Country road, take me home....our visit to Arkansas

In mid September we purchased a mini van and took her on an inaugural trip to visit Herb’s mom, Christine Riggs. She lives in a small town in northeastern Arkansas near the farm she grew up on. Christine’s sister, Gwen lives a mile away and the two of them are quite content to spend the rest of their days in Pocohantas.
We took three days of driving to get to Arkansas, visiting parts of the country I had yet to see. It was a beautiful drive and thanks to a built in DVD player, the kids did rather well. We drove the whole state of Virginia, all the way across Tennessee and sliced a corner of Missouri. While in Tennessee we stayed in Nashville and got to see our good friend, Sarah who is attending university there. Sarah has babysat our kids since Max was just a few months old and she is a wonder with them. The kids love her and it was great to spend time with her on our short stay. Nashville is a beautiful place and I told Herb I could see myself living there. It’s friendly, green and comfortable. I hope to return someday.
We spent a week with Christine and thoroughly enjoyed our time with her. It had been two years since the last time we saw Christine and you can imagine her delight with meeting her namesake, Eden Christine. We did nothing but relax and explore the area. The vacation was long in coming and it did all of us good to get away from the hustle and bustle of northern VA. Life takes on a different pace in Pocohontas and we felt relaxed and well rested upon our departure.




We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe with our good friend, Sarah on our way through Nashville.



We drove into Arkansas at dusk. The evening light cast golden shadows across the acres and acres of farm land. It was truly beautiful and a warm welcome from this land where my husband and children have roots.



It used to be that Arkansas farmers grew cotton as their cash crop, but now days you don't see much cotton. Most of what is grown is corn and soy. For miles around all you see are rows upon rows of these two crops.



Christine and Gwen took us to the family farm where they grew up and worked night and day as young girls. Their grandpa Hunter had homesteaded the place and now most of it is owned by Gwen and her son. They often go there to hunt. We took some lunch with us and after exploring the place we sat out in front of the old trailer home while Herb and I recorded a history of sorts and asked Gwen and Christine questions about growing up on the farm. The trailer home was brought to the farm after the original house burned down in a fire. Their mother hated living in the trailer, but their father refused to buy anything he couldn't pay for outright. While worn down and in need of upkeep, it still provides a warm place for hunting season. The following are a few photos of the family property.









Bedford Riggs' burial place is on small hill overlooking farmland for miles around. It's beautiful and peaceful. He and Christine picked out the spot before he passed away.



Gwen took us to Dan lake to do some fishing and we spent the better part of the day learning how to fish. The boys really "caught" onto it and before long Max was doing his own casting. They were disappointed with only two fish to show for it, but I think the noise and rocks thrown into the water detered the fish from our spot. It was an enjoyable afternoon of fishing, picnicing and relaxing.



Lincoln proved to be a fine fisherman.



Beautiful scenery to enjoy while patiently waiting for the fish to bite.



One of two catches of the day. The fish are called "brownies."



A young Tom Sawyer



While in Arkansas, I drove through the Ozarks to see a dear college friend and summer painting buddy. She and her husband have a darling family of girls and just love living in Fayette. After spending a couple of days with her, I could see why they like it there so much. Visiting Adriane was good for my soul and though we hadn't kept in touch much over the last few years, we picked up right where we left off. She is one of my favorite people and like family to me.



It was so nice to spend time with Christine and get to know the area where she had grown-up. She is an amazing woman of great faith, hard work, dedication and peaceable ways. She has been through much in her life with the loss of a husband, grandson and other challenges that life brings, but you will never hear her complain or want for more. I love and admire her greatly and wish we could see her more often.




Eden's favorite thing to do at grandma's place was to unload all the dvd's and cd's from grandma's tv stand. She did this over and over again.



On our drive back to VA we opted to take a different route that led us through Kentucky and West Virginia. We spent a night in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and visited the birthplace of Lincoln's namesake, Pres. Abraham Lincoln. Kentucky was beautiful and friendly and I wouldn't mind getting to know her better.