Life at a "Swell's" pace

🠊 Crystal Springs, Arkansas

April 9 and April 10 we drove to my brother's new house he just bought. He had signed papers on the house a few days before and hadn't moved in yet. We got a tour of the house and the property, as well as the shop building on the property. It was in a good neighborhood, and that is one of the pluses, in our opinion. We sat on the back deck and waited for my sister and brother-in-law to arrive. Before we left my parent's house with my dad, we drove to Lake Hamilton School that morning to see how much the school has expanded. I graduated from Lake Hamilton and it didn't look anything like when I went to school there. I couldn't believe how much the school has even grown since I moved from Arkansas 20 years ago. After we spent the day with my dad, we headed back to my parent's house where my mom was making my favorite, chicken and dumplings. We all sat around my parent's dining room table catching up and enjoying the evening. We all still were talking about the eclipse and how incredible it was to watch together. (The sign below is a sign that still stands on the road my parents live on. It reads, "Crystal Springs Mercantile and Café" that my mom once owned in Crystal Springs. It was bittersweet to see it.)

On April 11 we went for a bike ride with my dad and sister on the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail and through areas of Downtown Hot Springs. It was a nice ride and a good time to spend with our dad. Downtown Hot Springs looks the same as I remember. I wish I could get home more, but living in Oregon it's hard. I am glad we were able to fit in this many days to visit.

On April 12 we cleaned up the bus and threw away trash, wiped down surfaces, and organized clothes and food. We ended up leaving a few things with my parents because they didn't work out on the trip. One of the items was a freezer basket we bought at a yard sale that we were using for sodas, but the amount of space it took up wasn't feasible. My mom said she would find something to use it for. We also let the ducks swim in my dad's pond and my dad said it was the first time that any ducks have been in the pond. Just knowing our ducks were the first made me really happy. My dad had a smile on his face while they were swimming around, and that made us even happier to see that. Later in the day we went to the kid's baseball game. My nephews and my brother did a great job at the game and I always love seeing kids play baseball. They always get distracted and play in the dirt, or with butterflies. It makes the games more enjoyable. After the baseball game we went to my sister's house and had dinner. Skylar and Natalie rode around on the ATV and Kendra showed me her garden, flowers, and some newly hatched birds in her birdhouse. She thinks they are Robins, but she wasn't sure. We ended the night on a good note and headed back to my parent's house for the night.

Pictured: Blakley (left), Henry (top), Harry (right), Jaxon (bottom).

🠊 Crystal Springs, Arkansas

We woke up on the morning of April 8 and had breakfast and set out all of the fun things for the eclipse. It was just all of the immediate family, sans Will's two boys (Henry and Harry). We missed having them with us, but we are looking forward to seeing them before we leave. We set up everything outside, chairs, drinks, snacks, and we were all just waiting for the festivities. Jeff, Skylar, and me have all seen what happens with the solar eclipse when it was visible in Oregon in 2017. We were excited to see everyone else's reaction when it went dark, and we weren't disappointed. It was especially fun to hear them all say, "Wow, this is cool!" when the moon completely covered the sun.

The start of the eclipse is always interesting to watch. The progress it makes moving across the sun is amazing. Seeing it twice so far has been such a great experience for us.

My niece (Natalie), Skylar, and Jeff all had their solar glasses on and ready to go. We all even had custom shirts made for the experience.

My dad (Mike), my nephew (Ryan), my mom (Dot), and my sister (Kendra) all were waiting patiently. My sister and my mom had all solar eclipse-themed snacks for us. Sunkist, Moon Pies, SunChips, etc.

I had made a few cards with holes punched into the paper to be able to display the moon's path without having to look up at the sun. My brother (Will) let us try it out on his black shirt. It showed perfectly against the black. It was similar to a partial eclipse when it looked like this.

My parent's dog, Calvin, had all his gear on ready to go, and my mom's pants were a good backdrop, too.

We were slowly getting there. Not long now...

The moment it hit Totality, it got dark quick. It lasted about three minutes and then it started moving away. In that time, people shot off fireworks, and even in the country where my parent's live, you could hear people cheering. It was such a "come together" moment. We experienced the moment in 2017 where we live and the cheering was awesome in the city. Everyone experiencing something so incredible at the same time, no one mad, no one sad, no one complaining. Everyone just being at that moment always is a great time. I wish, we as a nation, and even world, could come together more without moments like this.

Once the sun showed once again, we were all bummed to see it end, but we ended up still watching until the sun was full again.

With the eclipse over, we cleaned up and still wanted to hang out. The kids all played and we all sat around and ate the snacks, and caught up on things. It was nice to sit with my family and just enjoy being part of the family. Living in Oregon I miss a lot of things, but I value the time I do spend with each one of them. Saying we drove a converted school bus across the United States to watch the solar eclipse is one thing we can check off our bucket list.☺