Days 22, 23, and 24: Albuquerque, NM--Siloam Springs, AR--Indianapolis, IN

We had so much fun and so many friends to squeeze into a TOO SHORT visit to Arkansas that I didn’t even have time to update my blog, so I’ll try to summarize the past three days. 750 miles was how far we drove on Saturday – our longest travel day of the entire trip. We got up and packed, had breakfast, and were on the road by 6:30 that morning. The only reason Anthony didn’t kill us is because he was in a comatose state until about 11:30. But Olga and I were both very anxious to get to Elaine’s as soon as possible, so we drove long and hard all day with Chinese Fire Drill like stops for gas, snacks, meals, and restroom. (Is it politically incorrect to still talk about Chinese Fire Drills? If anyone is reading my blog in China please let me know) Once we left New Mexico the trip got to be considerably less scenic. Let’s just say that the constant picture-taking urge I’ve been experiencing for the past two weeks mysteriously subsided in the Texas panhandle. That makes me think of how patient dear Ann was with my Montana fixation! Once when we were caravanning somewhere she pulled over without my even asking and said “I knew you’d want a picture here!” (Ann, that’s what you get for living in Montana instead of Texas.) But speaking of favorite scenery, it is hard to beat the beautiful sight of driving across the Oklahoma border into Siloam Springs. Not because it is particularly breathtaking, but because both Olga and I have such a strong attachment to the place, even 20 years hence. Oh, and here is an amazing coincidence: We arrived there on Day 22 of the trip which was August 1, 2009. If I am remembering correctly, I believe I moved to JBU on August 1, 1984 – so Elaine and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary and didn’t even realize it until that night.

We started off with a quick drive through the JBU campus; Olga has not been back to Arkansas since 1997 and so many things have changed since then, we took a quick peek as we headed out to Sbanottos and then the next day Elaine and Stephen took us for a more deluxe campus tour. We were so happy to get to Pete and Elaine’s both because we miss them so much and because we’d been on the road so long! Her mom, who lives next door, was out of town and offered her beautiful house for us to use and that was so nice. Pete fixed us the most delicious dinner that night: Eggplant parmesan over pasta. Wow, all five of us ate like a tribe of starving banshees! Then after dinner we went out and sat on their porch and talked and laughed reminisced over sweet iced tea until late that night. Oh the sweet treasure of old friends – this whole trip has been such a precious reminder of that.

On Saturday Pete made pancakes for breakfast and I had told Anthony and Samantha that for once, they could sleep as long as they wanted that morning! So they took full advantage of it and got up about five minutes before noon! So Elaine and Stephen (her son who was two when I met her and is now 27!) took us on a town and campus tour. Siloam Springs has doubled in population since I left and there are so many nice changes. The whole area is really booming, largely because of Wal-Mart. JBU has put up so many nice new buildings and renovated old ones. (And torn down my beloved California Dorm, Grrrrrr!) We can hardly recognize the place! We drove by the Azzarito's old house which made me sad and I sure wished they could have been there too. We also stopped by to visit briefly with one of Olga’s favorite professors. Then we headed home because, true to form, Elaine had invited over everyone she could think of from Siloam Springs who still remembers us! She and Pete put on a big spread and a mob of people showed up! It was so much fun! It felt like we’d never been away. Even Lynette Harper, a good friend of both of ours drove over from Tulsa with her new husband and baby )and some heavenly chocolate chip cookies!) Amy and Steve Onnen, Amy’s parents: Wil and Donna Gardner, Ruth Abbey, Molly Orcutt Torres and her family, Pete and Laurie Eldridge and family, Jeff and Lorena Anglin and family, the Sbanotto boys: Michael and Stephen who are both all grown up now. It was like a Gaither Homecoming Video without the singing! (and with fewer beehive hairdos) Oh, we all enjoyed ourselves so much! And it sure made Olga and me miss Arkansas more than ever. And wow, you should have seen all the food!

When the party finally wound down about 9pm we sat down once again with Pete and Elaine--fat and happy, but sad that our brief visit was already over. We got up this morning and got ourselves pulled together and Elaine buzzed home from work about 9am to say goodbye to us. Now we are driving across Missouri en route to Indianapolis where we will stop for the night with Jim White’s Mother’s Apple Pie. (And yes, I just talked to Jim and he DID make an apple pie! If you’ve ever had my apple pie that I’ve made over the past 26 years, I got the recipe from Jim’s mom) Once again it will be a too brief visit with Jim and sadly no time to see the rest of our Indiana friends as we have to make it all the way home tomorrow for Olga to work on Wednesday and for Anthony to go to basketball practice. (Although I think that his undying commitment to Fillmore athletics centers much more on one of the cheerleaders than to summer BB workouts.)

I think I’ll write one last chapter for this on Tuesday night once we are all the way home.