Horse to Barn

SAturday, June 28—Nashville, TN to Little Rock AR—399 miles—La Quinta

We left the Comfort Inn & Suites this morning about 9am after wrestling up the only cart they had. I practically snatched it from a guy who had just finished using it to load his car. We needed it because we were on the second floor. On the way back with the cart, two women and a small boy were waiting with me for the elevator. The excited, beaming boy told me something in a rush of breath. His mother translated in a deep southern accent: “His name is Joey and he wants to push the buttons in the elevator.” Joey could hardly contain himself and leaped onto the elevator as soon as the doors opened. “What number? What number?” he asked me. I told him “two” and his mother told him “three.” He pushed both buttons at once and then held his hand in that position (a “C”) laughing proudly and showing us over and over how he’d done it with one push. This all goes to show that kids find amusement and accomplishment in everyday life and don’t need a lot of artificial play equipment and amusement parks.

Today we had lunch in an Olive Garden. Sarah ordered a seafood dish and I ordered my usual capellini pomodoro. Oddly this dish was not on this Olive Garden’s menu, but the chef cooked it for me anyway. Can’t think that I’ve ever eaten anything else at an Olive Garden.

It was overcast and cloudy most of the way with occasional spitting rain and one drenching but short-lived downpour. On the west side of Nashville, we were stopped again for 35 minutes in nonmoving traffic, so when we saw a billboard advertising a Freshwater Pearl Museum on Tennessee River’s Kentucky Lake, Camden, TN, we left the stopped traffic on I-40 behind and detoured back roads to the museum.

The museum was in a tin building in Birdsong Marina RV Park. We were the only visitors, and the

manager sat us down in a side room and turned on a video from which we learned that we were at “North America’s only freshwater pearl-culturing facility—the official historical site of pearl culturing for the State of Tennessee, growing the official State of Tennessee gem—the freshwater pearl.” We also learned that, contrary to popular belief, natural pearls are not formed when a grain of sand gets into a mollusk, but are naturally formed when a small organism gets into the mollusk. We also learned that to make cultured pearls, a mother of pearl nuclei (bead) is placed inside the mantle of an oyster or, in the case of the Tennessee freshwater cultured pearls, inside a freshwater mussel. The nuclei is constantly coated with nacre because the mussel finds it to be an irritant. Nuclei can be any shape or size and pre-determine the shape of the end pearl product. We also learned that to tell the difference between a cultured and a natural pearl one must gently rub the pearl across the teeth. The real pearl will be rough and the cultured pearl smooth. I tried this when I got home. All of the three strands I have are cultured.

The manager at the museum told us how to get back on I-40 west of the stopped traffic. Her route was scenic backroads seeing us back on I-40 just east of Memphis. From there on, we had a free run, though off and on rainy drive, to Little Rock—no rain in Memphis, which on my several trips through it, seemed to be a downpour magnet.

We are in a sleazy La Quinta in Little Rock. It was difficult to find. There are six La Quinta’s in Little Rock! We did not get off the correct exit, so had to backtrack in the dark and rain. Sarah is a good navigator, however, so we finally found it. She is also very patient because I get irritable and bitchy when lost, and Sarah never lost her cool.

We snacked on Olive Garden leftovers and honey roasted peanut butter and celery in our room; watched a couple of Property Brothers and House Hunters on HGTV before bed. There were thunderstorms in the night, and about 3am the iphone alarm went off to warn of flash flooding in Memphis area. We did not know that it was the iphone until the next morning, so were a bit perturbed. I knew it wasn’t the fire alarm system and assumed it was the fridge, micro, or coffee maker. Difficult to get back to sleep.

Sunday,  June 29—Little Rock, AR to Stillwater, OK — 347 miles

We’re on the home stretch. Giddyup!  Hi Ho Silver! 

Our first stop was a rest stop off I-40. Here we experienced a repeat of the “No! No! Don’t take my diaper off!” panic. This time we saw the child, who appeared to be about three or four years old, and who skipped merrily into the restroom with her mother. All was fine until the two were in a stall and the toilet flushed.

Our second stop was at Outdoor World outside of Tulsa. We wandered the gigantic store looking at sale racks, at sandals, and for a replacement flashlight for Jeff, whose flashlight I had forgotten in Vermont. Didn’t find one and bought nothing.

Our last stop before home was at the Tulsa Whole Foods market. Here we ate lunch, and Sarah bought a few items. We purchased our last tank of gas at the station on the corner of 41st and Peoria also. I think that. all told we spent about $330 on gas. Not inexpensive but not as expensive as flying or renting a car, either. My rough calculations say we drove about 3650 miles.

Then it was horse to barn. Jeff and the cats greeted us and helped unpack the car—Jeff helped unpack the car that is, not the cats. Then we were instantly busy washing, sorting, and stashing.

Jeff prepared mustard crusted chicken for dinner with small squash and baked tomatoes. After dinner Sarah watched an episode of last season’s Downton Abby and then we all watched Endeavor on PBS.

Monday, June 30—Stillwater 

Today we lazed about, did more washes, and Sarah and I ran into town so that she could mail a couple of packages home. I dropped some books off at the library, we stopped at the grocery, and of course traipsed to Orange Leaf, our favorite serve-yourself yogurt place. It was closed! We were bummed and just getting back into the car when the girl opened the door and invited us in. She hadn’t quite got the machines ready and we had to wait a few minutes for some of the yogurt to freeze. No problem. 

In the afternoon Sarah watched the final episode of last season’s Downtown Abby. Dinner was scallops, broccoli, and a big salad for dinner with Jeff’s homemade apple pie for dessert. After dinner we watched Working Girl; I did my wash; and Sarah packed her last items and got ready for tomorrow’s flight. It is very hot. Jeff taught all day but was not feeling well with the heat.

Tuesday, July 1—Stillwater to Tulsa—63.5 miles

Drove Sarah to the Tulsa Airport for her flight home.  I was back  home before her flight departed at 9:25am. So ended our second fabulous Sistah Vacay!