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The tire dragon has been slain!!!!! Three cheers for the Captain!!! Hip Hip Hooray!! Hip Hip Hooray!! Hip Hip Hooray!!

We are on the road again … Makes me think of the song … Rip loves Willie Nelson!!!

After a great lunch, the Captain picked up the Flying Dutchman and we loaded our clean clothes and dishes … Thanks soooooo much, Scotts …. And of course, a few pictures before we got going

We left shortly after 3PM …

The little guys fell asleep as soon as we got on the road good .. I had been delaying their naps (today) so they could sleep in the camper…. We wanted them to sleep as much as possible so we could make up for the time we lost due to our battle with the tire dragon … In reality …. it wasn’t a lot of time … Just didn’t get to do anything in OK that we had planned …. BUT we did get to spend some quality time with friends AND that was much better than any museum or exhibit … And now the Flying Dutchman as new sails ….. she is safer, hopefully will get better gas mileage, and should cut out future delays.

The Captain, in his great wisdom, did add the road side hazard to our new tires … so … if we have any more problems …. they will be covered

Good news about Jikkal’s bike … He was able to get it fixed for $10 … Yea!!!!

It’s about 8:00 now and we are well into Texas (over 100 miles …. still on I40)…. Heading toward Conway and then Amarillo … Seeing lots of Wind Mills …. Cows … Horses …. Farms …. Rolling hills …. Oil rigs … Grain bins …. Also … Smelling cows …. And horses

Just saw the largest cross in the western hemisphere! Cool!

The big guys and I played a game of Counting Cows. Dancing Mermaid won … Of course …. she was the most serious about the game … It was really fun … We will make up a new one tomorrow and see who wins that one!

We are currently at a travel center for a quick break and then back on the road again.

We are in Oklahoma City, OK … Visiting our friends Rip and Meagan Scott … They use to be in our life group when they lived in Myrtle Beach … The Captain and Jordan picked orange shirts for today!!!

We got here after mid-night … The Scotts had dinner ready … You guys rock!!!! We stayed up talking and looking at pics until 3:00AM … Jordan slept till 7:30 which was awesome … I just knew he would be up at the crack of dawn … Rip was up early with fresh coffee and blueberry pancakes for breakfast. YUMMMY!!!!!

The Captain, Jikkal, Marley, and Rip have gone to slay the tire dragon this morning … We are hoping this will be the end of our tire problems. They also plan to stop by the bike shop and get Jikkal’s bike fixed … Well … Jikkal has said he has a $20 limit on the tire … If it costs too much … Then he had rather just go to Wal*Mart and buy new bike

Meagan, I, and the rest of the kids are hanging out here at the house … I’m doing laundry … for FREE again … can’t beat that … Not so mention Meagan as the super nice washer and dryer set … I was worried that I wouldn’t know how to work such hi-tech stuff!!! …. Meagan also washed my dishes from the camper … Thanks girl!! …The kids are enjoying playing, having fun with someone other than siblings, and watching TV and …. Just being relaxed and with space to spread out

So that’s what’s happening here …

Well … It is 11 PM on July 14th … The 5th day of our big adventure … From sea to shining sea …

And … I’m sorry to say that there is not much to report … Well as far as distance …. We have left AR and heading towards Oklahoma City.

We started the morning with a sickly tire … That we pampered all day … … If you remember we lost a tire on Day 1 on the right side of the Flying Dutchman … Well … The sickly tire was on the left side and the Captain took extra care with it all day … as we drove down I40 … Shortly after crossing into Oklahoma … We literally blew out a second tire on the right side … … Parts of the tire flying down the road behind us … And loud noises under the camper that freaked-out the kids .. Totally crazy … I’m thinking these “new” tires that were on here … Well … Maybe they weren’t quite soooooo new …. Ummmmm

Needless to say …. As soon as we can get to an open tire shop … We will replace the rest of these tires so that our journey is not interrupted again … Well … At least not by these sad tires !!!

We called Good Sams Club to come out and help …. You know … that “road-side” assistance we signed up for before we “set sail” … And well … My first impression was not so good …. They said they would have someone out in 30 minutes … NOT!!! More like over an hour before they got here … And … Here’s the kicker … They called back to ask if we had a jack???? The captain was like … Uh, no …. That’s what we called you guys for …. Anyway … It was one of the longest tire changes I have ever been involved with …. I’m talking hot and the flies were about to fly away with the Dutchman …. By the time thet arrived, the Captain had already started without them … He is the man!!! (He did find a small jack under the camper to get started with … But was happy to have some muscle to work those bolts/nuts on these big tires!)

