I saw one of these places where you can have old-timey photos taken. We had one taken on our honeymoon, where the Spouse was a cowboy and I was a saloon girl.  We needed a new one!

We is fancy now!  

I just need to point out - the Spouse can rock a top hat!  He looked awesome.

The Bigfoot store

Yes, Chuck the skeleton went along with us. 

After a late lunch at a place called Sparky's (awesome bacon cheeseburgers there!) we went back to the cottage to cool off for a while, before heading back downtown for the "Eureka Rocket Ghost Tour".  Basically, this old guy & his dog drove us & another couple around in a golf cart (it identifies as a rocket) for 2 hours, telling us stories about the town and area.  It was fun, tho.  He was a great storyteller. 

The Crescent Hotel - reportedly one of the most haunted hotels in the US.

We just popped into the lobby for a bit, but we didn't do any of the haunted tours there. 

That's on the list for next time!

What we did see was absolutely beautiful, tho.

Thursday morning, we had breakfast at a place called the Squatch.

Good stuff there, too!

No pics, but I had the "Hog Wild" - a toasted croissant with ham, bacon, cheddar, bacon aioli and bacon jam.  The Spouse had a sausage & cheese kolache and a side of biscuits & gravy. 

Our next stop was the Christ of the Ozarks statue.  

His "wingspan" is 65' and he's 67' tall on top of Magnetic Mountain.

Fun fact, per the Rocket driver - he was meant to be 68 feet tall, but that would have required placing an aircraft warning light on top of his head.  So they made him slightly shorter to avoid that.  

😂

It worked out that we only drove 4 - 4 1/2 hours a day.  

Once we left Eureka Springs, next stop was St Louis!

Adventures in Travel - part 1

Day 1-3

Ugh, so the travel fairies are totally against me flying to Arkansas.  

Here's the post I made about my trip from last January.

In that post are links to the previous year

The Spouse had been at his Mom's house in Hot Springs since the middle of June and the plan was for me to fly down there and drive back with him - spending our 20th anniversary out on the road somewhere.  We didn't care where - just together (and alone!)!

So my flight was supposed to leave Flint, MI on June 3 at 5:30pm. have a layover in Chicago, then on to Little Rock, landing at 9:40pm.  

Since this was a one way trip, Sis1 drove me to the airport.

Delay

Delay

Delay

Delay

Weather / air traffic control management / lack of flight crew were the reasons I got.

Friday's flight supposedly ended up leaving Flint at 11:15am on the 4th. 

When it went from 8:10pm to 1:15am is when I chatted with someone at American Airlines whose name looked like a cat walked over the keyboard.  

I rebooked my flight for the 4th, leaving at the same time (this a regional shuttle between Flint & Chicago)

At least I was able to go to Mom's house and watch the 4th of July parade with the family. 

Granddaughter was excited that she could go out in the road and not get yelled at!

We also let off some fireworks in the street outside our house. 

and filled up the yard with smoke!

The Spawn had taken the grandkids to see some real fireworks and they are still young enough to dislike the loudness and crowds.  The sparkler fountain ones on the ground were more their speed. 

However, the notifications started at 1pm.

Delay

Delay

Delay

Delay

Last I saw, when the delays made it to 10pm, they just cancelled the flight.

But first, since I missed my flight from Chicago to Little Rock, they rebooked me for the 5th with a 9-hour layover in Dallas / Fort Worth!  Aw hell naw!!

If it had been Houston, I would have called up my friends who live there and hung out with them for a few hours.  But not Dallas.

This time Sis1 found an actual phone number for American Airlines and I was able to talk to a human and rebook AGAIN for the 5th.

 

I was sort of torn.  I looked at flights leaving Detroit for Little Rock on a different airline, which there was a very early one, however it had a short layover in Nashville.  I've been to Nashville twice and both times were a disaster!   So I was hoping 3rd time was a charm leaving Flint. 

