Barry

Our daughter Mikayla loves keeping traditions, setting a beautiful table and making great food. I knew there was no way she would let me get away with keeping things simple for a holiday meal even though we have a tiny kitchen that consists of two burners and a stove with one rack. She spent a lot of time planning a menu and then informed me that this year, I would be her assistant. Everything would be gluten-free except for one of the stuffings.

For the menu she chose: turkey tenderloin, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, punch, cranberry cheesecake and crustless pumpkin pie.

We chose to make two types of stuffing because the g-free recipe is expensive. We cut it in half and made it as a trial. It was great!

Cooking in the RV takes longer than usual. We had to be very creative today because we have one stirring bowl, a small sauce pan, a large saucepan, a very small frying pan and a large cast iron skillet. We had some empty water jugs that we cut into bowls. They worked great and it was so nice to just throw them away when we were done. Less dishes!

We had a great day! We feel so blessed to travel the country with our girls. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I’m working on sharing some of the g-free recipes we used today. Check back in a day or two.

We got our groceries early this morning to avoid the crowds. I usually try not to shop the day before a holiday but since our fridge is very small, I waited on purpose this time. I’m very thankful that it’s supposed to be in the 40s tonight so I keep some things in the truck overnight.

While the girls and I had school, Barry put our screen room up. This room that attaches to our awning, gives us an extra 180 square feet of space. We haven’t been able to have it up very much this fall due to the wind. It’s really nice to have the extra space.

We hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving!!!

Go Pack!!!

We drove through Hot Springs a couple of days ago but couldn’t find a place to park the RV while we explored. When asked what I wanted for my 45th birthday, I knew right away: Let’s go back to Hot Springs!

Hot Springs National Park is our only urban park. I think it’s very unique in that it not only explores a beautiful natural area but also a long past culture. It’s a little disappointing that most of the springs are now covered up by green metal boxes but you can still see a few of them.

When we arrived at the visitor center we jumped right into a ranger led tour. We’ve enjoyed every park ranger at each of the parks we’ve visited but this one shot to the top of our favorites list. She was a hoot and kept us laughing throughout the very interesting Fordyce Bathhouse. She was an older lady who did not dress in park ranger clothes but in the attire of someone who would have visited Hot Springs in its day. She told Jenna that you really don’t start living until you turn 80. Her excitement and energy made us believers! Because of her presentation, we won’t soon forget all that we learned at this National Park.

We felt like we stepped back in time as we walked down Bathhouse Row and walked the grounds behind the Fordyce Bathhouse. The many magnolia trees, even though not in bloom, added to the beauty. We took the very steep and winding drive up Hot Springs Mountain where we took the elevator to the top of the observation tower. The tower has a lot of information about the history of the area. I read some of it but the views of the Ozark Mountains draped in fall colors were far too distracting. The girls especially fell in love with a little mama raccoon that frequents outside the gift shop of the observation tower. After returning to downtown Hot Springs, we bought some plastic jugs to fill with fresh spring water.

You can’t visit Hot Springs without seeing many reminders that this was President Bill Clinton’s boyhood home. We drove past the small and unassuming house in which he grew up. Tours aren’t available as a family lives there.

So, did we take baths in Hot Springs? We did not even though there are some bathhouses that are still open for business. The beautiful weather and trails of Hot Springs Mountain were far to inviting!

(We will be adding pictures to this post and others as we have time. Please check back.)

Hot Springs National Park Website

We are currently in an area that hasn’t had rain for months but because gray clouds seem to follow us, I’m happy to announce that the drought is over! The rain started yesterday and is supposed to continue through tomorrow afternoon. We tease that the states that need rain should pay us to visit and the states that don’t want rain should pay us to stay out.

Not all bathrooms are created equal! This one isn’t too bad but we’ve been in better. After seeing the size and number of bugs and spiders hanging out inside the bathrooms, the girls and I worked out a plan. Two of us would shower while at least one other person would stand guard, armed with a shoe to keep any critters from crawling in. We thought it was a fool proof plan until we turned the water on and the little critters hiding under the mat ran for their lives and towards the guard person. Fortunately, no one heard our screams and ran in to save us! The new plan has an addition to it. The first thing we will do upon entering the bathroom is to turn the shower on and all of us will stand armed and ready!

It’s a good thing that we girls have acquired a new talent since we started full-timing: We all have deadly aim when it comes creepy crawlies.

After all, Barry can’t be with us all the time!

One of the great things about our adventure so far is that we haven’t been out of fall since we first saw the leaves begin to change while visiting Wisconsin in September. We keep driving into fall!

