Arkansas, Fort Smith: Final Farewells in the Fort

With two of Kyle's final family goodbyes in Arkansas out of the way, we made our way to Fort Smith so we could see his dad (Leon), stepmum (Linda), grandma (Ruth), uncle (Paul) and cousin (Rachael) one last time before we began our five week road trip across the southwest United States. Time was running short for us when we were there and we didn't manage to say goodbye to his stepsister (Danielle), so it was a good thing that she had gone to Fayetteville (also in Arkansas) a couple of nights before, when we were there visiting Kyle's sister's family.

Travelling to Fort Smith from Fayetteville was one of the easiest trips we have had this year. It was a short 45 minute drive between the two cities and the interstate took us through the beautiful Boston Mountains. When we left Fayetteville, we said our final farewell to Kelli, Clay and Samantha, as well as their two beagles, Sassy and Layla. Three of us were in the car, heading to our last stop in Arkansas; besides us, Kyle's mum (Judy) had come along for the ride. Rather, she let us use her car to get to Fort Smith.

The first thing we did when we arrived was pick up Ruth, who had been waiting anxiously for us to get there. We were an hour and a half late because we had gotten a later start from Fayetteville than we had planned, but Ruth was okay with that once we picked her up and were headed to lunch. She was starving, though, as were we by the time the four of us were in Judy's car!

Calico County was the restaurant of choice for us, a place where Ruth really enjoyed eating; Judy also liked the food, so it was a wonderful establishment for our lunch. They served southern style cooking there, with a wide variety of dishes on offer, and each meal came with a choice of two vegetables, of which there were numerous selections that we could make.

Ruth ordered fried catfish, her favourite dish when dining out, with black eyed peas and breaded okra on the side. Judy ordered the grilled catfish with green beans and salad as her two sides, a slightly healthier but just as tasty meal. We shared a plate because of the large portions, and totally enjoyed our meal of chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Before we ordered our food, the friendly waitress had brought us some freshly baked cinnamon rolls, a trademark treat at Calico County. With butter spread on top of the rolls, they were a delight going into our mouths.

An exciting activity occurred after lunch - we got to pick up a rental car, which we would drive from Arkansas to the neighbouring states of Oklahoma and Texas, in the spirit of continuing friendly reunions, with as many people as possible that we know in the US, whilst we were there during the summer of 2007. The plan was to pick up a small economy sized car in Arkansas and, after driving to Norman and Oklahoma City, both in Oklahoma, we would then drive to Amarillo and Dallas, both in Texas, before exchanging the car for a sport utility vehicle (SUV), making our drive more comfortable during our road trip to California.

We ended up keeping the economy sized car until we arrived in Austin, Texas, because we found a better rate on an SUV there; a word of warning for any future travellers in the US, be sure to shop around with different car rental agencies (we found the best rates and options with Avis) to see what sort of deals are out there, and also make sure to look at different pickup locations in the bigger cities. From our extensive planning, we found that picking up a car at an airport location tended to cost up to hundreds of dollars more than, say, picking up a car in a downtown branch. Airport taxes were also added to car rentals and in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the taxes were almost $300 extra (£150), whereas picking up a car at the North Dallas Avis location meant that there was no airport tax at all! A final tip for any one-way car renters; some locations charge one way fees and some don't; you can most always get a booking without a one-way fee if you book the car between two major cities.

Picking up the car took longer than expected but Ruth and Judy patiently waited in Judy's car while we sorted everything out with the rental. When we finally had the keys to the car, we couldn't find the vehicle, so we ended up having to walk back inside to see if there had been some sort of mistake. There was an aisle of Avis cars along the fence of the parking lot, but the aisle was marked as a Budget car aisle, hence the confusion. After a few more minutes of walking out in the extreme heat, we found ourselves inside a nice little black Suzuki Firenza. Don't rent a black car in the heat of the summer - it was way too hot inside!

Ruth joined us once the interior of the car had cooled off; Judy said goodbye to both of us and headed back to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she lived. Kyle was sad to say goodbye to his mum after many fun times this summer, but he was also excited to get nearer to closing out the Arkansas portion of the trip, so we could both see areas of the US that neither of us had been to before. We took Ruth back to her house because we had plans to meet up with a friend of Kyle's from Southside High School, which he attended. When we dropped Ruth off, we made sure she had a copy of one of the DVD movies that Kyle had created, showcasing the photos from our Asian trip at the first half of the year. The first movie was 2-1/2 hours long and she loved watching it.

In our last Fort Smith travel journal entry, we mentioned a coffee shop located on Rogers Avenue, the main street that ran north and south in Fort Smith. Sweet Bay Coffee had free wireless internet for any customers enjoying coffees or other drinks, or food, inside the place. We had some really tasty iced coffees and waited to meet Heather. She arrived after she finished work, something that was becoming more and more foreign to both of us, having not worked in over seven months.

It was great for Kyle to catch up with a friend of his whom he had not seen since graduating from high school about 15 years ago. She seemed to be very happy, she was raising a little boy on her own and doing a great job of it. After we said goodbye to Heather, we went for a quick bite to eat at El Lorito, a delicious Mexican restaurant located in downtown Fort Smith. The queso dip there was made with a pale white cheese and was some of the best we had ever eaten; nearly every main course they served had the queso poured over the top of it and they also served it in a bowl as an appetiser.

