A Glimpse into Walmart

You may recall that on Anzac Day we made a visit to the city of Bentonville, Arkansas. It is a nice looking city, and is home to the Crystal Bridges Museum that I mentioned in the previous blog. What I didn't say is that the Museum was founded by Alice Walton, daughter of Sam Walton, the man who spawned the huge business known as Walmart. Thanks to her Walmart inheritance, she is the second richest woman in the USA.

A lot of people pooh pooh Walmart because it has taken business away from a lot of the smaller stores, and there is no dispute, it has done that. When Sam Walton set out, his goal was to provide cheaper goods for the people. Especially  for the folk in rural areas, and hopefully give them a better life by saving them money on groceries and household items. I must say that when I do regular price comparisons on groceries, clothing, jewellery, cosmetics and optical supplies, it is hard to beat Walmart prices. While some people refuse to shop at Walmart, I personally prefer to get the best value for my dollar and shop where it is convenient, rather than worry about what people think of me shopping at a discount store! When I read RV magazines it seems like a lot of RVers agree with me.

Controversies crop up from time to time, and one that I was aware of about Walmart revolved around the lesser pay and employment conditions for women working for the company. While the pay and condition disparity was similar to what was experienced in numerous other American businesses, Walmart has since address many of those issues. 

For RVers, Walmart it is a great one-stop shop, with a parking lot large enough to make parking a 42' motorhome a breeze, which means it is even easier for our 32'. We can buy our groceries, computer needs, optical needs, fishing licence, pharmaceuticals, stationery, RV items, craft items, clothing, kitchen and household items all under the one roof. I like how easy it is to return goods to Walmart - obviously you have to remember to keep your receipt. I often see casual clothes that look nice on the rack and select sizes that look right; rather than try them on in the store when I am rushed, I buy them and try them on with the clothes or shoes in my wardrobe that I may want to match them with. So long as I don't remove any tags, and have my receipt, there has never been a problem either returning the items, or exchanging them for a different size. As our RV refrigerator is only mid-size, we need to shop twice a week to restock our fruit and vegetables, and Walmart is our preferred shop. Considering we have visited all 50 US states during our travels, I guess we have visited at least one Walmart in almost every state -  I do know we have been to Walmart in Alaska, but I must admit we did not visit a Walmart in Hawaii we had our first exposure to a military PX store instead. 

Given that we spend a great many of our cost of living dollars at Walmart, we thought it was prudent to pay a call to the Walmart Visitors Center in Bentonville, and see the story of how it all came about.  I'm sure many American's know the story, but as we don't have Walmart in Australia (Costco only arrived a few years ago), I doubt many Aussies would know anything about it. In a nutshell, a very enterprising young man by the name of Sam Walton completed a degree in Economics in 1940, served a 5 year term in the Army as an Intelligence Officer, then worked in retail. Within a short time, he bought a store in a franchise chain. Eventually he bought his own 'Five and Dime' store here in Bentonville. Over the following years he kept opening new stores and the name Walmart was coined with the first 'Walmart' store opening in Arkansas in 1962. There are now almost 4,000 Walmart stores in the USA and over 500 Sam's Club stores, and just over 4,000 Walmart's internationally. Australia's market must be too small for Walmart to be viable, or there is too much opposition from Coles and Woolworths perhaps?

Below is the old building in Bentonville as it was when Sam Walton bought his first 5 and 10 (dime) store in 1950. The photo under it, is the building in modern times, although the building is now a Museum of the Walmart story, plus the original Five & Dime store that is still operating, as depicted in the third photo. 

Five and Dime Store

Sam Walton fulfilled his dream of helping citizens

International spread of Walmart Stores

As well as the Visitor's Center and Walmart Offices in Bentonville, there is also a Super Walmart store. I had read that this store is like the 'Flagship', and given the number of Walmart officials who would be shopping there regularly (getting staff discount no doubt), the staff would need to always be on their best behaviour. I thought it was worth checking out! I have been in some very nice Walmarts before (and some not so nice), but this one took the cake. It was huge, but at the same time it was very well lit with seemingly natural lighting, it had a very modern feel to it,  and there was free wifi throughout the store. It is the first Walmart I have ever visited with that attribute. Several of them have free WIFI in the McDonalds and maybe Subway, but to my knowledge, that is all. The thing that impressed me most with this store was the attitude of the staff. In different areas of the store I was perusing the shelves or the racks, and staff actually came up and asked me if I needed any help. The check-out staff were very pleasant, and efficient at the same time. In some other Walmarts we have stood in line as cashiers have chatted to customers, but they stop working to chat which holds the line up. Here they seemed to keep working effectively as they chatted. I must say it was most impressive. I wish it was my local store.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas

