Movin' on up! (to the downtown.): "Vacation" June 2010, Day 1.

I say "vacation" in quotations on purpose. This past Thursday I left the big city life to be the chauffeur for my mom and grandma on a trip to "the natural state" of Arkansas. Yes that is their state slogan. It was my grandma's class reunion and her sister was going to be there so it was a good time to go and visit. I was happy to get away for a few days at least, but I surely did not know what I was getting myself into apparently.

Lets start at the beginning. Day 1: Driving to Garfield, Arkansas.
Well we started off right on schedule and left the DF-Dub before 10am. We get on 121 and right before getting onto 75, there's construction. We got through it and like 2 seconds later in McKinney, the highway goes down to one lane! ARGH! what a way to start this 6 hour drive off.

We almost made it to the Oklahoma border when someone had to pee already. I hate stopping, but I had to remember grandma is almost 80 and has TBS: tiny bladder syndrome. ugh oh well. On we went and made it to Atoka, Oklahoma and had lunch at a Dairy Queen. Oh how I miss having a DQ nearby...

This was a tiny Dairy Queen. But at least it was open!

After eating lunch, we made it a few hours and made stop #3 at one of those Travel Station things like Love's. They certainly had the souvenirs there. Anything from t-shirts, to toy 18-wheelers with "The Godfather" or "Scarface" logos on them, to beef jerky and postcards, and even some dream catchers. I always say you know you're in Oklahoma when you see these....

And don't forget a snack!

or a souvenir...

After yet another stop, we finally made it to Garfield, Arkansas!!! We were staying with my grandma's friends/family on their 450 acre farm complete with cows, hay, and a garden. We got there right before dinner and grandma's sister and husband came over and wanted to take us to their favorite hang out place for dinner. Unfortunately for me, it was not a restaurant, but a gas station with a "grill" inside. I thought it would be safe to order a burger so I stuck with that. It was ok, but my viewing options were not so pleasant. There was a woman sitting at a gaming machine playing and chain smoking the whole time. I still wonder if she was winning anything. All I saw her do was put more money in the machine constantly.

Then a man, a woman, and their 2 year old boy come in. The kid is barefoot running around screaming and is covered in dirt. The man proceeds to raise his shirt and scratch his sweaty belly right next to our table. Right after that, he reached into the ice bin things that hold sodas and drinks and stuff, and grabs some ice and starts rubbing it all over his body and hairy legs. So gross.

And now we headed back to the house and went to bed. I woke up to this...