It's been a while since we've taken a family vacation and since we had to drive to Alabama for Branyon's graduation, we decided we'd make a few detours and have a graduation celebration.
Our first stop was Murfreesboro, AR. We chose this area because we wanted to visit Crater of Diamonds State Park. Instead of staying in a hotel, we found Diamond K Lodge, a guest house that is located on a working ranch complete with horses, cattle, pigs, and chickens. (We thought this would be an additional adventure to the diamond mine.)
During our first full day, we went diamond hunting. The mine's setup is a 37 acre digging field. We found out that only a few days before our visit, someone found a 6 carat diamond! That got Branyon and Branna quite excited and geared up to find there own.
We spent the morning digging, but didn't find anything. After lunch, Branyon and Branna headed back with big ambitions of finding something...
However, all they came home with was "Arkansas Diamonds" also known as quartz. While we didn't find anything of much value, Branna had a great time just digging in the dirt and running free!
Branyon also found out that the person who found the 6 carat diamond was somewhat of a permanent resident... He had been at the crater everyday for the last 2 years! After finding that out, we didn't feel quite so bad leaving empty handed.
We spent the next morning at the Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village. The Ka-Do-Ha Indians were mound dwellers and this particular village is the only one that the public can see into the mounds.
Similar, to the diamond mine the village had an area to dig for artifacts. It was a drizzly and overcast day, so we didn't get to dig as much as Branna would have liked...
but we were successful in our hunt this time and found a small arrowhead.
Later that day, we went back to the Lodge. After a rest, the owners gave us a tour of their ranch. When looking over the Lodge online while making the reservations, I saw they mentioned raising chickens. Much to our surprise, the owners RAISED chickens... 12,000 of them (plus 1,000 roosters)! The chickens and roosters were housed in a structure that was the length of two football fields. The owner harvested eggs for Foster Farms and averaged 6,000 per day.
When we checked into the Lodge, the owner told Branna that she could help him out one day that we were there. She was so excited and couldn't stop asking when it was going to happen... But, as you can see when we finally were able to see the chickens, Branna couldn't get out of there fast enough. I guess I should have prepared her better for the smell!
We were so appreciative to the owners for giving us a first hand tour of the farms. They even fresh eggs and homemade sausage which we ate for breakfast each morning.
Our last stop was Tuscaloosa, Alabama for Branyon's graduation. He officially graduated on December 17 with his PhD in Astrophysics
On our way in to town, we drove by the house we lived in while we were in school. The neighborhood was in the path of the deadly tornado that struck on April 27, 2011. It was a surreal sight to see so much destruction in a place that was our second home
The house in the photo is ours taken from a side street. When we lived there, there was a house between the camera and our house. That house was completely destroyed by the tornado, as were so many other surrounding houses.
On a lighter note, the day of graduation was a long one, but very exciting. It's been a hard journey for Branyon and we were all so excited for it to finally come to an end. Atlie was good and content just long enough let me watch Branyon get his hood and walk across the stage. I was very thankful that the PhD students went before the undergraduates!
Branyon walking in with the other PhD students and their advisors
Branyon and his advisor after graduation
Like I mentioned, it was a long day and I think Branna's face describes how everyone felt...