We are finally on the road again …Heading to the Scotts for some much needed food and A/C … Yep! They still want us to come by even though it will be close to midnight when we arrive … That, everyone … Is what I call true friends … Let’s hope they still feel this hospitable when Jordan sounds his morning wake up call at 6:00 AM.

Well … We are on an adventure and every adventure must have a villain … And ours (for today) was the tires … We will slay this dragon and continue on our quest … Still got some cute pics from today and still had lots of laughs

Good Morning!!!!

It’s the morning of day 5 …. (7/14/09) …. It’s Stormy Cloud’s turn to pick what color shirts … And she picked “cornflower” … That’s a light blue/purple color … (we have 8 colors to choose from … Only $5 each .. Designed, printed and shipped from … www.stickersandmore.com)

When I checked the odometer this morning … we had driven …. drum roll please …. 1031 miles ….
When we started out, the odometer was at 23802 …. this morning it was at 24833!!!!

We have packed up the camper … A quick vacuum … Everyone dressed … Quick breakfast of cereal and ramen noodles … And we are off … so easy/fast to clean this small space )

We made a stop by the visitors center to grab a little souvenir to remember our stay … Jessie and I both bought “hiking stick medallions” … These are small and not expensive …. about $5…. I think it will be great to get one from each park and then make a stick to put them all on … And hang it in the house … Well … That’s my thought process this morning … The rest of our crowd didn’t find anything they wanted … Not much selection as far as small and inexpensive goes … The hiking stick and medallions will be a family thing anyway …

Next, we made a short stop at Petit Jean’s grave site and overlook … MAN!! What a cool spot! The clouds were rolling over the mountain this morning … We were standing in the clouds!!! Great view of the Arkansas river.

We also learned some history about Petit Jean … She was a girl from France who was in love with the Captain of a ship who was to explore part of the Louisiana territory … But Captain Chavez wouldn’t allow her to sail with him to explore the New World … He had promised they could be married on his return … They sailed up the Arkansas River and encountered a friendly tribe of Indians and spent the summer with them …. No one ever suspected who Petit Jean (Little John) was … Until … She became ill …. and soon died … She is believed to be buried at the top of the mountain … Ahhhh …. What a sweet story …

Well …. We made a quick stop to check the air in the tires … And a quick stop at Wal*Mart to restock before we get back on I-40 …. Going thru some drinks!!!!

Back in the Flying Dutchmen and on the road again … Kids are watching a Scooby Doo Movie … Monsters in Mexico I think …. And we are heading to Oklahoma City!!!! Hope to take pics and the bomb site and see the Scotts while we are there!

Oh … And Kayla got a Tinker Bell Pez dispenser (she is into those lately) to remember Arkansas ….

Just a quick post before bed …

This afternoon was wonderful! I was worried that we would not have much fun after such a hot morning … but small blessings are everywhere. The weather was much cooler when the little guys woke up … and we went for a great bike ride around the lake – Lake Bailey. The wind off the lake also helped to keep up cool!

We climbed on the man made dam and learned a bit of history from one of the guys who was fishing (he said he actually use to work here – how cool was that!) The dam was built by hand by the CCC and the guys only got paid $1.30 per DAY!!! They did, however, get food and a place to sleep. WOW!!!

We also saw Davis Bridge which was built by the CCC too. The kids love the big hills – well … they love riding their bikes DOWN the big hills but not so much love for riding their bikes UP the hills.

Back at the camper, the kids wanted to continue riding their bikes and the wild Sea Monkey discovered a crazy way to ride his “bike” on the hills. I laughed and laughed. That child is crazy!!!!

KK wanted to try too ..

And Bailey …

As we sat at the picnic table … enjoying the wind and cooler weather … a family a skunks came wondering thru the campground … how cool is that!!!

A quick dinner of Ramen Noodles … and some left overs …  showers for everyone … and off to bed.

Oh … almost forgot … we are loving the Retro TV … Station 51-EMERGENCY was on!! Ok peeps … who remembers that with me???? You know … it came on about the same time as CHIPS … wow … flashbacks man!!!! … Air Wolf was on before that … a totally cool channel!