The Friendly Deer of Crystal Bridges

We had a ton of fun working out of an Airbnb in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and this week we're back at it in Bella Vista, Arkansas. It's a heck of a lot cheaper to do it here, let me tell you.

Lydia pretty much gets silently guilted every day now by a hungry cat face while she's trying to work.

Nom nom nom nom nom

I'm going to town on those free vaccination Krispy Kremes now.

Today we returned to Bentonville and did a walk on the very nicely developed Crystal Bridges Art Trail. They're rolling with that Walton family Walmart money so quality can be expected.

The local deer were clearly used to people.

Caution: Deer Crossing

"Maman

1999

Bronze, stainless steel, and marble

Like an umbrella against a storm, Maman shelters this space, looming over us in a protective, yet mysterious way. "Maman" is the French word for "Mom". The image of the spider refers to the artist's mother, whom she has described as her closest friend. Though spiders can inspire fear for some people, Bourgeois thought of the spider as caring, helpful, and hard-working-the way she remembered her mother."

Who wouldn't want to explore more of the area with enticing names like "Blowing Springs" and "Slaughter Pen".

This car was covered in coins.

We just started The Americans as our "watch while eating dinner" show.

I have to watch shows with one eye and Lydia with the other because she will just secretly pass out while we're watching and not say anything. Low energy!

Returning to Bentonville Victorious

Well we're working during the day we worked and so night time is when things get real out in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

This is pretty much how I feel when I start every new job, U.S. Bank included.

This Airbnb had a big bin of cat food and instructions that we could feed the street cats if we wished.

Our big move of the evening was to check out Bentonville, AR. Back in my Neosho days I was an aspiring corporate Walmart worker, and so Bentonville was my Mecca. It was nice to visit as the last time I was here my work life was very uncertain, but I had now returned victorious. It reminded me of my personal journey. I'm pretty much crushing it, no big deal.

Boot Shopping and the Stockyards

Well we were planning on getting to the Oklahoma National Stockyards early in the morning in order to see the cattle auctions. We couldn't quite get out of the hotel fast enough (my fault), but went to check the place out anyway.

The area surrounding the now cowless stockyards had a lot of cowboy charm, with saddle and boot shops, and little diners.

Lydia wanted to do some boot shopping, until we saw that they cost hundreds of dollars a pair. What the heck?!

I had worked up a mighty Old West hunger so I had steak and eggs with biscuits and gravy on the side.

Just north of Oklahoma City is the little town of Guthrie. Guthrie was the state capital until OKC wrested control of the state. Now it's mostly known for having a really cool historic downtown which we strolled through a bit.

I got back to Neosho with plenty of time to spare for my bi-weekly school commute to Bentonville, Arkansas. Three states in one day isn't bad!