Sledding Down the Sand Dunes

After finishing up at Carlsad Caverns, we were off to our next destination – Alamogordo, New Mexico to see the White Sands National Monument.  We were starting to see a few small hills here and there on the way.  Then we went around a curve and BOOM – a mountain.  We were still in what felt like the middle of nowhere… very few cars passed us along the way.  Definitely not a place you want to be running low on gas.  In fact, our drives over the past few days have been in places you wouldn’t want to run low on gas.

We had been driving for a couple of hours and really needed to make a pit stop.  About that time, right on the side of the two-lane road, there was a camel.  Couldn’t resist that stop.  It was actually a little petting zoo with a camel, horses, donkeys, goats, a llama and an ostrich!  And the best part… the restrooms were inside the fence!  I thought it was a port-a-potty, but once you opened the door, real plumbing inside.  There was even a sign that said to be sure to put the lock back on the door because the goats get inside and eat the toilet paper!  Cracked me up!

Ashlee was in heaven!

Emilee couldn't get enough of this!

After a short break, and a few snapshots, we loaded back up and headed on towards Alamogordo.  After checking into our hotel, we went on to White Sands National Monument.  It is amazing to me how the terrain changed.  We went from flat barren landscape to a mountain off in the distance and then white sand dunes everywhere.  Ashlee and I stopped off at the restroom first, and as we were coming out, a woman came running in shrieking about lizards everywhere.  Ashlee took off out the door to see the lizards, and I was right behind her.  Scott and Emilee were already outside and had seen a white one with a blue tail.  We saw several lizards slithering across the path, but they were just too fast for me to snap a picture.  I did, however get a picture of a nest right above the bathroom door.  It was not perched on top of anything, just stuck right to the wall.

Looks a bit crowded!

We went into the gift shop to get the sleds for sledding down the dunes, and then we were off to find the biggest, steepest dune we could find.  The temperature was about 95 degrees, and there was no shade – it looked and felt like a desert of white sand dunes with a bit of green patches here and there.  Everybody wore tennis shoes that morning because I assumed the sand would be really hot.  The craziest thing… the sand was cool!  It was actually gypsum, which is rarely found as sand because it is soluble in water.  Rain and snow in the mountains dissolve gypsum from rocks and carry it into the Tularosa Basin and then rivers would usually carry dissolved gypsum to the sea.  However, no river drains the Tularosa Basin, so the water with the gypsum is trapped in the basin.  The gypsum is eventually broken down into sand-size particles light enough to be moved by the wind to form the dunes.


Scott picked out a fun-looking dune, we all kicked off our shoes and socks, and the girls raced to the top to start sledding.  They waxed up their sleds with the chunk of wax from the gift shop, and they were off!  Scott gave them a giant push and… hee-hee, they hardly moved.  Too funny!  It was different than sledding down snow.  They eventually got a good path going and started going down the dune pretty easily.  Then we all just lazed around on the sand relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and the breeze!

Running to the top of the dune

Waxing down the sled for some speed

And they're off!

Maybe a bigger push would help!

Weeeeeeeeee!

Surf's up, dude!

Daddy getting in on the action

A little bit of help from sis

This picture needs no words.

After our dune-sledding adventure, we headed back to the hotel for some down time before going back to White Sands for the ranger-guided “sunset stroll.”  About an hour before sunset, we met a guide who took us on a one-hour walk around the dunes pointing out plants and insects along the way.  I still wasn’t quick enough to get a lizard picture, but I did get a picture of a bug that, when provoked, sticks it’s back end up and shoots out a liquid that smells like kerosene!  Cool!  When the ranger finished up, we went back to the van to find a dune of our own to watch the sun set over the mountain.  It was absolutely beautiful!  God sure does paint a pretty sky!

Kerosene-shooting bug.  I was not this close... super zoom lens!

Sunset on the dunes

God paints a beautiful sky just for us!

Carlsbad Caverns - Part II

On Thursday morning we headed towards Carlsbad Caverns for the first of two guided tours we had scheduled for the day.  The first tour at 9:00 am was of the Left Hand Tunnel.  We had originally planned to walk down what they call the “natural entrance” to the cave to meet the guide at the bottom, but that entrance didn’t open until 8:30, and the hike down takes at least 45 minutes, and that’s without stopping along the way.  We decided we’d walk down that way after our tours and then hike back out the same way.  So we went down via the “not so natural entrance”… the elevator. :-)  The cave was a cool 56 degrees with 90% humidity.  Huge contrast from the triple digit temperature outside.

