I am currently typing this from the passenger seat while driving through middle of nowhere Arkansas. We spent the night in Memphis yesterday. Saw some sights, ate Dyer’s Burgers and some delicious barbecue at the Pig on Beale. Stayed at the Peabody and saw the ducks. Now we are headed to Heber Springs to see the eclipse. This was a spur of the moment decision and I am so glad we are doing it. The kids will remember this adventure for a long time. We doubled down on the remember-ability with a little cash control exercise. We had a yard sale on Saturday and took the proceeds to pay for the hotel. Then divvied up the rest of the money 6 ways. Each kid (and adult) gets the same amount. Before we began, I walked them through estimating the gas cost and set that aside. Then we told them that if they had money left over, they could keep it. It has been very very interesting watching them manage their cash. Suddenly they don’t want as much stuff or the most expensive thing on the menu. They are much better stewards of their money than they are of mine!!
We’ve told all the servers about it just to give context for why we have 6 separate tabs and they are taking so long to peruse menus. Every server has been so on board. Even helping the kids figure out the least expensive way to order. Its been awesome. Even more awesome is that we are going to see something cool, not very common, having a road trip and learning a life lesson.
So that’s what we are doing on this lovely eclipse day. Are you going to see it?