farlands | traveling near and far

Since I just spent a lot of time correcting pages that weren't showing photos correctly, and fixing spelling and terminology in a few spaces, I am devoting this week's post to some of my favorite people moments from the Arkansas trip: Clockwise from top left:  Dad, me, Terry, Kate, John and Mom - enjoying the Arkansas Naturals baseball game. Dad and Terry chatting after dinner Niece Sasha is captivated by Terry Sami and Jon - my sister-in-law and brother. Not a real person - but a work of art. Eerie, no? My favorite photo from the trip:  Terry and a green penguin.

On the second day of our trip, Terry and I went up to the small town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. After a beautiful 50 minute drive from Springdale, Arkansas we arrived at the twisty-turny mountainous city.  It has a vibe uniquely its own. Our first stop was at Thorncrown Chapel, designed by architect E. Faye Jones, a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright (this will be a theme on this trip). The chapel is meaningful to me personally, as it is where Jeff and I got married, back in 1994. Although there was a groundskeeper with a very loud weed-whacker, the whole spot has a special, reverent feel to it.  Even when you are inside the chapel, it feels like you are outside at the same time. For lunch, we took my parent's recommendation of eating at Local Flavor and went a little bit crazy with all the delicious options, including avacado shrimp salad, baked brie, and a lovely kale pear salad.  However, the absolute stunner was the cup of mushroom soup we started with....

Just like Antonio Pigafetta on Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, my friend and co-road tripper Terry kept detailed records of our travels.  Happily, there were no mutinies on this voyage, and here is the link to one cool map that shows our travel route of just over 2,000 miles:   Arkansas Road Trip One of the things Terry and I discussed along the way was how listening to books on tape can fix a place in your mind as you travel.  Or even provide a much-needed distraction from a less-than-stellar drive (Illinois, I'm talking to you).  One of my favorites from years past was Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which incidentally Terry loaned to me. He has lots of audiobooks.  That is also an understatement. On this trip soundtrack, we listened to: Double Indemnity by James M. Cain.  Terry and I agreed this was the winner of the trip.  Now I want to see the movie (staring Fred MacMurray!) too. Here is the description from Audible: When s...