We Are in Mountain View, Arkansas!

The alarm went off at 4:00 this morning and I admit it was SO hard to get up and get going - but I did it! 

Louis Dean was up an hour before I was - that's how excited he is about this trip!

It was still dark when we left and I drove us through Dallas by the skin of my teeth and the grace of God and with Louis Dean helping me change lanes when I had to. The 'yellow screen' that helps me see in the dark went missing so I was using an old one that fell down on me from the sun visor it was clipped to - right at the most inopportune time!

I will be ordering a new one as soon as I get home!

Once it was daylight and we were out on the open road - Louis Dean took over the driving and I crawled into the back seat where he had made a fluffy bed of covers and a soft pillow for me to sleep on and I did, indeed, sleep so well for an hour or more.

We stopped for fuel, potty break and food and all at the same place.

I love a QT and I was craving some tea!

I made a 'suicide' tea of a little of their Mango, Passion Fruit, Papaya and Raspberry.....

it was delicious!!

At one of the truck stops we visited on our way - I saw and fell in love with this gorgeous cow!

I remember when Sherry and her daughter, Chrystal, took a pic of a cow they saw at a restaurant and I later painted it. I am so going to try my hand at painting this one!

Every time we stopped, we swapped out driving so neither one of us got overly tired.

This was at Cracker Barrel and I love how they had displays of Fall, Halloween AND Christmas out all at the same time!

Speaking of Halloween, Trystan and I had decorated the gazebo over the weekend but when I went to the Dollar Store to pick up some coffee creamer - I found such a great assortment of spooky stuff and I only wished Trystan was with me as I loaded up my cart!

I sent her photos later and she loved it! 

Louis Dean helped me hang it all up last night before we went to bed.

But I digress......

We took I30 to Texarkana to Hope to Arkadelphia to I40 right before Little Rock to 65 and then to Highway 9 - a crooked road that went up and down and the twists and hairpin turns kept us both with eyes peeled and senses alert!

Louis Dean was driving and singing Thunder Road and laughing and that did NOT make me feel any better!! He had fun, though, and said the road hasn't changed since he used to drive it every year right after school let out. He brought Ellen and his grandchildren with him and they stayed and tent camped right here at this same campground from then of May to the end of August.

We made it in the early part of this afternoon and checked into Music Cabin #C of the Ozark RV Park and Cabins owned by Mark and Donna Burton.

Donna and I talked earlier as I made our reservations and telling her how important this trip is to Louis Dean and how wonderful his memories are of all the times he's been here.

Nothing stays the same.

The last time he and I were here, he said he would never come back.

Because nothing stays the same. 

And yet, here we are again and this time it is to make new memories.

Thankfully the cabin attached next to ours is vacant tonight so we have the entire front porch all to ourselves.

The room is compact and yet has every thing you need!

We can make simple meals right here as we did tonight with the fruit, cheese, ham and crackers we brought from home. I made tea in the coffee maker for tomorrow as well as for my 'night tea.'

I always make me a glass of iced tea to sip on when I get up....which probably makes me 'get up' more often but I AM a heavy drinker of tea, water and sometimes wine.

I love the decorations in this cabin!

The owners are new but they are doing a great job in keeping the feel and theme of Folk Music in the decorating. 

We checked in - and discovered that Louis Dean had left all his music notebooks at home.

Every single one.

He had them in a tub and decided it was too bulky and he would slip his notebooks in the sides of the trunk area......except he didn't.

We couldn't believe it!

He was pretty upset and I made a mental note to check on what's loaded instead of taking things for granted.  I have an idea of how to get some of his song pages printed off......

Tonight we went in search of the Pickin' Park and we found it!

He loved that there was a fiddle and a dobro being played. Actually he nearly giggled with glee and clapped wildly after every song.

We were spectators tonight but he will be bringing his guitar with him on Saturday when we come back.

Tomorrow we have plans for the day and live music with Pam Setser at the Mountain View Meeting Place tomorrow night at 7:00.

There's so many things to do so our days will be filled to the brim.

I may not get nearly as much writing done on my book as I thought I would.

Blanchard Springs Caverns has been closed for two years and is now open again so that's a must see.

All in all - we are here and having FUN!!!

Mellon's Country Store is a landmark here in Mountain View.

Louis Dean and I visited here several years ago and I painted a saw blade of the Country Store.

It's hung on the window wall of the den since I painted it in 2009.

I brought it with me on this trip and will be gifting it to Donna Burton to use in one of her cabins.

This may help when I ask her if I can use her printer to copy a dozen of Louis Dean's music notes so he can play in the jam sessions.

He used to remember all the chords and changes but short term memory loss is a game changer.

He's very creative in working around that and I know God will provide a way for him to play with the other musicians while we are here.

It's 10:00 and I have been up since 4:00 so I will bid you all a good night and fix Louis Dean and me a plate of fruit, meat, cheese, tomatoes and crackers for a late night supper along with a glass of wine.

It's a good thing we each brought a fresh new box of wine because this is a dry county and there's no way we are driving that twisted crooked switch back road out and the back again!