What?

Waking up from a nap with llama.

Well we got back from our big trip and stopped at James and Kelly's on Thursday evening. We had Corbin play hooky from Daycare so we could have playtime. What fun! His vocabulary has grown so much!

We put 10254 miles on the car!

Things I learned:

There's a LOT of Really poor people out there! A hovel would be a big step up for them!
Some had huge amounts of crap in their yards.Huge!

There's a large amount of space out there!

There are lots of areas that are really really quiet- you couldn't hear anything but the blood rushing in your ears.

It's Winter everywhere- except California. The desert and scrublands are pretty brown also.

The motel mirrors are much too large and showed WAY too much of naked me! My bathroom mirror is about from the neck up. I need to get back on my bike and in to the Y!

It's much more fun to travel on the back roads-more flavor!

We had a great time!

It was great to have this blog cause we saw so very much, that by the third week, I couldn't remember what we saw the first week!

Big thanks to Scott & Tracey for the laptop that allowed us to do this and thanks to James for setting up the blog! Too cool!

Curls

That hair is finally beginning to grow and looks like it'll be curly like his Daddy's. Hey Kelly, was yours curly too?

Seriously listening to Grammie.

Elmo chair

Hats

We got hats, yes we do, we got hats, how bout you?

Workin on the chain gang!

You wanna help?

Happy guy

Who needs a hat when there's a perfectly good bucket?

Artistic guys

Chosing the right color

Checking for technique

Corbin & Grampy watching "Cars"

Haw Creek Falls

Today was a driving day mostly. It was kind of overcast but didn't rain. We were going to stop at a cave but it's only open on weekends in Feb. We did find this nice little waterfall in the Ozark National Forest in Akansas. We drove into Missouri and passed through a very large area where the ice storm hit a couple weeks ago. LOTS of downed branches- the trees were really torn up & some were uprooted-there had also been a wind storm about a week ago also. It was probably 2-3 hundred miles of mess. The road was all clear though and there were still crews out cleaning up.
Gonna continue homewardish- will probably stop & see our kids on the way.

Here I am

Hi Corbin! We Love You

We went to the Diamond Mine today. We spent about three hours digging, screening,waitting for the pile of little stones to dry,and looking for the shiny bits of rock that might by diamonds. It was cold,wet and muddy and some how fun. No diamonds,but we did get some souvenier rocks. Jim


Diamond hunting, it always looks easier on t.v.! Not millionairs today but I got a few quartz crystals and some jasper. And muddy pants and shoes and cold cold hands. I had gloves, but sluicing the screens was hard and the water slopped up into them. Oh well- it wasn't too expensive- $8.50 or so to rent the stuff and it was worth it to say we tried. You dig in a huge field that's been plowed- it's full of clay & dirt & rocks. Once again, we didn't have a clue what to look for. Ah- the adventure!

oh- Hope was not Bill & Hilliary's town- it was Bill's home town.

Haven't decided what's up for tomorrow yet...kinda heading north.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

No- we didn't- I just like the title.
We had a nice ride along the Talimena National Scenic Byway. Mountains in Oklahoma- who knew? One of those "I can't see too far but it's pretty!"
Ended the day in Hope, Arkansas- Home of Bill and Hillary- Whoo-hooo!
Gonna go and see if we can find a fortune tomorrow at the Crater of Diamonds State Park- Here's hoping!
Hey- daffodils are in blossom down here- Spring MUST be on the way!

Hi from the mountains!

A vague vista

And Grampy!

The vista

Leave it better than you found it!

A little trash removal.

Grammie hard at work on V-day

Today was just a driving day. We went from Vernon Texas to Poteau Oklahoma almost 400 miles. We are staying at a Best Western, a nice place in Poteau. We did not take any pictures while we were traveling today, so I snapped this one while I was getting on line. I hope you all have had a very nice Valentine's Day.

We went through a lot of flat Oklahoma but the eastern side has gotten to look like Kentucky- all hillyish. It's nice to be surprised by the different terrains. More soon-Grammie

Palo Duro

Today we stopped at two State Parks in the Texas Panhandle. Palo Duro is called the Grand Canyon of Texas. It was carved by a small little fork of the Red River. It's a real shock to come upon this cause the area is flat flat flat. The red layer is down to the Permian Era deposits.(look it up) A lot of the area is red soil-kinda like Georgia. They do grow cotton and peanuts here too.
Heading for Oklahoma tomorow. Oklahoma is OK!