Joan Jett 4 Prez

Let's start with we had a very full day and I am beat.  I just realized it is 9:30ish back home and as many of you know I go to bed when the chickens go to bed.  I hope to share with my usual enthusiasm...so here we go. Why Joan Jett 4 Prez? Emma's random chit chat has been the inspiration for our post titles and Emma loves Joan Jett and so does someone else...they spray painted Joan Jett 4 Prez on their fence. (sorry no photo)

We woke up today in Fort Smith, Arkansas with very low expectations for ghostly and musical opportunities.  We quickly decided that this little town deserves a re-run someday. So quaint and so much to do.  Piles of nice people too.

We were originally drawn here for the ghost stories that we had heard about Fort Chaffee.  We were disappointed to find that the most haunted area has now been torn down from disrepair. The tour guide here also offered us the information about the hauntings there...just like at Loretta Lynn's.  We are loving that others are just as enthusiastic.  So for some icing on the cake...we also found that Fort Chaffee was Elvis Presley's first stop into the Army.  

Here is Elvis' documents...including his fingerprints.  He was here for three days getting his uniform, medical and assignment.  The Barbershop Museum is very informative and isn't corded off so you can get up close and personal and take lots of pictures.

We found some humor in that the photo of the nurses was in the women's bathroom.  And the teens spent some extra time in the barbershop just next to these two red chairs.  They are not original to the shop, but were taken from the barbershop where Bonnie and Clyde had their haircut. (rumor says)

Our little stink really loved the switchboard and there was no fussing from staff...she was free to make and take as many calls as she wanted. We even put in a call to Elvis.


Next we headed in to town to see Fort Smith.  We parked next to this gem.  It is an outdoor theater...something else to come back and see some day.

Fort Smith itself.  Also rumored to be haunted. 

The remains of the original fort.

The Trail of Tears Overlook 

An extra surprise right next door...we had just studied Bass Reeves in our homeschool adventures.  So exciting to see a memorial to him.  Now if there were some good movies to spread the news about this brave and hard working fella that is rumored to have inspired The Lone Ranger.

Fort Smith also still has trolleys on tracks...a must do the next time we visit...and check out The Fort Smith Trolley Museum.

So this was a thing...

...And this was a thing.  These gallows are said to be super haunted.  The judge was hang happy.

 And before we knew what hit us, we crossed that river where we stood for The Trail of Tears Overlook and suddenly we were in Oklahoma.  The kids are clearly very excited.

Many hours later we hit Texas...not as excited...tired of me complaining that I am starving and the continues quoting of a George Strait song "Amarillo by Morning".  I was tired of them telling me we will be there before morning.

For some fun trivia...Amarillo was originally called Oneida (if you know why it is significant to our family...keep it to yourself...but feel free to message me if you don't know) and there are at least 25 songs referencing Amarillo.

See you in Arizona tomorrow with a few fun stops along the way. We will be mostly driving...we are a little behind schedule for our arrival time for the family reunion.