Why Arkansas?

People keep asking us - Why Arkansas?

We are still asking ourselves the same question!

Back in February, we drove from Minnesota through Arkansas on our way to a warm and relaxing Florida vacation. Yes, it was a bit out of the way, but some friends had told us about the crystal mines and we thought we would check out mining for several days. What we didn't expect to happen was that we would fall in love with Arkansas - and spend the rest of our vacation fantasizing about moving there.

It was the end of February and in Arkansas the temperature was in the low 50's. We had spent the previous day driving through a blizzard - but here spring was coming - showing itself all around us. The grass was turning green, the trees were budding out, the crocus had finished blooming and the daffodils and tulips were pushing their way out of the ground. We walked around in Spring jackets marveling at the views and the temperature. We explored a crystal mine and filled the back of our car with quartz rock and crystals!

Once we got back to MN the conversations about moving continued. We talked about how neat it would be if Walgreen's opened a depot and Jack could transfer and finish out his remaining years of work there. We talked about retirement and the fact that is cost 35% less to live there vs Minnesota. Our conversation turned to the possibility of buying land covered with trees and building our dream home. We talked about what it would be like to live in the south - where the winters lasted 2+ months and the temperatures didn't dip below 20 - ever. And, because Arkansas was in zone 7 - the gardener in me was thrilled! We also talked about how hard it would be to leave so much behind - especially our friends and loved ones. We talked - a lot!

As time passed, our talk turned to action. We were feeling like we were being called to move and we began to explore the possibility. Jack found out a new depot was indeed going into Arkansas, and he inquired about transferring. We looked closely at our home and began thinking about the work it would take to sell.

It was May and our family was planning a big celebration for my mom in Oklahoma - she was turning 75 and we all wanted to surprise her with a party! Jack and I decided we would add a few days to our trip and go experience Arkansas in the early summer. We had spent weeks looking on the internet for land but couldn't find anything with the mountains, creek and view we wanted. We hoped we would have more luck looking in person. We headed south the last week of May with the intention of mining, looking for land, touring the area and finally celebrating my mom's birthday.

On our first day in Arkansas we headed to a crystal mine to try digging for crystals. After we paid our mining fees, we began talking to the lady behind the counter about buying land in the area. Standing behind her was this guy that said he had some land for sale, and one of his properties had a creek running through it. We said we would get back to him as we were going to spend our first day looking for crystals. We let him know we were meeting with a Realtor the following day to look at several properties. As he was getting ready to leave, the cashier told us how lucky we were. The guy we were talking to was Ron Coleman, the mine owner himself, and as it turned out, one of the largest property owners in Saline county. He handed us his business card and we headed to the mine.

On our second day, we hooked up with the internet Realtor we had located and began looking at land. By noon, she turned us over to another Realtor, one that specialized in land sales. It was now late afternoon and we had only visited one property that interested us. Jack and I mentioned Ron Coleman and our Realtor jumped on the phone! Within minutes we were off again, to look at Coleman Land. From there, everything seemed to click and by week's end we had found the most beautiful piece of property - in the valley of the mountains - covered with pine and oak trees. And at the back of the property was a rock bottom creek. We were equally thrilled that the land was located about 12 miles from the crystal mine and our new found friends.

Back in Minnesota, Jack's inquiry to moving with Walgreen's was met with a tentative yes. Walgreen's wanted to wait 6 months before taking action on moving anyone to Arkansas. We saw this as a sign and opportunity to work on our house and get it ready to go on the market. We made an offer on the land we had fallen in love with and after a little negotiating, the offer was accepted. We spent the summer working our buns off getting the house ready to be sold. We didn't even buy a fishing license for the summer! We just worked.

As October rolled around- we closed on our property in Arkansas, put our MN house on the market and Walgreen's offered to fly us south to check out the work environment. Within the span of a week, Jack was formally offered the Walgreen's position, someone made an offer on buying our house in Minnesota and we found a rental house to move into in Benton! It was official - no backing out - we were moving.

Today, as I sit at my computer and reminisce, it surprises me to think how quickly change can come about. A year ago, we were happy and content to be living in Minnesota and anticipating the survival of another Minnesota winter. So much has changed and now we will be gone before the snow really starts to fly. I hear it's still in the 70's down south; even if there was no other purpose, this is a very good reason for "why Arkansas."