I wanted to stay in the pool all night, but we were going to Ft. Smith early the next morning, so we called it an early evening. We did make plans to return, but it looks like it's gonna rain all week.
We primarily went to Ft. Smith to visit family. We had this grueling schedule of going back and forth between my dad's, my stepmum's & my aunt's homes, over and over again. A few hours here and then on to the next. We never had time to ourselves, which made us exhausted & weary. In a weird way, I feel like we were some hot commodity that they couldn't get enough of. "Where are you going next and when will you be back?"
On Saturday, we had lunch with our stepmother @ Pan3ra Bread. It was o.k.. Their baked goods looked really awesome, but are currently off limits. After lunch, we got a kickass coffee @ Sweet Bay. I have to praise their iced mocha w/ soy (no cream). Magic juice! After lunch, we checked into our room and then went on to dad's.
How can I explain our father? Our relationship with him is troubled and extremely delicate. Just spending a few hours with him makes me feel physically & emotionally ill. I can't enjoy the simple fact that I'm 'back home' and hanging out in the house I grew up in. Dad is such a downer, but only with me, KMHD & our ex-stepmother, who he is stringing along. He is happy, fun & easy-going with everyone else on this planet, but us. It really gets to me that he shares his (imaginary) misery with his family only. I guess I should thank him for at least not drinking while we visited? How's that for a silver lining? We hung out right up until the breaking point. I could not have made this visit without ATM & KMHD right by my side.
After we left dad's, we drove to Ft. Chaffee to take some photos before it got dark. A lot has changed out there (Janet Huckabee Nature Center?), so we didn't find what we were looking for. In some parts, it looks like life after people. Roads are overgrown with weeds and aside from a little mowing here and there, they're just letting it go. As I understand it, most if not all buildings are full of asbestos. It would be costly to demolish them, so they're just sitting there. We ran out of time before we could take some photos, so we hightailed it to my aunt's house who had bowls of pho waiting on us.
It was one of the nicer moments of our trip. My aunt is the best cook in our family and I greedily ate that pho. My cousins & aunt are so loving and sweet. Even the little one that I previously had 'issues' with was precious. I LOVE that my aunt likes ATM. She likes to make him eat and listen to him attempt speaking Vietnamese. It's fun-NY. After supper, our cousin wanted to drive out to Ft. Chaffee & shoot a potato gun (!), but they couldn't find it, so we drove around for a little while.
No, we didn't stop by the natural history museum! This display is my uncle's. Ha!:
My littlest cousin, outside their home, on the street:
Here's Carol Ann Cross Park. Apparently, when the pond is low, you can go 'underwater' in this room that acts as an overflow catchall. Only high school kids would know this, right? KMHD, ATM & our cousin went down there. I didn't because I didn't have proper footwear on. I was kinda jealous.:
From the park, we drove to our hotel and went to sleep. I was beyond exhausted. My bones were heavy like lead.
The next morning, we met Mayumi (stepmother) for breakfast. We tried to keep it light because our aunt was going to make lunch for us before we left town. Anyway, for breakfast, we had Pan3ra Bread AGAIN. We had to do boring because we didn't have time to do the proper full breakfast spread. After breakfast, we drove out to Ft. Chaffee again to see if we could find the barracks. I have not been on base since I was a kid. Dad used to take us when he shopped at the PX. It was awesome to be there again, but I felt really sad to see it in it's current state.
In my memory, the barracks are white. Now they're yellow? You could see right into them because the doors are open. If I had better shoes on, I would've gone inside one for some snapshots.
Last year, there was a fire that wiped out about 150 buildings. I wonder if the one my mum stayed in was one of them? Just the foundation and chimneys left.
On our way to dropping off Mayumi to her home, we stopped by Pho Vietnam, better known as the Vietnamese Deli. I wanted to pick up some bahn mi for Collin as well as myself. The wait was long & the sandwiches were great, but I've been spoiled by better. That is considered sacrilege amongst peers, but I can offer no apology.
We went over to my aunt's for one last meal:
I felt bad rushing off right after being fed, but our energy was rapidly diminishing & we still had to see dad. We went to his house for a super quick cup of coffee and made our way home to Little Rock/North Little Rock.
We started feeling better once we passed Van Buren.
While on the road, I thought about our trip and figured that it was my father and my stepmother that made going home extremely difficult. There's no happiness there. Nothing is ever easy with those two. They dislike where they live; they are not advocates of Ft. Smith. I feel that we, when we have the time and are not with family, do a fantastic job of exploring and finding what we love about Ft. Smith. I love getting coffee and going to Creekmore Park. I love walking around downtown. I love hanging out @ my aunt's house with my cousins. I love driving by my old schools. I like driving through the historic district. I love retracing the steps of my old stomping grounds. I'm from there! The Ft. Smith I knew and the one that exists now are not the same. So, I'm rediscovering it, getting to know it again. I just wish that my family weren't soul-snatchers. I know, you can't choose your relatives. But, damn!
This will be the recovery week for me. So far, so good. I hope I can get a lot more swimming in. Seth!
1 comment:
What an exhausting weekend that was. I have to counter this weekend with some rest, relaxation mixed with accomplishing things around the house.
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