By Sheri Hopkins
Lifestyle Contributor
Hello everyone! Such a beautiful spring day this Friday, birds are singing, and the sun is shining. Our heavenly Father sure made us a beautiful place to live. I believe it was back in 1982, give or take, that I worked in Fort Smith at an engineering company. Curtis Feimster also worked there and we rode to work together. Fun is not a strong enough word to describe our time at that establishment. I have a story or two to tell on Curtis, but I will wait for another time.
One day while there, I was reading the paper and spotted an advertisement for a trip to Nashville. It was going with a group on a tour bus, and it was like a three-day trip. I called Lisa Smith Favela and asked her if she wanted to go. We paid our money and could not wait till the time to leave. We hadn’t been anywhere so we were so excited. We were to meet the bus at Central Mall and leave from there. Guess what? Lisa and I were late getting there. Thankfully they didn’t run off and leave us. They were not happy when we got there. They loaded our luggage and we went to get on the bus and this is the kicker. The bus was loaded with senior citizens. Now here we are two teenagers and a bus full of senior citizens.
While we were getting on the bus they all acted mad at us for being late and they were giving us the snake eye. We go on our fun-filled weekend with a busload of senior citizens. There was only one other young couple maybe in their early 20s on the bus. They were on their honeymoon of all things on this bus. I love elderly people and I am now one of those elderly. We loaded up and decided to make the best of it. Needless to say, we ended up having a blast. We went to the Grand Ole Opry, Twitty City, Opryland theme park, we met Johnny Cash’s mother, toured Elvis Presley’s airplane–the Lisa Marie, saw Graceland from the road, and went down one of the famous strips in Nashville. We didn’t let them old folks slow us down. We were late for almost everything but they decided to just deal with us. Even the bus driver liked us before it was over. I will never forget that trip, it was so much fun. Lots of laughs for sure.
Y’all know I am on a poke cake kick. I love a good ole poke cake. They are easy and quick to take somewhere. This week we are doing a coconut one. Coconut is my favorite. When I was a kid I always requested a coconut cake for my birthday.
COCONUT POKE CAKE
1 White Cake Mix (if you can find it, use a coconut flavored cake mix)
1 Can Cream of Coconut (this is not alcohol, but is found with the drink mixes)
Sweetened flaked coconut
Make the cake mix according to the package directions. Poke holes in it and pour the cream of coconut on top. When the cake is cooled, spread Cool Whip on top and sprinkle with flaked coconut. Keep the cake in the refrigerator. Enjoy the cake and have a blessed week.
