Cody enjoyed the water bin again this morning. There was a magnificent breeze gently bringing in the morning. Brooke was bamboo hunting. We found bamboo sticks for both of them. Let the rock and stick collections begin! Showers this morning! Our first camp showers weren’t too shabby. The water was a little warm and the shower head dangled, but the facilities were clean and there was no button pushing or coin dropping involved!
Before we left Buffalo National River Brooke and Cody went and said their pledges in order to get their Junior Ranger Badges. This was Cody’s first Junior Ranger Badge. He was excited! This was Brooke’s third Junior Ranger Badge. The booklet was well written. Brooke’s first badge came from Denali National Park. They provided the use of a backpack stocked full of educational goodness.
First stop in Harrison, AR was Autozone. Next we ventured to Wal-Mart. We shopped, ate a parking lot (asphalt) picnic, and changed an ignition coil on the car. By “we” on the car front, I mean Scott. I kept myself busy trying to put groceries away.
The car was misfiring on our way from Missouri to Arkansas. Scott moved the coil around a few times to determine which one might have been misfiring. He was pretty messy the first night at the campground, but he stayed relatively clean in the Wal-Mart parking lot. The van is back to normal after the Wal-Mart parking lot fix. Yet another Super Scott moment.
While we drove from Harrison to Tulsa the kids entertained themselves by coming up with Monster Truck names and creating Monster Truck announcements. Cody is determined that I include his Monster Truck name, “Splashy.” They assigned a Monster Truck name to every family member.
We are headed West on 412. The wind is very strong today. The van loaded up on top is “surfing” down the highway. We were originally going to stop at a children’s museum in Tulsa, but in thinking about camping options we are going to stop in at a State Park just west of Tulsa and head to a Children’s Museum in Stillwater instead.
We just had an Internet “fix” at a McDonald’s in Tulsa. The kids played on the very clean and new equipment while I uploaded posts and had a few minutes indulging on Facebook.
Keystone state park just 15 – 20 miles west of Tulsa called us home tonight. The kids played at a park while Scott cooked up some burgers and green beans at a pavilion overlooking Keystone Lake. The lake is created by a dam on the Arkansas River. After talking with a proud grandpa playing with his five grandchildren at the park, and Brooke’s suggestion we might just canoe tomorrow instead of visiting the children’s museum. I’m still set on the museum for the kids. We shall see what the morning brings.
Our campsite overlooks Keystone Lake. The kids excitedly helped Scott cut up some scavenged wood with his new folding camp saw. Scott was grinning from ear to ear. After our Alaska trip there have been quite a few things that Scott declared he would not travel without again, and this was one of them. I have been teasing Scott that I need an “awesome” button because I keep running out of synonyms to describe the incredible beauty and memories we have been experiencing. The sunset was (insert awesome synonym here). Instead of waiting to type in the van I am typing in front of the campfire with the help of the whole family. It is much easier to concentrate on writing when they are helping me remember the events from the day. It is 9:30 and Cody has been begging for bed for over two hours. The problem is it takes a while for him to calm down and a slightly warmer than outside temp tent is not a great place to calm down. The sun has been down for an hour, the stars are starting to appear, and it is time to call it a night.