Ready to begin our first tour at Carlsbad Caverns

We met up with the tour guide inside a huge open room called the rest area, complete with restrooms, a souvenir stand, and a snack counter with sandwiches and drinks.  As the guide was setting up for our tour, we noticed that there were only the four of us along with two others.  The guide said he had 13 booked for the tour but assumed that maybe the others hadn’t heard the caverns had reopened.  He then began to tell us that this was his first time to lead this specific tour and that he had only been in the Left Hand Tunnel one other time.  He had planned to walk through on the previous day to prepare but wasn’t able to because of the fires.  So he was just as excited about going into tunnel as we were.

When we started off, he gave us all a lantern with a candle since this part of the cave wouldn’t have any artificial lighting sources.  The girls thought that was one of the best parts… getting to carry a lantern.  As we went through the cave, he explained that the Left Hand Tunnel was, in his words, the “uninteresting” part of the cave.  If that was the case, we couldn’t wait to see the other parts.  It was amazing!  The best part of this tour for us was that as we got to the end of the formal part of the guided tour and started to turn around to go back, the guide asked us all if we were interested in going a bit further.  He said that with a larger group he wasn’t able to go any further, but since there was only six of us, and since he had only been further back on this trail one other time, he was dying to get back there as well.  So once again, we lucked out.

Photo opp that I just can't resist!

My kids just love me!

We followed him on back past the marked trail to an area called “Sherwood Forest.”  Way cool!  Stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.  Once again, pictures just don’t do it justice.  The ranger was just as tickled to get back there as we were, so that made it even more fun… along with the fact that we were getting to see something that under normal circumstances we wouldn’t have gotten to see.

Following the ranger off trail to Sherwood Forest

Stalactites in Sherwood Forest

These formations are called "draperies."

 Halfway back out of this part of the cave, the ranger sat us all down and had us blow out our candle so we could experience what they call a blackout.  It was complete and total darkness.  You literally could not see your hand waving in front of your face.  Nor could you see the face of the person beside you as you tried to wave your hand in front of their face – believe me, Scott tried and ended up smacking me in the face.  I think that might have been on purpose!  The ranger then re-lit our candles, and we finished our first tour. 

We had packed a picnic to have during the 45 minutes between tours, but since we were already down in the cave and since we didn’t know what the line for the elevators looked like to get back down to the bottom, we grabbed a quick lunch inside the cave.  The girls loved that part too… eating inside a cave.  And I was hoping that the bats were still full and tired from their midnight eating excursion to smell our sandwiches!

Eating lunch down in the cave.

Then we were off for our second tour… King’s Palace.  Let me just tell you, I’m glad we took the first tour first.  Until now we couldn’t understand why our first guide called the Left Hand Tunnel the uninteresting part of the cave.  Now we knew.  It’s kind of like when you see the Grand Canyon for the first time.  You’ve seen pictures, but it’s nothing like seeing it in person.  And once again, pictures do not do it justice.  We have been in other caves before in the eastern part of the country, but no other cave we have ever seen compared to this.  There was a huge, gigantic, enormous room full of all different kinds of formations.  Did I mention that the room was big?  There was artificial lighting in this part of the cave, and for some reason my camera didn't like it too much, so most of the pictures are too dark to post.

Even though the overall sites were more impressive in King’s Palace than the Left Hand Tunnel, both of the girls liked Left Hand Tunnel best – there was just something about getting to hold that lantern that made you feel more like you were exploring a cave… along with the fact that there wasn’t a specific paved path to follow.

We then decided to head back to the top via the elevator and start at the top to hike down the natural entrance.  We originally had wanted the full experience, so our first plan was to hike in and hike back out.  About one-third of the way down, even Ashlee realized that hiking back out (or should I say hiking back UP) wasn’t really going to be an option.  We descended down a very steep incline into the cave on a winding paved path.  The ranger at the entrance told us that it was steep and that we would feel it in our knees and back.  I thought to myself, “No problem!”  HA!  She was right!  My knee cried until we hit the flat part.

Once we got to the bottom, we entered into what they call “The Big Room.”  It too was incredible.  The Big Room was large enough to fit six full size football fields inside.  And the formations were huge as well.  This room had a 1.2 mile paved trail that wove around and through the room passing by different formations.  It was a self-guided trail, so we just took our time and enjoyed walking through.  Here are some pictures from The Big Room. 

