Road Trip Day 34 – Arkansas day 6: Silver Dollar City

Clint and I didn’t wake up until 11 am after Thanksgiving. I guess we really were in turkey tryptophan comas. After showering and getting dressed, we made Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches. I love leftover Thanksgiving sandos. And, I make the best leftover sandwiches ever: gravy on one side of toasted bread, cranberry sauce on the other side, heated turkey and stuffing in the middle. A lot of people skip the cranberry or the gravy, which just isn’t right.
Today, Toni was taking us to Silver Dollar City. SDC is in Branson, Missouri, about 2 hours from Flippin.

I’ve heard about Silver Dollar City since Clint and I started dating. Visiting this theme park while in Arkansas was a must. The spotlight at Silver Dollar City is on the handmade. A wide array of craftspeople work here; demonstrations are a big part of the fun. Plus, this is the home of the funnel cake. Or so Toni and Clint claim.
We arrived at Silver Dollar City just before 2, and boy was it cold! That didn’t stop people from coming here, which was kind of nice to see. While I don’t love crowds, I did appreciate that the cold didn’t keep people inside. Instead, families were here bundled up in sweatshirts and jackets, gloves and scarves, and babies were covered in thick blankets.
Our first order of business once inside the park was to get a map and some hot apple cider. From there, we meandered through the park towards our first ride for the day: Fire in the Hole. I’d heard all about Fire in the Hole from Clint, and was excited to check out the old roller coaster. There wasn’t much of a line when we got there, and we were on the old cart in just a few minutes.


Fire in the Hole tells the story of a group of Baldknobbers, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Knobbers) who have burned a village down. There is a part of the ride where someone apparently tries to put out the fire with water, so I spent much of the ride crouched down, trying to avoid getting splashed in the face. However, what I did see reminded me of the old Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Disneyland. There was a saloon, a burning hotel, and a man in red pajamas hanging from an upstairs window, complete with music and voices. We left the ride with only small sprinkles of water on our clothing. As things sometimes go, some of us were a bit disappointed. The ride wasn’t as fun as Clint remembered it growing up.
We decided we had better try a newer roller coaster, and headed to the next closest one. We arrived in time to find that it was being shut down for mechanical problems. While we were disappointed that we would not be able to ride it, we were pretty pumped that we didn’t have to wait in line to find that out. Or worse, find out that there were mechanical problems while we were on the ride.
Time for kettle corn! Most of the food options at Silver Dollar City were cooked outside for viewing pleasure, and of course kettle corn was one of those foods. One man poured popped corn from a big kettle into another large kettle, where the next man stirred the corn, and shook out the small pieces.


The kettle corn was really good, and we ate it while walking around the park. We passed all sorts of craft shops before heading into a pottery shop. Someone was throwing then and there for us to watch, and we were surrounded by pottery made and glazed there by Silver Dollar City craftsmen. After browsing for a while, we decided it time for another ride.
This next ride was an old wooden roller coaster, but had been there while Clint was growing up. We again arrived to find that there was no line, and ran to the next available car. As the cart pulled up and emptied, we noticed we were going to be riding backwards. We fretted about this for a few seconds before deciding that roller coasters were meant to be scary, and this would add to the thrill. Boy was it fun! Riding backwards was especially scary while climbing the long, slow, roller coaster hill characteristic for these rides. None of us had any idea how big the drop would be. It made for a good ride. As we disembarked, we all agreed that we should do it again. After all, there wasn’t really a line. So, Toni, Clint, and I ran back through the maze to the front of the line. We decided that backwards was the way to go on this one. The father and daughter facing us in the back of the car dared us to ride the whole way with our hands up, and we just couldn’t refuse.
The second time around, the ride was just as thrilling, and we considered doing it a third. However, as our feet hit solid ground, we reconsidered. Dizzy and nauseous, we decided it was time to see what else this park had to offer.



