June, 2017 Arkansas, Oklahoma- Day 4

Mr. Bullington to girls, “Did y’all have any spooky things happen to you last night?

Mae said, “Well, I had a dream about bunnies.” We confirmed that they weren’t murderous or rabid bunnies. So, if you’re feeling judgy, the children survived the night in the haunted hotel and their precious psyches aren’t irreparably harmed. That we know of. I’m sure it’ll come out in therapy later! I am sure there will be A LOT that comes out in therapy! We said goodbye to the resident black cat, Jasper, and set off on our next adventure!

See ya, Jasper!

 Mile 809- Ozark Mountain Zip-Line Tours- SO FUN! We left on a bus with two super perky guides and a small group of other folks to zip through and over the trees of the Ozark Mountains. It was an activity everyone could enjoy and it was exhilarating!  Our kids were the only ones in the group. But, I’m sure the other adults appreciated Thomas and his vast wealth of knowledge as he regaled them with laundry lists of ocean animals that he will see when he attains his lifelong dream of being a diver for treasure. Whale Shark. Grouper. Nurse Shark. Zzzzzzz

Someone isn't so sure...

Thomas had a REALLY good time zip lining! He even remembered to draw his BENT KNEES. 

Mile 812- Thorncrown Chapel! Open! I’d been looking forward to seeing this structure.  I found it during my research of the Eureka Springs area. Nestled in the forest, Thorncrown chapel rises 48 feet into the sky. It contains 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass. It feels like you are in church but outside. I can imagine how lovely it is as the seasons change. We sat down in a pew for a few quite moments. Exhale.

Beautiful in the rain

Mile 815- Downtown Eureka- This little city is so weird and funky and I dig it!  It feels a little bit like a hippie commune that’s been taken over by newlyweds and tourists. Aside from roadside attractions, knitting cozies for the trees is a thing here.

 We were driving around and we passed the turn off for “The Christ of the Ozarks” Fist pump! We’d seen Mountain Jesus gazing down at us from atop his Craggy throne but we weren’t sure how to get up there. Well lo and behold, we passed the entrance and HAD to go! Thanks, Mountain Jesus! I may never get out of Eureka Springs at this rate! Too. Many. Stops.

Little kids, Big Jesus

 Mile 817-  Mountain Jesus towers 67 feet over the earth and has a 65-foot arm span. His face alone is 15 feet tall and he weighs over 2 million pounds! We learned that Mountain Jesus is part of a larger operation that includes an annual passion play and other attractions. Such as......

.......A Random piece of the Berlin Wall

.......A Bunker in which to hide your wives

.....An old school playground

 

The kids could’ve played on that playground another hour, but we’ve got to move on down the road to Bentonville!

No time to nap! Time for another museum!

Mile 855- Crystal Bridges – We made a special trip for this stop and it did not disappoint. The Walton Family had this 5-million-dollar art collection laying around and they thought it would be nice to build a museum for it, open it to the public, and then charge the public zero dollars to see it! It is one of the most stunning examples of architecture that I’ve seen and the vast collection of American Art is nothing if not spectacular. In Bentonville, Arkansas nonetheless! Who knew?

Dale Chihuly's Balls

This is a SCULPTURE! 

 

Mile 857-Walmart museum- Bentonville is the town that Walmart built. It is a little Stepfordish with perfectly manicured lawns and clean as a whistle downtown area. The downtown square features Sam Walton’s first store. The front is set up like an old five and dime, but the back is a tribute to the man, the myth, the legend that started it all.

Don't know if it gets much better than this

Mile 922- Thomas tells Mae to pretend she’s in an art museum and not touch his stuff. 

Mile 972 Tulsa- While not a stop on our original itinerary, we decided to move on down the road to Tulsa, Oklahoma. YouTube is a wonderful thing because you can torture your children with a playlist of city themed songs. Tulsa Queen was followed by Tulsa Time (both the Eric Clapton and Don Williams versions) and Mr. Bullington was able to change our reservation to this cool Marriott downtown! Score!

The unloading of Bullingtons is never an orderly endeavor. Bags and feet flying, children climbing over seats, inevitably something spills, someone cries, and on this fair evening, a tooth popped out. Serenity now!

The kids were starving so we located a Mexican restaurant close by.  We found Elote and learned that they sometimes feature Mexican wrestling on the weekends (a la Nacho Libre). We didn’t get to see any wrestling, but that left the ring open for the least Bullingtons to get out a little sibling aggression.  No time like the present to wallop your sister....In the middle of a crowded restaurant. 

As I surveyed the crowd, I began to notice that the Tulsans seemed to be quite a flamboyant lot. There were big groups of good looking men in tank tops and a few folks wearing rainbow flags as capes. The ladies here seemed to prefer hair on the shorter side. As we left, we heard the pop of fireworks and I quickly made the connection that it must be Pride Weekend in Tulsa! Look, Free fireworks!!

That is a little tooth folded up in a ticket to Graceland in case the Tooth Fairy finds herself in Memphis