This was in an area named "The Hall of Giants."

They called these "Lion Tails."

The "Crystal Spring Dome"

Standing in front of huge "draperies"

As we were leaving, the Carlsbad Caverns' mascot was walking around.  I told the girls, "You know what has to happen, don't you?"  They just grinned at me and walked on over to "Carl E. Bat."  Although they would probably never admit it, I think they secretly loved having their picture made with Carl E.!  Carlsbad Caverns will definitely be one of the top highlights of our trip!

Ashlee & Emilee posing with Carl E. Bat

Carlsbad Caverns & the Super 8 Saga

On our drive from Amarillo, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, the landscape didn't change much, but there was at least a sprinkling of interesting things to see.  For instance… oil rigs everywhere!  And cows!  We still felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere, and I kept wondering who owned all those cows and where did they live.  We rarely saw a house!  When we did see a house, then I wondered where in the world those people shopped!

Texas Oil Rig

This sign at a used car dealership caught Scott's attention - notice the gun!

We finally arrived in Carlsbad for our visit to Carlsbad Caverns.  I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about this hotel.  Last night I made the mistake of looking at the reviews on tripadvisor.com.  I saw words like “infestation” and “theft.”  I don’t know why I looked – we had already booked a room.  After reading the reviews, we decided to call Travelocity to see what the cancellation policy was for this specific reservation.  You guessed it… nonrefundable!  So we decided to just wait and see for ourselves when we got there.  After all, we would only be there overnight, right?  We were pathetic as we drove into the town.  You would have thought we were driving to our doom!  We were all on the edge of our seats just waiting for the axe to drop!  And I have to admit that I was sending up some heavy-duty prayers that it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought it was going to be.

As we drove into the town, we were seeing some newer hotels and thought it wouldn’t be so bad after all.  I kept waiting for the lady on our navigation system to say, “You have arrived.”  She never did.  We drove right on past those newer hotels.  Five minutes later, the lady on our navigation system decided to speak up to tell us we had arrived at our destination.  I wanted to throw her out the window!  We drove into the parking lot and decided to do a “drive-by” before we checked in.  As you can see from the photo below of the back of the hotel, it was not looking good.   Nobody really said a word... we just drove on out of the parking lot toward the Carlsbad Visitor Center to get information about the evening bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns.  I guess we thought we would delay the inevitable for a bit longer.

Anybody need a sink?

The ranger at the visitor center asked if we had just arrived, and then she started filling us in on what had been happening at the park over the past few days.  On Monday afternoon, a fire broke out in the national park and forced them to close down the caverns for three days.  Fortunately for us, when we arrived on Thursday afternoon the park was re-opening for the night bat flight that evening.  Bolstered by that piece of good news, we decided to head back to the hotel to officially check in.  On a side note, notice the temperature on this sign.

This was at 4:00 PM.

So armed with a flashlight in my purse, we headed to the front desk to check in.  We then went on to the room before taking any luggage inside so I could check out the “infestation” situation.  On advice from my mom-in-law, I pulled out my flashlight.  Scott shut the curtains, the girls turned off the lights, and then the girls and I tore into the bedding like women on a mission searching for anything that moved or any shred of evidence of a bug of any shape, color, or size.  Bed number one... under the bedspread, under the blanket, under two sheets, under the mattress pad, at the foot of the bed, I found a toothpick.  Yes, gross!  But at least it wasn't crawling.  I moved on to bed number two.  One pillowcase and one sheet had a dirty spot but, once again, no moving critters.  So while I put the beds back together, Scott and the girls headed down for a luggage cart to start unloading the van.

Our room was on the third floor of a three story hotel, and we have two month's worth of luggage to bring inside.  And there were no luggage carts.  Why, you ask, would there be no luggage carts?  Well, a hotel doesn't really need luggage carts IF THEY DON'T HAVE AN ELEVATOR! We had originally thought we would just leave most of our belongings in the van just in case there really was a bed bug issue that I missed with my trusty flashlight, but a couple of the reviews mentioned that their cars had been broken into, and there was a very visible sign in the parking lot that warned that the hotel was not responsible for valuables stolen from your car.  So guess what happens next.  Two months worth of luggage lugged upstairs piece by piece by piece.  Looking on the bright side of that... at least I got some exercise.

