From the Ozarks to the Appalachians

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There isn't so much to tell about the final two days of this road trip, and I'm rather exhausted after two days of massive amounts of driving (12 hours from start to finish on both days, though not all of that was driving). The two places I stopped along the way were convenient for breaking up the trips, and my overnight in Bowling Green was entirely to see someone I hadn't seen in a few months. But since I spent the most time there in the past two days, I figured that's where I would mark this post.

Monday was primarily driving, and often through rain or misty conditions. My only stop was at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR. It's in the northeastern corner of the state, so basically the opposite side from where I started. The town seemed a bit industrial, but not much else. The campus was muddy - as I said, it had been raining - and I got my shoes covered in it when I went to the stadium. I checked out two stores in town, including the on-campus bookstore, but came up short on the pennant front. I mean, what college doesn't sell pennants in their official book-swag store? Arkansas State, for one. After coming up empty at the bookstore, I was on my way.

This marks my 88th FBS college football stadium, which means I only have 31 to go!

It was around lunchtime when I left, so I stopped off at Sonic. If I ever have the choice for tater tots, I choose them. And Sonic is one of the few fast food joints that carries them. Plus they have a great selection of drinks. And I've come to realize that it's my favorite fast food hamburger, too. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

For the rest of the day (and the whole trip, really), I needed something besides the same 10 songs on the radio. News stations are hit and miss - is it conservative? sports? hippy? So, I put in the soundtrack from Les Mis, and I was happy. Singing those songs keeps you awake, too. I found I'm pretty good singing Javert, Gavroche, Fantine, and Eponine. Jean Valjean and Marius make me a little hesitant, but that "Red and Black" song is one I enjoy belting out. I digress. My next stop was the hotel in Bowling Green. I had planned on seeing Brandon, a former kid from Passport camps, who's now a student at Western Kentucky University. About 2 hours from the hotel, I got a text from him saying that he had some kind of meeting that he couldn't get out of, and that we'd have to work something out besides going to Outback as we had planned. This wasn't entirely bad news, since I needed to get some reading done for my class before I got back home. So when I got to the hotel, I got all situated and then did my work as well as a little trolling on Facebook. And then I was asleep before 10. Lame.

Brandon and I had talked about doing breakfast, so when I woke up around 6 AM, I texted to see if that was still on. I got my stuff together, showered, and such, but didn't hear back from him. So, I figured it was also a bust. I checked out, headed next door to the gas station to pick up some caffeine for the ride, got into my car, pulled out of the gas station and was sitting at the red light to get onto the southbound interstate when he texted back. Talk about last minute! Maybe last second. But he was up for it if I had time, and since the only thing pressing me for time today was the desire to avoid Atlanta rush-hour traffic, I of course told him I could do breakfast.

Brandon doesn't have a car, so I had to pick him up. Our destination: Waffle House, not even a mile from campus. We had our greasy food and talked about our week at camp this past summer, and a couple of other summers, and his trip to London and Paris that had happened since we last had met. And of course his time at WKU and the fraternity that he's in. And football. We probably had about an hour in total, and it's always good to see the kids-turned-adults that you've impacted in some ways. I dropped him back off at his dorm and found the campus bookstore right across the street, not to mention the football stadium, and they had pennants. In fact, they had one of the tiniest pennants I've ever seen. So I gave it a new home.

My only stop between there and home was at the President James K. Polk Ancestral Home in Columbia, TN. Most people don't know and wouldn't even suspect, but Polk was my favorite president when I was a kid. I can't tell you why, really, but ever since I took an interest (obsession) in the presidents, he stuck out to me. This house is the only privately-owned home by the president that still stands. They have a small museum with gift shop in one building, but the adjacent building on the corner is the actual home. You're not allowed to take pictures, and since I was on a private tour and the house is locked unless you're with the guide who has the key, I couldn't sneak any photos for my cherished readers. Alas. But the furniture and decorations are all originals from the family. It was quite a nice place to see, and I really wish I could've taken pictures. It's two stories, with three rooms on each floor. The lady who gave me the tour was at least in her 60s and knew her stuff. As a fan of Polk, I knew a good bit, too, so we had decent conversations about the situations of the time. She knew more about the family than I did, but then, I guess that's her job. The admission is $10 for adults, and if you have the time, I recommend going.

The trip home was pretty uneventful. I took an alternate route home instead of through Atlanta, which I would've hit around 4 PM. No thanks. The GPS said it would be 9 minutes quicker to go through there, but I don't think it anticipates traffic as much as a real person would. I got to ride through the scenic North Georgia mountains, which was a treat. The colors are pretty this time of year, and I almost got out at a scenic overlook to get a picture. But there were already people there, and as I rounded the corner, my trepidation was rewarded when I nearly hit a black bear. I slowed down, and it looked like it was going to cross the road in front of me. I stopped, and it moved back to the woods, but when I sped up, the bear decided it wanted to cross the road. Luckily, it changed its mind and I sped up even more, and it darted back into the woods. Whew.

Lastly, I hate Gainesville, Georgia. Or in any state, really. That's all I'll say about that.

2457 miles later, and I can rest my weary bones.

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[D MJ Binkley]

Bowling Green
Lots of history