I landed in Van Buren, Arkansas last night, about a 500 mile drive from Nashville. Today I will head out to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, going through Oklahoma, Texas, and into NM. I chose to spend an extra day on the road, rather than trying to get to Annie's today. Today will be my longest drive, a little over 600 miles, but then the next day will be much shorter and much easier.

When I got here yesterday the desk person told me that in the morning,the parking lot was knee deep in water. There had been a rain storm which dumped 12 inches of water in less than an hour. All the front rooms has been flooded, and they could not be used. Again I was in an HP room, with a step in shower. Very nicely done. Bob would be so pleased to see this. In addition, a little bag with crackers and pretzels and a bottle of water was on the table greeting me. What a nice touch.

Driving I40 through Memphis was something. There were two HUGE pentetcostal churches side by side, with huge parking lots, and well manicured lawns. Then as I got ready to cross the Mississippi River and into Arkansas, there on my right stood a HUGE silver pyramid! I am guessing it is the music center or convention center. The Mississippi is wide here, and you can see where the levees were built, now covered in grass, as well on the Arkansas side what looked to be ropes or nets in the water possibly there to catch debris in the water. This is the first time I have driven through Memphis and into Arkansas.

Arkansas, on the eastern part, is nearly level, and looked very dry. I did not see any significant fields of crops. Occasionally I would see a small cotton field, or soybean field. But not on the scale of what you see in Iowa, Illinois,etc. The area looked almost barren and poor.

One of my favorite things when I drive, is to look for strange names, and those I found in abundance - Bucksnort, Arkansas, Mousetail State Park, Cuba Landing, Bird Song Road, Toad Suck Road, and Cock Walk Restaurant.

Watching the beautiful cumulus clouds (my favorite) I saw the head of Abraham Lincoln, Winnie the Pooh's (Disneys) head, which morphed into a fluffy dog laying on his back, feet in the air. Now some say I should keep my eyes on the road. Well I do, but I always watch other things also. Always have.

Do you ever wonderful what all those trucks are carrying? I drove up and passed a truck, carrying the biggest tires I have ever seen. one tire was nearly as wide as Matilda is long! There were five of them! The day before I passed a semi carrying what looked like a gigantic egg, gray in color. There was no visible opening to it. The package was entirely covered in some type of heavy polymer or plastic. Of course, my mind went wild, speculating - is it toxic waste going someplace to be buried; is it some type of explosive...a bomb? Is Jimmy Hoffa's body in there????

And then there are the names of people on roads, street signs, etc. One particularly fascinated me - McKellar Sypes - so I googled it. It is the name of an airport, in honor of two men, McKellar (whom I can't remember what he did) and Sypes, a VietNam veteran. Amazing what you can learn while on the road.

I am off to have breakfast, free of course. Then head off down the road....

Adieu, Adios, and Mahalo,
I love you all,
Sally