Yesterday was a busy day in Memphis. We left around 9:00 am and headed to the Stax Museum. If you ever come to Memphis this is a must see. We began out tour with a 20 minute video that really got you in the mood for the whole museum. They went over the history of the blues in Memphis and throughout the rest of the nation. It was very cool. After the film, you walk through the rest of the museum. They have costumes, guitars, a sound studio, and Isaac Hayes Cadillac from Shaft. We dressed up at the end and took a picture with the Cadillac and the Stax sign on a green screen. It was fun.

By the end of the museum we were starved, so we headed over the Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken. The fried chicken is to die for. Derek wanted to beg the owner to open in Laguna. They had amazing coconut pie that was deep fried as well. This was not a healthy meal. We ate fried chicken, cole slaw, baked beans, mac & cheese. Yum! I am not kidding, we may be too fat for the trailer to haul us to our next stop. We need to get out of this town though!

After lunch we headed over the a Metal Museum. They had a lot of cool artists on display. It was pretty interesting. This was a quick stop. We were in and out of this museum in about 30 minutes. The title pretty much sums up what the place had on display. Everything was metal. Metal doors, metal figurines, and other metal artwork. Oh, my favorite was a metal sculpture of a pregnant womb. I took a picture and told my mom I bought this for her birthday and we would display it in the entry way of the house. #Sarcasm

Devlin was getting a little cranky and wanted to play, so we found a children's museum. This was very cool! The boys played checkers, while McKinley climbed all over blocks and played with a few other kids. We milked a plastic cow, which hurt by the way. The cow tells you facts while you milk it, and Devlin really enjoyed it. McKinley looked confused. There were so many neat things here to do. We spent 3 hours playing, and then went outside to the play yard. It was nice for the kids to get there energy out, while Marty and I were able to rest a bit.

We made a pit stop by a grocery store to get a few things before making our way back to the trailer. Marty rested for 20 minutes while I put the groceries away, and then we went back out for dinner. We ate at The Germantown Commissary. The BBQ Nachos were amazing! They were smothered with spicy cheese, pulled pork and bbq sauce. Seriously good! Derek got the Boss Hog, Marty and I had pulled pork and pulled turkey sandwiches. Devlin & McKinley shared with Derek. He really had enough food to feed all of us. He is ecstatic to eat the leftovers this morning.

After we ate, we headed over to Levitt for a concert and to meet up with the University of Memphis Head Coach and her family. By the time we got here, the place was so packed. There was literally no place to park and the kids were exhausted. We just didn't have it in us to find a parking spot and walk a long distance to the concert. McKinley was cranky at the restaurant, and there was a very loud party behind us, so we were a bit agitated on the way over.

As we made our way back to the trailer, I got off on the wrong exit and we ended up at the Bass Pro Shop which is a giant pyramid. GIANT does not even describe how big this place is, and how crowded it was inside. This had to be the size of 3 or 4 Costco locations combined. Marty forgot his fishing pole at home, and the kids wanted to sleep in today and then go fishing. So we stopped and went inside. There was a shooting range arcade for kids, and so much stuff on display. It was pretty neat. My friend Paige has been telling me to stop at the Bass Pro Shop in Dallas when I have been in town, but I just never made time to do it. Finding a parking spot was just like it is at home at Costco on a Friday afternoon. This was Saturday night! 

Marty got 2 fishing poles and we headed back to the trailer to call it a night. We saw fireflies along the sides of the road as we drove back. They are too cool! We don't get anything like that in Southern California. This is the only bug I like here though. I feel like I am a feast for bugs. I have bites all over, and I am the only one. It's ridiculous. They don't like the kids or Marty, but they LOVE me! Bug spray seems to be a perfume that makes them flock to me, because I have practically bathed in a bottle each day and it doesn't help! Unfortunately, I know there is only more to come.

Today we are doing laundry, fishing and working from the trailer. This evening we have reservations at Flight, and we are going to the Peabody to see the ducks march at 5:00 pm. It should be a pretty relaxing day.