The 25th April is Anzac Day, one of the most important national occasions in Australia (and New Zealand). ANZAC was the name give to those in the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps who fought in Gallipoli in WW1. While the day is a National Day of Remembrance of the first landings of the ANZACs in Gallipoli, the day now commemorates all those who have served and died in all wars and conflicts. Dawn services are held all around the country and are very moving events.

LEST WE FORGET.

On a brighter note, Murray and I celebrated the day by visiting a recommended Museum that was only about 20 minutes drive from our campground. Crystal Bridges Museum of America Art is a beautiful, modern building set in 120 acres of gardens and forests. There are six outdoor nature trails, and at this time of the year, the 'Appalacia Red' Redbud and white dogwood trees were flowering along the trails.  The trails provide a beautiful and tranquil environment as an adjunct to the art contained within the buildings. It wasn't until we got on the shuttle to return to our RV that the driver asked if we had seen any red cardinal birds on our walks. He said there were several seen around the area, and if I had only known, I would have spent some time sitting, waiting and watching. Fortunately we are stopping in at Sandy and Joe Bill's home in Fordyce, Arkansas after we pick my daughter Kim up in Nashville in a few weeks time, and I expect we will see lots of red cardinals then. 

View from Museum cafe where we had lunch, to one of the trails outside

Silver tree art at the entrance to the Museum

Of course the beautiful grounds with their natural flora and art work are just part of the attraction. Inside the building are American masterworks dating back to the Colonial period. Here are just two paintings done in the 1800's that took my eye, and the description is below each one. 

Here are some photos that I took on the trails...

Flowering white dogwoods 

Redbud Trees - like what you saw out of our RV kitchen window Jen! 

Some artwork on the trail - a huge Vaquero

How tranquil is this scene?

Muskogee, Oklahoma

After we left Oklahoma City we were heading to our current RV park in Arkansas. After driving east for an hour, we were about to pull into a little town for morning tea when we saw a sign that said National Shrine Infant Jesus of Prague. The history of the Miraculous Infant Jesus of Prague dates back more than four hundred years. I quickly checked on my iPhone and discovered that around 60,000 people visit this shrine every year, with many claiming miraculous healings and answer to prayers. So after our morning tea, we drove a few miles off our path to check out this shrine and say a prayer for our families. It was only a small shrine, so we were very surprised to see three first-class relics housed there: one of St Wenceslaus (who the Church is named after), one of the Holy Cross, and one of the Holy Manger. I am guessing that the special statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague is dressed in various coverings for different special events of the year, judging by the collection of outfits on display.

We thought this was the Shrine, until we got inside

Infant Jesus of Prague

Created lovingly and donated I am guessing

The three first class relics

From Prague, Oklahoma we could have taken a direct route to our campground in Arkansas, but we were interested to see the city of Muskogee, Oklahoma. So we took a 30 minute detour to get a first hand view of the city and see if we couldn't find an 'Okie from Muskogee' to chat with, from it's population of around 40,000 people.

Miss Annie's Tea Room looked old and deserted, but the 'Open' sign was illuminated, and it was lunchtime, so we parked the RV out the front and opened the door. What a pleasant surprise...the picture below is the first room you enter, and as it was deserted, I thought, uh oh, not a good sign. However, the waitress met us and took us through an archway to another larger room, and there were several tables with people eating in there. That was more reassuring. As it turns out, it was a fabulous place to eat. We had a good chat with our waitress who was born in Muskogee, and assured us that we were in fact talking to an 'Okie from Muskogee'. She went on to remind us that the country singer Carrie Underwood hailed from Muskogee, and that the song 'Okie From Muskogee' was in fact written about the nearby town of Checotah, but that the name didn't work well with the lyrics, so they used Muskogee instead. 

