The best laid plans...

Yesterday we did travel to get Daniel and Samuel, who have been visiting with their sister Becky in West Texas.
"Plan A" was to meet at my Dad's house in East Texas, about a 7 hour drive for both Becky, and DH and I. The reason for this selection of a place was because I don't often get to see my Dad, and Becky's husband Stephen had not been out to their place in a very long time, and wanted to visit.
We knew that Stephen's job often requires him to change plans at the last moment, working when he was supposed to get time off. (Things like that happen when you own your own business!)

So we had a "Plan B".  "Plan B" was for Tom and I to drive all the way to Becky's house and get the boys. (We didn't want Becky driving 7 hours home with two small children, alone.) This would require at least an overnight stay, and preferably a 2 night stay, as it is a solid 10 hour drive from here. (Becky's "Plan B" was to get a friend to ride with her, and still meeting us at my dad's house.)

I realized that one of the main reasons we were meeting at my Dad's house was because Stephen wanted to see Dad and Kathie.  Tom and I saw Dad just two weeks ago. So when it turned out Stephen had to work, and Becky had a friend willing to ride with her, I suggested that we meet in Duncan, OK. I have two sons currently living in Duncan, so if need be, we could all stay the night between their houses. Duncan is almost a five hour drive for Tom and I, and just about that for Becky. It cut out two hours for both of us. (This was termed  "Plan C".)

Tom and I didn't get out as early in the morning as we would have left to drive all the way to Becky's house.  We made good time going down, taking a scenic drive through the Eastern Oklahoma hills around Tahlequah. We found Ben at WalMart, with two hours left on his shift. he said Becky had already arrive. He gave her a call and asked her to meet us at Bill's house.

After a visit with Bill, Glynna, and Nickole, we headed over to Ben's place. It was VERY cozy, crowding ten people and two dogs into his travel trailer home. Just after 4:00, we headed back for Arkansas and left Becky at Ben's. They were going to try to take a better picture of Ben on top of Mt. Scott than the one that graced the top of my blog the last few days. They sure had a spectacular sunset for it, though I haven't seen Becky's pictures yet. (The current shot at the top of my blog is one Daniel took out the back window of the car as we drove home. It was an awesome sunset!)

We had no stops at all on the way home, clear traffic, and no delays on the turnpike. We trimmed nearly an hour off our regular travel time.

I have pictures taken during the day up on the MOOCREW site. Feel free to browse them!

So we got home, unloaded the car... and the first thing I see? The box of "left behind" items I had carried with us to give Becky from her stay here last month. I did remember at least to give the food items to Benjamin and to Bill that they had requested. (Chicken Fajita Alfredo for Ben, and Chili for Bill).

Well, May you each have a blessed day! Thank you for reading!