Random Road Trip 2023! Stop 2 Eureka Springs, AK

 After a few days exploring Bentonville we moved onto Eureka Springs for a night.

Similar to Hot Springs, AK, but much smaller, the area has a history of attracting people to the healing properties of the spring water long before European settlers even arrived.

These days it's mainly a kitchy little tourist town but definitely worth a visit.

https://www.arkansas.com/eureka-springs

Not just one but two wiki pages!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Springs,_Arkansas

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Springs

Enjoy the photos!

Didn't stay here but did have pizza and beers on the top floor.  Quite the view!

https://crescent-hotel.com/

https://crescent-hotel.com/eat-drink/skybar-gourmet-pizza/

Random Road Trip 2023! First Stop Bentonville AK

 August 2023

We've been preparing our house to rent and travel for a year.

This involves months of minor but time consuming repairs and yardwork but mostly purging our belongings, vehicles, bicycles, you name it, putting the rest in storage, etc.

So by August, by some miracle, we're ahead of schedule.

So we hand the keys off to our property managers (who are amazing btw) and get the heck out of town, cause it's 105 degrees!

First stop Bentonville AR

You're probably asking where's that and why?

Bentonville is in Northwest Arkansas, a beautiful place all by itself, and is the home of Walmart.

Yes Walmart.

The Walton family have an amazing museum called Crystal Bridges.

https://crystalbridges.org/

Let's let the photos do the talking for now.

Let's start with this...

They relocated a Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey that was being flooded , in jeopardy, and couldn't remain at it's original location.

Yep, dismantled it, labeled everything, moved it cross country, reassembled, and restored it.

They don't allow interior photos so visit their website for all the details:

https://crystalbridges.org/architecture/frank-lloyd-wright-bachman-wilson-house/

The architecture is incredible and the complex straddles a creek.  More info here:

https://crystalbridges.org/architecture/moshe-safdie/

Norman Rockwell?

Yeah we got that.

The cafeteria...

Giant spider and monster serpent sculptures...

along a network of hike and bike trails...

Why not?

Huge galleries

Disco globes in a mirrored room?

Of course

Canoe sculpture

Buckminster's Fly Eye Dome

https://crystalbridges.org/architecture/flys-eye-dome/

That just scratches the surface of what is on display, yes it's in NW Arkansas, and you can thank Walmart.

It's an amazing place (and the town is great) so go visit!

https://www.visitbentonville.com/

https://www.arkansas.com/bentonville

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentonville,_Arkansas

We Had a Dog Named Kipper

Sorry our blog has been dormant for so long.  I guess we haven't done anything interesting since 2017?

That's not true, of course, just haven't had time to update and we forgot how to use blogger for awhile!  And let me tell you it hasn't improved a bit so don't expect regular updates.

Check Angie's instagram if you want to know what we're doing in real time.

Kipper passed away in February and I've been thinking about compiling photos and doing a post for him so here goes.

He had us for 14 years.

He changed our lives.

I won't caption every photo but I have to start with this one because I'm convinced this is why no one adopted him before us.  Kipper was a pound dog and Angie found him thru Austin Dog Rescue.  This "smiling" behavior is something some dogs do and if you're not familiar with it and a dog does it you'll probably avoid the dog.  It's weird, and wonderful, as long as you understand the dogs not snarling at you.  Austin Dog Rescue posted a photo on their website like this and Kipper was in a foster home for 3 months.  Basically reserving him for us.

Kipper made friends everywhere he went:

He went willingly with us everywhere, even when he probably shouldn't have.  43 states and 7 Canadian provinces via road, and all over the Florida Keys and the Bahamas via boat.

He visited most of the National Parks, all three coasts, and countless beaches and trails.

He was also a skilled napper:

He did a lot of this but especially towards his end.  Nothing more soothing than watching your dog sleep.  Tears are flowing now so I have to wrap this up.

Thank you to all our friends, family, and random strangers, that became friends, for inviting Kipper into your homes.

One more photo of him doing what he did best...

Soaring

RIP 

Kipper Rose

?/2008 - 2/2023