Life at a "Swell's" pace

May 13-On our last day in Arkansas we took a tour of the Arkansas Railroad Museum in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The Bean and The Mr. were in train heaven and The Mr. found a lot of fire engines that had him swooning over the place. The lady that gave us the tour, Miss Elizabeth, was super nice to us and allowed The Bean to take his time looking at every piece of train equipment, all of the engines, and she even gave him a lot of railroad memorabilia. She really made our tour of the place a lot more special for a bunch of train lovers like The Bean and The Mr.

The entire museum is wall-to-wall trains.

The Mr. and The Bean were in train-loving-heaven.

819 SSW St. Louis Southwestern Cotton Belt in the process of being restored.

Rail Speeder

Miss Elizabeth and The Bean.

Luggage case that I absolutely loved and a red caboose.

Inside the red caboose.

Train station bench.

Train car dishes from the dinning car days from the 1950s.

These windows on the museum are great!

The Bean and The Mr. loved the Arkansas Train Museum and we all had a great time visiting and learning about the history of the trains that were housed inside. Miss Elizabeth was great in telling stories from the days when these trains were in their prime. Check out The Mr. and The Bean's train blog here.

May 14-On Saturday we woke up and headed into Hot Springs to do some last minute shopping and prepare for our flight out of Little Rock. We stopped by a girlfriend's shop, The Lofthouse, to pick up a duck phone I had purchased from her online shop a few months before. The Lofthouse is a fun shop that carries handmade, vintage, and original art pieces. It's located right in the heart of the Lake Hamilton area and is definitely worth a visit.

Isn't it great! It quacks when someone calls!

On our flight home I got to try out the Carry On Cocktail Kit from Birchbox. While I was enjoying my Carry On Cocktail Kit The Old Fashioned The Mr. had him some Fat Tire. Leaving Arkansas is always a sad thing for us, but with these drinks it made the flight home less of a bummer.

The Bean and The Mr. crashed out hard after we boarded our flight from Vegas to Portland.

Clouds are always so interesting from an airplane. We've seen so many different cloud formations from our flights to different places. This one was a first for us though. Not sure what this cloud formation is called, but it definitely caught our attention.

Passing over the Painted hills.

We got another great view of the Vegas strip on the way home, too.

We had a great Arkansas visit this trip and we covered a lot of ground. We were sad to leave, but know that we will see everyone again real soon. Plus, coming to Oregon and chumming around with us here on the Pacific Coast is on the books next. Can't wait!

Road Trip: Arkansas (Old Washington State Park)

Road Trip: Arkansas (Crater of Diamonds and Birthplace of William Jefferson Clinton)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Lake Fort Smith and Train Ride)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Fort Smith and Trolley Museum)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Out and about in Little Rock)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Mother's Day and Vista Trail)
Road Trip: Arkansas (Birthday Surprise)

What happened this time last year?

Well, today is the Fourth of July and I have so many things to share over the next week. We are still coming down from our golf trip to Chinook Winds and if you follow me on Instagram you got a sneak-peek of the fun we had. The Bean and The Mr. are all geared up to shoot off some great fireworks. Unfortunately, here in Oregon, we can't launch large fireworks like we could down south, but they still make the effort to do an awesome show! Here are the things that made this week great!

1. The Fountain

This fountain display was at Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas and I fell in love with it. I already have The Mr. on a mission to recreate it in our own backyard. Super excited to see how ours turns out.

2. This Lemonade Stand

It's that time of year here and every lemonade stand gets our money. These kids were super cute and we couldn't help but stop and give them a few dollars for their efforts.

3. This Doorknob

This door knob was seen at Old Washington State Park. I am not sure of the history of it, but I fell in love with it. There is one similar here that I am eyeballing to purchase.

4. This Birdhouse

This birdhouse was at the birth home of former President Bill Clinton National Park. I love anything bird-related and this one looks easy to duplicate for our backyard. We are working on a collection of birdhouses along our fence line.

5. This Oil

We've been on a mission to bring in better ingredients into our house and eat better. One of the things we changed in our diets was to replace our cooking oils with extra virgin olive oils. This brand is one of our favorites. It's fresh, clean, and mixes well when making homemade salad dressing: Lemon juice and olive oil whisked together. Here are some ways to make sure you're getting the best extra virgin olive oil you pay for.

Here are my 5 Tips for recognizing REAL Extra Virgin Olive Oil:

1. Be suspicious of any extra virgin olive oil that costs less than $10 a liter.

2. Look for a seal from the International Olive Oil Council (IOC).

3. Look for a harvesting date on the label

4. Anything labeled light, pure, or a blend isn’t virgin quality.

5. Shop for oils in dark bottles. This protects the oil from oxidation.

(Also, Extra virgin olive oil solidifies when it’s cold. You can put it in the refrigerator and it should become cloudy and thicken. If it’s doesn’t then it’s not pure extra virgin.)-Source

We here at the SNS house do hope you have a fantastic Fourth of July and practice a safe celebration. Have a great rest of the week and look forward to more travel and lifestyle posts here at South North South.

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