A Day At “5 Over”

Days on cruise:  2

Distance traveled: 672 miles

Travel time: 11 hours, 30 mins

Total trip odometer: 1,070 statute miles

Still accustomed to waking early, we hit the highway at 7am, beating feet to Denver for a Tuesday arrival, in “horse back to the barn” mode at this point. It was barely light when we left. Soon after, we crossed into Central Time, so gained an hour, happily. And we spent the whole day setting the cruise control at 4-5 mph over the speed limit.

It rained, the sun came out, it rained again, and the sun came out again. Tupelo, Mississippi looked not so different from Aurora Avenue in Seattle, a little less dense.

On the road this time, we crossed the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway where we enjoyed fond memories of time on the river, including the extraordinary Bobby’s Fish Camp which we visited twice.

Later in the day we crossed the Mighty Mississippi, though a segment we didn’t do on our boat as we’re further south now.

Finally, after passing through Alabama, Mississippi and a short stretch of Tennessee (where Graceland called us to visit, but we took a pass), we entered Arkansas.

We know from others who have been here: there are scenic places in Arkansas, but Interstate 40 territory doesn’t meet that definition. And like all states, it has some weird place names.

We ended our long day in Conway, Arkansas 35 miles west of Little Rock, and our motel was chosen by Bob in large part for its’ proximity to Starbucks across the street. He’s suffering from inadequate coffee he considers drinkable on this road trip so far. But we’re making good time and expect to arrive in Denver on schedule for a visit with our youngest daughter and about-to-be son-in-law.