Our next stop was the glass blowing workshop. We arrived in time to watch a skilled older man finish a vase. He narrated a little while working the glowing glass into its final shape. Once finished, the vase sets over night in a 900° F oven. We wandered around the adjacent shop before realizing that we were all famished. So we ventured out into the brisk evening on the search for food.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldknobbers ) who have burned a village down. There is a part of the ride where someone apparently tries to put out the fire with water, so I spent much of the ride crouched down, trying to avoid getting splashed in the face. However, what I did see reminded me of the old Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Disneyland. There was a saloon, a burning hotel, and a man in red pajamas hanging from an upstairs window, complete with music and voices. We left the ride with only small sprinkles of water on our clothing. As things sometimes go, some of us were a bit disappointed. The ride wasn’t as fun as Clint remembered it growing up.

As I mentioned before, much of the food at SDC is cooked outside. As it was so cold, we were hoping to find a sit-down restaurant. Alas, after scaling the park, we found that all of the sit-down restaurants were buffet style. Buffet style isn’t really any of our styles, so we settled on a succotash sauté cooked in an outdoor skillet and a pulled pork sandwich. The food was a bit disappointing, but I assure you that it was better than what you’d find at Great America or Disneyland.
After dinner, we decided it was time for the much anticipated funnel cake. We arrived just in time! The parade was starting and we were able to watch it from the vantagepoint of the slightly raised funnel cake stand.


The funnel cakes were indeed delicious; Toni had traditional powdered sugar on top and Clint had powdered sugar and blackberry preserves. I ate a little of each of theirs, and found myself covered in white powder within seconds. No one else seemed to be having any trouble.

When the parade concluded, we bee-lined it straight to the train. Toni got us hot chocolate and we boarded the train in under 10 minutes time. We were really having good luck with the lines today. The train ride took us around the park, and then stopped for a ‘show’ mid-way. The show was a religious Jesus story due to the upcoming holiday, but apparently there is usually a train hold-up. I was sorry to have missed the train robbers.
After riding the train, we walked around the park a bit more. It was getting late and cold, so we didn’t last much longer. Toni drove us back to Flippin and we called it a night before too long. It was a really fun day.

Road Trip Day 33 – Flippin, Arkansas day 5: Thanksgiving!

Toni was up early, and had made both a pumpkin and a pecan pie before I had finished my second espresso. It was time for me to start the stuffing prep.
Luckily, Courtney was there to help, since Toni and I weren’t entirely sure how to handle the bird. Courtney helped finish the stuffing and helped to stuff it into the bird. I had no idea that you literally shoved the stuffing into the birds’ cavities with such force. I guess I now know why it’s called stuffing. We were really pressing as much stuffing as we could into that 14-pound organic turkey. The rest of it went into a casserole dish. You really can’t have too much stuffing. Even though there were only 6 of us, I thought it best to double the stuffing recipe.

Once stuffed, Gary came to sew up the bird. We weren’t able to find anything but string at the supermarket, so it’s lucky that Gary is trained in surgery. He gamely put on some scrubs (for the photo op) and used his special veterinary tools to tie up our bird.

He told us that his tool was clean and that we did not want to know what it was normally used for; we were thankful that he knew how to close up the bird and thought no more about it.

 

Once all tied up, Courtney and I wrapped the bird with butter-soaked cheesecloth and popped it into the oven. We finally had time for a champagne break!

Except that I couldn't open the champagne...

Clint would have to step in

Something must have been wrong with the cork, I mean, I'm from Sonoma

Finally! Cheers!

We spent the next 5 hours basting the turkey, and it felt like we had been cooking all day before it was ready. I have newfound respect for anyone who has cooked a Thanksgiving meal, especially if they did it on their own. We were unsure what temperature the bird needed to be cooked to, and probably would have overdone it had Toni not been there to look it up online. We pulled it out when the thick part behind the thigh reached 183, just 3 degrees past perfect.

Our turkey was perfectly golden, just as my mom promised it would be beneath the charred cheesecloth.


We were starving by now, so Gary quickly carved the turkey while Toni and Courtney made the mashed potatoes and I did the gravy. It was almost 8 by the time we sat down to dinner, and I was a bit tipsy from the champagne. I think it’s impossible to get Thanksgiving mealtime right; I either eat too much all day and can’t fit in enough turkey, or I’m starving by dinner and my stomach’s too shrunken to eat enough turkey.

