September 29 – “Through Arkansas”

We have arrived.  Oh.  In Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  I gave Chris a gift today.  I drove the whole day.  She usually drives most of the time because she likes to drive and I hate it.  But she's worth it.    Our stay last night the LQuinta, Texarkana, Arkansas, left much to be desired.  It was really hard to tone back our thoughts when the desk clerk asked in her best, desk-clerk-y, perky voice, "Did everything go just perfect with your stay here?"  That was one of those look at each other and smile moments.  We went to their Denny's for supper.  Bad service.  Nasty food. The manager seated us and said our waiter would be with us shortly.  A girl came by and said our waiter would be with us shortly.  Finally she came back and said she didn't know everybody else was on break so she would take our order.  We looked up and the other waiter was standing at the kitchen door staring at her.  Chris ordered a taco salad dish.  I stuck with the soup and salad.  The taco salad finally came out with a glob of greasy chili on top.  I had to ask for a cup of ice so my iced tea would indeed be iced.  And the meal went downhill from there.  The service didn't get any worse.  Couldn't.  That was the last time we saw them.   The room itself wasn't all that bad.  Except when someone in another room flushed the toilet or took a shower.  Noisy plumbing.  The paint was peeling over the shower.  And around 1:30 a.m. someone tried his best to get his key card to work in our door.  I watched his last attempt through the peephole before he gave up and staggered down the hall.  When I got back in bed, I asked Chris if she was relaxed yet.  No.   The trip north was a lot of fun, though.  There are some great names in Arkansas.  Hootiecackle Collision and Glass Service won my own personal award.  Hugs and Biscuits #2 struck me as well.  The implication that there was a number one had a lot to do with it.  And the little towns we went through were tremendous.  Another contest presented itself.  Which of these places that actually got their name on a highway sign had the fewest number of people.  For most of the trip it looked like Gilham would win with 188.  Until we hit Gateway, at the border of Missouri.  All 116 of them.  We even passed through the home of Tyson Chicken.  Interesting smell.  And of course, Bentonville has something to do with WalMart.     Cell phone service was spotty at best.  In fact it comes and goes inside our hotel room here.  Hopefully we got all the calls we needed.  Like the one form some good friends in Alabama.  They found out we were on vacation and offered to let us stay with them if we found our way to Alabama.  Hmm.  We stopped for lunch in Fayetteville.  Took a short cut.  Passed by the University of Arkansas.  Then when we went to turn around we found ourselves in the parking lot of the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse.  Great smoked pork barbecue.  Not kidding.  Smoked pork.  We tried to call Mom's friend from high school, Mildred, but we only had her son's number.  She called back after we got to Eureka Springs.    From Fayetteville on we ran into motorcycles everywhere.  This was motorcycle rally week in Northern Arkansas.  And in Eureka Springs it was also Corvette weekend, whatever that means.   Tonight we plan to go to one of the shows in town.  Tomorrow we'll be pure tourists.  And tomorrow night we'll go see the Passion play.  Full two days.  After that, who knows?  Maybe Alabama?   Psalms 11:4 says, "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.  He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them."   Father, it could be threatening or assuring to think about you watching all the time.  I choose assuring.  Amen.