After spending the last week in less populated areas, I couldn't be more excited to be back in a city! Yesterday, we left the Crater of Diamonds State Park and headed to Conway. We stopped to eat breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Conway next to the college. We had a great breakfast, and then headed over to visit Ryan Meek, the Head Volleyball Coach at Hendrix College. What an incredible school?! Absolutely beautiful! Derek really liked it and could even see himself going to school like Hendrix. He felt it was a little too far from home.

We spent a couple of hours touring the campus and hanging out with Ryan. He really has accomplished so much with this program. One of our favorite things about the school, is on your birthday the students throw you into the fountain. 

After we left Hendrix, we headed to Memphis! We are staying at the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River. It's a bit of a rough neighborhood heading into the park, but once you get here, it's really spectacular! It's fun to watch the barge's pass bye with there load. 

Once we set up camp, we headed into the city. My friend Sam said we should take the kids to a restaurant called Huey's, where the kids get to shoot toothpicks out of straws onto the ceiling. The boys loved it. All 3 of them shot them to the ceiling. Marty developed the craft first, then Derek, and Devlin got a few up as well. The boy's ordered burgers, and I had a Po'Boy with fried shrimp. It was pretty good. After dinner we walked over to Beale Street. There was live music everywhere. 

We walked through the Peabody Hotel, but the ducks come out at 11:00 am, so we will return on Sunday morning. We were all pretty exhausted after the drive, so we came back to the trailer to watch tv. A thunder and lightning storm hit, it began pouring rain, and we lost our power. We are definitely not accustomed to this kind of weather. Our trailer has a battery, but not a generator, so we limited the use to a flashlight in case the power didn't come back on. We thought it was our power at first, until Derek went outside to check with the neighbors and they said the whole park was out. Thankfully it was 9:00, so we all went to bed.

Today I have some appointments this morning, and then we are going to head into town. We decided to skip Graceland. I know, for Elvis fans (which we are) this is a total sin. How do we trek across the country and skip Graceland? Well….I'll tell you, it's $160.00 on the low end to gain entrance for our family. If we want to see the airplanes, which Devlin would want to see, it's $75.00 a ticket. We checked to see if there were any specials on Groupon and we didn't come across any. We are not the kind of museum people that sit and look through everything so I made the decision to skip it! We bought tickets to see the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and we are looking at the Civil Rights or Cotton Museum. We shall see what our day will bring :)

Yesterday we spent our last day at the Crater of Diamonds. Marty spent the entire day at the mine from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm last night. He did find a diamond. He also found some other stones. 

Derek, Devlin, McKinley and I spent the afternoon by the pool at the water park. It was pretty humid out, so we enjoyed the cool water. We did a lot of walking to and from the camp site. It was a half of a mile to and from the water park to the camp site. I didn't tell the boys we could actually drive because I thought we all needed the exercise. Especially now that we are on our way to Memphis. I am sure we are going to eat ourselves into a coma!

Last night as I was coming back to the trailer from the laundry machine I almost stepped on a copperhead snake. I've learned never to walk at night without a flashlight. What a concept?! If it wasn't for Devlin who ran out with the light to walk back with me to the camp site I would have been bitten for sure. Thank God I didn't get bit. There were not any hospitals near by, as we were far into a forest. Marty came out and snapped a picture. He was following the snake into the bushes. He thought it was a corn snake. After he snapped a shot and went online to research, he discovered it was poisonous. 

As I returned to the trailer, there were bugs flying around. A moth, and a beetle flew into the trailer. Derek and Devlin were running around screaming like little girls. Marty got our hand vac and vacuumed them up. Derek refused to go to bed until Marty got the bug out of his bunk. You would have thought there was a murderer in our trailer trying to kill us all. I am sure our neighbors all thought we were absolutely stupid. Then they looked at our license plates and realized we are from California. Totally explains it!

This morning we are on our way to Conway to visit Ryan Meek at Hendrix. It's 130 miles from the Crater of Diamonds State Park. I am excited to get a feel for the campus and the program. I have had two athletes visit recently, so it will be nice to see it in person. After we visit, we will head to Memphis to the Tom Sawyer RV Park on the Mississippi River. We are going out to dinner for bbq tonight for sure. We will be in Memphis for the next 3 days. 