Thank goodness Toni is from California so we can enjoy good wine with every meal. Tonight, we had both white and red wine (and the aforementioned champagne) and were almost too satiated to eat dessert. Almost, but not quite. I had the pecan pie, and it was perfect! We all went to bed not too long after dinner, all full and in our respective turkey tryptophan comas.

Road Trip Day 32 – Flippin day 4: one day until Thanksgiving

Normally, my parents do most of the Thanksgiving work. I’ve only ever made the yams and the gravy. I’ve made the cranberry sauce once when Rosie was gone, but my parents do the turkey and the stuffing and all of the vegetable sides-so basically the bulk of the meal. This is my first Thanksgiving away from home, so it was crucial that I make my parents stuffing. I’ve been emailing and talking with my mom about the stuffing for the last few days.
Toni and I went grocery shopping a few days ago, but without our list, we were easily distracted. I’ve always enjoyed grocery stores, so it’s no surprise that going in one gets me a bit sidetracked. When shopping for our Thanksgiving meal, we forgot stuffing’s most important ingredient: bread. So, out we went again for the last few ingredients, while Clint went to the farm with Gary.
From my understanding, the farm is just some open land that the Ponders own several miles from Flippin. It is here that Toni and Gary currently keep their 4 horses. Clint and Gary went to visit and feed the horses, while Toni and I did Thanksgiving meal shopping and prep.

The chefs deserve a drink! Egg nog with rum: yum!

After dinner, the four of us sat down to a game of spades. I first learned spades from Bubba and Cheryl while in Montana, but grew up playing hearts, and the idea is similar. A major difference is that spades is played in teams; so Toni and I teamed up against the men for a close game of cards. We finished the game just before Nick and Courtney arrived from Conway with their dogs. Us kids (we’re still kids, right?) stayed up late watching Harry Potter before stumbling to bed.

Road Trip Day 31 – Flippin, Arkansas day 3

Toni has this week off, so she’s able to take us around, which is nice. We headed out in the afternoon for a hike. We were looking for a place called Hawksbill Crag.
Getting anywhere in this area seems to involve a long and windy drive. I’ve never experienced getting car sick before this state. It was two hours before we reached what we thought was the trail, and I think all of us were happy to be getting out of the car.


Buffalo River Trailhead sign

The trail sign did not mention Hawksbill Crag at all, but we decided to go ahead and hike it anyway.

The trail was nice, it meandered through a thick wooded area before it emptied onto a small plateau.


The trail continued, but we decided that this was a good place to turn around. The grasses in the area were flattened in patches where animals had rested. Some patches also had clumps of earth dug up, so we couldn’t decide if elk or deer or hogs had been lying about. We missed the fall colors in this state, but with all of the trees you could tell it would have been stunning.  It was beautiful regardless, but the trees are so thick it's hard to capture the beauty.

We couldn't help it-we're obsessed with fungi

It was dark when we got back, and all of us were famished. We made a quick and delicious dinner of lamb chops and leftover squash.

Road Trip Day 30 – Flippin, Arkansas day 2

Thanksgiving week is already here. It’s amazing how quickly the time passes when you’re on vacation. We decided that we had better get some Thanksgiving shopping done today so we would have better produce options. So, after another lazy morning, Toni and Clint and I headed into Mountain Home.
Mountain Home is about 20 minutes away from Flippin, and it’s where Clint went to high school and where Toni now works. The town of Flippin has a population of just over 1,000 people, and Mountain Home has one of just over 11,000 people. Mountain Home is really the best option for shopping in this area.
We started with lunch at a local pizza place called Nima’s. Nima’s has actually won an award this year at the International Pizza Challenge. Their pizza ranked #1 in the US for best traditional pizza. The place is no frills. I’m not exaggerating. The tables are covered in plastic tablecloths with a loud print, the pizzas are served to you in a cardboard box (regardless of if you’re eating in or out), the silverware is plastic. If you want a drink, you can get it yourself out of the vending machine in the corner. This includes water. The pizza was good though, and the 3 of us almost finished the entire pie.
After lunch, we picked up some groceries at the Truck Stop, a great organic produce market. They had local farmed mushrooms, so we made up a mushroom cream sauce and served it over baked spaghetti squash for dinner. We also sautéed rainbow chard with sausage so Clint and Gary could have some meat with their dinner. It feels so good to have kitchen access again.