Then the process began!  After finding out about the possible "infestation" issue, we stopped off to buy some heavy duty, extra large, contractor grade garbage bags.  Every single item that came into the room was bagged.  If Emilee could have stuck herself inside one of those garbage sacks, she would have!  After bug-proofing our luggage, we were off to see the bat flight! 

When we got the park gate, the ranger told us we had to go directly to the outdoor theater at the top of the mountain.  Because the grounds were still hot, we couldn't stop on the road or pull into any of the stop-offs, which they had actually blocked off.  Since we had never been to Carlsbad Caverns before, we didn't know what we expected to see, but it certainly wasn't what we saw.  On our drive up the mountain, most of the surrounding landscape was black.  When we arrived at the top you could see that the firefighters had concentrated their effort on keeping the structures from burning down, and there were still firefighters working to make sure that hotspots didn't cause the fire to start back up in the area.  Even though we didn't see any active fire where we were, they told us it was only 60% contained at that time and that more than 30,000 acres inside the park had burned. 

Burned landscape in Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Shortly after we arrived at the amphitheater, the ranger began the bat flight program.  She started by telling us that the bats were pretty predictable... they fly out every evening at sunset to feed, and they eat half their body weight in moths every night.  Then she proceeded to tell us that they had not flown out of the cave since the fire that began on Monday, so they just didn't know what to expect.  They were hoping that the bats would be hungry enough to leave the cave that night since they had been hibernating for the past two nights, but they just didn't know what was going to happen.  Then at about 8:00, the first bat made an appearance at the opening of the cave.  A couple of minutes later, a steady stream of bats made their way out into the sky.  We watched them fly out for about 20 minutes, and when we left, they were still flying out.  There were hundreds of them!  Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures during the bat flight.  There were actually two police officers standing by to give a citation to anybody who tried.  Wouldn't want that as a souvenir!

Cave opening where bats fly out every evening to feed.

Ready to watch some bats leave the cave!

Then it was time for the inevitable!  Back to the Super 8 for bedtime.  Since before we checked in, Scott kept telling me that he was more than willing to lose the money on this hotel and find somewhere else to stay if we were uncomfortable and would not be able to relax.  I kept telling him we would be fine.  After all, it was only one night, and nothing had skittered across the floor... or the bed... yet.  Anyway, once he realized we weren't changing hotels, I guess he thought he could convince us that it really wasn't that bad, so he kept telling us just that.  Then I looked over at him in his pajamas.  The boy had his pajama pants tucked into his socks, his shirt tucked into his pants, and his sleeves pulled down over his hands.  And he was laying ON TOP of the blankets.  Not that bad, huh?  Then I looked over at Emilee who looked pretty much the same as Scott except she also had on a hoodie with the hood tied so tight around her head that the only thing you could see was her eyes and the top half of her nose.  Then Ashlee and I followed their lead.  We all slept covered almost head to toe, on top of the blankets (I had already stripped the bedspreads off and picked up new sheets from the front desk).  Nobody was going under the covers that night!  I would love to be able to show you pictures of my family the way they looked at bedtime that night, but none of them will let me post those snapshots.  Needless to say, we were up and out of there bright and early the next morning!  And although it wasn't the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, it definitely provided some entertainment and some funny memories to look back on and laugh at!  And I won't be reading anymore hotel reviews before we arrive at any of our other stops... this one wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't already had a preconceived notion.  Makes for a good teachable moment for the kids... and for myself!

Stay tuned for part two of our tours inside the cave.  Some of the most amazing things we have ever seen!  Although the pictures don't do it justice, I'll post lots of them.  This will definitely be one of our favorite stops!

Texas... the other FLAT state!

On Tuesday, June 14th, we drove into Texas.  Our drive through Texas was just as flat and barren as our drive through Oklahoma.  Hours and hours of F-L-A-T!  With no hills or trees (or anything else for that matter) to block your view, you could see for miles.  Ashlee decided to doze a bit to pass the time in the car, and she said, "Wake me up if you see anything interesting."  Emilee replied, "Like a hill!"  We stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest area and did see a couple of interesting signs.  Two things you wouldn't think to look for at a North Carolina rest area... rattlesnakes and tornados.


Ashlee ran right up to the sign for a fun photo opp!
The sign says, "Danger - Rattlesnakes."
You'll notice that Emilee isn't anywhere in sight!



It seems that the rest area doubles as a tornado shelter!

