YOU'LL SHOOT YER EYE OUT!!

Okay, we enjoyed a day of NOT being on the bike today.  After 3 straight days, it was nice to get a break. 
BLUF - we are in Bella Vista, Ark -right next to Rogers, Ark - home of Walmart (and boy has Walmart put a lot of money into the area). We took a small driving tour with my dad and his wife - around Rogers, Bentonville, and Bella Vista.  Apparently, this area is really growing - and it is not the "small little retirement community" that I remember from a few years back. I was told that Benton county is one of the wealthiest counties in the country....
Went to Daisy Airgun Museum where they had all kinds of interesting Daisy items. There was a small gift shop in the back...

Went to Crystal Bridges - a museum with all kinds of fancy paintings - the whole place was purchased/built and outfitted by Walmart....They also have a gift shop and a cafeteria....that make EXCELLENT mocha lattes....

The view from the gallery at the museum

In a forest of real trees - they built a metal one....

Lots of paintings to look at....

Now for the rest of the story.....
Okay, after we got up and had a light breakfast - we had a driving tour of beautiful downtown Rogers, Arkansas. We saw many interesting sites - but our first stop was the "Daisy Airgun Museum" where we saw the history of many of the fancy guns that Daisy has made over the years....

Outside of the Museum

One of our all time favorite movies (and I think it is one of almost every one I know's favorite movie) is the Christmas Story, where Ralphie tells the story of the Red Ryder bb gun he wants for Christmas. Well, the Museum sure makes note of that....

Well, you can see this was made for kids....but that didn't stop me from getting my face in there....

And there was a small display of several of the promotions from the movie

There were also some interesting bb guns that they have made over the years....including the one that I wanted......

What is NOT to love about a disintegrator pistol???

And of course, they had a lot of current model bb guns for sale...

Enough firepower to start a revolution in some third world countries....

The guided tour (by audio) would take almost an hour. We kind of just walked through in about 15 minutes....and the tour did cost two dollars - BUT (and they didn't say this at the beginning) is that you get a "coin" for taking the tour....so that was cool.

Gotta love it....

Another thing we got to see was "THE ORIGINAL Walmart Store" - which is funny - as all of the Walmart related stuff here - and this building doesn't have any (exterior) markings to note that this was Sam's first store....

It is now a plumbing and an antique store - but this is where it all began....

We "topped" the day off with a trip to the Crystal Bridges Gallery. Now I am not much of an "art lover" (the first thing I asked is if they had an "original" Elvis Velour - or the "dogs playing poker"....apparently they don't find that funny in certain parts of Arkansas...). But believe it or not - in little Rogers/Bentonville Arkansas - this is some type of world class art gallery. The building itself is an architectural marvel (the architecture is something I could "get into"...)

Notice that there are cables supporting the structure?

They say the building is beautiful at night as well - with all of the lights and reflections from the water

And I can't say looking at paintings is "my thing" - but some of these (especially the backwoods scenery and the woodsman-type stuff - was really cool. A few even looked like photographs. 

Jeanette took this photo of a family portrait

Jeanette loved this one - she said "the eyes follow you around the room..."  I found it creepy.

So, when all is said and done, there were a few statues and things around the gallery that I really liked.  Below is one of them...

Okay, okay....it wasn't from the Gallery - but it sure would have been funny if it was....especially if it was right next to the "dogs playing poker" picture....

Anyrate, one of the cool things is that Walmart Execs covered all of the operating expenses for the next year or so (approx $20M) so that the gallery would not have to charge for admission. This is good for a lot of the people visiting (and many of the locals) can come and enjoy the art.


We finished out the day with dinner at a place called Monte Ne's - we had been here one time before - and it is THE BEST fried chicken I have ever had....but that is all they serve.  Fried chicken, cole slaw, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes with gravy, fresh baked bread with apple butter.  Period.  You walk in, they count the number of people and bring it to you family style...

2 Roses between two thorns....or is it two thorns between two roses?  Only you can decide for sure...

So tomorrow we will be back on the road again.  A quick trip over to Oklahoma - but we will be stopping in Miami,  Oklahoma (pronounced My - amma) - and visiting Route 66 - and are hoping to have a burger at Ku Ku's Burger joint.  Apparently, this used to be a chain of drive-thru's and now - this is the only one left. There are a few other historic sites that we are hoping to catch there as well - but don't want to "spoil it" for you.
 Hope you are enjoying the adventure!


Wade and Jeanette


GN Tiff GTB <3