We ate a lot of chips, salsa and queso, with it being so good, and we very wisely shared a main course, which was a huge pork burrito with rice and refried beans served on the plate. Unlimited refills of Dr. Pepper (for Kyle) and Coca-Cola (for Dan) were the preferred, perfect, palate-pleasing pick-me-ups to go along with the food. When dinner was finished, we went back to Ruth's house to say goodnight to her, before heading to the Wal-Mart pharmacy where Leon worked. We had planned to buy several things at Wal-Mart for our trip, mostly camping supplies, and Leon offered to use his employee discount for us, so we could save some money. He had already bought us a tent, which was extremely helpful, and we really appreciated the extra offer!

Linda was home when we made it to Leon's and Linda's house, and the four of us watched one of the DVDs that Kyle had made. We ended up watching a DVD that started with our Chengdu, China, photos; it was a nice way to remember our trip and we have since made copies of the movies for ourselves, too. It was rather late when we stopped watching the movie and we all went to bed, tired from a long day; Linda will have to rewatch the movie because she started to get dozy after the first destination set of photos and was pretty much comatose throughout the movie.

A really early start was required the next morning because Kyle had planned to have breakfast with a couple more friends of his, from the clothing store he had worked in when he attended high school and university. Chandra was the Buckle store manager and Siti ran the alterations and freight department; it was good for Kyle to see them, since it had been at least a couple of years since he saw them last. We bid goodbye to Leon and Linda and, again, Kyle was sad that he would not see his family again until sometime next year.

Calico County was on the cards again for breakfast; Chandra and Siti actually suggested eating there because they had such good food at all times of the day. Ruth went with us again that morning, so we had to pick her up after leaving Leon's and Linda's house at 7:00am. Breakfast was at 7:30am and we got there at 7:35am, after making good time driving across town to pick up Ruth and then back across town to the restaurant. Everyone ordered different breakfasts and the plates around the table were filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, omelettes, spicy breakfast potatoes and hash browns, in a number of combinations; coffee and orange juice were also spread around the table. There were six people in total because Siti had brought her husband, Bill, to eat breakfast with us.

Another reunion and another big meal had us leaving the restaurant satisfied on both counts. We needed to walk off some of the food we had eaten, so we offered to take Ruth to a few places before returning her to her house. First, we swung by Paul's house to say hello and goodbye to him and Rachael, as well as Rachael's boyfriend, Levi. Paul gave us a large box full of Frito Lay potato chips (that's the same as crisps for the British people reading this) and other snacks; we were thankful because that would provide a lot of cheap eats during our road trip. Rachael and Levi were headed to Tulsa for a short weekend getaway and it was good that we caught them in time, before they left Fort Smith.

When we left Paul's house, we took Ruth to see her sister-in-law, Virgie (we think that would be Kyle's great aunt), who was living in a home for the elderly because she could no longer take care of herself. Ruth was really worried that Virgie wouldn't know who she was, because she had heard that Virgie was getting worse with Alzheimer's. When we arrived, Virgie was sitting in a wheelchair right inside the entrance and she recognised Ruth immediately, as well as Kyle. The visit was short, but it hopefully gave Ruth the encouragement to go and visit her again sometime in the near future.

There was one final thing that Kyle wanted to do with Ruth before we left town for good. We drove her to the cemetery where Kyle's grandpa (Leon, Sr.) was buried. After visiting his grave and reflecting with his grandma for a short while, we took her home and picked up our things, which we had left there overnight. Hugs were passed around, even to Ruth's little dog, Bo, and we were on our way to Norman, or so we thought...

Before we left Fort Smith, Kyle wanted to finish the last DVD movie (out of 5 in total) from the Asian portion of our trip, for Leon. He had completed the other four movies but didn't get a chance to complete the last one. Each one took several hours to burn onto a DVD disc, because the encoding process took a while, so we decided to wait at Sweet Bay Coffee for the last movie to finish. We worked on the travel journal during that time and then surprised Leon at his workplace, to give him the last DVD.

A couple of more purchases at Wal-Mart had to be made before we left, then we ate a snack at Braum's, a fast food ice cream restaurant. We shared a sandwich with a fried chicken breast covered in cheese and bacon, as well as a bacon cheeseburger. We decided to try both kinds of sandwiches and compare them with each other and with other fast food places we had been frequenting. Dan had never eaten at Braum's before and he gave the restaurant a gold star upon leaving.

Finally, we started the three hour drive to Norman, Oklahoma, where we were due to meet up with Yumi and Jeff, and Marcy and Mike, as well as a plethora of children who have popped out of the females' wombs. Kyle cheered at the University of Oklahoma with Jeff, Yumi and Marcy and he also taught summer camps with them all for the National Cheerleaders Association, during the summers when he attended university. The reunion with them was sure to be a fun one and also a great way for Kyle to find out what had been happening with them and other friends of his over the past several years.