BFF Trip

Some stories are best told in photos.  

How many days will I be gone and
do these colors work together?

Day 1, May 19:  No pictures of the drive through Texas, Oklahoma, and into Arkansas. I was late leaving as I had to return to our apartment to get my hearing aids.  LOL.  Yes, I hit a deer on the trip.  I had driven through all sorts of areas one would expect a deer.  One appeared in a small town outside of Ft. Smith.  Was able to almost stop. Only a broken headlight cover.  As it was 11 at night I did not check the condition of the deer.  As it flew through the air in a cartwheel, I suspect it did not survive.  I continued to Fayetteville where I spent the night with my Bonus Granddaughter and her beautiful shephard, Maker.  It took longer than the 8 hours shown on the map.  Old bladder. . .

Day 2, May 20:  Began with a cup of coffee before leaving my Granddaughter.  The drive took me through the towns Hubby knew from his growing up years.  Later Hubby, our son, and I visited through the 38 years we lived together in Missouri.

Ready to leave for Aurora after night with Granddaughter and Maker in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

My BFF from 1976 beginnings.

Hubby High School Bud

I arrived to a home that held one of my very first friends in Aurora.  The husband had known my Hubby since high school days.  Hubby and Son both graduated from Aurora high school.  One in 1959 the other in 1991.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

New Mexican themed sports bar, Aurora, MO.  We had our dinner there.

Day 3, May 21:  After spend the morning on the balcony visiting with BFF Hilton, I went to visit the next friend I met in 1976 and her spousal unit as he calls himself, the Feers.                                               

Ms Feer hates to have her picture taken!

Both BFF 1 and BFF 2 are artists.  BFF 1 does paintings and other crafts.  BFF 2 does painting, silk painting, pottery, wood carving, glass molding, spinning, weaving, and about any other craft she wanted to do.  Unfortunately, these days she is limited by arthritis and fibromyalgia pain.  These photos have a couple of the baskets she has woven.

Woven seaweed

Thrilled Spousal Unit

Coffee with Cousins in Republic

Day 4, May 22:  This was a whirlwind day.  Up, dress, breakfast, pack car, and meet cousins in Republic.  It was coffee time with the Youngs, Hubby's first cousin and his wife.  I had not seen these two since a wedding in 2019.  They are both amateur radio operators.  They enjoy doing transmissions from parks.  Most especially parks where no other Ham has made contacts. Love them so much.  

The drive from Republic to Springfield was somewhat of a shock.  I had not driven this particular section of road in over 10 years.  As I drove closer to our previous home it was obvious the area was still experiencing tons of growth.  The following photo was an intersection that even Hubby's father used to go to suppliers in the 1960s.  It was two lane in all directions at that time.  And fields.  

Now apartments, businesses, and even an emergency care facility of one of the major hospitals.  There were new roads and roads that were new that were now just plain rough, worn roads.  I did not stop at our old house this day as it was a really full day.

                                                    

     

MM and Highway 60

                                                  

After leaving Cousins, it was lunch with the folks in the Pre Production group.  I worked at Litton ACD with most of the women for 20 + years.  Some I had not seen since leaving that company in June of 2002.

Checked into my hotel around 3.  Rested for a few hours then joined friends Mickey, Ernie, and Pam.  We had dinner at Mickey and Ernie's home.  And we gabbed into the late hours of the evening.  It was almost midnight when I returned to my hotel room.  My phone had lost its charge, so sadly no photos of these three friends. 😪😥   I made certain I did not make that mistake again.  If you haven't already noticed, there is a lot of eating on this trip.  Lots.

View over Glenstone and places we knew.

Day 5, May 23 did not go exactly as planned.  Bob C. was unable to meet for coffee as he was leaving on a bike trip.  That was okay as I had a throbbing headache and swollen legs.  The leg swelling has been a thing since pregnancy in 1973.  Worsens when driving and sitting around.  By early afternoon with the help of a heating pad and several cups of coffee I was ready to visit the old neighborhood and some neighbors.         

Our house was second from the corner

As with the previous day things had changed.  The first friends I planned to visit, I was not certain if I had the correct house.  So I drove on to the street where we previously lived.  I pulled up to the Powell residence.  They were home and we visited till almost 7 pm.  I left after a couple photos of the area area.  In fact it was more than a couple of photos.  There was an entire new shopping center with new access roads to the center.                                                                                  

Even a Texas institution!

I headed back to the hotel on Sunshine.  Not as many changes as it was already full.  There were facelifts to familiar places.  Having had a busy day after all, ordering in sounded so much better than having to carry food in myself.  I know more food.  And more coffee, please.  Free coffee in the hotel lobby as I had used all the pods in the room that morning.  PJ time, food, and early bed cause tomorrow would be another busy day.

There are still 7 more days so I'll leave you where I was on Thursday, May 23, in my hotel with my feet up with swollen ankles and all.

Y'all take care!