This being Cole's last summer before leaving for West Indes for his mission we needed one last get away. Or I needed that. Since I switched cars from a Van to a sedan it makes family vacations more challenging. I reserved a Minivan and asked where everyone wanted to go. The decision was to go see Uncle Chuck and Aunt Jolene in New Mexico. Unfortunately, at the last minute due to Monsoon season plans changed. What to do ? I wanted to beach but knew time was limited and the good beaches too far away. So I decided on Little Rock/ Hot Springs. I have heard how beautiful it was and needed that getaway into nature.
We had to shorten our trip to only a couple of days. But the kids were good with that. We love road trips seeing random things stopping wherever we want with no set plans. I think at times the kids think I am crazy for the places I want to stop but they always enjoy it. It is kinda like those shows that you see about the father wanting to stop at the biggest ball of Yarn..lol I promise I am not that bad. Well maybe.... We took our time getting out of town and driving to Arkansas. Checked into the hotel and got into the car. " Okay where too? " The wonderful thing of the smart phones and mapquest on phones. Alex suggested going to Central High {the first school in the south to be intergrated} What an amazing find. Beautiful architecture and grounds. The kids took pictures and studied the building. Then Eve in all her passion I want to go inside but they are closed. She and Sebastian looked through windows of the doors. A security guard came out and starting talking to the kids asking them where they were from. Eve mentions how she wants to see inside and he says come on... Oh if he only knew how that made their day. We didn't go far but inside the main door was the auditorium. Beautiful, still had the wooden chairs, balcony as you would see in old movies about the day the world changed in that school and the south.
As we were leaving the grounds they had to stop to take a picture. You can see in the picture with the pillars how each had to show their own personality in the picture.
We drove to the The Big Dam Bridge and I managed to talk Cole, Alex and Sebastian into walking up it with me. It was a great walk as I watched those 3 boys talk about their future and the beauty around them. We laughed, they of course had to see who could spit the farthest off the bridge into the water. {only boys}
We shared a nice dinner and went back to the Hotel.
It rained that night and into the morning in Little Rock. The kids had to stop at the Ross there and then we headed to Hot Springs. So this is where my kids put up with my plans even when they don't work out so well. I had read about a tour bus that would take you around the area that said it was free on the weekends and ran every 30 minutes. Perfect... Yeah not exactly. We found one of the spots and parked fed the meter and waited and waited. We knew we were in the right place because we saw a bus leave right as we were coming down the street. Not sure what happened. We waited for oh about an hour no bus. Hmm we finally said forget it and got back in the car. We drove up the mountain ourselves. My kids know their is a budget and are very careful about things that cost to do them. But I had put money aside for those things and didn't tell them. So as we reached the top of the mountain to the Mountain tower they decided they didn't want to do it because of cost. So maybe I trained them to well. They forget that it is also about having fun and not stressing over that. This mountain tower was I don't know how tall but having Eve who hates high places and going up a glass elevator was quite the adventure. She held onto my arm until we reach the observatory deck. She eventually realized just how beautiful it was and enjoyed the sights. The boys took the stairs all the way up. Yeah not for me.
Last summer on our road trip we started each taking turns playing songs. We would go one by one and pull it up on our phones. Usually someone else does this for the driver. The music choices get pretty interesting. I love to try and pick the strangest or oldest songs to listen to and then sing my lungs out. I found that they were singing to some of them as well. We listened to movie theme songs, Cyndy lauper, country, rap, R&B, oldies, whatever you could think of. It was a lot of fun.
We always start our trips each day with a prayer. On our way home coming down the mountain I felt I needed to start to slow down and be more alert. I wasn't sure if I was just being extra cautious not knowing the terrain or what. I wasn't speeding before I felt this. But as we were hitting the bottom a truck pulls across the 2 lane mountain road and cuts me off. I have to slam on my brakes and thankfully there was somewhat of a median to pull onto. I literally could have rolled my window down and touched the inside of his car that is how close we came. I was thankful the car behind us was paying attention and that their was a median there. We had just finished an area that had no median just a drop off the road.
The adrenaline really shook me up. At that point I said okay I am done. Time for dinner and found some place to stop. It took me all of dinner to relax my nerves. I am so thankful for that initial guidance to slow down and be more aware.
As we hit the Texas border the clouds grew dark and the lightening was pretty intense. Cloud to ground all around us. The guidance of my two older boys was wonderful. While the other slept they checked the weather and we talked about life. About that time we found a radio station that played old radio shows. That helped calm my nerves and as we made our way through the storm we listened to the shows. I loved the fact that they listened to them so intently. It was as if you could see it on a screen. As the signal faded Malcolm found some shows on his phone and we listened to more. It made the remainder of the trip easier cause I was tired. I had been looking for a Dairy Queen before we got home to stop and end our trip with Ice cream. Unfortunately, we didn't find one until we hit Grand Priarie. This is when they don't always like my ideas of stops. . Really mom can't we just go home. We are so close. NOPE we need Ice cream...
It ended up not being a bad thing to stop. It was a great way to end the weekend and despite the groans the ice cream was a hit. You can't have a vacation without a Dairy Queen stop.
It was a short vacation but a much needed break and family time together. I made them promise that they would do the same with their families. They don't have to have much money. But take the time to make the memories. Even if it is every other year or just a short weekend trip.
The idea of our next trip being without Cole feels a little weird. But I know he has a wonderful journey waiting for him the next 2 years.
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