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Published: January 13th 2014
Bella Vista Deer
Kind of hard to see, but there were several deer in Mom and Dad's backyard. This one paused to look back.For most of my adult life, I've lived half a continent away from my folks - not a conscious decision, just the way things worked out. So it's been a joy and a privilege to be able to spend a good bit of time with them - getting snowed in, taking walks, playing dominoes, sitting in church together, touring museums - it's been a wonderful two weeks and what a great way to start the new year! Yes, it's been unseasonably cold and yes, I brought very few cold weather clothes so I've basically been wearing three outfits over and over, but the house has been warm (the gas fireplace was really roaring there for a while) and I can use my mom's washer to keep those three outfits clean. We've been keeping pretty busy here despite the cold. We've gotten out quite a bit - the Walmart in Pineville, MO, (just a couple miles from Bella Vista actually) has seen quite a bit of our business as we've bought groceries there and were able to replenish our pharmaceutical supplies without too much difficulty. We also became well acquainted with the AAA travel agent in Bentonville as we are trying to
Snowy Arkansas
Somehow, this wasn't what I was expecting to see in Arkansas put together a family cruise to Alaska in August for my folks' 60th wedding anniversary - not an easy chore! She gave us some good information, but after many phone calls and text messages back and forth with my brothers we decided to have Darlene's travel agent look into it for us. She put together more information so we have a pretty good idea how we're going to go, but still need to get everybody on board (pun intended). This isn't an easy chore when the family is spread around the country like mine is. We were snowed in January 5th. Nothing was moving that day, but we did see several deer in my folks' backyard. They looked so beautiful just walking in the woods behind the house and nibbling on the dry leaves and whatever else they found there. Being snowed in wasn't so bad as we were able to spend quality time together. Mom and Dad put us to work taking the wallpaper off the guest bathroom. Now we know why more people don't put wallpaper up, it's darn hard to get off! Once we got the hang of it, though, it went pretty fast. The hardest part
Wallpaper Removal
Riddle: How many people does it take to strip wallpaper from a small bathroom? was trying to keep Dad off the stepstool. As I'm the only one who can comfortably work over my head, it was supposed to be my job to strip the border near the ceiling. It didn't always work that way, though and Jim, Dad and I often took turns wetting and stripping the wallpaper and the glue layer underneath. One morning, I went with Dad while he volunteered at the Shepherd Food Pantry. My parents are both such an inspiration to me as they regularly volunteer at their church and in the Bella Vista community. Dad helped interview people to find out what their needs were and I helped bag food. It certainly made me feel humble and grateful for all the blessings in our lives.
We were fortunate enough this time to visit several museums while in Northwest Arkansas. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR is the brainchild of Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton who designed the building, an architectural work of art in itself, and put together the galleries of artwork, many of which come from her private collection. Admission to the museum is free now with only a small charge for the special
Crystal Bridges Museum
The architecture of this museum was almost as wonderful as the artwork inside! exhibits, but I saw a coupon in the local paper for free admission to the current special exhibit, The Artists' Eye: George O'Keeffe and the Alfred Stieglitz Collection. I am fascinated by Georgia O'Keeffe and especially like the artwork from her New York and Lake George periods - which was the time she was together with Stieglitz. Two of her pieces were in the exhibit, as well. The main galleries followed the different decades from Colonial times through Twentieth Century art. The docents were particularly helpful, (maybe because it was a very cold day and we had the place practically to ourselves) and pointed out one piece we may have easily missed. This was a new addition to the museum and was a very early Andy Warhol. In fact, it was so early that it was signed with his original name, Andrej Warhola. The docent told us that the woman who owned it had gone to Carnegie College with Warhol in the late 40's and was in an art class with him. One of the assignments had been to draw hands and faces. Warhol had painted a couple lying in bed with the hands being the focus of the painting.
Crystal Bridges Museum
Taken from inside one of the studios looking out The woman was so taken with the painting that she paid him $50.00 for it. Years later, this woman is living in the Bentonville area and decided to donate it to the Crystal Bridges museum. It now hangs next to a Warhol painting of a Coca-Cola bottle that Alice Walton paid over $50 million for. We loved talking to the docents and they seemed very eager to share their knowledge of the artwork. Could be another job opportunity for me if we decided to move to this area. Too bad I forgot to ask them if they got paid or if this was all volunteer work. :D Crystal Bridges has certainly brought a lot of attention to this part of Arkansas and has made it a destination for art lovers from around the world. The town has had to grow to accommodate the influx of tourists and one of the newer hotels is the fancy Hotel 21C not far from the museum. It has a modern art gallery downstairs (the reception area is actually part of the museum). That artwork was a little too "modern" for our tastes, but some of it, especially the fabric sculptures of the four season
The Museum of Native American History
This is the front of this great little museum in Bentonville. Really worth looking into. trees which were displayed in their own room, was quite interesting. I really liked the whimsical penguins that they had placed around the lobby and restaurant area. My brother Steve and Darlene stayed there when they were visiting the folks before Christmas and I heard that someone placed a penguin outside their room so when Darlene opened the door she came up close and personal with a 4 ft. green penguin. (Disclaimer: My dad told me this story so those of you who know my dad know that there may have been a bit of poetic license to this story. :D )
One of the first days we were here, we toured Sam Walton's 5 & 10 museum in downtown Bentonville...very interesting and definitely worth the price of admission (free). We also had lunch at the Station Café next door to the museum and, of course, had to try the ice cream in the old fashioned parlor. We visited one more museum toward the end of our stay here that turned out to be a real "find." My brother John had read about the Museum of Native American History (also in Bentonville) and had visited it with my parents
The Museum of Native American History
Dad checking out the teepee. Wonder if it's for sale. :) when he was here last. What a little treasure it turned out to be! Again, we were lucky enough to be there when there weren't a lot of people so we had the docent's full attention. The first thing we saw when we walked in was the large collection of arrowheads. We were told that people could bring in arrowheads they had found and have them assessed by a man on the museum staff who is an expert. They also told us that the area around the teepee (see picture) had several arrowheads hidden among the rocks and people were encouraged to look for them. Jim was told that if he found any they would give him the child's deal - he could keep the arrowhead for free - otherwise, they charged .50 each. We didn't look for any as it was still pretty cold, but what a great place for kids. My boys would have loved that when they were little! We thought at first that the arrowheads were the main part of the museum, but we were soon proved wrong. The displays were fabulous and took you from the very beginnings of native American history (the Paleo era)
Lake Loch Lomond Dam
Taking advantage of a sunny day to take a walk through the 1800's. The displays of pottery and beadwork were extensive and included different tribes from around the Americas. We were very impressed with the beaded headpieces and clothing. I would recommend this museum to anyone interested in Native American history.
Jim's childhood friend, George, also lives in Bella Vista. We were able to get together with him a few times also. George cooked a wonderful meal for us the day after Jim's birthday and he and Jim are going out to the Pea Ridge Civil War Battlefield today - finally a nice day!
So, to recap this long blog, we have had a wonderful two weeks in Bella Vista. Thank you for everything, Mom and Dad. We have enjoyed this special time with you so very much! It's been a time to explore and also to have the opportunity to spend quality time together. We were able to celebrate Jim's birthday and our anniversary and have also had the time to research the next leg of our adventure... on to San Antonio, TX.
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Bobbi
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Deb's Travels
Love hearing every bit of this journey, keep it up and continue to enjoy. What could be better than spending time with your mom and dad (your mom looks beautiful as always in the picture). My best to everyone.