Valentines Day weekend. It was created for people who have someone special in their lives to celebrate...and usually is a source of disappointment for those that don't. I'm not sure who came up with the original idea...I'm sure I could just google it, if I were really interested. The point is that I can usually plan that when such an event occurs, Steve is going to have an idea of something he would like to do. It is usually something that I also enjoy, but occasionally he plans things that I am just not too crazy about.
Please notice the Garmin photo above...a car without a road. That's where we went yesterday! Steve had planned out a course for us to drive up to the Fayetteville/Rogers area but not by the simple I-540 route. Oh no! He wanted to go on some highways that we have never been on! (and after we went there, I came to realize that not many other people had either!!!)
We packed some bottled water, jackets and a few snacks at my insistence because you never know when he gets one of these "plans" exactly where you will wind up!
We started up Highway 59 from Van Buren and he planned for us to turn onto Highway 220. I did not apparently realize that there are highways in Arkansas that are not paved....neither are they covered in gravel....they are basically dirt. And yesterday, following all of the rain and snow we've had, those highways were bottomless pits of mud!!! When we hit that, Steve agreed we should turn around and go a different route. I felt like I was one of the dogs in the book about the incredible journey! We DID, however, find this neat spot where we were able to get out and walk around, take photos and think about what fun kids must have there in the summertime.
Very pretty, calm and peaceful. Other than the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere, it was calm.
Here's a photo of Steve just before I pushed him off the cliff. No, not really.
Poor "Baby" was covered in dirt and mud. You can't really tell by the photo, but she definitely will have to have a cleaning after that trip!
We eventually ended up in Rogers, where we remembered that both of our youngest children were not even in northwest Arkansas for the day. Mary Beth was in Little Rock and Greg in Fort Smith!!! Steve took me to the Texas Cattleman's Restaurant in Rogers where we had a delicious meal of fish and shrimp.
On the way home, we got some delightful news that I won't blog about just yet because I want that person to be able to blog it first!!!
At the end of the day, as we were driving back to Van Buren, Steve laughed and told me his dad used to get just as frustrated with his longing to drive an uncharted route rather than the main roads. He had told him one time while they were in Montana, "Steve, that sign back there says there are bears, black bears, here in this area of the woods and we don't even have a gun with us!" I felt so much better knowing that I wasn't the only one that just likes to go the usual way. It is predictable. But it IS nice to have someone around that likes to add unusual ingredients to his recipes and likes to travel a new way...life is never boring for sure.
Happy Valentines Day, Steve!
No comments:
Post a Comment