The vacation ended yesterday morning and all we had to do was drive back to Oklahoma. About 60 miles into the trip we decided to stop at Arby's to have lunch. There was a group of about 6-7 people sitting at a round table just inside the door, laughing and having a good time, obviously friends. When we sat down Stacie said she thought some of them looked familiar. IT WAS SOME OF THE PERFORMERS IN THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S OPERA!!! How cool is that? So I got up and walked back to their table and told them I thought they did an awesome job, that we had been there last night and were mighty impressed. They were gracious and I hope I gave them some encouragement. All of those guys were top notch singers. It was an unexpected treat to run into them, and how strange that they were so far from the artist's colony?
I decided to take an alternate route back home, hitting I-540 from Hwy 62 and bringing it on home on I-40 West. I don't know that we saved any miles from the way we got there (from driving directions obtained at one of the Internet map services), but I will say this: the scenery was SO much nicer. The drive seemed to pass quickly.
And that was it. Vacation 2009. One of the best vacations I've ever had. I hope to go back soon. Next year may be TOO soon, but Opera in the Ozarks is putting on a production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and I would dearly love to see that.
I do believe I've made an opera fan out of the wife...and as for me I know I have come to appreciate it much more than I ever have. It's to the point where we all want to attend whatever opera production is playing in the area whenever it's on (there aren't many, mind you). I can't recall the name of the next one we're going to, but it will be in the month of October and produced by the Tulsa Opera, in Chapman Hall of the Tulsa PAC. It's the first of the 2010 season, two of which I have made a point of seeing. The other is "Rigoletto"...both are Italian operas, which is fine. I would, however, like to see a German opera...and though I doubt there will ever be a Wagner piece done in this state, that's something I REALLY would like to see.
Okay...now for a few trivial moments from the last few days.
~~~ I had Stacie take a picture of me standing in front of the sign that designated the Carroll County Sheriff and Detention Center. I thought it would be a cool tribute to Porter Wagoner's biggest hit, "The Carroll County Accident". By some serendipitous twist of fate an ambulance drove past just as the photo was taken. Between the place where we parked the car and the sign there was a rotting carcass of what appeared to be a small wolf or a very large dog. It was nasty. It was mostly bones but there was still a lot of fur and quite a bit of sun-scorched flesh. For a moment I thought perhaps I would take a photo of it...No doubt I had some reason for wanting to do that, but I'm glad I didn't. Kind of sick, now that I think of it.
~~~ Not once, but TWICE I walked out on burning hot pavement with no shoes on. I don't know what I was thinking. Both of my feet got blistered, but not too awful bad.
~~~ After the soon went down during the Passion Play I saw at least two bats flying around the right side of the scenery.
~~~ The Opera in the Ozarks performers were to be commended for putting on such a good show even though the heat was unbearable. The venue is a very small, sheltered amphitheatre and there were quite a few big bugs flying around. It would not have surprised me if one of them had flown into a singer's mouth.
~~~ I made 3 mp3 discs to play on the trip. A compilation of Larry Carlson and Plaid, a disc with most of Yes' albums and a really nice collection of Will Ackerman's records. As it turned out I only listened to about 30 minutes of the Yes stuff. A good chunk of the time was spent listening to my Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin mega-compilation. Don't ask me why. Stacie and Bryan didn't complain too much, as they have mp3 players in their cell phones and were listening to their own stuff.
~~~ I bought a Navy shirt at one of the shops in the business district. I also bought a pair of "Chinese Health Balls". They're pretty cool but I don't think I'm up to explaining what they are right now. I'm thinking I might post a photo of them in a couple of days and maybe find some information on Wikipedia about them to share.
~~~ There was an ice cream and soda shop downtown where I bought a chocolate almond soda. It was terrible. I should have ordered something else.
~~~ The place where I bought the "Chinese Health Balls" was awesome. They had some of the most unique stuff I've ever seen. Like witch doctor staffs! A life size Buddha statue carved in wood and little bitty "Lucky Buddhas"! I can't think of anymore right now, but trust me...You could wind up spending a LOT of money there if you were in the market for cool shit.
~~~ If you ever decide to visit Eureka Springs, take my advice: bring Dramamine. The curves up the mountains are a killer. Drive very slow, too. Don't worry about the guy behind you maybe thinking you're an old grandpa who needs to put the pedal to the metal. If you want to live to BE a grandpa you need to take it slow.
~~~ Eureka Springs loves bikers, and I have no doubt that bikers love Eureka Springs. Oh, how I would love to witness the bacchanals that take place in those biker bars at night.
Okay, that's about all I want to share tonight. If I can think of more I'll post it in the next few days, not that anyone who might find this blog would care, but because there will be a day, probably very soon, when I will forget all these little things. It will be nice to read about them when that day comes.
I've got a few photos from the trip (including the bitchin' stop in Carroll County) and I will probably post them in a day or two as well.
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