Road Trip Day 29 – Flippin, Arkansas day 1

We woke up quite late, even by our standards. I guess after all of that driving we were ready to relax. And relax we did! After we all had our espressos (from the handy push-button machine), Toni fixed us eggs and biscuits and bacon and we all sat down to breakfast. Breakfast occurred around noon, so I guess if you’re one of those that names the meal based on the time of day, we were having lunch. I prefer to name the meal based on order, like the hobbits would: breakfast, elevensies, lunch, second lunch, etc.
We spent the day hanging out and getting settled. We did laundry, caught up with Clint’s family, and checked emails. Toni and Gary have 3 dogs: 2 australian shepherds, and 1 border collie mix. These big, long-haired dogs were being dog-sat until today. Once brought back home, the people to dog ratio was a whopping 6:5!
I was excited to have a kitchen again, and decided to make some chili. Toni took me to a grocery store in Yellville, a neighboring town, for the last few ingredients. Clint stayed back and played pool with his dad and brother.

The turkey chili was done in no time, as we used canned beans, and we all sat down to eat in the dining room. Clint loves chili, so Tanya and I would make about a batch a week when they lived together in the city. Our favorite version includes topping the thick soup with cabbage, shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, and chips. Because of the added greens, we call this the California version, and after all of our camping meals I was really craving it.

Nick and Courtney live in Conway, which is about 2 hours from Flippin. Courtney had to work Monday, so the two of them headed out after dinner and the rest of us sluggishly staggered to bed.

Day 28 – Hays, KS to Flippin Arkansas!

Clint laid in bed while I went down to scope out our free breakfast. I must admit that free continental breakfasts east of California are not too shabby. It’s not just your run-of-the-mill packaged pastry and a weak pot of coffee, fruit if you’re lucky. Every hotel we’ve been to on our trip has put out a pretty good spread. The Hays Day’s Inn was no exception. There was of course coffee and juice and pastries, but there was also oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, fruit, doughnuts, yogurt, and there was even a waffle iron and batter for do-it-yourself waffles! I grabbed us a few snacks and headed back to the room.
The day was cold, and there was so much fog, you couldn’t see further than a few hundred feet. We felt a bit bad for the hunters; there was no way one could see well enough to shoot a bird. And it wasn’t like there could possibly be that much more going on out here. What was the hunters back up plan? We were on the road before 11 am, and knew only one thing that was a must for the day: lunch in Salinas at the Cozy Inn.
Rosie’s old roommate Sonia, and her husband Chris, told us that since we were driving through Salina anyways, the Cozy Inn was a must. Sonia has a healthy (unhealthy?) love of bacon, so we knew that we could trust her food opinion. The Cozy Inn is about 10 miles off of the 70, into the quaint suburb of Salina. Turns out that this tiny restaurant has been awarded Kansas’ 2010 Best Burger award, and it was worth the stop!

The staff was exceedingly affable, and asked us right away if this was our first time there. When they learned that it was, they showed us the burger size and told us how many most people usually ate. See, I’ve been calling them burgers, because that’s how they were presented, but these are slider-sized burgers. Clint went with the 6-burger combo, which included a soda and chips (no fries here!), and I went with the kids’ sized 2-burger combo. While we waited in the narrow space, we watched our burgers being made and answered questions about where we were from and where we were going.
We were back on the road in just a few minutes time, as we opted to eat in the car.

