Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
Well, I suppose I can no longer pretend I am on vacation. Even though I worked Thursday and Friday of last week, Hubs didn't, so it still seemed like we were "off". We had take out, went out for dinner and a movie (The Box, seriously, DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME), and caught up on our Netflix queue - both the DVD list and instant watch list that beams through the XBOX. Pretty much your typical spoiled Americans.
Our trip was fantastic! What should have been a 6 hour drive was 8 hours there and 9 hours back - but that included bathroom, Thai food, ice cream, and Bass Pro Shop stops along the way. Husband rented a minivan that fit the two of us, brother, sister and nephew (and all of our crap!), and we enjoyed every minute of it.
My dad kept calling our rental "the cabin"...but judge for yourself. Four bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a large kitchen, dining room and living room. And an upstairs loft with a flatscreen TV, bar, foosball table & pool table with a view of the valley. It's not at ALL what I see when I think of a cabin.
This is the back of the "cabin" from our bedroom door.
Check out the fog! It covered the entire valley until the sun came out.
On Saturday, we drove into Eureka Springs. The town has a fun historic shopping district (it was a major spot for tourism in the early 1900s) that features everything from cute restaurants and art galleries to kitschy, cheap junk shops. For instance, standing outside of "Babes and Blades" you don't know what to expect...but a step inside reveals colorful women's clothing and Chinese throwing stars. Across the street is a store with beautiful scarves (which Sister and I are going to try to duplicate on our own rather than spending $100 on ONE!). You can purchase funnel cakes right next to a trashy old-timey photo studio - which boasts a wedding reception hall upstairs. And yet, a few doors down is a gallery with beautiful bronze sculptures with pricetags that far exceed the amount currently residing in our 401k. You get the idea, I'm sure.
The town square is a pretty stone area set about 4 feet above the street. There are various statues and sculptures - and usually a live musician or two. Actually, the musicians were found every few hundred feet. It reminded me of the Gilmore Girls episode where all of the town troubadours descend upon Stars Hollow. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?
Saturdays are always packed - so if you plan to go, don't hit the shopping district on the weekend. You'll enjoy it so much more when the streets and sidewalks aren't overflowing with people. Unbeknownst to us, last weekend was also Diversity Weekend. Now, call me old fashioned, but I hardly think throngs of overweight Anglo-Saxon lesbians qualifies as "diverse". But that's just me. We came back on Monday and found it so peaceful that we promised never to return on a Saturday ever again.
Check out all these caramel apples! The line snaked through the shop and out the door - and it was obvious why. They were absolutely delicious! Husband got an Apple Pie apple, while I went for double caramel & pecans. Riddle me this - if you ordered one of these and they asked you "Are you going to eat this now?" what would you say? I panicked and answered "no". I hadn't heard them ask anyone else this question and perhaps misread their eagerness to help as passing judgement on my BMI. Apparently, "Are you going to eat this now?" means "Would you like me to slice this for ease in eating, or shall I wrap it up for you in a cute little baggie?". Husband saved the day (as usual!) and had my apple sliced. Swoon.
The same day, we visited the state's second largest natural spring and did some hiking in the botanical gardens. Sadly, a mighty wind came through 3 days before our arrival and stripped bare the trees of the beautiful leaves we'd hoped to see!
I'm not entirely sure what is happening in this shot - I just know that Nephew was asking his daddy some last minute questions on their way to feed the fish. That's hubs on the left. I ended up with the fish food, though, because Neph doesn't like his hands to be dirty. Neither do I, but love often makes us to crazy things. Like hold stinky little pellets that somehow manage to be both gritty and greasy, so that a 2 year old can drop them one at a time into the water.
After we got home, I just had a typical cleaning/grocery shopping weekend (my assistant is pictured above) and was MORE than relieved to be back at our own church. I missed my people and am grateful to be home!
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