Squash Blossom Natural Foods

One of the nicest surprises in the Van Buren, Arkansas area is the Squash Blossom Natural Foods Grocery. Van Buren lies on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border along the Arkansas River, and honestly, not a part of the country one would expect to find an abundance of natural foods stores. We come through this area rather regularly to visit with Dan's brother, sister-in-law, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins who live in Fort Smith, Van Buren's neighboring town. The first time we were here for an extended stay I discovered the Squash Blossom was just 3.5 miles down the road from our RV Park. What serendipity! Finding something you least expect when you most want it is one of the delights of life on the road. Each time we find ourselves in Van Buren/Fort Smith we make it a point to stop in at Squash Blossom to visit and shop. The wonderful staff and extensive product line never disappoint.

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Our visit to Fort Smith, Arkansas just flew by! We stayed for just about a week, and spent most of that time visiting with Dan’s extended family: His brother and wife (Mike and Angie), his aunts (Aunt Tookie and Aunt Jean), and cousins (David and his wife, Cindy, Lee and his wife Shelly, and Melinda). It was fun catching up with everyone, and we were able to get a few family shots along the way.

Next stop: The Nu Wa factory in Chanute, Kansas for a factory check-up on our Hitchhiker II 5th wheel.

Running

I call running in Fort Smith, Arkansas the HHH run – Hot, Humid, and Hilly! The neighborhood near-by that I have chosen as my running route is very hilly. I had never run hills before. I avoid running in the heat at all costs. Before now, I had only run when it’s humid once before, by accident. Now, unless I don’t want to run for a month, these are my "conditions". (The picture is of me and my sister Jennifer getting ready for a 4-mile run in San Diego, California).

I have to admit, there is something to conditioning. It hasn’t been below 75 degrees since I’ve been here, so there is no point in trying to get a really early start – still, I do go out as soon as the sun is up, because every degree counts a little! And the humidity consistently hovers somewhere between 70%-90%. So, my first run was just around the RV park, flat, but still hot and humid. I could barely eke out 3 miles. After the first mile, I wanted to quit, but I willed myself to keep going, even if I felt like I was just barely moving. My time was terrible, averaging only 14:74 minute miles.

But I had to branch out, as the RV park is only about ¼ mile around, and it gets really boring running around in circles, and I can only imagine what the neighbors thought. So, two days later, I tackled the “neighborhood” run. Dan and I had scoped it out earlier, and hills or not, I was ready to branch out. On my second run my time improved to 12:30 for 3.25 miles. This isn’t my regular average time; I can usually run around 11 minute miles when I am just out for a nice run, without pushing too hard. My third run was 3.5 miles, same speed, and today’s run was 4.5 miles, still at around 12:20 minute average per mile. I feel really good about this, considering the three H’s, especially the hills. I keep telling myself, by the time I get somewhere flat, cool, and dry, I will be running better than ever! And, in the meantime, my shins, calves, and buns are getting really strong! And I have NEVER sweat so much at anything in my entire life. Very cleansing, I hope.

Something I added to my running experience (it only took me 1.5 years to do this) was to run to music. I loaded up Dan’s MP3 player with “Running Tunes”, and WOW! How much more fun is this?!?!