We were camping at Governor Dodge State Park in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, when the leaves first started to change. The trees on the hills were at about 50% with mostly yellow and orange leaves by the time we left. The wild mustard filled the fields with their golden flowers with some of the plants being taller than our girls.

We saw Michigan come into full color and then turn to those beautiful burnt shades of late fall. They were mostly yellow and orange with a little red sprinkled in here and there.

As we drove through Illinois, the cornfields that still hadn’t been fully harvested were brown and framed by yellow trees.

Missouri greeted us with bluffs that were red—all red. It was so beautiful and continued to be so as they darkened into the dark burgundies that signal fall is coming to an end. We were surprised that sunflowers were still in bloom.

Arkansas has mostly been burnt oranges made even more gorgeous by the still very green grass and many pine trees.

It feels strange to still see the leaves turning as we approach the end of November. Autumn and winter are my favorite times of year. We’ll be skipping winter this year but I’ve enjoyed the elongated fall.

We’re hoping spring will be the same way—months and months of driving into it!

On our way out of Missouri on November 17, we made a brief stop at Mammoth Springs State Park which features Arkansas’s largest spring and the second largest spring in the Ozark Mountains. This spring flows nine million gallons of water hourly. The area around the spring is very beautiful. We enjoyed watching breeds of ducks and geese that we don’t have in Michigan. I think they were a little disappointed in us as we didn’t have any treats for them.

We also got a bit of a Science lesson as we studied the source and flow of the spring. We also toured the remains of a mill and hydroelectric plant and saw how water is used to make electricity.

Mammoth Springs was our first stop in Arkansas. It was a great introduction to a beautiful state!

We made a promise to ourselves after visiting Little Rock: We will not let people’s comments bias us against a place we want to visit.

When we announced that we were headed to Missouri we got a lot of comments like, “Missouri? You won’t see much there.” After spending only two weeks in that beautiful state, we wished we could have spent another two months! There was so much more we could have seen at the state parks alone. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn and we listened to people who told us that Little Rock wasn’t worth a stop. Boy, were they wrong!

We visited Little Rock from November 17–19. We really only had one day to sight see but we all fell in love with this friendly, clean and historical city. We saw the beautiful capitol building lit up at night and then at dusk with a beautiful Arkansas sunset behind it. The building is smaller than other capitols we have visited but it is no less majestic.

The architecture in Little Rock is worth a stop in and of itself. We were especially taken with the beauty of Little Rock Central High School where the Arkansas Nine stood up against the angry crowds that wanted to keep nine young African Americans from attending the high school and claiming their rights of desegregation. The Visitor Center across the street from the high school is another great part of our National Parks Service. It starts out by highlighting the writing of the U.S. Constitution and who “We The People” really meant and who were excluded. This was very poignant for the girls having just studied this a couple of months ago. It then moved on to the history of Central High School itself and ended with what is still taking place in the area of civil rights. The park rangers were very courteous and helpful in answering our many questions. I was pleased that even though we aren’t anywhere near the 1950s in our study of U.S. History, the park tied in events that we had already studied and how they affected the Civil Rights Movement. Central High School still holds classes so we weren’t able to go in (we had missed the tour) but we did walk the grounds.

A few years ago, I read several of the recent First Lady’s autobiographies. I remember a couple of them discussing the building of their husband’s presidential library’s. One of them said that no matter what your politics, you should visit every presidential library you can because they aren’t just about that president but represent the history of the country during his term/terms.

She was right!

We spent most of our afternoon at The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. The library is beautiful and very well done. Barry and I were amazed at all we had forgotten of the Clinton years as we walked through the exhibit of the timeline. Notebooks full of the Presidents daily schedules accompanied the timeline and were very interesting to look at. Even the girls, who were very little during Clinton’s presidency, thumbed through the notebooks. There are various letters on display that Clinton received from a number of famous people, a display showing the process that goes into the writing of a State of the Union speech , a replica of the oval office and cabinet room during his terms, a movie narrated by Clinton and various artifacts. We greatly enjoyed viewing the many gifts the Clintons were given by many Americans and various Heads of State. There were many little tidbits about the presidency itself that were very fascinating. Our campground was across the river from the library so we walked across the Clinton Bridge that spans the Arkansas River. The grounds around the library are unique and beautiful. The museum staff was very nice (I mean really nice) and at the ready to answer questions. We look forward to visiting all the presidential libraries we can.

On temporary display at the museum is The Art of Brick featuring the work of artist Nathan Sawaya who builds his art with Legos. Mind boggling and very cool!

Little Rock Central High School: http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm

William J. Clinton Library and Museum: http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

The Art of Brick: http://www.brickartist.com/