We chose to eat in the car because we began to think we could make it all the way to Flippin by tonight. I finished my two burgers without a problem, and moved onto one of Clint’s. Luckily, 5 were enough for him.
We reached Kansas City in a few hours’ time. The drive was as uneventful as the landscape. We planned to bypass Kansas City since we were trying to drive all the way to Arkansas tonight. And, cities always take more time to navigate through on the quest for good eats. However, we both got really hungry right before we reached K.C., and misjudged our body cues. When we reached the Missouri side of Kansas City, we pulled off the freeway and searched for something to eat. Fast food places seemed to be the only option for miles around. Since we had eaten burgers just a few hours prior, more burgers were really out of the question.
Fortunately, my friend Liz Boen came to the rescue right when Clint and I were both at break down point. Liz attended Kansas for post-grad studies and knew where to get good BBQ. Unfortunately, we had to back track to find the place. Fortunately, my phone has a handy (albeit unpredictable) navigation device. Unfortunately, about 7 options popped up under the search for Gates.
We chose the closest option that did not include ‘& Sons’ in the title. The closest Gates Barbecue was only 8.3 miles west. Not too bad. We drove a few miles on the freeway before exiting into the projects. We didn’t think too much about it until the route took us further and further into the shady part of Kansas City. Where had Liz sent us?
We arrived at Gates, only to discover that the trusty navigation device had sent us to the headquarters. Apparently, Gates has an office in the ghetto. We’d consumed too many minutes on this search to give up now. So we once again employed the phone to pick out the next closest Gates BBQ. As we snaked through the run-down neighborhoods, we looked around at the other drivers. Did we stand out? Could people tell we were lost? Would we be targeted?
This time, the phone led us to an actual restaurant. We were relieved and annoyed all at once. Gates is the same as Gates & Sons. We were only 2 miles from a Gates & Sons when we first started our search. But, we reached the restaurant in broad daylight, and it was filled with people from all walks of life, so we couldn't complain. We ventured in and waited in the short line. The options were exactly what you would expect from a BBQ joint: a few meat options, some standard sides, fries and onion rings, and meat sandwiches served on white bread. Clint picked the ribs, and shouted his choice to the loud woman taking orders. Yes, there were several people in front of us, but she was done taking their orders, and so just shouted over them to take ours. The phrase of choice here is "May I take your order?" Don’t be mistaken, this is not a friendly question if you shout it at your guests without a hint of query in your voice. It's all about intonation, folks.
Why she was in such a hurry was beyond me. But, I was hungry and maybe the other patrons don’t like to wait for food either. I was not quite ready to order, so I hid (yes, hid. I'm not above hiding) in the line until another register opened up. I got yelled at for ordering at a different spot than my dining partner. Welcome to Gates: hospitality optional.
I had chicken and a side of beans, and we both had sweet tea. The food was great. The only thing green on our plates was the pickle slices, but the meat was no joke. Both meats were tender and flavorful, and we enjoyed them to the beat of the register ladies’ shouts. "May I help you?"


We were back on the freeway 2 hours after we first began our search. It was worth it though; we almost made it through the day without anything of note happening. Luckily, Liz sent us to an authentic BBQ place, and we made it out alive.
We continued east through Missouri before running into the 65, which heads south to Arkansas. Clint drives very safely. Which is great when you’re on those dirt roads, or you don’t have somewhere you want to be. Everyone knows that you can go at least 4 miles over the speed limit on the freeway and not get pulled over, but Clint spent a lot of the trip telling me not to speed. When we got into Arkansas, I saw why he played it so safe. A car trailing us a little too closely got pulled over by a policeman, presumably for driving so near to our rear.
We made it to the Ponders just after 11. This isn't the house that Clint grew up in, and navigating here involved country landmarks like, 'turn at the Hammons Realty sign' and 'veer left at the dirt road.' The bypass road that we took was apparently not here when Clint lived here, so he was a bit confused at first. We did not get lost though, and Gary and Toni were still up when we reached the house. Even though they've only been here a few months, the house feels like a home. Everything has it's place, and it's clean and comfortable. About an hour after we arrived, Nick and Courtney showed up with their 2 dogs. We all stayed up and chatted for a couple of hours before heading to bed.