Miss Addie's Tea Room

The outside was deceiving

Yep, she's proud to be an Okie from Muskogee alright!

Cave Springs, Arkansas

What a great find. The Creeks Golf and RV Resort in Cave Springs, Arkansas is a nice little campground.  From our RV we can see the 18th green and it is only about 100 yards from our RV to the golf clubhouse.  Our $35 nightly fee includes electricity, water, sewer, cable TV and WIFI plus Murray gets 20% off his golfing fees. 

Yesterday Murray played 9 holes then collected me to accompany him on his last nine holes. In the photo below he has just driven up to the RV and you can see the 18th hole behind him. I ended up being his golf buggy driver and personal photographer for his last nine holes. 

We had been lamenting the lack of wildlife that we had seen so far on this RV trip, so I was quick to get the camera focussed when I saw this cheeky squirrel. I drove the cart right past him, and he didn't even flinch. So when Murray got out to putt his ball, I walked back and took this photo. 

While I was taking a photo of the Canada geese below, I was backing back to get a better shot when Murray casually made a comment about the rubber alligator beside the lake. I was just about to step on it, and I would have screamed (probably like I did when I nearly stood on the resting bison in Yellowstone Benn!) had not Murray alerted me to it being a fake alligator.

Dangerous alligator

After a pleasant day on the course, we had a nice dinner in the RV and were both happily working on our laptops when our weather monitor alerted us to a nasty storm that was currently in Oklahoma and was moving in our direction in NW Arkansas. We kept the TV on the weather channel and the picture kept getting scarier. There was talk of baseball sized hail and 70 mph winds and of a tornado touching down and taking the roof off a bank building and uplifting an RV in a town in Oklahoma. Let me tell you, any hail, let alone baseball size hail can do serious damage to the perspex vent covers on the roof of our RV. Once they are damaged, we would be exposed to rain entering the RV, not to mention the hassle of having to find an RV service repair centre, order in a replacement part, wait for it to arrive, and then the inconvenience of waiting around while the work is being done. So Murray got on the roof and covered the main perspex cover with a rubber mat, hoping that strong winds didn't displace it before it did the job of protecting us from the hail!  

From what we could see on the weather radar, our town of Cave Springs, Arkansas seemed to be on the edge of the storm's path, and given the storms original north -north-easterly direction, we hoped to miss the worst of it. We went to bed around midnight after checking we were still on the edge of the storm, and taking comfort in knowing that our weather monitor would alert us if we were in danger. Just in case, we removed our emergency bag (passports, radio, bottled water, basic toiletries etc) from under the bed and got it ready by the door with a torch and umbrella. We also put out a set of clothes to wear, if we had to leave in a hurry. We weren't to get much sleep as the monitor started going off every 15 mins. Initially the alarms were for our listening area, but not our town, so I turned it off and closed my eyes. This continued for 2 hours, but by 2.30 am, the alert now included our town. Uh oh. We immediately got up and got dressed while looking at the radar. By this time, our town (see the green dot in the middle of the photo below) was right in the path of the storm. The direction of the storm had moved to be more easterly. Darn. The dark green areas show rain, the yellow with red centers is severe storm with lightning, thunder, hail and rain, and then the red overlay is the potential tornado path. Within a few minutes the next alert said 'leave mobile homes now, not in 5 minutes time'. We locked our RV and walked quickly to cover the 100 yards to the basement of the golf clubhouse.  

It was comforting to be in a safe place with the company of the other campground residents (and about six dogs). I bought my laptop along, but another chap had his laptop open and was already accessing the weather channel, so we were able to follow the tornado threat continuously. In the photo below, Murray is with a few of the others following the progress of the storm from our safe refuge. Most of the other refugees were to my left and in the entrance area watching the storm. I was thankful to have my iPhone with me, and using the golf house WIFI, I was able to play Words With Friends to distract me and help pass the time. Worked a treat! Around 4.15 am the initial tornado threat had passed, but as another tornado was building, we were on a 'watch' alert until 6am. The $30 weather monitor is worth its weight in gold. At 6am the alert was over, and we both were able to go to bed, happy in the knowledge that being retired, we didn't have to be at work at 8.30 am like some of the other campground residents. 

