We started our adventure to Lander, Wyoming, on Tuesday with a brief side trip to Asheville and an quicker trip to Marcee's allergy specialist. After all, what is four hours out of the way on a twenty-six hour trip? After a quick shot and an even quicker trip to a specialty wood shop (another story/another time), we headed west to Jackson, TN. The following video will summarize the nine hour trip for you.
Yep...nine hours of pouring rain! The scenery never changed for nine endless hours. Halfway across the state of North Carolina and three quarters of the way across Tennessee and all we saw the the backside of our wiper blades.
At the end of the day, we found homemade lasagne with chess pie waiting for us in Jackson, TN with my sister's house and one of our nieces' family. After a great dinner, lots of conversations, swapping of stories (some true and some embellished) it was time to close down day 1. All we needed now was a couple of hours of sleep, a Diet Coke, and another tank of gas and we would be ready to hit the road once again.
DAY 2
The next morning, we woke up at 5:00 a.m. and headed off to Dallas. Checking the weather quickly, we heard about a major ice storm coming to Little Rock. I don't mind admitting that I was just a little panicked. I had mentally prepared for wintery weather out West, but not in Arkansas. Casually tossing our Garmin and our plans into the backseat, we grabbed our paper Atlas, turned the car southbound, and headed to Greensboro, MS. (Yes, we still use a Garmin and yes, we carry an old-school paper Atlas for times such as these! - I hit my technological ceiling about ten years ago.)
We spent the next twelve hours trying to outrun and dodge the winter storm that
was in the process of freezing I-40 about and hour directly north of us. The good news is that we got to see parts of Mississippi and Louisiana that are not a part of any tourist brochure. We saw the Delta Blues Museum, the Blues Trail, and even saw a young Elvis waving at us from his porch in some small town (and now we know!). If we had not been trying to outrun the storm, I could have easily spent hours in the Museum or taking a side trip to see the remains of Muddy Waters' log cabin he lived in when he was sharecropping (we will make that trip again).
If we were to head back home today, yesterday's trip would have been adventure enough. Marcee and I talked, napped, ate bad gas station food, listened to talk radio, and swore we would come back some day when this stretch of highway would be our destination. It was a complete surprise that we had a incredible adventure being in the middle of nowhere and realizing that nowhere was exactly where we wanted to be. It is strange, that the detours in life are sometimes the best part of the trip.
p.s. We did make it to Frisco, TX, a mere twelve hours later to another great home-cooked meal and time with our oldest daughter and her family . . . and an ice storm that has us cooling our heels for a few days.