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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!

It’s the afternoon of day 4 …. (yellow shirts) … Monday July 13th … Petite Jean State Park just NW of Little Rock Arkansas.

After the rain cleared we went out for a few hikes. We had to drive the RV to the trail heads to minimize the walking for some members of our expedition team.

First, we went to Mathers Lodge. This state park has a campground, pool, cabins, restaurant, and a lodge (and lots of other stuff!). At the lodge is a wonderful look-out of the Cedar Falls Valley. It was a great view with minimal effort. Gota love that!

Next, we went to Bear Cave Trail. This was a great hike and very easy. Lots of rock formations for the kids to go thru and climb over.

Then, we went to Cedar Falls Overlook. This is a very short hike on a boardwalk path. Very easy for the kids and with some great views. We did venture off to one of the Boy Scout paths to see other views. Lots of rocks to climb there too!!!

The next place we stopped was Rock House Cave trail. This trail was a little harder for the little ones but the main problem was the heat. The Rock House Cave itself was quite cool but the climb over the turtle rocks was very hot… Climbing over baking rocks can get very hot … But the kids thought the rock formations were cool … And … That’s all the matters …

Then we went to the visitors center to get a souvenir book and post cards!!!!

Lastly we went to the Out Post to get some milk. Sea Monkey LOVES his milk and I knew we were going to need milk if we planned to get him down for a nap. Well! I about choked when I had to pay over $3 for a half gallon of milk. Highway robbery!!! But the closet grocery story is almost 30 miles away … I hope this can get us thru till we leave tomorrow!

When we got back to the camper, we had a quick lunch of hot dogs, Kraft Mac and Cheese, along with some left over hamburger helper and Theresa’s famous beans. Then the little guys took naps, older guys read for a bit and have been bike riding …. The Captain has been watching 3 Stoogies DVD and now he has found the Retro channel on our TV … Sooooo funny … Dragnet and the Hulk … I wish I had this channel at home … Mainly just trying to stay cool!!!!

Well … Little guys are waking up … Better hop-off of here and decide what our next big adventure will be ….

It’s the morning of our fourth day …. Monday July 13 … And we woke to rain and an expected high of 110 (I think that may be the heat index … At least that’s what I’m hoping) …. We are wearing our BRIGHT yellow shirts today … shouldn’t loose anyone and it shouldn’t be hard to spot us!!!

So … Since it’s raining we have been hanging out in the camper … The kids are watching Pink Panther …. We are watching more movies than I had thought but what can you do when it’s raining … (at bedtime last night … the kids HAD to watch Karate Kid 3 …. they really got into those) … At least we can see Lake Bailey from our camper .. Yep! The lake is named Bailey!!! And the county is is named Conway … 3 days of driving to get to Conway :0

I have been “picking-up” in the camper and rearranging a few things …. Our room seems to stay the messiest … I try to keep the “living area” as clear as possible so we don’t feel crowded … So … That means lots of things get stacked around in our bedroom … But it seems to be working … We really didn’t pack a lot and I feel great about the fact that we have not over packed

My biggest concern (about surviving 3 weeks on the road) had been the laundry …. and so far …. It’s really not an issue … The kids are staying in there outfits all day with the exception of the bathing suits and pjs … This apparently is not what they do at home .. We are putting our pjs back up to reuse each night and hanging our towels up to dry … This seems to be going well … As of this morning … I only have a small box of dirty clothes from yesterday .. Yea!!!!!

Once the rain clears out we are going for our first hike of the Big Adventure!!! There are lots of trails here … We are going to start with a few short ones (1/2 miles but with hills) and see how it goes …. They don’t allow bikes on the trails so …. We will see … They have waterfalls, streams, caves, cave drawings … And lots of stuff to see …. I’m hoping the payoff will encourage everyone to try some of the bigger trails (mainly Stormy Cloud and Dancing Mermaid).

Ok … The rain has broke … We are heading out to hike some trails!