Following the tornado threat from the safety of the clubhouse basement

Oklahoma City

When we were heading to Oklahoma City Murray realised that our visit coincided with the dates of the US Masters Golf. The RV park that I had originally selected did not have cable TV, so Murray did some sleuthing and found a campground that did have Cable TV. A lot of RV parks advertise WIFI and Cable TV, but when you get there, the WIFI leaves a lot to be desired and the Cable TV may only have 7 channels (you may get more in free to air!). So Murray rang them up and asked if their cable channels included the golf channel, and bingo. That is how we came to find the Rockwell RV Park. What a gem. You can actually see it from the highway, so you would think it would be noisy, but for some reason, thankfully, that has not been the case as we have now been here for the 4 days of the golf. We are so grateful that we changed to this campground and had the cable TV, as we have just seen Adam Scott from Australia win the green jacket at Augusta and take out the 2013 Masters. Whoo hoo.

Indoor heated pool. Spa to the far left

After we checked in and set up the other day, Murray was enjoying the golf, and I felt I needed to take a walk. I wandered around the grounds for a short while and checked out the bison in pens down the back (they sell bison beef products here). I then thought that I would check out the office as they often have some good tourist information there. The office offers a free daily newspaper along with fresh hot coffee and home made muffins each morning. While inside the office, I walked up the hallway that led to the heated indoor pool and spa (the only RV park with a heated indoor pool in Oklahoma), and to my surprise found myself chatting to some ladies in a small hairdressing salon. 

Hairdresser Kathy is pulling out the chair ready for me. Next door is the indoor pool and spa

It was almost 6 weeks since my last visit to the hairdresser and so the timing was right for me to have a touch up, so I made a booking there and then. The hairdresser Kathy is part owner of this RV park and she was interesting to talk to. After doing my hair, she offered to pick me up the next day and take me to get some hairdresser supplies at her local supplier where she uses a discount card. The supplies allow me to touch up my hair without needed a hairdresser! We had a fun hour or so selecting hair products and also rifling through a wholesale gift shop where Kathy also has a business account. I couldn't walk in off the street and buy from there, but with her business contacts I could make purchases. Like the kind host at the last campground who offered us the use of her car (and which we did twice), Kathy is an example of the kindness we experience during our RV travels over here. Thanks Kathy.

When I did research on things to do in Oklahoma City, I read about the Historic Stockyards and the Rodeo Opry which is Oklahoma's official county music show. Like the Opry in Nashville, this one has been supporting up and coming country music singers since 1977. We decided to book in for the weekly performance and walked away with two free CDs as the lucky door prize to the audience members who came from furtherest distance. Being from Australia we were sure to win! 

The sign speaks for itself - the world's largest cattle market

I ventured inside the Rodeo Opry 2 hrs before the show

Line up of the country singers we saw perform

During my research the name Cattleman's Steakhouse kept coming up too, so when I realised it and the Opry were across the road from each other, AND were both within the historic stockyard precinct, my plans fell nicely into place. We could  park in the Stockyards, have dinner at the steakhouse then walk across the road to the Opry for the 7.30pm show. We had a great evening. The Cattleman's Steakhouse was originally a cafe that opened in 1910 to feed the ranchers bringing their cattle to the stockyards. It may look like a regular old cafe from the outside, but let me tell you, the steaks inside lived up to their reputation! I noticed an old photo of the front of the building with the cars of yesteryear, so I decided to take a photo to show a comparison with the cars of today.

Old photo of the steakhouse

Photo of the same cafe yesterday

Guthrie, the Original Capital of Oklahoma

We have spent the last few days in a campground on the outskirts of the city of Guthrie (population now around 10,000). Guthrie was settled in 1887 and became Oklahoma's first state capital in 1907. A vote taken in 1910 saw the capital move to Oklahoma City in 1911. According to Wikipedia: 'Historical tourism has become a significant industry for the town. Guthrie is the largest urban Historic district in the United States, containing 2,169 buildings, 1,400 acres (6 km²) and 400 city blocks.' 

