Road Trip Through The Heartland

Sunrise When We Left Dallas

It's 6:15, both Evie and I are up. I went downstairs and got us coffee, the first one in line.  Breakfast is not included here at the Doubletree but I don't mind as I don't usually have it when I am at a Hampton Inn.  We are not sure what today will bring, how far we'll go, just depending on our moods and how tired we get of driving.

We were both up by 5:30 on Sunday morning, had our coffee, packed the car, hugged Beth and said goodbye just after 7:00, a good early start to our day.  It was just getting light as we drove east out of Dallas, the roads quiet for Texas.  The sky was dark and threatening off in the distance, then the sun would break through, then be hidden by the clouds again as we drove.  It's a fairly boring drive, mostly flat and through vast ranches in Texas, some fields brown, others green with grazing cattle.  I had forgotten how long it took us to get through Arkansas after Texas, to Tennesee even though we drove this road a couple of years ago.  We passed the exit for Hope, Arkansas, Clinton's hometown, then drove around a busy Little Rock, as we headed on #40 east to Memphis and Jackson, where we stayed.  The drive through Arkanasa was more interesting, as pine trees filled both sides of the road, reminding us our drives South through South Carolina.

On The Road

We stopped for breakfast and lunch, once in Texas, once in Arkansas, at Mc Donald's, our usual road trip eatery.  We arrived at our hotel, a Hilton Doubletree about 4:00, not a Hampton Inn for sure and relaxed in our room, watching basketball games thinking we would wait till 6:00 and then go out for dinner.  Well, our plans changed, as we were just too tired to get showered and gussied up to go out so I went and picked up some fast food, not quite the night out we had expected.  But we were happy, watching basketball, enjoying our food, thinking about our drive tomorrow.  I wanted to stay up and watch the Ohio State game but didn't make it because I was too tired from the drive and getting up early.

Clouds Over Tennesee Farms