I'm Back to Blogging....FINALLY!

Hello friends....I'm so glad to be back to blogging. My computer had a virus and it's being "cleaned" up now. And I'm SO proud of myself...I figured out how to connect my laptop to my cable for Internet service. So THAT allowed me to finally download my camera so I could begin to blog again. Here is a little of what I've been up to........
My friend Vicki and I traveled to Mena, Arkansas on Mother's Day Weekend! It's about a 7 hour drive from Houston but we enjoyed the sites and each other's company and the drive flew by! Here's a peaceful, bucolic scene of pretty cows on a hillside, just as we are arriving in Arkansas.

One of our first adventures out was to the local Wal-Mart and just LOOK what kind of specialized ice cream they have. And people say TEXAN'S are proud of Texas....how about those Arkansas Razorbacks!?!?!? They have special ice cream!

Downtown Mena is small but full of history and beautiful buildings. While cruising "antique store row" we spotted the old train depot. Parked by the depot was an OLD police car. Isn't it cool?

I've never seen so many cute houses in a few square miles than in Mena. If you've followed my blog for long you know I have an affinity for DOORS and WINDOWS! I thought this was was precious.

A few houses down was this beautiful home. I lOVE the wrap around porch and the round turret. As a little girl I dreamed of a house like this and the round room would be MY bedroom. If you look closely, you'll see the left window is boarded up. Mena had a REALLY bad tornado come through about a month and a half ago. The damage was devastating but the people of Mena had rallied and people are helping each other and they are rebuilding.

By the time my friend and I arrived, a lot of the debris had been picked up and removed from the street. Hundreds of huge, mature trees were lost and many homes flattened. The strong wind had stripped many of the trees to bare. I've grown up on the Gulf Coast all my life and am used to hurricane's but this just blew my mind. It was so RANDOM. Blocks would be destroyed and then one or two homes would be untouched.

Another view of the devastation.

On a brighter note, we stayed in the most beautiful Carriage House that had been relatively unscathed by the tornado. The main house and back yard had some damage but this little place stood strong. This is the bedroom in the upstairs of the house we stayed in.

This is the other end of the bedroom. A BIG plate glass window opened to a view of Mena.

Here's the cute little dining room!

And the cozy living room!

Here is a picture of the BIG house that was in front of our small, cozy carriage house. Isn't it beautiful!?