We arrived at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas in the late afternoon yesterday. This is a long trek, on a 2 way highway, out in the middle of nowhere. Literally! The drive was beautiful! We saw turtles walking along the highway, and lot's of other wild life. 

We stopped in Broken Bow Arkansas on the way to the park. There was a very charming restaurant called The Raging Espresso. I had one of the best pulled pork sandwiches ever! The vanilla wafer pudding with bananas was amazing, and so was the broccoli cheese soup. I am really disappointed we won't drive back through on our way out of here. We can actually drive north east to Conway from here without back tracking. 

As soon as we arrived, the boys rented the equipment to go out on the diamond mine and started mining. So far they haven't found any diamonds, but they are having a great time digging in the dirt! They returned to the camp site last night absolutely filthy! I barbecued salmon, and roasted Brussels Sprouts for dinner. They were so relieved that food was ready when they got back because they were all starved!

Derek got bit by a horsefly at the diamond mine. It bit right through his sock. After it bit Derek, it landed on Devlin and he ran. Devlin had a nightmare about the horsefly last night. He does not like the bugs here. None of us do!

Today, the boys are headed back to the mine and McKinley and I are at the trailer. We think someone attempted to brake into the trailer in Oklahoma, because our door lock is jammed, and we can't get our key inside. It's like someone broke something on the inside. 

I am working from the trailer waiting for the locksmith and McKinley is crawling all over the floor. In the afternoon we will head to the pool. It's like a water park with slides. It looks really nice. I am making chicken soup for dinner in the crockpot, and packing up early. Tomorrow we leave for Conway early in the morning. We will meet with Ryan Meek, the Head Coach at Hendrix. After, we may try and meet the new coaches at UCA before heading to Memphis in the afternoon. I have sent quite a few players to UCA, and I love there campus.

We made it to Oklahoma! We were supposed to stay in an RV park near the city, but a tornado came through and destroyed it in May. We drove past a few others, and didn't find any that we felt comfortable parking. KOA had one site left but it was too small. After researching RV Parky, we found an RV park 60 miles east of Oklahoma City called Catfish Round-Up. They have a restaurant and are known for there catfish. Go figure!

Catfish Round-Up can be best described as a rest stop with a casino across the street. It was fine for the night, but we are up at 6 and already headed to Arkansas. The kids cannot wait to mine for diamonds. We are mining today and tomorrow. Let me rephrase, Marty & the kids are mining for diamonds. I will be working in the trailer :) Devlin thinks he is going to be rich after today. We hope they are not disappointed.

We are at the Crater of Diamonds State Park for the next 2 days, and then head to Conway. We will stop at Hendrix and UCA on Friday. I have sent several athletes to UCA, and have had a few visit Hendrix in the last few months. I visited UCA a few years ago, but there was a coaching change recently, so I want to reconnect with the new coaches. 

Oklahoma is beautiful! It's so exciting to see green after so much desert. It looks like there is some bad weather ahead in the next couple of days, and we are praying we miss it.

Seriously surprised about our adventure in Amarillo! What a great city! We wished we would have spent two nights in Amarillo, versus staying the extra night in Albuquerque. We stayed at a beautiful campground called Fort Amarillo RV Park. The camp sites were spacious, they had a great playground, a pond to feed the ducks, and an indoor pool. 

On our way into Amarillo, we passed by several ranches with cows. Derek said, I wonder if that smells bad out there. Before Marty and I could say a word, Derek rolled down his window and a gust of the most disgusting smell entered the car. It literally took our breath away the stench was so bad. Derek laughed so hard he was nearly in tears. Devlin started to cry. He said he could taste the cow poop in his mouth. It was awful!

We stopped at Cadillac Ranch. Devlin spray painted his name on one of the Cadillac's. It's surely gone by now. There was so much spray paint on those cars, it literally was hanging off the vehicles like icicles. Marty wasn't a fan of Cadillac Ranch. It was dirty and a long windy walk down to the cars. You could smell spray paint and dirt the entire walk down. It's just one of those things you have to say you did on the road.

