How is it the end of August already? My, the time does fly by.

We had quite the weekend. Upon arriving home from Cs cross country meet, we unpacked the car, cleaned up, and re-packed the car to head out on a quick road trip. Destination – Arkansas to pick up kittens. Yes, we could have found some barn kittens or similar much closer, but when we decided to get another cat (but two) we decided to find a pedigreed one in order to get personality traits we were looking for. British Shorthairs were our selected cat for their playfulness, quiet demeanor, independence, and good with families, plus they have really cute faces. The breeder I found and really liked just happened to be in Arkansas.

We had a general idea of the way we would drive, knowing we wanted to stop off in Branson, MO. Originally we had thought to spend an entire day and evening in Branson, but with the temperatures hovering in the 90’s we were not so keen to spend too much time outside. The first night we made it to Des Moines, IA. Grabbed dinner to go at a German Pub (the pretzels were bigger than our heads). We definitely over-ordered. Considered staying in a hotel downtown, but didn’t care for valet parking and the hotel I chose had a room, but after a quick stop, when I went to reserve it, it was no longer available. Instead we found a place south of town and the airport. The room smelled wet, but it was comfortable enough and we all slept fairly well.

We were on the road by 9 the next morning and arrived in Branson a little after 3:45. In spite of the heat we walked old downtown, took a few photos, bought a Branson sweatshirt, went into the Boot Barn because the leather smelled amazing, grabbed some ice cream, and walked down by the river. We were there for about an hour and then got back on the road. While we had considered going to a show and staying the night in Branson, we decided to just come back for a real vacation when the temperatures are cooler. I learned reading some history about Branson that it grew because it was a vacation destination.

While we were in Boot Barn C was wondering how differently we would all be dressing if we had lived someplace other than Alaska. If she had grown up in Branson would cowboy boots be her style? It was an interesting idea to think about – how does where we grow up influence our style choices. While looking at boots – Willie plans on getting some the next time we go down – an older gentleman stopped and asked me if I knew the type of leather that made a boot I was holding. I did not – guessed armadillo – but it was a fish! He proceeded to walk us around and explained which hides were which boots. In addition to the fish (and just plain ol’ cow leather), there were ostrich, cayman belly, alligator, lizard, and python. We learned that he is retired from his job as a social worker (he is in his late 70s and just celebrated his 58th wedding anniversary) and now works at boot barn and loves boots. He doesn’t live in Branson, but lives nearby – I forget the name of the town – but has lived there for 28 years. He didn’t say where he came from before that.

The remainder of Sunday’s drive was through the Ozarks. It was beautiful and the road was windy. We were definitely glad we didn’t have the kittens yet as they probably would have gotten car sick. The area we drove through was called the Arkansas Grand Canyon – it was pretty neat.

Our evening drive ended in Russellville, AR. We had a nice comfy hotel and enjoyed the rest of our evening – after switching rooms because the tv didn’t work in the first one and the shower wasn’t draining. We ate leftovers for dinner. Not expending much energy makes for not very hungry bellies.

Our goal was to get on the road by 9 on Monday. We had planned to stop partway home and spend one more night. The lady with the kittens met us at the hotel at 8:40sh and then we got on the road, this time sticking to the freeways. The boys traveled great and we ended up driving all the way home. Made it home by 8:30 – roughly the same time we made it to Rochester on our way in from Alaska. The rest of the evening was spent getting the kittens settled in Cs room and cooling down the house. We had turned off the air conditioner while away so as not to waste electricity, but it left the house at 85 degrees when we arrived home. I think it took most of the night for the house to cool off, but we seemed to sleep alright.

C says she stayed up until past midnight. One of the kittens slept on her bed – Blueberry – but Mango seemed sad and meowed. We learned that his best friend also went to a new home yesterday and we think he misses him.

It will be fun adjusting to having kittens around.