So we went back to Sis1's house, and while I stayed at her house Friday night, this time I wanted to go home.  I'd sent most of my clothes with the Spouse, so I had no pjs, underwear or toothbrush with me and instead of doing laundry again and stewing in my anxiety and stress (and the fact a storm we'd gone thru had knocked out her power) I went home. 

This wasn't even the bad storm!

So instead of having Sis1 deal with driving me again me as well as fighting with a generator, etc - I had the Spawn drive me to the airport.  That way I could leave my car at home and it wouldn't be as obvious that she was home alone. 

So third time was indeed a charm.  Although I didn't get my preferred seats that I paid extra for - at least I got on to leave actually ON time and actually made it to Little Rock a few minutes early. 

Hooray!

a Guilt-Free HodgePodge

It's been a while since I've posted (vacation + the stress that happens before and after said vacation!) so that means I also need to do a catchup post!  

But first....today's Hodgepodge!  Thanks again to Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for putting this linkup together! 

Here we go...

1. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." Sam Keen
Do you feel less guilty relaxing in July than you do in January? Elaborate.

Yes.  Winter is a time for hibernation, but summer with the longer days seems to be a never-ending list of things to do - mowing the lawn, taking care of gardens, the grandkids want to play outside, etc, etc, etc.    

2. What's a telltale sign you're upset?

Internally, I can feel my AFib start to flare up and I have to suppress the urge to scream or cry.  I might slam things around or just want to growl and shake things.   I might also be confusing upset with mad! 

 I'm usually pretty quiet in groups, since I have the talent where the middle of my sentences interrupts the beginning of other people's (meaning I get talked over all the time and idk why! So, I just don't talk)

3. July 16th is National AI Day. What are your general thoughts and/or experiences with AI? Have you purposely used it? Does it excite you, scare you, or worry you? What do you see as a benefit? How about something relating to AI you see as a negative?

I don't think I've had a whole lot of AI experience that I know of! The fact that there is AI has made me a lot more cautious - like it's sometimes hard to tell if a photo is real or not or something was written by a real person.  I can also see some benefit to having it but I can also see where people would abuse it.  

The Spouse's work is wanting to start using AI for computer programming, but he's not excited since it will be harder to fix mistakes in a program when you don't know what it did to create the mistake! 

4. You're invited to a summer potluck and are asked to bring an appetizer, salad/side, or dessert. Which category do you go for and what are you bringing?

I was just in this situation yesterday!  The search & rescue team I volunteer on had a cookout with the county's Victim Services Unit (so we can get to know each other, more or less) I drew a blank on what to take, but once I got there, there were several interesting pasta salads and desserts that I never would have thought about making / bringing! 

5. It wouldn't be summer without___________________.

The Ice Cream Truck!   I'm sure the neighbors think we're weird (it's me, the Spouse, the Spawn and the 2 grandkids in my house) since whoever hears it first sends an "ICT" text to the rest of the family and we all come outside.  At least 2 people are in the back yard and 2 in the front, trying to figure out where it is and from which direction it'll be coming from.  It's also funny to hear one of the grandkids yelling that they "have a visual" when they see it on the next street over.   They totally got that from me!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Since it's almost lunch time as I write this - here's some food I had last week.  I love going to Mom & Pop type places that aren't chains.  

Grilled chicken strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. 

This was almost too pretty to eat!

But it got devoured. 

From the Apple Tree in Lapeer, MI

The "Supreme Spud" from Stubby's BBQ in Hot Springs, AR. 

A huge baked potato topped with brisket & pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw. 

OMG. 

So good. 

this is a solid 3 meals. 

Biscuits & Chocolate Gravy

Cheesy grits & sausage patties

and sweet tea, of course!

from Phil's Family Restaurant in Hot Springs.

My first time having chocolate gravy - wasn't sure what I was expecting.  It's like lukewarm runny chocolate pudding but not as sweet as Jello pudding. 

Still a yummy breakfast, tho!