Traveling across Arkansas

  We've traveled across Arkansas many times because my mom's family is from Little Rock.  Up until just a few years ago we still had close relatives living in Little Rock.  This time around, we were able to see some beautiful scenery up in the mountains in the northwest part of the state before heading across the state on I-40. 

  After seeing Crystal Bridges, I ran up partway to Eureka Springs to take some curtain fabric to some good friends of mine, Sean and Juli.  We all worked together many years ago, and now they perform in The Illusionist & the Medium in the Intrigue Theater in Eureka Springs.  (They are amazing - check out the link to their theater in my links list on the right.)  Here's a few shots of them in action the last time I caught their show:

  On the way back to Bentonville, I caught this gorgeous sunset view.

  The drive up and down I-540 is full of great scenery.  The kids were very impressed with a tunnel cut into the side of a mountain.  It feels really strange to drive right up and into the mountain, but the kids loved it.  They started yelling that it was the tunnel from the safe driving commercial, which I had to look up to verify, but they were correct.  The tunnel was featured in this ad:  Nationwide Safe Driving Pursuit Commercial   It looks like it was under construction when the ad was filmed, which makes sense because I-540 is a fairly new stretch of highway that replaced the old and winding Hwy 71. 

  Another impressive site on this route is the Lake Fort Smith dam.  It's more easily visible as you drive north.  It was a little gray and rainy when I took this picture, but you still get a sense of the size of the dam. 

  We were able to stop on very short notice for my mom to visit an old friend from high school and college, Linda Kennedy.  She was such a gracious hostess, and provided us with a much better lunch than we would have scrounged on the road otherwise.  (She also very kindly didn't boot us out after my son decided to bring a toad in her house to show to us!)  I think one of the greatest parts of traveling is getting the chance to visit with old friends who are spread out around the country.  Nothing beats a face to face visit with friends! 

Our last stop in Arkansas was a quick visit to the cemetery where the kids' Great-great-great-great-grandparents are buried.  This is a German branch of my mom's family.  John Heel (Johannes Wolfgang Heel) and his wife and daughters came to the United States from Hamburg, Germany in 1883.