My day got started a little later than I had planned, but my mom was taking the day off work for several things and since she was around the house, I drug my feet on leaving for some extra mom/son time. Considering shes put up with me for 27 years and counting, its the least I could do.
Once I got on the road, I made pretty good time. I attribute this to having the proper music selection for each leg of my trip today. To start off, I rocked out to Kansas' Greatest Hits (specifically "Point Of No Return" followed up by "Carry On"). To keep my head straight, I made it a point to alternate between an album and something spoken (The Ricky Gervais Show and NPR podcasts were my weapon of choice for this).
By the time I reached the Tennessee/Arkansas border, I was ready for a new music selection, but first I had to say goodbye to my home state by playing Rocky Top as I crossed the Mississippi River.
And then I was in Arkansas. Everybody that I talked to who had made the cross country drive told me that Oklahoma was going to be the worst part. I beg to differ.
I made a stop for gas and food about 10 miles in with the plan to not stop again in the state. This was the right call. I pulled into the nicest gas station I could find (while breaking my Pilot boycott in the process) and after my 3rd attempt, I found a pump that actually worked. After filling up I headed to the closest drive-thru where a friendly guy named "Deebo" became the only person I interacted with in the state.
Back on the road, I went with Tom Petty's Greatest Hits. This filled me with a sense of purpose: To get OUT of Arkansas.
Along my way out of the state, I observed a few things, mainly that there was a lot of farm land that seemed dedicated to the cause of growing nothing but grass. I swear I saw a small plane crop dusting grass.
Additionally, I'm pretty sure all the flannel purchased up in the Seattle area during the 1990s grunge era relocated to Central Arkansas a few years ago.
Fortunately I escaped into Oklahoma unharmed and was treated to a really excellent sunset as I rounded the corner at the state line. I enjoyed the daylight I had left before making my last stop for dinner and to refuel. Once I got back on the road, I immediately regretted not padding my trip with some extra time because of two simple words: Indian Casinos.
The lure of the blackjack tables was quite strong. The evil voice on my shoulder kept telling me if I stopped and played for an hour I could easily make OKC by 10, 10:30 tops and still get a good nights sleep. The voice can be quite convincing sometimes.
However, I was able to remain strong with the music of Bon Jovi, Mellencamp, and Creedence to keep me rolling.
I got to OKC a little after 9 and was expecting a cool skyline until I remembered that tornadoes and tall buildings don't mix. I was a bit disappointed, but that soon passed as I realized my hotel was near and I was about ready to be out of the car.
All in all, a pretty good day. I can definitely see the appeal of a road trip and would love to make this drive at another time in my life when I can take some side trips (Arkansas Wine Country and RV Park! No... seriously... you can't make this stuff up).
Thats it for now... tomorrow will be the remainder of Oklahoma, a small stretch of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
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