I bolted out of Blytheville, Arkansas this morning around 9:30am or so... there were no tears, I won't miss it.
The weather was a bit overcast, but I made great time.
Here are some highlights of the road...
AR has a lot of "Rest Inn" hotels... which made me think that if I was to stay at one and someone asked where I was I could tell them I was at "Rest Inn" - to which I'm sure they would reply something like "nice - I don't care what you're doing, I asked where you were at!"
On the road I passed this truck with fake animals on it... it was really frickin' cool.
I drove through Palastine, AR... it was such an interesting place I thought I would attach the link to the Wikipedia site. Seriously though, there were houses off the side of the road that had people living in them and they shouldn't have they were in such bad shape... dangerous even. This is one of the many reasons I like driving instead of flying... I get to experience a bit more of how people across this great country live.. it's sobering at times and always educational... I truly enjoy it.
As I noticed the housing situation degrade I noticed an increase in churches... and I'm not talking small churches, these were some of the largest I've ever seen. By the time I hit Little Rock - I seen one of the largest churches along the way. I've located some pics. It's not like they will ever compare to the giant Jesus / God figure jumping out at you in Ohio off of I-75 right near Dayton. That one is crazy...
One of the church's names caught my eye - "Word Aflame" - holy shit! - I found the link! You can click on the picture of the building and you'll barely make out their logo which is an image of a bible with a flame at the top, it kind of looks like a burning bible, which struck me as odd.
By this time I was surfing radio stations and being quite entertained. I noticed that quite a few businesses in the south start with someone's name. Billy's BBQ, Bo's BBQ, Stubbie's BBQ were a few of the BBQ places I seen.
I was also very impressed as I drove through Benton, AR. Apparently "Landers and Sons" owns this whole frickin' town!! Check the site. They had no fewer than 4 dealerships, including a GM dealership, a Ford dealership, a Hummer dealership and a Harley Davidson dealership!! There was an RV dealership - I would bet money it was theirs as well. I didn't stop at McDonald's in Benton because I didn't feel the need to give the Landers crew any more money. :)
On the way out of AR, I noticed a town called Arkadelphia. No shit. I was looking all over for a Arkroit or a Arkanageles, but couldn't find either.
Fate -- not Fate, TX, told me that I should stop in Sulphor Springs, TX for lunch. I stopped to grab gas and a gentleman with a very nice gold watch and grillz on his teeth came up to me and asked if I would be willing to help him out. He had come into town looking for work and now he couldn't make it back home to Mount Pleasant / Mount Vernon as he was almost out of fuel... I pondered a mere second and handed over $10. The guy was shocked and very appreciative. He pulled his car up right next to mine and put the ten dollars in ... he came over to shake my hand a second time as he was getting ready to leave, I told him to have a good day and he said that I had "made his.." - this is exactly why I give to those who ask for it. If I have it and you need it more than I do - I'll gladly give it to you. This will also likely be the way that I die... I am a bit too trusting of a person and I'm sure it will bite me in the ass someday, but that's ok - I'd rather take the chance. Once again - you can't experience things like this flying everywhere.
The one thing I noticed in Texas was that the housing situation took a sharp increase into television-like mansions / ranches. Here's a shot from the window at one of the smaller ones - it was "close" to the road, so that's why I grabbed it.
So - now I'm sitting in my hotel room, I practiced guitar earlier for about thirty minutes and I'm bored. Oh wait - my Domino's Pasta Bowl just arrived, it was the only place that would deliver....
Ohhhh well.
All in all a pretty good day wouldn't you agree?
