Kristian's Incredible Adventure - Part II: Sam's Town

Part II: Sam's Town

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From small beginnings come great things.

- Proverb, American

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Day 2 - Saturday, March 17, 2012

For those who don't know, Bentonville, Arkansas is the home and headquarters location of Walmart (I don't think I need to explain what Walmart is).

I've never been a huge Walmart shopper myself, but I am rather fascinated by the culture and the various websites dedicated to Walmart culture around the world. I also acknowledge that Walmart has made a tremendous impact on both the world and my own personal life.

For, if my wife never wrote this book...

...about the reuse of abandoned Walmart stores (which you can purchase here)...



...then this would have never happened (because we may have never met each other).

So, as a thank-you to the chain of events, I decided to pay my respects!

I arrived that morning in downtown Bentonville and the day was beautiful...

...with signs of spring as countless joggers ran through the downtown area.

With the buildings seemingly frozen in some sort of time capsule...

...it was easy to find the Visitor Center located at Sam Walton's original Five and Dime.

Inside, beyond the front store of old candies and toys...

...waited a museum with a sealed-off office...



...once belonging to Sam Walton.



They also had his pickup truck...



...which appeared to be duplicated out front for the youngsters.

I should also mention something about the Visitor's Center that I particularly loved - the bathroom decor...

...where they used old advertisements to cover the walls!

On my way out of the Visitor's Center, the cashier said that I should to check out Crystal Bridges, a new museum of American art founded by Alice Walton, Sam's daughter.

Unfortunately, the museum didn't open up until much later and I had a long voyage ahead...

...so I stopped only to take pictures of the front entrance...



...and some buildings down in back...



...before taking a scenic route out of Arkansas...



...and making my way to Oklahoma.


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Kristian's Incredible Adventure - Part I: The Arrival

Part I: The Arrival

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Experience is NOT what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.

-Aldous Huxley

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Day 1 - Friday, March 16, 2012

As I walked through the front doors of the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport with my carry on bag and previously printed boarding pass, my adventure had officially begun.

I went through security, experiencing my first ever body scan, and made my way to the gate when I received a phone call from an unknown number.

It turned out that it was an automated voice message from Delta Airlines, letting me know that my first flight to Minneapolis was delayed 30 minutes.

This really wasn't a big deal, but I was hoping to hang out at the Continental/United President's Club (I had a pass) in a different terminal and I needed a way to stay updated on my Delta flight itinerary.

So I downloaded a Delta app and entered my name and confirmation number...

...when the app suggested I take an alternate flight route at no additional cost.

I looked over the possibilities and realized there was a flight to Memphis that boarded in only 20 minutes. This way, I would have a short layover and land in Kansas City an hour earlier than my current schedule.

So, obviously, I took it! I found an attendant and he printed me off some new tickets without any problems.

And, when I waited at the gate, I eventually learned that my original flight was now delayed a good hour...

...I would have missed my connection and landed in Kansas City much, much later.

During that first flight, I talked to a Pennsylvanian man who now lived in Memphis. He suggested that, once at the airport, I sink my teeth into some Memphis BBQ...

...so I followed his advice...



...and had a delicious pulled pork sandwich topped with cole slaw.

Afterward, I took the second flight to Kansas City, retrieved my rental car and headed south...

...making my way to Bentonville, Arkansas for the night.

En route, I tried to stop at two pecan farms, but both were closed (it was after 5 pm on a Friday), so I continued on until I was able to stretch my legs...

...at a park in Webb City, Missouri.

Although I took the picture of the above miner, I hadn't actually come to Webb City to learn of its lead and zinc mining history...

...or to admire the street car there.

Instead...

...I was interested in a nearby 30 foot statue by artist Jack Dawson (not to be confused with the Titantic character)...



...titled "Praying Hands."

I walked around the statue and chatted briefly with a local woman before jumping back in the car and continuing on to Bentonville...

...enjoying the changing scenery of Southwestern Missouri as I went.

By 8 o'clock, I arrived at my hotel in Bentonville and, following the front desk's advice on local sushi places...

...made my way to Sushi House.

This was one of those Japanese restaurants where you were greeted first by the people at the door and then that greeting was enthusiastically echoed by everyone behind the sushi bar - sort of like they treated all of their guests like Norm from the show Cheers.

