AR, MO, OK , AZ

BITS AND PIECES

July 14, 2015

It was good to drive into Arkansas and to, once more, see the rolling hills of my birth state.  I kept thinking how I would love to return and spend time going through familiar places and trying to find familiar faces of my youth.   But today we are on a schedule and we must keep appointments.

We did enjoy a stop in Harrison to have lunch with a friend before we left Arkansas.  Later we pulled into Branson, MO and made our way to Kimberling City where we would remain for more than a week.  We stayed with Debby's sister;  its also where her Mom lives.  They were working to finish their new Deck and getting ready for their new swimming pool to be set in place.

This is as the week of Debby's family reunion and several families from across the country were coming to town.

The pool was craned over the house and set on the large concrete pad that had been poured and cured for several days.  Being self-contained, it was only a short time before it was ready to be filled and used.

The Winn Family Reunion was great.  It was good to see familiar faces and growing children.  We had plenty of food and activities.  Most of us were content to just sit around and talk for 3 days. 

Time flew by and it was nearly time to go.  Debby and her sister took Eric to the Kansas City Airport for his flight back to Portland.  On our way out of town we met some life-long friends for breakfast at Bob Evans in Branson.  Charles and Velvie Jean were good friends when we lived in Kansas.  I was in high school there.  Good people!  Great kids!

We stopped in Springdale to spend the night with our long time traveling companions, the Pinkerton's. It's always good to see them and their kids.

We stopped in Tulsa, OK for lunch with our daughter, Teresa.  She was working but took the time to see us.  Next stop was to spend the night in Oklahoma City.  We stayed all night with Debby's Nephew's family. The next morning we met our friend, Andrea, for breakfast.  We also had lunch with our son, Matt before heading West.  We made a stop near Elk City to see our Niece and her family.

Next stop was along old Route 66 in Winslow, Arizona to see the  bronze statue of the man standing on the corner.  It was fun to snap a few photos of this iconic place and remember the Eagles' song about the mysterious, "Girl, my Lord, in a flat bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me".