Day #3: First 1200 Miles Down!

I trip my odometer every time I get gas on an empty tank to get an idea of my mileage estimates, but also keep a little scribble sheet of my total miles, and I passed the first 1200 mark after touching down here in Searcy, Arkansas and going out for dinner.


This "Excellent Adventure" has remained excellent for the third day. After a great nights' sleep (love those tempurpedic pillows!) at Warren and Gloria's in the Tulsa area, Warren made a yummy breakfast and after packing up we went to the Philbrook Museum downtown, which was having a couple of really cool exhibits - one of three generations of Wyeth paintings and a fascinating one called American Streamlined Design

After that they treated me to a nice lunch at a local place that had a great Reueben and served a humongous side salad, which came in handy because I ate the second half of the sandwich at a rest stop in Arkansas when I had to stop to check my car after a near-miss with a scary-big piece of shredded big rig tire (I did actually have to run over it, but that was preferable to it smashing into my windshield which is what is was airborne and about to do before deciding to fall to the road and go under the car at the last second.) It dragged underneath the car for a little and was kinda scary, so I stopped right away and then again when I could find a rest stop just to make sure nothing looked effed up, and apparently there's no damage, but I hope that doesn't happen again!

It was really awesome to meet Warren and Gloria. I met Warren on the now-morphed IIDB almost ten years ago, and despite the fact that this was our first "IRL" meeting, it sure didn't feel like it; I've had that experience many times over the years - something akin to "Oh, yes, of course it's you!" and it's a pleasure every time! I hadn't had nearly as much interaction with Gloria over the years but she was just as sweet as could be and it was a real treat to finally meet them both and spend some time together.

The final push to Searcy took me a little longer than usual because of the flying-tire-debris thing necessitating stops, and some road work, but it actually worked out well because I was caught still 45 minutes away from the destination in full dark, and I've been skittish up until now about night driving even though I have my night-driving-glasses.  Anyway, I put them on and then remembered something I'd forgotten about (please feel free to mock my doofus-nish now, I felt pretty silly when I realized it - ) HIGH BEAMS! Once I turned those on (on a divided highway) it was like an epiphany of sorts. I no longer have to be afraid of the dark!

All in all, another satisfying day.  The hotel I reserved is by far the nicest I've ever stayed in for $45 plus tax and there's a Waffle House about a quarter mile down the road, so seriously, how much better could life be for tonight?

Looking forward to heading to the Nashville area tomorrow for two nights, and will hopefully find lots of cool things to take pictures of (the scenery didn't get very interesting until a few hundred miles ago).

Catch you all on the flip side!

Lauri