On the Road with Flo

In my last post, I mentioned being from Kansas. But this week has been about being with family in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

If you haven’t spent any time at the Lake of the Ozarks, then you are missing out on a part of this country that expresses itself in a way like no other. More than just backwards “R”s and a different way of thinking, the people of Missouri would claim they are real. And judging by their pace, they have no reason to be otherwise. I love my parent’s cabin on the lake. Despite the spiders, hornets, bats, and slugs it’s still one of my favorite places to visit. I often dream of what it would be like to live there or do extended stays where I could write and create art (like at a residency). With an outdoor shower and a quirky indoor bathtub, this place has everything you need (except hot water from time to time) including a beautiful view you can wake up to or say goodbye to as the sun sets.

I swore to myself I would never go back to Arkansas. Now I know why I didn’t like it: sitting in the backseat while my aunt Linda drove us on those windy roads. But I appreciate the love my mother has for this part of the country. It’s where my grandmother, her mother, was raised. The theme in Mountainview is all about music and the arts. Mom participated in a dulcimer workshop while my sister, Ray, the kids and I enjoyed the crafts village. And what is a trip to Arkansas without opening the evening performance with a little Cowbell?

The Ozark Folk Center and State Park is a wonderful creative asset to the state of Arkansas. Hundreds of artists have the opportunity to occupy the creative studios covering the folk arts and crafts of the region including: blacksmithing, gunsmithing, knife making, printmaking, ceramics, basketry, jewelry, apothecary, gardening, and much more! We acquired fun things like an iron-forged hook, garnet earrings, handmade soaps and salves, letterpress printed goods and an Arkansas Wooly Booger (for Gunner).

At the beginning of our adventure back in March, Ray and I would look at each other and ask, “Are we crazy?” Now we look at each other astonished and say, “We find ourselves in the most unexpected places.”

While we had a great time…It. Was. Hot. And thanks to the kid who poo’d in the pool, we won’t be enjoying the daily cool down at the hotel for the rest of our stay.

So on that note, we say goodbye to my kin and are headed to Oklahoma to visit some of Ray’s family then back to Mancos where his roots are for the annual Mancos Days weekend where both of his grandmothers have been previously recognized as Mancos Queens and we have enjoyed the Sharing the 81328 Perspective (that Ray and I founded) since 2003.