On Our Way...

After a fun filled Memorial Day weekend, we hit the road and decided we'd better get on our way. We made a lot of stops on the 16 hour car ride down and stretched it out over 3 days, which made it nice. The longest stretch we did was only 5 hours in the car. But I will admit, by day three Andrew was completely done. Done with being in his carseat, done with taking naps in the car, done with changing diapers in the backseat, and done with using the stroller as a make-shift high chair. He would just start to cry as soon and we got our keys out or started opening the door to the car. Poor kid.
The first day, we timed it just right to stop and have lunch in St. Louis.

You can't visit St. Louis and not see the famous Gateway Arch. Right? So we grabbed some tickets and headed to the top for a senic view of the city and the Mississippi River.

After a few hours of relaxing and playing we hopped back into the car and headed to our next destination...Memphis, Tennessee. The farther south we drove, the thicker the accent. Memphis was definitely a place where we felt like we were from the North. A lot of "yes ma'am" "yes sir" "reckon, I'd..." and "ain't gonna..." were heard.

We stayed in a nice hotel, right downtown and close to Beale Street. That evening, we decided to take the trolly down a few block to Beale Street and check out the sights. If you don't know what Beale street is, it is in the heart of downtown Memphis and where they claim is the "Home of the Blues". It has all sorts of blues clubs and resturaunts that line the street. With saxaphone players serenading, people singing and others doing acrabatic shows all up and down the street. It's pretty amazing. We found a fun spot and enjoyed the best BBQ ribs and catfish we'd ever had.

Here comes the Trolly

With the sun setting in the background, you can't see all the neon lights. The street was starting to come to life after dinner. But we had a little one who needed to get to bed!

Andrew and Daddy on Beale Street

The next day was kind of our "play day." We got up early and drove just 2 hours to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Just a little ways outside of this touristy city was the Ouachita National Park. Stephen and I LOVE the outdoors and have truly missed the mountains in Utah. These mountains, were nothing compaired to the rockies...but we'll take what we can get.

We wanted to spend the day here, but didn't have anything really planned out. So we literally drove up and talked to the forest rangers about what there is to do. They told us about a great hike and different activities we could do on Ouachita Lake close by. So That's exactly what we did.

Beautiful hike overlooking the lake, but most of
the huge trees were destroyed in a recent tornado

We decided to rent a boat from the marina for a few hours and cruise around the lake. We realized this lake was enormous and reminded me the size of Lake Powell with houseboats and everything. We felt like we were the only ones on it and the water was beautiful and warm. Too bad we didn't have any waterskii's.

Andrew loved the boat!

No waterskiing....but still had to jump in for a swim in the lake!

Having fun on the boat

We didn't spend much time in Hot Springs, just drove down the famous "Bathhouse Row." There are a ton of natural hot spring bathhouses that line the downtown streets. They are known for their healing waters and spas. I guess even President Roosevelt, back in the day would go there often. He claimed the natural waters helped with the effects of polio. Speaking of president's....we later learned this was where former President Bill Clinton grew up and went to high school. Who knew! Hot Springs, Arkansas is a pretty big touristy spot, if you know what I mean.

One of the many bathhouses

Our last day, we made the final drive into the great state of TEXAS! We knew exactly when we had crossed the boarder into Texas. There was Texan pride everywhere with flags and stars. Stephen and I just looked at each other and had to laugh! I guess we'd better get used to it. :)

We drove right through downtown and passed by good 'ol AT&T (Stephen's new office.) We are excited to finally be here and start this new adventure in life.