Another Wonderful Week of Appreciation

Because of Spring Break, we decided to learn more about Arkansas and visit its capital! So Monday, we drove about 3 hours southeast to Little Rock. The further you travel south, the more you witness spring and its beauties. Along the roadside, trees were blooming (white pompom-like blossoms and another tree covered with magenta flowers) Wow, it was spectacular!! Because of our late start (some things don't change, kids), we arrived at our hotel just in time for dinner! A van driver took us to "the best steaks in town...the place Bill Clinton ALWAYS goes to, when in town" named DOE'S (you know, the female deer, so the song goes). The sign over the door was correct, however, the dusty windows, peeling paint, and general messy looking appearance, we doubted the judgment of our driver. When we saw multiple well dressed clientele entering, we felt more confident and entered ourselves. We had a wonderful lesson to learn: outside appearances aren't always what they seem. A very LARGE (at least 2 inches plus, 2 1/2 pound) juicy T-bone was served with salad, Texas bread, and round baked potatoes floating in a bowl of butter was served to share! What a delight! We figured Bill's tastes of quality food was more refined than his code of conduct!
The next day, the capital building was a mere 7 block walk, so to ease our conscience from the glutenous cuisine of the night before, we decided to walk. ( After we finished the walk around the capital building, we rethought our earlier exercise ambitions) We joined a tour and learned a lot about Arkansas' history, the exports, economy, population, govt., prison system, etc., probably more than we had originally opted for! Our appetite, not our energy, took us to the River Market... another 14 blocks in the opposite direction! This is a strip of businesses along the Arkansas River. After lunch, we continued our walking...to Clinton's Presidential Library. Like most museums, it was a bit overwhelming...both in quantity of stuff and information to digest. However, Peter particularly enjoyed the swords and Sharon enjoyed the White House china, silverware, and exotic foreign gifts on display. The architecture of the building was VERY modern, austere, and COLD in appearance; even removing our bias, it was still hard to enjoy the oval office replication. Nevertheless, the film on Clinton's life was well done and the park-like grounds with eternity pools made it more enjoyable than originally thought. We finished our day with a Mediterranean Dinner (we keep looking for new experiences!) that was delicious.What a day!! The following day we drove back to Fayetteville to clean our apartment, study, and shop; just in time to leave for Oklahoma City on Fri. to attend the temple on Sat.! We just can't get enough of the beauties! The land is much flatter going west, but the blooming forsythia along the road and small quaint farming communities made us realize that the variety of our country is what makes it SO very interesting! This was the first time we had ever been in a small temple...And it is small. However, there are advantages, and we will probably miss those advantages when we return to Salt Lake. We saw several of our students and leaders there in the afternoon, and had a very pleasurable experience.
While our week wasn't particularly relaxing...it was rewarding! Today, found us back in the classroom hearing about other's adventures and planning for Wednesday's lunch, Wed.'s nighttime activity, our trip to Bentonville on Thursday night to another institute, and Open Mike Night on Fri..We love being here!! The only thing that would make it better is if you were here with us!
Love,
Sharon and Peter