The Clampetts Go West

Well, here we are in Maumell, Arkansas, about 20 miles west of Little Rock.  We had hoped to get a little farther on our first day of travel, but the bad weather coming in from the west and directly on our path slowed us down.  That, coupled with the fact that we had to stop several times to tie down the tarp on our trailer that was trying to escape.  Our original plan was to be on the road Friday, but when we saw that we were still packing vehicles at 3:00, we knew that it was going to be too late in the day to really get started.  We were so tired and sweaty that we decided just to leave and drive the whopping 15 miles west to Athens, Alabama and stay the night.  Ah, a shower with REAL towels to dry off with, a REAL bed, and a good meal at Applebee's that was just next door to the hotel.  Even those rough hotel towels were a heavenly change from shop towels!  After a good night's sleep, the Dugger Caravan (which consists of a jam packed Chevy Silverado that is pulling a jam packed trailer and all driven by the ever impressive Buck Dugger, followed by a jam packed Jeep driven by the ever emotional road-rageous Paula Dugger) headed out for the great adventure.  Caravaning has been interesting.  We are communicating via our cell phone bluetooths and we spend most of our conversations yelling, "Hello?  Are you there? Can you hear me now?"   We hit some pretty heavy rain around Mississippi and had to deal with that until we reached Memphis.  Memphis was a bear.  Buck was trying to read a map, talk to me on the phone, and listen to the new TomTom we bought just before we left, all while trying to drive.   In the mix, we ignored TomTom and went the way we thought was correct.  Bad idea.  TomTom knows all and, fortunately, was kind enough to get us headed back in the right direction after we started going south instead of north.  We will never doubt TomTom again. I pitched my one temper tantrum of the day about the time we got lost.  Once out of Tennessee and into Arkansas, we pulled over for some lunch, where I stepped into a large ant bed while trying to walk the dawgs.  I had a small relapse of my temper tantrum and then all was well.

There has not been alot of memorable scenery thus far.  Alabama, Mississppi, Tennessee, and Arkansas all look alike.  Arkansas is perhaps even more hot and humid than the other southern states.  And it is a tornado magnet.  In fact, the tornado sirens were going off as we got to our hotel here last night.  We'll be glad to leave here!

Today our goal is to reach Salina, Kansas, which is about an eight hour drive from here.  We'll be passing through Oklahoma and will have several toll roads to cross that will try to get all of our money.  Our trip today should be flat and boring - and that is okay with me.  I have taken a few pics that I will try to get posted on my next update.