Check out the old buildings

Aussie friends Tom and Betty have also bought an RV over here in America (they have a 5th wheel and 4WD) and this is their 3rd year to spend 3 months travelling around the USA. They are keen golfers like Murray, so we arranged to meet here in Oklahoma so the three of them could play some golf. The RV park we selected is located right in between several golf courses. They had two days of golf with Murray before they headed south to Texas to escape an impending tornado threat. Our planned next stop is only 50 miles down the road in Oklahoma City as we have a booking for the Oklahoma Opry on Saturday night. As we would still be in the threat zone it wasn't much point us moving on. However, we did identify a safe place to escape to if the threat changed from a 'watch' to a 'seek shelter now' alert. Here are Murray Tom and Betty just before they pulled out in their rig. Our RV site was right beside theirs (our RV on left of photo) which was convenient for an evening drink together. 

We did get to have a tasty dinner together with them in town at the Stable Cafe. The cafe advertises USDA meat and guarantees it is fresh and never frozen. My steak was tender and delicious. And the merlot was the perfect accompaniment. 

Yep - good place for a meal

After Tom and Betty left, Murray and I had the use of the host's car (generous people dot this country) and drove into town for lunch. We had a few choices, but the Victorian Tea Room looked different, so we wandered in to check out the menu and stayed for lunch. The town Mayor had come in to chat to the owner as he holds his council meetings here. I daresay she mentioned she had some Australians in the place, so he came over for a chat. He was very proud of his 'city' although at only 10,000 citizens, we would call that a 'town' at home.

Mayor's old car out front - he was keen to get it home and

under cover 

before the predicted hail arrived!

Tea room was deserted when we arrived

We opted to share a 3-tiered Tea Room Special - sandwiches, fruit and cakes. The pot of tea on the candle was free.

On return to the campground, the TV channels were all agog with the impending 'winter storm' and advisories were posted for the likelihood of tornado, high winds, hail, ice pellets, sleet, snow - you name it, it was in the mix. Anyway, as time went on we could see the worst of it would hit NW of us, and while our temperatures plummeted below zero overnight (after highs of 24 C/75F down to a high today of 8 C/46F) we got off lightly. When we woke this morning the trees were iced up - see the photo below - that is not water droplets on the branches, but frozen water. It is now 1pm and the trees are still in that same state - it is cold out there! Thankfully it is nice and warm inside the RV.

An Oklahoma Campground

Here is our RV facing the lake - there is a marina over to our left

It's a glorious day here in Afton, Oklahoma - a light cool breeze but a stunning 21 C (70 F). Murray and I went for a walk to check out this campground. During winter only 18 folk stay here, and we chatted with one of them today. She said they had a mild winter, with no snow. 2 years ago the tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri came close to this campground, but missed it by sending up a water spout in the lake instead. Too close for comfort! The lady we spoke to and her husband live here full time and this is their only home. When they retired they decided they wanted to have no big home or garden to maintain, and they thoroughly enjoy the lifestyle here. His brother also lives here, and grandkids love to stay over the summer. She said the community here is very pleasant, and they have a clubhouse with regular events over the summer. Her husband does odd jobs for the campground to earn a few extra $$s

Most people in the campground are summer campers who have permanent sites set up - most have satellite TV dishes, and fabulous patios with great views over the lake. I can imagine how this place would be buzzing on summer weekends, and I like it like it is now - quiet enough so that you can hear the birds singing. Most of the campers live in Broken Arrow, Tulsa or neighbouring towns. The majority of trees here are still bare, but the ? Bradford Pears are flowering well.

These two photos below are of the same campsite, but the second photo shows the extent of the white patio out over the water - the patio under cover also has a wood heater - perfect for those cooler evenings when you just want to stay out and enjoy the "aura". 

An alternative way to live...some folks sell up their home for a simple life like this 

In the two photos below Murray is checking out the sale price just to give us an idea of what these outfits are worth. Both are selling for $20,000 - they come with everything that is on site including RV, storage shed, freezer, large TV, patio (not sure if it includes the golf cart). Tenants pay $350 a month for a waterfront site and that includes water. You pay for your own electricity. If you want a berth at the marina, it is an extra $100 a month.