I took Friday as a 'personal' day for me. I left Springfield, drove to just east of Joplin and headed to Bella Vista,AR, Bentonville, AR, Siloam Springs,AR, Colcard, OK, back across the line to Rogers, AR, Pea Ridge, AR, and last stop was Holiday Island, AR. I had decided to see if I could come up with a mini quilt shop hop in one day that would work if a group of friends wanted something to do in one day. Wanted to go to War Eagle but there was an accident with a boat that had Highway 12 blocked and traffic was backed up several miles and couldn't get out there that way. I turned around and then drove to Pea Ridge, AR. Always thought Pea Ridge was the Civil War battlefield area, never really thought it was a real town. Well it is and there was my greatest find. The quilt shop there had a wonderful man, Harold, and he was quilting with a Gammill Statler. He had lots of everything, even a fabric that I had been looking for, he had 2 yards left. Then he gave me a nice discount on top of another discount and said if I come back (which I will), I would get 20% off anything. Most of the shops give 10% of if you are a quilt guild member or Project Linus contributor. The store in Holiday Island, AR, was super nice, too. Accidently took the 'scenic route', another word for kinda lost, but found it taking the long way into Holiday Island. I was heading towards Eureka Springs, took 187 to Holiday Island, should have took 23N but again, didn't know just where it was, but it was a super nice shop. The long way took me to a town called Beaver, it is where Table Rock turns in to Beaver lake. There is an old wooden one-lane bridge for traffic. The whole area on the lake is beautiful and scenic. Crossed the bridge and proceeded to wind around here and there and finally found the quilt shop. I told her of my scenic route. She said that I was lucky, due to the high waters, the bridge had been closed for months and just deemed safe by the Army Corps of Engineers this past Monday. Then headed home content in the knowledge that going to the Branson/Kimberling City area on Friday of a holiday weekend sucked as I watched miles of bumper to bumper traffic heading southward on Highways 13 and 65 as I was going north. My biggest treat was eating AQ Chicken in Springdale. No one makes better chicken. Have a great 4th of July!