HAVE BIBLE & PILLOWS - Will Travel

How many of you remember the TV program "Have Gun - Will Travel" with Jack Palance? Hence the title of this post!!!

A strange title I know.....but you will soon understand.

Our friends, and neighbors, Wayne & Jimmie, have a great little cabin on 10 acres in the Ozarks near Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They have been up there the entire month of July and we promised them we would come up and spend a couple of days with them during the month. We have been trying to get free to go up and just hadn't been able to get free to do so.

Thursday morning around 10 o'clock, after finishing up an errand he had to run, Mickey came bursting in the door and said, "Come on let's throw some things in a bag and run up and spend a couple of days with Wayne & Jimmie." I had just started in on my weekly washing and had one load just finishing up in the washer with 2 more to go but I said, "Okay, but I've got to throw this load in the dryer (so much for line drying today) and get it dried and folded first." In the drier they go and we proceed to bathe and get ready. The drier quits, I fold the items and fold my just washed & dried PJ's and put them on the top of the already packed satchel we have prepared and are taking.

We load up the car and away we go. It is a lovely ride to just outside Eureka Springs, same drive I made last Friday with my Bible Study gals. A lovely, not very hot day with blue skies.

Half-way to Eureka I realize I had forgotten to pick up my camera.....no camera and I was going to get a loaf of Banana/Pineapple Bread out of the freezer to bring to them and realized I'd forgotten that, too. Oh well, such is life.


We get to their cabin about 2 or 2:30 and have a lovely visit. Jimmie & I stay inside visiting with her knitting on some wash clothes and Mickey & Wayne visiting outside. Wayne comes in to inform me we have "Joined the flat tire club". Apparently all of them in the area have had flat tires. Sure enough the right rear tire is flat as a pancake. There is a place that fixes them not too far and Wayne says we'll take it over first thing in the morning and they'll prepare it right away.

Later Wayne is cooking burgers outside on the fire and Jimmie and I are getting the fixings ready and the table set inside. I tell Mickey he better bring in our things so he can get his supper time meds out of the bag/satchel. He comes in the house to tell me we didn't bring the satchel. I think he is kidding me......which is not unusual and he loves to do. I proceed out to our car. Sure enough here is our bible and our two pillow and NOTHING else. We had forgotten the satchel. No clothes, no toiletries, no pills , no nothing.....except our Bible and our two pillows!!!!!


We "make-do" for the night. Put on the same clothes the next day and head out. First thing is to drop off the flat tire to be repaired while we run around. We first treated us to a lovely breakfast at Raspsberry Station. They all had omelette's and I had kiech. Then they take us to see the Roaring River Trout Fish Hatchery. What a lovely, beautiful sight. I am bemoaning not having my camera to take pictures of the huge cliff where the spring begins that pours into the Roaring River. I have never seen so many trout in my life. People everywhere fishing. They charge $2 for kids under 16 and $4 for adults, per day, and they can catch a limit of 5 each and are not allowed to throw any back. What you catch you have to keep and count.

We are heading back to pick up the tire when Jimmie asks if we'd ever seen The Little Golden Gate Bridge. We had not so much as heard of it so away we go.



The Little Golden Gate Bridge.

The Beaver Bridge, more commonly referred to as the little golden gate bridge, was constructed in 1949 to span the white river of Beaver, Arkansas. The one lane suspension bridge was designed in the same style as San Francisco's Golden gate bridge. The wood deck of the structure makes it one of the most unique functioning bridges in the United States. (Thank goodness I was able to buy post cards in lieu of the pictures I couldn't take!!)

We go back to pick up our repaired tire to find out that the nail damaged it beyond repair and we had to buy a new tire. Drats!!!!!! This tire is only 2 years old since we'd just bought our HHR on July 9, 2007. A new tire was not necessarily in our vacationing budget for the year :o( At least they were able to put it right on and we didn't have to come back again.

Back to the cabin with the new tire which Mickey & Wayne then proceed to put on our car. Wayne & Jimmie are disappointed, as are we, as we had planned to spend 2 nights and return on Saturday but Mickey had already missed his evening and then this mornings med's and we had to get back for his medicine.

The well laid plans of mice & men ofter go array........but we had Bible & Pillows....the most important things!!! and a grand time anyway.

By the way, when we returned home to see where we had left the satchel.... it was right on the couch where I had put it to insert the PJ's in on top!!!