for those still interested

After exiting the cave and moving far enough away to get good reception, we talked to Nana and Papa via the cell phone which of course did not work in the cave. They relayed the information that Glenna (my grandfather's former wife), had reserved a hotel room for us near her home in Arkansas. Since we didn't have a plan, this sounded good to us. So we headed toward Arkansas. I was excited because this meant coloring in another state on my map of all the states I have been to (now if only I can find the map).

We stopped for dinner at a pizza hut in Cuba, MO. This was exciting, since there were no gluten-intolerant people with us. Isaac wanted something green on his pizza, and Sammy wanted something red. So we had a pepperoni and green pepper pizza.

And after dinner I was so excited because Sammy went #2 in the potty (which he had never done in a public toilet before).

Then we drove down into Arkansas. We had directions to drive to Ash Flat. Then about 12 miles from Ash Flat, my dad told us they were at the Walmart in Ash Flat and we were to meet them in the parking lot. Then Glenna was going to meet us there.

When we arrived at Walmart, I nearly freaked out to see that my beautiful daughters were sound asleep on the parking lot in sleeping bags. But as they seemed to be safe, I mostly bit my tongue. I hope that my father will not do this again though.

Glenna arrived shortly after we did. And we made introductions. We then followed her to the hotel in Horseshoe Bend. The hotel room was pretty average. The hotel was actually a spa with swimming pool and large hot tub (as in swimming pool-sized). We didn't get to use these at all though. There were also tennis courts and a golf course, it looked very nice. Well when we arrived it was near midnight so it just looked dark, I found the rest out in the morning.

We awoke around 7 AM. Except for Paul who continued to sleep. I got the kids dressed and van packed up. We ate breakfast from what we had packed since the hotel restaurant was still closed for the off-season. The coffee pot in the room was really neat. It had a disposable tray and a disposable cup which functioned as the pot.

Then the kids and I set off on a mission to find the ice maker. There was a map of the resort and the path to the ice maker seemed clear. So I pushed the stroller and Sam and Abby each brought a cooler. But what the map didn't show was the giant sets of stairs. So we ended up turning around, ditching the stroller and walking back.

Around 8 AM I tried to call Glenna. And I continued to try. But the phone service was really finicky. So it was 9 AM before I made successful contact. I had to stand in the middle of the parking lot.

When they arrived in the parking lot to get us, they alerted us to the fact that a tornado was on it's way.