Truckin' Through Tennessee

Hey y'all, welcome to Tennessee!!!

It's green here too! How about that...

We stayed in Tennessee a total of two nights...the second was at an RV park on the Virginia border, but the first was spent in the gracious hospitality of a lovely family...we have to take a moment to share another of God's cool stories with you!

Rewind almost exactly a year...well, a year June 5th...to the equivalent of a Wal-Mart in Normandy, France. Dad and Savannah and Victoria swung in to pick up some French bread and other cheap meal essentials on our way to a dance in Bayeux (that we actually didn't end up going to...but another story for another time...), so we were dressed to the nines. About this time—two weeks or so into our trip—we were feeling just a wee bit homesick and were really missing English. French really isn't a strong point of ours. Lo and behold, as we finished up and headed for the checkout line, we heard ENGLISH speakers in front of us. That caught our attention!!! Even more attention-grabbing, however, were the facts that these Americans seemed to all be one family (12 kids, actually) and that they too were dressed to the nines—in '40s reenactment clothes. Needless to say, we all struck up a conversation-and although it only lasted a few minutes, we ended up exchanging contact information and staying very loosely in touch over the coming year.

Fast-forward to this spring...we knew when and where we'd be going through Tennessee, and this family—who lives in Tennessee—graciously invited us to spend the night at their home. We enjoyed getting to know the Courters a little better (in America this time) and hearing about their France adventures.

Most of our family and most of the Courters

Just talkin'...

Yes, I know this is random...but isn't this tiny little guy cute? 

We headed out the next morning for another
long-ish drive to our next stop in eastern Tennessee. Originally we were going to try to make it to Asheville, NC, but all of the RV campgrounds were filled to bursting for Memorial Day. Although we didn't stay long, this campground was beautiful and it would have been fun to stay longer.

And we just had to put this one in to tie into a later post...notice that it says "Happy Campers" in the middle of that note...we're (well, most of us) are currently happy campers, but that's about to change.

Branson, Missouri

After a few days in Oklahoma, we headed out for Branson, Missouri with our grandparents—time for another adventure! This one proved to be just AMAZING. We had so much fun!!!

We were completely blown away by the lodge that would be our "home" for the next two days. Our stay here—courtesy of our grandparents—was SO delightful...we figured we should maybe just scrap the rest of our cross-country trip and stay here instead.

Our first night in Branson, we felt obliged to check out the local Cracker Barrel and make sure their food was up to par. Boy, have we missed this good old Southern restaurant!!!

Fried. Food. Enough said. 

Playing checkers at Cracker Barrel

Nana taking a swing at mini golf

The next day was spent hanging out around the lodge and relaxing—playing a round of mini golf, swimming, and (of course) taking a nap! There was so much to do at Big Cedar that we didn't feel like we were missing out on any sightseeing in Branson. In the evening, we donned our cowboy hats and headed over to the Dixie Stampede!

Mom and Dad goofing off

And of course...big sisters' obligatory photo shoots...

The Dixie Stampede

Over the years we've heard good things about Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, but we've never actually attended it. We weren't disappointed! The dinner theater provides guests with a rollicking good time, set in the context of the Civil War (our family was seated on the "Southern" side—we weren't sure how we felt about that, being California folk and all). Combining horses, food, live performances, and patriotism...it had to be good!

The horses are stabled (at least during the day) where the public can see them from a short distance. Obviously there were a lot of quarter horses, but a Friesan and a Tennessee Walker were also there...fun to see!

This gal, Heather, was super friendly and just delightful to talk to! She shared how she had come to work at the show ten years ago, during an audience participation program, when she was selected to fill the saddle of a rider who'd broken her leg. Some people get all the luck! :-) (Heather, of course, not the unfortunately broken gal).

Photographers' notes...lighting was poor...our apologies!

Us, Heather, and another great performer

Handsome boy!

Oklahoma, Oklahoma!

     Our first full day here was so special!!!! It was just delightful to see our grandparents again—a bit of home out here halfway across the United States, and especially perfect when we were all feeling just a touch of "missing home". 

Way out in the country!

     This morning we headed over to see the homestead where our grandpa grew up...the grandkids have heard stories and seen pictures of this home for all our lives, but we have never seen it in person before (at least not when we were old enough to remember it). The homestead has been sold now, but the gracious owner told our grandpa he could bring his grandkids over any time he is in town.

The cellar where my grandpa and
his two brothers slept...

Some of the property

Our great-grandfather quarried and set
each of these stones by hand!

     The acreage around the homestead is just lovely! It is so green and lush…guess that’s what happens when it rains in the summer, but we Californians wouldn’t know.   

