Arkansas Travelers

 

by Pa Rock

Road Warrior

Little Rosie has been feeling under the weather for a while now, so I left her at home to snooze yesterday while I took an early morning roadtrip to Harrison, Arkansas, for brunch and a nice visit with my sister, Abigail, and three of her four adult children, and their children.  It was the first time I had seen some of the younger generation in several years, so it was good to catch up.   They all live in busy northwest Arkansas, Bentonville to Fayetteville, which is about two hours west of Harrison, and my home in West Plains, Missouri, is about two hours north and east of Harrison, so it's a good place to meet.

The drive across northern Arkansas - Mountain Home to Yellville to Harrison - was beautiful, as it always is, and the Sunday morning traffic was light and easy to navigate along the well-maintained Arkansas state roads.

It was especially nice seeing my two grandnieces and two grandnephews, all of whom are either in high school or just about to be in high school.  All seem to be enjoying school.  The two girls, Brieanna and Brittany,  both daughters of my niece, Tiffany, were excited about the upcoming homecoming dance later this week, and the boys, Tiffany's son, Aidan, and Justin's son, Graham, are both actively involved in learning robotics.  (We didn't have robotics when I was in school, but we did have hula hoops!)

Reed, Abigail's other adult child who was there yesterday, has no children (yet), though he is a "dean" at a local school and the head basketball coach for the girls' team, so he has more interactions with kids than many of us could tolerate.

Tiffany's husband, Mike, was also at our soiree,  but Reed's wife, Jamie, and Justin's wife, Lisa, were unable to attend. Abigail's oldest adult child, Heidi, lives in Chicago with her husband, Jason, and they also couldn't make the trip to Arkansa.  Heidi and Jason have two daughters:  Lauren, who is a senior in college, and Ruby, who is a senior in high school.  Both are very personable and intelligent young ladies.

I was only blessed with one sibling in this life, so the "Smith kids" as I like to call them, represent the entirety of my nieces and nephews.   I don't get to see them often enough, and I know that is on me, and it certainly was nice to have so many of them gathered in one place yesterday.

Uncle Rocky thinks of you all often, and was very pleased to get to see so many of you yesterday.  Thank you for making the drive over to Harrison for our visit - and Heidi, I will catch up with you and yours soon!

My best to all of you for healthy, happy, and productive lives.  You are certainly off to a great start!