Crossing the Mississppi Day 2

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We had gained an hour when we got to a little before Nashville yesterday, so woke up early naturally and were able to leave Howard Johnson (where we felt our van was safe overnight with umpteen State Trooper cars in the parking lot) at 7:30am.

As we crossed the Mississippi River at Memphis, I thought of the pioneers who had crossed it going west looking for fortune and better land, and the Native Americans who had lived here before the whites came. In contrast to theirs, our crossing was easy, high over the water with a great view of the Pyramid ( where the Memphis Grizzlies play) and little islands, and egrets. With this we left Tennessee and were in Arkansas, driving by flat fields of soy beans, rice (yes!),corn, and sorghum. Soon we were driving through the Ozarks, the interstate seeming like a gentle long roller coaster. The road right where we entered AT was awful, but later got better; the truck traffic didn't.
Driving through Oklahama next the truck traffic petered out mysteriously. Flat OK, and the horizon all around us made this a good day to start reading the book I had brought along. Thanks Vincent for lending me 'All the Light we cannot See'. Oklahoma City traffic reminded R of his drive down in a U-Haul truck from Eau Claire, WI to Lubbock, TX in 1980 with Suresh driving our little green Champ behind him and getting separated from each other without cell phones.
Around 6pm we started looking for a place to eat supper. At Elk City, followed the Garmin Mai to Roma's Italian Restaurant. With all the construction at the exit, Garmin Mai, R and I got turned around, as a result when we spotted the restaurant, we had already passed the makeshift entrance and were on the ramp back to I-40. A few exits later, at a very small town called Sayre, found a rustic 'Picket Fence Cafe' which had, luckily for us, just started opening in the evenings. Had a nice meal there and R was happy to realize that to get to it he had driven a bit on Route 66!

When we entered Texas (our ex-home state) the expanse seemed even vaster than Oklahoma. In fact Johnson ranch along I40 has it's own exit #129, and you can't see any buildings from the interstate. The Welcome Center for TX is 100 miles from OK border.

We got into Amarillo, home of the 72oz steak-if you eat it all along with potato etc that comes with it, it's free!, around 8:45. In all R drove 818 miles today taking 13 hours including breaks for fuel and dinner. Relaxed in the Jacuzzi in the room - well deserved treat!

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Photos

The Mississippi River
In the next few years, I would like to do a river cruise down part of the Mississippi.