LostLifeFound: pictures

Four days after I was informed that I lost my job, I finally worked my last day, and left the building with my picture of Courtney as the last item. I am not saying this for dramatic effect, or to harp on the issue, but it is a powerful part of this story. I left the building with a lot of gratitude for my wonderful job at S1, and I was proud of the way I went out, with a lot of respect, hard work, and love. So when I arrived at home, I was not depressed, but I was emotionally tired. Also, I had evening activities the previous 4 days, so I was really ready to stay at home.

After dinner Courtney suddenly said, "Hey, let's go to Liberty Memorial, we can play bocce ball, and walk around." That spot in KC is our favorite place. But I eventually accepted to go only because she really wanted to.

So we drove there, and there was an event on the top of the Liberty Memorial, but there is still a long lawn. So we parked on the side, and climbed up the steep side hill and played bocce ball on the lawn. After that, Courtney had me sit down on the lawn and wait while she went and got me something out of the car to "cheer me up", about my recent job loss.

Then she came back up, and said "Dan come here". She had her hands behind her back, as if she was hiding something. So I was chasing her trying to find out what this gift was. She was standing on the edge of the hill. When I looked over the crest of the hill, I saw the most amazing message I will ever see.

It took my breath away and it was really mind blowing. We had been trying for a few months, and even though it was a short time, I had fears that maybe we wouldn't be able to get pregnant. I was taken completely by surprise. And then Courtney and I embraced, and it was an amazing moment.

Courtney had found out the previous day. She had always viewed this as her version of the engagement, that is, the amazing event that she got to plan and surprise me with! She did an amazing job!

Here are some more pictures we took:

Proud future parents!

Amazing view to complement the event!

Arkansas got chosen as state #3 because it was within driving distance. Sure, we could have flown somewhere with low cost. But we didn't consider it. It turned out to be good because we spent time with family. Next time around I think I'll be ready for more adventure in some random state far away.

The lesson learned in this trip is to completely discuss all plans with your family ahead of time. It is not ideal to search the Internet for stuff to do WHILE in that town! It all turned out fine, but I can go without the stress. And to further reduce stress, we will definitely buy GPS before our next driving trip. I think I have always gotten lost on the way to places, but I didn't really notice until I got married and had someone get impatient with me for getting lost. To me, a main goal of trips should be to have low stress. I feel that having GPS and planning ahead are things I learned for next time.

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I am a very slow packer and reluctant to leave the house, so the fact that we left ahead of the planned time was an accomplishment. Courtney drove the first part of the way, all the way to Springfield. Along the way we made a stop at Osceola Cheese. When we drove up I said "I thought it would be a lot classier." The outside look didn't matter. They have hundreds of cheese samples it seems, and a lot of creative flavors, such as Taco, Pepperoni, Spicy Garden Vegetable, Hickory, and so on. We chose a gift for Uncle Paul and Aunt Martha, and settled on the Basil Tomato Cheese and we also got a summer sausage.

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As you drive into Arkansas from Branson, it gets really curvy and hilly. The scenery is beautiful, and I saw some camping areas that I'd revisit if I ever get into camping. A few hours later we reached Bradford, AR, the home of my aunt and uncle.

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Paul and Martha live in a house with a long driveway. They have two dogs - one black one that barked at us the whole time, and didn't get close to us. He "took his job seriously". Then they also have a golden retriever that wanted lots of attention. Uncle Paul was mowing and welcomed us in, and Aunt Martha was visiting her mother, who had fallen recently and was in the hospital. He cut up the sausage and cheese we brought, and we caught up. Aunt Martha came later and we had a nice dinner together. Then we talked in the living room and caught up some more.

Me and the nice Golden Retriever

This clock is in their kitchen

The next day we went out and played disc golf, especially because rain was in the forecast for later that week, and we wouldn't get the chance later on. Uncle Paul went along. The course was in a town about 20 minutes down the highway. We got turned around and had to ask for directions at a gas station, and no one knew where the road was. And they pulled out a map, and it happened to be about 2 streets down. We couldn't find the first tee, but a shirtless middle aged man (it wasn't hot outside) sitting in a car told us all about the course. We had fun completing the course, and headed back to town. We had dinner with the family again, and packed up and headed down to Little Rock.

Courtney captured this stunning photo in Bradford, next door to their house:

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At the Ramada hotel we were greeted by a sign printed that said the pool was closed - sorry for the inconvenience. We didn't bring bathing suits, but we believe there should be some accountability for hotels and travel sites to communicate about broken amenities. The person at the desk was not really that friendly - and I signed a couple of things and gave a card for incidental damage. It was just not that welcoming. But the only thing that matters in hotels is a comfortable sleep, and we got that.

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In the morning we picked up Jennifer (got slightly lost along the way, even though it's a mile away from the hotel). She directed us to the Big Dam Bridge. There were two 5Ks ending, so we had to park a ways away, and we walked to the bridge

We headed down to the Clinton Presidential Museum. It truly is partisan and self-aggrandizing. I mentioned this and Jennifer said, "Are you really surprised?" The silence on the issue of Monica Lewinsky was screaming out in my opinion. But it is a good museum in the sense that it chronicles a lot of the political and cultural events of the 90s. It also has an impressive collection of gifts to the president from many countries.

We found a place to park and a place to eat at the River Market - Big Whiskey Bar and Grill. We really got to get to know Jennifer better. Then we *should* have walked down the street and gone to the Old State House museum because it was still open, but we did visit Ten Thousand Villages and some girly store. Then we went to Jennifer's apartment and played some Settlers of Catan. And we had dinner at Caruso's and continued to hang out with Jennifer, and then we took her to get her car from the shop, and headed back to the hotel.

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Sunday was my favorite day of the trip, because it was the least filled with uncertainty about what we were going to do. This has to do with how Courtney researched things to do and wrote down directions to everything.

First stop: the Central High School museum. This is right across from the high school and chronicles when the 9 Black students showed up to the integrated school and were greeted by a mob. And the military came in to help the students go to class. Just imagine how they were treated on the inside. This museum is spectacular.

Second stop: Riverfront. We didn't really find the "art on the riverfront" but we had fun walking around. We eventually went inside the hotel there and looked at the trained ducks that they have in the lobby. We took a ride up and down the elevator.

We went next door to the Old State House museum. This was the previous state capitol building until it deteriorated in the early 1900s. The first area had documentation on how they made the building a museum. "A museum about the museum." But there were better things, like recreated rooms with original style of furnishings, and first lady of Arkansas inaugural gowns.

Then we drove across the river to get a tour of the Inland Maritime Museum. It's an old submarine that is sitting in the harbor.

We left the submarine museum and headed West, then North through the scenic route through the mountains to Fayetteville.

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When we arrived at the hotel in Fayetteville, the receptionist said, Mr. Gras? I asked how he knew, and he replied sarcastically "We're really busy." We watched the Simpsons, and then decided on a place to eat. Then we cruised around the U of A. It is really compact, and has less green space than K-State. I'd say it's not impressive looking for a major state university. But the sports complex is right on campus, which is nice.

In the morning we decided to go to Devils Den State Park, which is 30 minutes South of Fayetteville. I really enjoyed it. I think the most fun things Courtney and I have done on trips are the outdoor/ hiking things. We took a nice hike and looked at caverns and waterfalls. Then we headed back home. state #3 down. Happy 3 year anniversary!!