Tulsa to Branson

It’s travel time, but before we get on the road, I have to tell you that Logan came down stairs this morning with a very long face.  Don asked him, “Why the long, sad face?” To which Logan replied, “My tooth is still under my pillow.”  Uh oh.  That Tooth Fairy must have been really busy last night and ran out of “dust  dough” or something horrible must have happened to him, like he was so tired he stopped for a napped and just never woke up.  So, Don asked Logan how much he thought the tooth fairy would have left if he had showed up and Logan said, “$3.00.”  Would you believe that all Don had in his pocket was $3?  Three dollars made Logan feel a little better.  But you can just guess who feels like a real heel now.  I had to give him a hard time by texting him this morning… “Way to go, Tooth Fairy!”  He’s sure he’s going to lose his fairy wings, but he assured me he would make it up to Logan.  What parent hasn’t experienced this?  We sure love a good opportunity to give his dad a hard time, though…. all in fun and love.

OK, on the road again… without the Q as we will only be gone four days.

We decided to take the 412 instead of going Interstate 44.

The scenery is just beautiful in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas.

Did you know that millions of chickens are raised in Arkansas?

Somewhere along the way, I received a phone call from daughter, Leslie, with a funny story about granddaughter Emma.  As told to Leslie by Emma’s kindergarten teacher, it went something like this:

Teacher to Emma’s table:  “Students, I know it’s the end of school and all, but you are really misbehaving today.  Why are you behaving this way?”

Emma, always feeling the need to find an answer for any question posed to her, made her way to the teacher’s desk a few minutes later, placed her elbows on the desk with her face in her hands and said (I imagine after a heavy sigh), “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I have come to the conclusion that the reason we are misbehaving is because we have just outgrown you and are ready to be in first grade.”

Teacher told Leslie that it was all she could do to keep from bursting out with a laugh, especially considering the serious look on Emma’s face.  She assured Leslie that she certainly was going to miss Emma in her class.  We’re all hoping it’s in a good way… we’re sure it is.

Are you kidding me?  “I’ve come to the conclusion”…. six years old.  You can just imagine that Don and I certainly enjoyed that story and I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of it this weekend.  Aren’t children wonderful?

Ok, more going-down-the-road pictures.

Almost missed this old brick building.

The view from about two miles away.  It’s very humid and hazy today, but this hillside was so pretty from the highway.

Freshly harvested hay meadow and hay barn.  Love it.

And I turned my head just in time to see this church ahead of us.  It’s a Methodist church, but I can’t read the sign.

I wonder what happened to that fence?  Keep in mind that I am taking these pictures with a zoom and we’re traveling about 65 – 70 mph.

Really, what is our fascination with antique cars?  This one goes back a little further than our early driving years, but Don said he had this model when he first was driving.  They remind us a life that now we wish we had.. a time when we lived a little slower and had time to enjoy family and friends and we said grace at our meals (we still do) and more people went to church than didn’t.  This car reminds me of a time when most folks weren’t ashamed of God because they knew their blessings and freedoms were a gift from Him and were grateful.  Maybe I romanticize, but I don’t think so.

Call me crazy, I just like it… the contour of the highway, the traffic, the opposing yellow lines of the turn lanes, the shadow of the mountain, the rocks jutting out on the sides of the highway.

We made it to Branson, thank You, Jesus.  Got checked in to our hotel.  (Don found a great deal online.)

And then Dennis and Sally took us out to dinner over in Kimberling City.

The view of Table Rock Lake from our table.

Dennis had so much exciting things to tell us.  Maybe soon, I will be able to share some of it with you.  Please pray for wisdom for CRM International and praise God for what He’s doing.  May His perfect will be done.  It is exciting.