After checking into our hotel, we drove on down to Palo Duro Canyon.  When we got there, the ranger at the gate told us there was some "drama" unfolding just past the gate in case we wanted to watch.  Seems they had a really, really, really old Longhorn named "Gravy" that they were trying to load up into a trailer to "take home to pasture" to live out his last days.  And he did NOT want to go.  You can see in the picture that they were trying to lure him into a fenced in area that they were actually building around him as he got closer to the trailer.  However, as they would drag a piece of fencing out of the trailer to walk it around behind him to attach to the next piece of fence, he would turn around and walk back out through the opening.  There were several other Longhorns nearby, and we couldn't figure out how they knew not to be lured by the food - they weren't going anywhere near that trailer.  Gravy was the only one taking the bait.  He eventually would walk back to the food getting closer and closer to the trailer.  I guess he was thinking what I usually think when I'm hungry... "I'll do anything for food!"  The cool thing is that when we went to the gift shop down in the Canyon, the girls found a postcard with Gravy's picture on it that they just had to have. 

Gravy, the Longhorn stopped eating long enough to pose for the camera.

After the gift shop stop, Ashlee wanted to take a hike on one of the trails.  Unfortunately, it was 106 degrees, and there were absolutely no shade trees... full open sun in the hot dry desert canyon is not my idea of fun.  Fortunately for me, it wasn't anybody else's idea of fun either.  We did, however, find a short hike up into an area with a small cave-like opening (see photo below).  There was shade involved, so off we went.


It was 106 degrees in the Canyon, so we took a short 1/2 mile hike.
You'll notice that we're headed for shade...
the only shade we saw in the whole canyon.

When we finished up at the Canyon, we headed back towards Amarillo.  While researching for the trip a few months ago I ran across a fun website (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/).  It's a guide to odd tourist sites.  I found one that just happened to be in Amarillo right off of the interstate called Cadillac Ranch.  It was built by a bunch of art hippies and funded by a billionaire who wanted a piece of public art that would "baffle the locals."  They came up with Cadillac Ranch - 10 old Cadillacs driven out in the middle of the billionaire's field, then half buried nose down in the dirt (all supposedly tipped at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza... according to the website).  One of the most bizarre and pointless things I have ever seen but, of course, we couldn't help ourselves.  We pulled over on the side of Route 66 and trudged out into the field with a bunch of other people.  The crazy thing is that there were probably more people looking at Cadillac Ranch than there were in Palo Duro Canyon.  The cars are in pretty bad shape after years of being spray-painted, which evidently is encouraged.  The girls had to get in on the action too... thus, the photos below.  And, no, we didn't take spray-paint with us (I'm not that much of a redneck!).  There were paint cans littering the ground everywhere, so they found a couple that had a tiny bit of paint left in them, and they went to town.  Quirky... but I bet they'll remember spray-painting grafitti on a car just as much as they will remember "Gravy the Longhorn."  Then it was back to the car for a super huge handful of antibacterial hand wash!

My little rebels spray-painting graffiti
on an old Cadillac at Cadillac Ranch. 



Cadillac Ranch - one of the strangest things I've ever seen!

 We then were off to find a cowboy boot store for Ashlee's souvenir.  She has been dying for a pair of cowboy boots and decided to wait until we got to Texas to get a pair of authentic boots!  After an hour of trying to decide which ones to buy, she decided on a cute two-tone brown and dark rose colored pair.  I don't have a picture to post of her boots yet... even though she wore them around all night at the hotel, she was wearing her pajamas at the time, and I didn't think she'd let me post that picture.  However, here are a couple of snapshots of the girls at the boot store.  Emilee decided she's going to look for a sombrero for her souvenir!  :-)

Ashlee's souvenir... authentic Texas cowboy boots!
She had a hard time deciding which ones to buy.

If I had to pick any boot in the entire store that Emilee would go for,
this would have been my choice.





Yikes!

Sorry there have been no recent posts.  There is no wireless internet connection in the hotel we have been at for the past couple of days, and for some reason my computer won't allow the dial-up connection.  And I didn't have time to post at the hotel in Carlsbad... too busy wrapping two months worth of luggage into garbage sacks. Long story so stay tuned for the adventure!  Hopefully I'll be able to catch you up on the happenings of the past few days at the next stop in Albuquerque where we are headed to tomorrow!  :-)

Go Hogs!

