The Great American Road Trip: Day 2

7:02AM
On the road again! Destination: Arkansas. Last night was pretty uneventful. No bears! Woo! My biggest problem was that our campsite was slightly titled downwards so the entire night I was squished against the edge of the wet tent. But in the grand scheme of things, waking up with a soggy sleeping bag isn't as bad as getting eaten by a bear in the middle of the night, so all in all I'd say it was a good night.

1:15PM
We just stopped at Graceland after following the GPS woman blindly through Memphis. But alas, she brought us upon this great American tourist trap. We paid $10 to park and then realized it would cost another $26 to take the tour of his mansion across the street. Instead of getting sucked into another ploy to take our money, we decided to run across the four lanes that stood between us and the king. We made it across and gazed over the wall surrounding his estate covered in Elvis graffiti. While I couldn't see much, I did spot two horses grazing in the yard. I may have just seen the very descendants of Elvis' own horses. Amazing.

1:37PM
Welcome to Arkansas. The Natural State.

Just crossed the Mississippi River! I was also just named MVD (Most Valuable Driver) for the day for my long haul across Tennessee.

2:42 PM
I just woke up from a nice little nap. Except when I opened my eyes, we were at an old gas station in the middle of nowhere, with a large truck that looked like it may have exploded and was still smoking. However, the police car and old time fire engine just stood there watching the whole scene. Despite this somewhere disturbing awakening, it was nice to stretch my legs and treat myself to my first DDP (Diet Dr. Pepper) of the trip. They can rough it as much as they want, but they can't keep me from my beloved DDP.

3:34PM
They just turned off the GPS lady up front. I've been informed that we are just going to "wing it" in search of Central High School. Apparently it was a school that was historically significant because of the Little Rock 9. The governor wouldn't allow them to go in so Eisenhower had the 101st Airborn Division escort them into the school. So I guess I'm about to see an important site in the Civil Rights Movement. Who knew this trip would involve some learning?

4:15PM
Just got back in the car after poking around Central High School. It was actually a pretty cool stop--made Graceland seem pretty trivial. And we even managed to find it without the GPS lady. I guess this is how road trips were done before technology came along. But don't worry, as soon as we got back on the road her comforting voice came back into our lives.

I just asked Tyler if he had a name for his GPS lady. His response, "No. I don't think so. Why?" Mark threw out the name Melanie, Melanie it is!

8:03PM
We made it to our campsite in Arkansas this evening with no problems. This one isn't very far off the main road, so we weren't meandering through curvy country roads like we were last night. However, this campsite has its own quirky personality. First off, let me state that we are the only tent in the entire campsite. Every other plot has a huge RV with satellite dishes and ugly lawn ornaments. It's mostly older folks and they all seem to be quite friendly. In fact, I saw one lady making her way over to a neighbor's with an ice cold pitcher of ice tea and a stack of cups in tote. I guess that's how they do it down south. Anyway, despite some menacing clouds this evening, so far no rain has come to fruition. All three of us even had the opportunity to get a run in! I was able to get in 5 miles, but by that time I felt like I was running circles around some of the cute old couples walking their little dogs. They kept asking me if I was tired. I kept smiling and telling them I was almost finished! I can't tell you how great it feels to get out and move your lets around after being in a car all day!

Oh! I forgot to mention our "McDonald's meal" of the evening. (Mark McDonald has got to be sick of the McDonald's jokes at this point in his life, but I couldn't resist!) Anyway, we had a delicious meal of spaghetti and hamburger meat. Camp cooking always impresses me. However, my inability to cook in a normal kitchen makes cooking over a propane tank look near impossible for me. I have taken on the more approachable chore of making the sandwiches for lunch the following day. Sandwiches I can do. I've figured out the perfect ratio of bread to turkey to provolone. A small, yet victorious feat none the less.

Alright well the boys have both gone off to shower, leaving me here all alone at twilight, arguably the scariest time of day, so I'm going to go hide in the tent until they get back!