Westward Bound Take I

On July 6th, we loaded up and headed West for an unplanned adventure, wherever the road led.

The difficulty in planning for an "unplanned" trip is you do not know exactly what to bring. SO, in addition to the camper (our traveling hotel), we took 4 kayaks, 1 standup paddle board, 1 ducky, a whole host of paddles, dry tops, and 4 bicycles... 

 We made our first stop at Hot Springs, Arkansas. Why? Um...I am not really sure. I mean, we have always heard Hot Springs was a fun place. And it definitely started that way. We stayed the night at Lela's Landing. We immediately hit the pool! The boys were so excited that I swam with them. I explained it was finally hot enough for me to get in water!

 To dry off, they hit up the playground.

 We then headed toward town to see what all the hype was about. We were intrigued with natural springs-I mean 140 degree water flowing naturally is pretty impressive. John Gannon explained to us how it was heated (seriously).

There we are-sitting by the hot water. The boys had a competition with another adult to see how long they could keep their hands in. Of course, the boys won by outdoing the other adult by 1 second!

 And another one...

 From here, we continued to enjoy what the park offered: a little climbing.

 And hiking. Jackson discovered this trampoline limb that was across on of the trails.

 In addition to the downtown National Park access, they have a neat little outdoor gathering area.

 And several little eccentric shops. We bought the boys a pack of the candy cigarettes. We even convinced John to break a rule... And calm down people-it was just for fun-we do not advocate smoking!

And for Hot Springs' claim to fame: We walked down Bathhouse Row. I found the story on the marker a little humorous.

 Here are a couple of the bathhouses.

So, if you are into historical buildings, nice downtown restaurants, and the such, Hot Springs may be a good trip for you. We weren't impressed and have no desire to return.

The next morning, after a little morning swim and play, we hit the road to see where it would lead... We were not too far into our journey when a little maroon car began to pass us. We looked as the car moved on and saw an older, grandma'ish' lady aggressively pointing for us to pull over as she talked on her phone. You could tell she meant business. I'll be honest-I thought she may have been reporting us for Johnny weaving in the road. I don't notice it anymore unless we completely leave the road. I figured she thought we were drinking. I knew we would be fine once the cops showed up and saw we were fine-just a little ADHD driving. Boy was I wrong! It turns out-she was doing a great act of kindness. Here is what she informed us about! 

Brand new tires-less than 2 months old and one had completed shredded. We were clueless. I guess because the camper has dual wheels on each side you don't really know unless they both go flat. We were so grateful she pulled us over!

Here she is...Ms. Faye Janes. She was so kind-giving us her phone number and her husband's in case we needed any additional help. She explained to us where the nearest town was (just a couple of miles up the road) and where a better pull off spot would be to change the tire. I am so thankful for Ms. Faye! If our society as a whole would embrace and display the amount of kindness Ms. Faye radiated to us that day, we would have an improved world! It reminded me of the verse: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 

As we left, we all prayed, thanking God for his protection and asking him to bless Ms. Faye and her family! In no time, Johnny had the spare tire put on, and we were headed to the tire store.

Again, kindness and good service from a locally owned business. Jackson left a stuffed animal (he had just purchased) in the lobby, and they kindly mailed it to our house so it was waiting on him when he got home.

 As we were waiting, Johnny walked into the bathroom. In the matter of seconds we heard this awful ruckus coming from the bathroom. It sounded like Johnny had just lost all control and was beating the walls. It was so loud the lady to the right of the boys, jumped in fright and the couple both raised their brows and looked at me. I began to sweat, and just smiled. I mean, he had remained so calm through the whole ordeal. I guess he just needed to hit something? He walks out and I said out loud, "It sounded like you were tearing the whole place down." He grinned. "No, it was the paper towel machine." Because he didn't close the door, it just echoed really loudly through the room. It was a great ice breaker. The folks in the room, and I continued to chat for the remainder of our wait.

What a start to a trip? Right? I can't wait to tell you where the road led from here. It actually involved gravel roads and hand painted signs!

Live a Meaningful Life!