Not know what I mean?

Watch this for clarity.

A rather busy place...

...with three sushi chefs...

...I was amazed by how quickly I got my sushi.

But what was also great about this place was the free stuff they gave you...

...like this maki piece sample...



...this decadent salad with tuna...



...and fruit for dessert.

I ended up being so stuffed that I had to take leftovers back to my room for breakfast the next morning.

Don't worry - I had a fridge.

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Planting the Seeds of an Incredible Adventure

If you were to ask anyone about the type of person I was, they would probably say that I'm a responsible, dependable human being who is typically prepared for various unforeseen situations.

Or, as Julia likes to sum up...

"He's a triple Cap!"

And I guess this is true. I can be pretty responsible, dependable and prepared (on average), which may or may not result from my sun, moon and rising sign being under the sign of Capricorn.

And, although I've often benefited from these traits...

...they can sometimes go to extremes.

My car alone, for example, contains jumper cables, three umbrellas (one small and two golf), an ice scraper and snow brush (which remain in the car all year long), a road atlas of the US, a miniature phone book of Lorain County, a roadside assistance kit, a water bottle, 2 air pressure gauges and a St. Christopher medal.

And this is just my car.

As with anything, too much of this responsibility and preparedness can weigh on you after a while and make you feel rigid, stressed out and seem fairly uninteresting.

That's why, every so often, I feel the need to shake things up for a bit of balance!

(It also makes me seem more interesting.)

Usually, in the summer and fall months, I've been able to counter the structured part of my life with crazy festival trips.

But lately, after these past few months of slow festival activity, I've felt this incredible urge to go on some type of adventure...

...or, as I've found defined in a Google search...

...an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.

Now I'm not one to throw caution completely to the wind (I do appreciate my health and safety), but I did want to have some criteria in order to heighten this sense of an adventure.

Among those are...

1. Visiting states I've never been to
   
2. Traveling alone
   
3. Going during Mercury in Retrograde

Let's look a little closer at each!

1.) Visiting states I've never been to: Unlike my festival adventures where I travel through the very familiar state of Ohio, I wanted to go somewhere I've never been to before. This would allow me to explore new landscapes with different cultures, foods and people.

If there's one thing an adventure has, it's unfamiliarity.

2.) Traveling alone: this can easily work for you or against you. On the one hand, you can decide on your destination, create your schedule and route, and make spontaneous decisions and/or alterations. But it also pushes you to be an extrovert and talk to the locals and other tourists more readily in order to learn more about this new land.

This can definitely be a challenge, since I can get shy at times - and Lord knows I'll miss Julia while on this trip. But, apart from calling her often while in the car or at the hotel, I have to make a mental note to myself not to use my phone as a means of wasting time while at a restaurant or potential social situation. I need to put my phone away and interact with the locals.

That's how adventures develop. No one tells vacation stories that involve Words with Friends.

3.) Going during Mercury in Retrograde: OK, so I really didn't plan this. But, as it turns out, Mercury, the planet of communications and travel will be in retrograde during my trip, which can lead to delays, miscommunications and traveling snafus.

So, even in an astrological sense, there are potential risks to help my adventure become a great/interesting one. Hopefully, this won't add any situation I can't handle.

But if I was that concerned about it, I wouldn't be going.

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The main reason I'm even writing about this trip is because I want to plant the seeds of this adventure out into the digital universe in the hopes that it will grant me its blessings before the adventure even begins.

Perhaps you, the Reader, can send out a small prayer so that everything runs smoothly, I have a wonderful time, I learn constructive things about myself, and that the experiences of the trip inspire me to do great and spectacular things for the benefit of humankind.

(Believe me, God hears these prayers from me all the time...once you mention my name, He'll be expecting it!)

Another thing I thought was that you might be able to help me with your advice and suggestions.

This trip will include five states I've never been to (Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas) and one I have (Missouri) over a 4 day weekend in the foreseeable future.

This is the map I've created so far...

View The Great State Road Trip in a larger map


Nothing's set in stone just yet - I'm just putting interesting things down to help plan out the trip (I guess I'm still trying to be prepared to some extent).

If you could look it over and let me know what you think, I'd greatly appreciate it.

And don't worry...

...I will write about these adventures once I return!

Thanks so much!