No Destination

Gene and I decided on a whim yesterday to take a motorcycle ride since I had the day off. Normally Steve and Jennie go with us but Steve wasn't able to take the day off because he's been the only one in the tattoo shop this week due to Billy being out of town, so Gene and I drove it alone!

We really had no specific destination in mind but headed out east and ended up travelling through 5 different counties and just under 200 miles in about 5 hours. It was such a great ride. We drove along the Mulberry River, along White Rock and through several small country towns that, to be honest, I could not even tell you the names of because we never saw signs!

After we made our 50th turn onto an unkown highway (not much exaggeration there!) I said to Gene "I think we're lost!" To which he replied, " You can't be lost if you don't even have a destination or know where you're going!" Dang. He got me there! However, I was beginning to wonder a little bit if we'd end up in a completely different state without even realizing it. We didn't. Thank goodness. We ended up literally running right into I-40 about 40 miles south of Fort Smith. We had travelled a long distance and ended up making a huge circle by the time we made it home.

The timing and location actually ended up being perfect because it was about 1:30 when we got onto I-40 and we would go right through Alma, where Granny lives, so I told Gene we needed to stop and surprise them because Aunt Cathy is here from Atlanta. So, that's where we headed and luckily they were at the house when we pulled up!! You just never know with Granny..especially when Aunt Cathy is here. They are busy girls!! They were very surprised to see us and it was a great water and a/c break for us! We stayed and visited for almost an hour before heading on home. I don't have any pictures from our adventure but I'll be sure to take the camera on our next one!

The boys were gone to the movies and Grace was gone with my in-laws to my brother-in-law's house when we got home so I was able to get showered, laundry going, and stuff together for dinner while Gene washed the motorcycle.

Steve and Jennie came out to join us for a yummy dinner of grilled pork steaks, green beans, mashed potatoes and fried squash and everyone made it back home all in time to eat! It was a wonderful day and by the time my head it the pillow I was flat worn out!!

Hodge Podge

That's pretty much what this post will be...hodge podge! It'll basically just be an overview of the weekend and I don't have any new pictures to post from the happenings.

Gene had dropped his motorcycle off at the shop last Thursday to have his rear tire replaced and a 10,000 mile service done. He told them before he dropped it off that the only way he would bring it to them was if they could have it done and ready by 9 am Saturday because he was planning on riding to Tulsa. They assured him it would be done. Well, that didn't happen. We showed up right at 9 Saturday morning and there was nobody there. Finally one of the owners showed up a few minutes after us and opened the business. However, Gene's bike had not even been touched yet. They told him it would be done between 2 and 3 that afternoon. So, he didn't get to ride to Tulsa. He was not a happy camper.

After we got back home I sent Mom a text asking if she wanted to meet at the mall and help me spend the rest of my gift certificate to Arty Crafty because I wanted to find some stuff for our bedroom since I'd re-arranged. She, of course, said yes so we planned to meet at noon! The kids ended up going with me and Gene just dropped us off at the mall then went to hang out with Steve until time to get his bike. I was able to find a couple of things for my bedroom, that I'll share at a later date because it's still not done, and it was too big to fit in my car so we loaded it up in Mom's and then the kids and me piled in! I called Gene when we finished at the mall and he was fixing to head down to the shop. So, Mom just took me down there to get my car. Gene ended up having to sit and wait there for almost 3 hours because his bike still was not done. I had run back into the mall and then down to the grocery store and right as I got home he called and asked me to come get him because it wasn't going to be done until the next morning. Oh, he was sooooo mad! They ended up putting a front tire on the rear and were going to have to fix it. The owner wasn't there most of the day Saturday and kept apologizing because he wasn't there watching what they were doing.

He promised Gene that he would be up and at the shop by 8 Sunday morning and Gene told him we'd be there sometime between 9 and 10 to get it. We got up, drove in, got there right at 9 and nobody was there. Shop was all locked up. So...we went back home. Gene tried calling him....straight to voicemail. We were supposed to go riding with Steve and Jennie too. Gene ended up going back up there by himself at 10 just to make sure and so he could say he was there at both times, but still no one was there. Right after he got home Steve called him and they were talking. While he was on the phone the owner tried calling him so he clicked over and he told him that he was now up at the shop and he could come get his bike. It was 10:30 by now.

I went and changed clothes and got ready really quick and Gene got Grace dressed and her stuff together because I was going to drop her off at Mom and Dad's to stay the night with them. The boys had gone to their mom's right after they woke up so we all loaded up and went back, yet again, to the shop. It was...finally done. Gene left for Steve and Jennie's and I headed for Mom and Dad's. I got Grace dropped off and then met everyone else at Steve and Jennie's house. When I got there Jennie met me at the door and told me that after Gene got to their house Steve was doing an inspection of it because he used to work on motorcycles and knows just about all there is to know about them and saw that his saddlebags were all scratched up. Jennie was able to buff and polish some of them out but they still didn't look great. It was seriously one thing after another and Gene called and left another message with the owner, who quickly returned his call. He was very apologetic and told Gene to bring it back up and he would take care of it. It was an absolute mess and I'm so glad that Steve decided to take the day off for us to go ride because it was exactly what Gene needed.

We finally got on the bikes and our first stop was Rogers and we ate lunch at Texas Land & Cattle at the Promenade. It was yummy!!! None of us had eaten there before but we were all impressed! After lunch we headed out Hwy 94 West and went to the Beaver Dam lookout. It was so pretty and there were tons of people out swimming and boating. I was jealous of that...I would loved to have been in the water! We hung out there for just a little bit then we drove on over to Eureka Springs and sat downtown for a while, ate snow cones, and just people watched. It's usually really packed on the weekends but it wasn't as busy as I expected it to be. We loaded back up and headed back to Fayetteville. There was a benefit BBQ dinner for the blind that night that we were invited to so we got there about 6 and hung out for about an hour but Gene and I were worn out so we came home, took showers, and settled in to watch Gran Torino. It was such a good movie! I had not seen it before but I'm definitely glad I got it for Gene for Father's Day because it's one I could totally watch again!

Overall, it was a really great 4 day weekend for me! Although we had the little situation with the motorcycle the good still outweighed the bad and I was able to just relax and spend some great time with both friends and family!! I did go back to work last night and I was soooo not ready for that! It was really slow though, especially for a Monday, so it wasn't too bad and now it's already almost my weekend again!! Gotta love that! I'm hoping to take the kids swimming again on Thursday because the boys are going to be with their mom Thursday and Friday night but then back hom for the 4th. I, of course, will have to work the 4th but about the time I get home is when they usually start the fireworks at my house. We live up on the top of a mountain and it's a dead end so we always get together with some of our neighbors and shoot off a ton of fireworks up here!

I guess that's about it for now, I need to get off of here and get the boys upstairs so we can workout before I go to work! Have a great week!