For some time now Lynn has wanted to pass along to us some china she inherited from Neal's paternal grandmother, Willa (Willamena). We never wanted to have it shipped for fear that it might get damaged in transit, so we came up with a better solution - a family road trip to meet halfway between Houston and Omaha, to drive the china safely home. Neal found a nice state park for us to stay in Arkansas (a state which I had not been to yet) and so the three of us met Lynn and Carolyn in the beautiful Ouachita Mountains.
A nice view to keep us going through the
8-hour drive
Ironically, the place we stayed at was called
Queen Wilhelmena (pronounced "Willamena"),
which had the same name as Neal's grandmother
whose china we were inheriting. Here we
are on the drive up with the welcome sign.
There was a fantastic little restaurant on the
premises that served very inexpensive breakfasts.
This pancake Neal is holding is the largest any
of us had ever seen, and it was only $2.95 for 2 of them!
On Saturday we took a scenic drive through the
mountains, which happened to cross over into
Oklahoma, another state I hadn't been to. The
sites were so picturesque, perfect for family
photo op's. :-)
Our view from the car
These webs were everywhere, created by bagworms,
common to the area. Wherever they build their webs,
that part of the tree turns completely brown (as you
can see above) since they feed off of it.
Grasshopper close-up
At the end of the scenic drive was an old-fashioned
ice cream shop, which we were thrilled to find after
being out in the hot sun. We enjoyed floats,
malts and milkshakes.
Our digs
Neal's awesome humming bird shot
(If you click on the photo it will enlarge
for a better view)
Another sweet shot - this time the bird has
its wings spread while feeding
Queen Wilhelmina had a put put course just down
the hill, so of course we had to partake. Everyone
(well, almost everyone :-) got a hole in one at
some point on the course - Lynn got 3!! She's
such a pro - she put us all to shame, though Neal
ended up with the victory win.
Saturday night we took a wagon ride on which
a tour guide gave us some of the historical
background of the park.
From the wagon....
Just after we got back, the view from our hotel
was spectacular.
Another grasshopper close-up
There were these pink and yellow moths
everywhere, some of which looked like
bubble gum and were almost unnoticeable
until you realized what they were.
About to head home on Sunday - some last
minute family shots
Poor Neal, all he wanted this weekend was
to see a bear, and this one in the hotel lobby
was the closest he came.
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