Once we got settled into the RV Park, we headed out to dinner. I didn't feel like cooking the same stuff we've been eating, and Derek wanted steak of course. So we ate at Hoffbrau Steaks. We ordered fried pickles, chicken fried steak, rib-eye, chicken tenders, and quail. The food was good.  McKinley was a little cranky, so we took turns walking around the restaurant with her while we ate. After dinner we headed back to the trailer and went to the pool. My mom would be so proud of me, I've been keeping up with our laundry at each step. This is a big deal for those of you who know me :)

Today we slept in, took showers, packed up and headed to Torchy's Tacos. The Chocolate Dude and his wife (from Albuquerque) highly recommended this spot! Torchy's Tacos did not disappoint! The food was great! We had the chips & queso, and tacos with ahi, baja shrimp, pulled pork, salmon and jerk chicken. We all really enjoyed the food! Thanks Chocolate Dude!

After breakfast we headed to the Jack Sisemore Traveland RV Museum. The kids loved it! They had an incredible collection of RV's including the Vintage VW Flxible Bus featured in the film RV. This is a family favorite, so it was exciting to see it in person. We thought about Uncle Nick looking at all of the Vintage Harley Davidson's, Aunt Terri with the Airstream, Beautiful Bobbie throughout the entire museum and my mom and dad because this is a place they would definitely want to see. If you are ever in Amarillo, this is a MUST see. 

Right now we are on the road to Oklahoma City (281 miles). We are actually cutting our time short because the kids want more time digging for diamonds at Crater of Diamonds State Park. We're staying at a KOA just outside of Oklahoma City tonight. We are going to head out early tomorrow morning to Arkansas.  Not sure what else today will bring. Marty and I keep telling the kids to just enjoy what each day brings and focus on what we are doing now instead of the future. We are all holding up great, and Derek gets the award for being the favorite child today. He has been so incredibly helpful this entire trip! No arguing, only helping with the trailer and siblings.

We are up bright and early this morning, as we make our way to Amarillo! Shhh…don't tell Marty I made a lot of noise on purpose to get everyone up to get on the road. He would not be very happy! We have 305 miles to travel today. At first glance of the map, it doesn't appear there is much between here and there. The campground we are headed to looks pretty nice from the website. It's called Fort Amarillo RV Park. I think McKinley will finally have a play area to put her play yard on the grass. There is an indoor pool and spa. Hopefully it's an upgrade from where we were in Albuquerque. Marty and Derek went into the jacuzzi, and said it smelled like a lobster tank. It took hours to get the smell out of there noses. The rest of the campground was clean and nice. 

Yesterday we headed into Albuquerque and had lunch at Bistronomy B2B. It was really good! They had excellent craft beer and burgers. We tried the fried pickles with wasabi mayo. We are gearing up for all the delicious food to come in Memphis and New Orleans! After lunch we went to a very charming chocolate shop called the Chocolate Dude. The "Chocolate Dude" was actually to guy waiting on us. Definitely an easy going kind of a guy, and moved about the same pace as the "Dude" on the Big Lebowski! The chocolate was fabulous! They had a very unique feel to the shop. His wife and daughter were there. They visited with us for a bit. His wife is a very talented painter. Her art work was on the walls. McKinley had 3 chocolate marshmallows on a stick. She literally wore it all over her face! See in the photos below :) Dev went to the Boba shop next door to get a blueberry boba drink. Derek and Marty passed on dessert. 


At the Chocolate Dude a nice couple came in behind us and Devlin announced we are from California. They are on a road trip similar to ours which was kind of cool. They have been on the road for the last two months, and are making there way to Indiana where is home. Dev has learned he gets quite the reaction from people when he announces he is 6 and we live in California. 

Depending on our arrival time in Albuquerque, I want to hit up Cadillac Ranch, and the Jack Sismore Traveland RV Museum. More pictures and stories to come...