Stephen moves on and Crystal Bridges

For those of you that may not have heard yet, our tried and true 2004 Toyota Sienna with 256,000+ miles on it has FINALLY been retired...we started a trip a couple weekends ago to northwest Arkansas, only to get to the central part of the state and have the transmission start acting up...Given the costs of getting a transmission rebuilt, and the fact this vehicle already had so many miles on it, we took the plunge and purchased a new 2013 Toyota Sienna...we've been so happy with the performance of this brand that we got another one, and so far, we're thrilled with our new van!  Most of you will get a chance to see it over the next few months as we begin our summer travels...

Since the last blog we've also seen the kids finish up their school years, including Stephen's "graduation" to kindergarten...Below, Stephen marches with his "diploma":

Stephen was quite proud of his accomplishment:

Let's hope the Monticello school system is ready for our Stephen and his boundless energy!  Below, Stephen chills with his best buddy, Logan, after the formal ceremony:

This weekend, we were able to finally make that trip to northwestern Arkansas, which had a mission to visit a new and world-class art museum that recently opened in Bentonville, Arkansas--Crystal Bridges (http://crystalbridges.org/).  Now, if this seems strange to you, remember what is also located in Bentonville...it is the home of the world's largest retailer, Walmart!  One of the heirs to the Walmart (Walton family) fortune decided that the middle part of the US needed a world class museum featuring American artists, and we are truly thankful for their generosity!  Crystal Bridges is a beautiful facility, nestled in a little valley with wildflowers gracing the trails leading to the museum:

The entry is decorated with a large, fascinating sculpture of a twisted old oak tree made of stainless steel:

The museum buildings are carefully blended into the narrow "hollow" in the Ozarks:

Water features prominently in an interior courtyard:

Crystal Bridges has a number of permanent displays featuring American art, including several pictures of George Washington:

Here's Beth's impression of Washington:

A lot of the paintings featured "life" on the frontier:

Notice how the man coming to the aid of the trapper being attacked above is off with his aim...  There were also a large number of beautiful landscapes from the 19th century.  Not all of the art is colonial or early US...some is quite recent, such as the Andy Warhol painting below:

and here's one from Georgia O'Keefe:

This exhibit was mostly paintings and other drawings, but it did include a number of sculptures:

Including this rather abstract one of a horse that we had to get a picture of for Grandma!:

Even with all of this other art (which had free admission, by the way, courtesy of the Walmart Foundation), we actually went for a special exhibit...Here's Kenny taking a picture by the artist (hint, hint):

Yes, this was a traveling exhibit of some of the best of Norman Rockwell's work!  I wish I could show you more, but photography was not allowed inside the very crowded gallery...

We saw much of his work, and enjoyed it immensely!  The Crystal Bridges facility also has a lot of pretty trails, which we hiked a bit with the kids:

We ate at a very nice little Thai restaurant that night, and then settled in for the night at a local hotel.  The next morning, we headed back towards Monticello, with the goal of visiting a couple spots along the way.  One was the War Eagle bridge and mill, about a half-hour east of where we stayed.  The old iron bridge (which is still on a working highway, so we did drive across this) is quite pretty:

But the star of War Eagle is the old grist mill, with its still functioning (but newly remade) undershot wheel:

This tourist stop still operates the grinding operation and a restaurant, for which we intended to have breakfast at...but we got there a bit early, so we spent some time watching for fish from the bridge:

It is hard to tell from this picture, but the fish above (some kind of a gar, which is similar to pike for you Yankees) was probably at least three feet long!  We also got a good look at a heron hunting for smaller fish near the step-dam:

We the facility opened that morning, we first watched them get the mill operating:

then we had a very tasty breakfast, eagerly awaited by a pensive Beth:

As we continued back home, we drove through different parts of the Ozarks, and stopped briefly at the Buffalo National River, a world-famous canoeing stream with spectacular bluffs and forests:

Being Memorial Day weekend, it was full of people canoeing, rafting, and swimming...not really a wilderness experience on the river, but still quite pretty.  We stopped at a number of antique shops along the way before finally arriving in Monticello in time for a nice dinner with our neighbor Jessica, who had recommended we stop and get some really tasty smoked bacon at a small meat shop near the Buffalo River...a must stop for Lulu!!