Rogers AK

Today was our last day with Mom and Chuck before we start our drive across the States.

While we were in Build a Bear a local said we need to check out Crystal Bridges, and was also told by mom as well. It’s a lot of walking so Mom and Chuck stayed home while we took our (Chucks) trusty Jeep Gladiator to Crystal Bridges. Before we headed out we asked the kids to set up their area with the back seat organiser and figure out how we can make it comfortable.

Crystal bridges is a museum of American Art. It is a complex with the gallery as well as gardens/ walks. The building itself, along with the water features and the gardens are artwork itself.

The kids did well for about 30 min in the museum before the whinging started. The museum had an eclectic mix of art work, artists, and themes. Nature and local culture were weaved throughout the museum. There was a few works of art from Georgia O’ Keefe who I knew of but Josh did not. Josh was familiar with work from Jackson Pollock.

We had a picnic lunch outside and then the kids were able to be creative in the kids area. After that we headed to take a trail to see a Frank Lloyd wright house that was moved to the museum. We had to get tickets to go on a certain time which we were not aware so only got to see the outside. Inara started getting itchy and scratchy so we did not get to proceed and Josh and I decided that we will come back at the end of the trip. Inara has been taking Benadryl since being in Arkansas as she is reacting to the pollen in the areas.

We did a quick stop at the house to get Benadryl and then met mom, Chuck and their friends at the Ozark Beer Company. Josh and I both had flights . My favourite was the Coffee Stout while Josh thought the IPA was the best.

It was actually Mom and Chucks 17th wedding anniversary today, and we were heading to dinner for celebration. As mom is vegan, and we are meat eaters, Chuck was happy to head to Smokin Joes so he could get his ribs and I could get beef ribs. Our 15 min wait ended up being almost 45 min, as they didn’t have the staff for a table of 6.

It was a basic restaurant with white and red checkered tablecloths and big plastic soft drink cups. They had basic beer and house wine, white throw away napkin in a throwaway sleeve with a bent fork. It wasn’t full but it was busy. There was no bartender at the bar so the waitresses were super busy.

Mom was super hungry and since there wasn’t much for her to eat, she headed home while the rest of us finally got seated. We then were advised it was only pork ribs , not beef ribs.

The chicken sandwich was delicious and the rest of all very much enjoyed the pork ribs. It was a bummer we couldn’t all have a nice meal together on our last night here and their anniversary.

We got home and the kids,mom and I played a new card game she taught us called 313. Inara kicked everyone’s ass.Read more