Saturday, November 7, 2009

Oklahoma, Fort Rock, Branson

Howdy – how y’all doing? We’ve been in the south for a few weeks now and thought we’d give y’all a shout:-) I just love those southern accents! We hit the road and headed out of MN on October 18th which means it’s now official: We’ve been living in the RV for over a year now. The weird thing is that it seems completely normal. More on that another time…

For those of you who have spent a night in our little humble abode, you will be happy to know that we got our toilet fixed in Kansas City and it no longer sounds like a jet engine! After a few days in KC, we headed south to spend a week at my aunt & uncles house in Oklahoma where they have 40 acres and full hookups. For you non-campers, that means water, electricity, and sewer. Ashley celebrated her 13th birthday while we were there and Aunt Annabelle baked her a beautiful chocolate cake. Oh, and the kids got to drive Uncle Jim’s tractor!

We also took a field trip to
Fort Rock Family Camp in NW Arkansas. It was an incredible blessing to meet Terry and hear how he went from being a work-a-holic real estate agent to building a camp and homeschooling his kids. What a blessing to hear his story and see how the Lord is using this family to restore other families. The camp looks like an 1800’s town set in the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains complete with a diner, a trading post, horses – and the longest zip line in the state of Arkansas! Did we climb to the platform and take a leap of faith hanging from nothing but a wire tied to two trees? (Remember my fear of heights?) You’ll have to watch the video to find out!

After picking up Grandma Carole at the airport and saying farewell to my aunt and uncle, we headed to Branson, MO, to check out this musical city. We saw a couple of great shows:
Pierce Arrow and The Haygoods. The kids got their picture taken with one of the Pierce Arrow guys who holds the Guiness Book of World Records for having the lowest voice and the widest range. Rich and I compare Branson to the Wisconsin Dells…small towns that have a point of interest. For Branson it’s all about shows. For the Dells, it’s all about water parks.

What’s it all about for us? That is a question we are pondering these days on the Bendickson bus.


6 comments:

Jennifer S said...

Comparing Branson to the Dells? Hmm... I've always heard it described as a 'clean Vegas.' :)

Anonymous said...

Branson is a wonderful town. It is full of activity and great talent. Fun for the family. I lived in Columbia and the area is so wonderful. How difficult is to finding laundry facilities or do you have them on the coach? I am looking into this lifestyle change and have wondered. If you get a chance to get closer to the kansas, missouri border is the lewis and clark trail. That area is just beautiful in the spring as it is wooded, lots of interesting geo graphical areas. Have lots of animal life and the people are truly decent. Are you hunkering down for winter somewhere? Chris E.

Connie Bendickson said...

Hi Chris,
We really enjoyed Branson and we'd love to see the Lewis and Clark trail too - thanks for your comments! With regard to your question about laundry - most campgrounds have laundry facilities - except for state parks. We do have a combination washer/dryer in the RV and I have finally learned to keep up with it so we don't have to use the public facilities. As for the winter, we will travel throughout the southeast and spend some time in Florida during the coldest months. We really don't have a plan...we take it week by week as the Spirit leads. All the best to you as you consider the RV lifestyle...feel free to email me if you have more questions.

Anonymous said...

I am a single mom with two girls amd I understand fully about following the Spirit. GOD is so good to me. I am wintering in Colorado for now. Looking at purchase of RV to do what you are doing right now.

I have limited funds and in prayer about what to do. I am in the lease until August of next year if I can find a new renter then I can get out of here in the spring after school is out. I have no idea how to home school and get really frustrated with the kids. DO you? Mine are 8 and 9. WE have three cats. One is older than moses and the other two are a year old siamese chocolate point pair of trouble. I wasn't sure how they would do on the road but coming back from Durant OK through Kansas to Colorado they never meowed. Slept all the way. Do you have animals or did you have to give them away. Do you know if others have cats and how they travel with them on the road? What do I look for in gettin gthe girls plugged into a home school program? CE

Connie Bendickson said...

Hi,
Yes, we do have a pet - Macie - our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is a trooper on the road. I've seen a few others on the road with cats, but mostly dogs...of course there could be more cats, but we don't really see them because their not out walking :-) Please email me directly at conniebendickson@gmail.com and we can chat further about homeschool, etc. And keep praying - the Lord will lead.

andrew said...

congrats on one year. keep on going . . .