The homestead's front porch

Our grandpa, standing by the home his father built

      The homestead is just a few miles away from the little town of Wynnewood, so we drove out to have a look around the town we’ve heard stories about. It was a beautiful little OK town, just a few hundred people, with cute old houses and magnolia trees all over!

This old house in Wynnewood has been for sale
for forever...it's four stories!

We were also able to see Turner Falls, where not only our grandpa but also our great-grandmother grew up swimming. It's since become more of a tourist attraction, to our family's great chagrin (you have to pay to get in) but in their defense we can see why. We headed up to the free vista, where you can still get a great view. Beautiful!!!

 To wrap things up, we swung by this creek on our way back to the trailer park. Though it's very low now, we've grown up hearing the story of how our grandfather was nearly drowned at 18 in its flooded waters. The "creek" had swelled to overtake the bridge we're standing on and had begun to spread out across the fields, several feet above the ground.

Grant funny...us girls were discussing how gracious God was to spare our grandfather as we headed homeward. "Mom wouldn't be here," we pointed out. Then, "Nor would I!" exclaimed Victoria. To which Ethan laughed and returned, "I would! That's one of the good things about being adopted."

Boy, that guy's got a great sense of humor. Love you, bro!

Bass Pro Shop

Okay...this one needs a post all to itself.

Who knew that this was the store we needed to...well...pretty much live at? From the moment we walked in the door, we knew we were going to have fun. And spend some money.

For y'all's benefit, the shirts are awesome. And the hats. And the weapons. And the fishing gear. And...well, you'll just have to visit a store next time you're driving past one.

Any establishment that has this sign
posted at the door has to be good!!!

 There were stuffed animals everywhere, from elk and moose to mountain lions and buffalo. It was so cool!!!

And then there was this fake gun range...the weapons weren't super accurate, but it was still really fun! We may have used up an undisclosed number of quarters...yeah...moving on...

Levi givin' it a go...

Ethan takes a turn

Here's what we were shooting at!

And of course, the resident archery geek had to
spend some time here. :-) You're welcome, Meri. 

Phew, all that shopping plumb wore us out!

Some very happy customers!

Out in the plains...

Albuquerque/Edgewood/Moriarty, NM

We pick up pen once more (okay, laptop) to bid you all a fond “hello” and catch you up on our crazy adventure! This time our story begins on the road into New Mexico. California was dry as a bone, but we seemed to take some inclement weather along with us—it caught up somewhere between Flagstaff and Albuquerque, and for a while we slogged along through rain and hail. But neither sleet nor snow nor rain nor the dead of night shall keep us from our appointed destination (althooooough that’s actually not quite true, as you’ll see in a moment), and on we trekked (albeit slowly and slightly alarmed at the other semi-trucks and cars that had crashed on the sides of the highway).

No trees! How novel!

Our time in New Mexico was an amazing opportunity to meet and get reacquainted with some wonderful people! Our first stop was in Edgewood, where the Jackson family graciously hosted us for a few days. It was such a pleasure to get to know them more and enjoy some delightful company and great discussions!

Ethan, Garrett, and Levi

Some of us and some of the Jacksons!

Mitchell and Noah working on our broken laptop. :-) We don't have a picture, but Wesley helped us sort out some van issues as well. Thanks so much...you guys are awesome!

Halfway through the week, we also met up with some very old friends whom we hadn’t seen for around thirteen years. Back when Victoria and Savannah were six and four, respectively, we used to play with Alicia Constant; it felt like time-warping to fast-forward over a decade and discuss college degrees, our moms’ post-homeschooling adventures, and events that have transpired since we last saw each other.

After hanging out with Alicia and her sweet mom Jeanine, we headed back to Moriarty, NM to spend a few days with the Heckendorn family. We had a great time talking, laughing, and dancing, as well as learning about life on a NM cattle ranch!

The Grant and Heckendorn gals

Out on the ranch...

S'mores outside

Our original plan was to head out for Oklahoma on Saturday, May 16^th, but we ended up getting “rained-in” and leaving early Sunday morning instead. Remember that stormy weather that started following us outside of Albuquerque? It evidently took a liking to us, as we dragged that storm behind our trailer all the way to Oklahoma City. Fortunately we California folks are thirsty for the slightest drop of rain (unknown substance that it is), and we were okay with the unusual downpour OK experienced during our few days there. Our Oklahoma relatives chided us for showing up in the midst of their tornado season, but hey, you do what you can, right? God graciously protected us and we didn’t even have a tornado watch in our immediate area the whole time we were there. Well, off we go to help set up the trailer…we shall continue on a.s.a.p.!

Levi's trying to crack his new bullwhip...courtesy of Joshua! These bad boys came complete with eye protection and bandaids so that the boys can safely practice being awesome. Thank you so much!!!