We left Conway, Arkansas this morning heading further west to our next stopover in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We detoured through Fayetteville, Arkansas first for a quick stop to see the University of Arkansas... well, actually, for Scott to see the main Razorback football stadium. :-) They had a football camp taking place, so we were able to get into the stadium and watch. Then we walked over to their basketball arena, which we were also able to get into. Of course, the "Hog Heaven" store got our attention, and the girls ended up with Razorback tshirts & pajamas (there was a sale...$5 each!). After about 90 minutes of walking around the campus in 95 degree heat (and snapping some fun pictures-see below), we hit the road again.


Scott just loves to pose for pictures!
Can you tell he was humoring me?



Watching a Razorback football camp

I kept noticing that the closer we got to Oklahoma City, the higher the temperature gauge in the car climbed. By the time we got to the Oklahoma City Memorial, the temperature had reached 104 degrees! We arrived at the Memorial and walked around for a bit. When you walk onto the grounds of the Memorial, you first walk through the "Gates of Time." One gate is etched with 9:01 and the other shows 9:03... the bomb was detonated at 9:02. Between the two gates is the Field of Empty Chairs. Each of the 168 chairs represents a life lost. You'll notice in the picture below that some of the chairs are small, some are big. The smaller chairs represent the 19 children who died. It was a hard part of history to share with the girls - we as adults don't understand it, so it's tough to explain it to them.

One of the two "Gates of Time" Monuments

Field of Chairs representing the 168 lives lost
in the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995

After visiting the Memorial, we were off to find the hotel. Our "fun" photo of the day below was taken in front of the hotel. It's not every day you see a skateboard that's bigger than your car!  Much to the girls' dismay, unfortunately there was a "Keep Off" sign posted on the top!

Are We There Yet?

Our first stop on our "Great Adventure" was Knoxville, Tennessee to visit with family before heading west. And we also had to leave Maisy (our dog) with Nana & Pappy (my parents) - fortunately we didn't have to board her at the vet for two months! I hope she remembers us when we get back! We stayed in Knoxville with Mimi & Papa (Scott's parents) and I'm sure had the most comfortable beds we'll experience on the rest of the trip!

We pulled out of Knoxville this morning at 8:30 AM to begin a 9-hour drive to our next stop. We were barely five minutes down the road when Ashlee said, "Are we there yet? How much longer?" UGH! Fortunately, she was only kidding!

We had originally planned our first stopover in Branson, Missouri but realized that it took us a bit out of the way and we didn't really have a "site" to see there. So we rerouted to Conway, Arkansas, which saved us about three hours of drive time. We drove through Memphis to show the girls where Scott lived there. Then we drove on into Arkansas and stopped by one of the Arkansas Razorback football stadiums in Little Rock. I spotted an open gate and convinced Scott that we needed to go on in, so he parked and we "snuck" down the ramp to the field. We didn't go any further though - just took a quick glance and snapped a quick photo (see below). Then it was off to the hotel for a dip in the pool and Domino's pizza for dinner. Now the girls are playing trivia before bed.

Tomorrow we're off to Oklahoma City to see the Memorial from the Oklahoma City bombing. It's hard to believe that happened over 16 years ago.

My favorite "site" of the day? You'll have to see the picture below that I was fortunate enough and quick enough to snap while Scott was driving - I couldn't resist!

By the way, today is our anniversary - 18 years... and I wouldn't change a thing!

My favorite "site" of the day. Check out the name of the park!

Sneaking a peak inside the Arkansas Razorback War Memorial Stadium

Mega Travel Tub!

The girls and I met up with one of my friends (Mrs. Stephanie) yesterday to have lunch and shop for supplies for our adventure.  For those of you who don't know the background story and why I'm referring to her as Mrs. Stephanie, she was Ashlee's preschool teacher in Atlanta when Ashlee was four-years-old, and I was her room mom.  At the end of that school year she got married and moved to High Point.  We moved to Winston a year later, and our friendship has continued from there.

When we met up with Stephanie yesterday, we got a huge surprise.  She opened up the back of her jeep, and there sat a HUGE box FULL of fun things for our trip.  The box was loaded with puzzle books, travel games, candy, card games, scrapbook supplies, journals, lotion, anti-bacterial hand wash, a travel alarm clock, sewing kit, emergency travel kit, pens, paper, chapstick, face wipes, scissors, a photo album, etc.  Made me cry (again!).  Needless to say, I was able to cross many things off of my list of things to purchase during that shopping trip!  As the girls say, "Mrs. Stephanie rocks!"  Thank you, my dear friend!

Check out the Mega Travel Tub!