Turkey Track

Took our annual trip to the little town of Waldron, Arkansas to go to the Turkey Track Bluegrass Festival. Love love love going to this festival! It is a Wednesday through Saturday festival but this year we only got to go on the Friday. We left early Friday morning to get there by 1:00. I have to stop a lot, bathroom breaks or flea market breaks or gift shop breaks, yeah, whatever, but we get there in time...

This year was great as usual, but the whole trip seemed goofy messed up. It was one of those trips we will talk about for a long time and laugh every time we talk about it.

We usually stop at the King's River gas station, and while Bob is getting gas or snacks, I browse through the gift shop. Sad story...many years ago when we stopped there, I saw a figurine type thing I really wanted. It was an old hillbilly/farmer/logger type man, sitting on an open wagon, with logs in the wagon. It was pulled by a couple of mules. I wanted it but it cost $30 and I thought it was too much money to spend. I would gladly spend it now because I have thought about it so much I think it is worth it. It was just a cute little knick-knack, more clutter, but I thought it was cute because it had to do with logging.  Well, we have stopped in there several times in the past several years and that knick-knack is there no more. I hunt for it every time I go in there. Someday I will find one. 

There was lots of construction on the way there. They were re-building a couple of bridges and straightening some of the roads. Lots of construction. Seemed like it didn't slow us down much. Pretty light traffic. Still got to Turkey Track around 1:15, missed maybe 10 minutes of the first group, The Hartley Family. They were really good.

Anyway....love that bluegrass! We got to see Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver. Now I love that group dearly, they are the best. Saturday night was going to be Rhonda Vincent and the Rage and I dearly dearly love that band also, but we couldn't stay the extra day this year. Scott was gone to drill and I didn't want Julie and the kids to be alone all weekend. I know she and the kids would have been fine, but I wanted to be there with them.

Anyway...the music was great! We also saw Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers who we also saw back in September at Starvy Creek, and I have really decided I like that group a lot. 

We decided to go back out on the highway at Waldron at supper break and rent a room so we wouldn't have to do that at 11:30 at night. It's around 8-10 miles from Turkey Track. We went to the same motel we used before but they were full up for Friday night but had a room for Saturday night. No good, we needed the room Friday night. Sooo....went across the road to another little motel.....oh myyyy. Yes, they had one room left, but it was a smoking room. Did I want to see it? I asked Bob, figuring he would rather go up the road an hour or sleep in the car before sleeping in a smoking room. Sure, he said, let's look. Arggghhh, it was smoky smelling. Stunk. But, we decided to take it. I decided to go to $ General or Walmart and get some air fresheners to freshen it up a little. 

I asked the lady where was the Dollar General or Walmart? Was they close? She gave me some silly answer, she said did I like Dollar General better? Walmart was closed, she said, then laughed like it was a really good joke. She never did tell me where it was. We were on the loop or bypass of the town, so we drove up the highway 2-3 miles, and 2-3 miles down through homes and through the business section to find something.......old old town and no Dollar General or Walmart in sight. Bob pulled into a gas station to get some gas and I asked a man where either store was. The Dollar General was back the way we came, turn left at the stop light, and a couple of blocks down. The Walmart was truly closed down...

Anyway, finally found Dollar General. They must really miss the Walmart because it was packed with people. Maybe they always preferred Dollar General, maybe that is why Walmart closed down...the aisles were piled up with merchandise and boxes waiting to be put out. Anyway...got air fresheners, went on out the road Dollar General was on and came out a block from the motel. Was not amused. Well, actually we were. We are easily amused and laugh at ourselves all the time. Sprayed down our room with febreeze and plugged in the freshener thingy and back to the bluegrass we went.

Had a wonderful fantastic time listening to bluegrass. Walked around looking in the little stores at merchandise, had some great "Turkey Milk ice cream" hahaha.

We had eaten a burger and fries meal shortly after we got to Turkey Track  and I was still kinda full, but Bob decided he wanted a corn dog and I said I would have one too. He went to get them and stayed gone for a good half hour. He came back empty handed. Said they were out of corn dogs. The lady in the concession trailer said her son was supposed to bring her another couple of boxes of corn dogs two hours before but hadn't shown up. They had chili dogs and hot dogs but no corn dogs.Said to come back a little later she was sure he would show up with the corn dogs. I didn't care, I don't like corn dogs that much, but about an hour later, Bob tried again, said if they didn't have corn dogs he would get chili dogs. Again he came back empty handed again. The son had never brought the corn dogs, and so Bob had tried to get a chili dog, but they were out of all dogs by then...hahahahaha....in the meantime I had wandered over to another concession trailer and got a big bag of kettle corn, which I'd rather have than a corn dog anyway, so we just ate that.

The festival was good. The room smelled better when we got back, so we slept okay. Got up and started out the next morning for home.

Got about 10 miles up the road, and there in the road stood a woman with a stop/slow sign like the highway department uses. I said surely they aren't working on the roads on a Saturday? No, surely they weren't. When we got closer, we saw that there was a marathon being run, right up the highway we were driving on....ugh. I wanted Bob to turn around and go a different way, but at that point we didn't know it was a marathon, thought it was a 5k or something like that, so we went on. Runners all over the road. Going BOTH ways. We got behind a little pickup that was driving really slow with the flashers flashing, and every time it passed a runner, the driver slowed down even more, and was giving the runners a "thumbs up" and shouting encouragement...I think....hahaha. Well we followed him maybe 2 miles doing this and finally Bob had enough. The pickup slowed down even more right in front of us and beside a tent where they were handing out fruit and water to the runners, stopped and started backing up towards the tent. Bob swung out and went around and we were gone like a ruptered duck in a hail storm....

more later......

Rylan

Started babysitting my youngest great grandson in middle September. Courtney decided to work a few days a week so I said I would babysit for her.

Rylan is a sweet little guy, loves to be cuddled, loves to eat, my word, he is a little chunk. I don't know exactly how much the little feller weighs, but he is heavy. I will have to remember to weigh him soon.

I don't know how it is going to work in the long run, I am doing okay handling him right now. He is a big 3 month old baby but I can still handle him pretty good. I have to lay him on the couch or bed a lot and sit or lay beside him because if I hold him too long my arms go numb. That has worked really well so far, as long as he is in a good mood...hahaha

Julie says she will help me on the days I don't feel good or have to do something. She loves to cuddle him and take care of him. She doesn't feel very well most of the time though so I need to be really careful about taking advantage of her. 

I think we will get along fine.

Starvy Creek

Went to Starvy Creek Bluegrass Festival again this year, first a couple of afternoons in July and then on the Thursday night and all day Friday and Saturday in September.

Such a good festival. Been going several years now, and one of my favorite places to go and spend time.

Saw and heard so many good bluegrass bands. Of course, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver was a favorite, as was Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and we saw the Grascals, who I thought I might not like, but liked a lot.

Got to visit with good friends and catch up with everybody.

Ate some so-so hamburgers, and some GREAT pie and ice cream. Caramel corn too. 

Just getting to be there, sitting outside with all those other people, soaking in the bluegrass, was so good. I needed it.