Little Rock

A day almost not even worthy of a post.  I left Versailles early this morning in a T-shirt and no idea what the weather was going to do, other than be hot.

  Having been out west in the blazing summer heat enough, I've learned that gas stations can be far enough apart that the little bottle of water you got at the last one doesn't come close to making it to the next.  So, I've added a 1-gallon Coleman cooler to my repertoire, and it rides on the passenger seat behind me.  Heat or no, at the very least, I'll be spending less on a day's worth of water than I would for the 16-oz bottle at my first stop. This morning, I had the front desk fill it 2/3 with ice, and then hopped next door to the Wal-Mart for a 79 cent gallon of spring water. I've got a 20 ounce flippy-lid thing that I'm going to be refilling from the gallon cooler at every stop, and I'll refill the cooler itself as necessary. Also, there's another use which we'll very likely get into in a later post.

Stops: there were many today, and it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere.  The first came outside Bowling Green

 to suit up, again just in time as the rain started falling before the next exit.  I'd planned to hit the Harley dealer alongside the interstate for a poker chip, and when I rolled up, it was a full-fledged thunderstorm and cotton was getting wet.  Good timing again.  I've been near, but never in, Nashville, so I rode through downtown this time and paid the price in residual backup on the way in  due to an accident.  I then stopped on the way to Memphis at a little BBQ place Donna and I found completely by accident a few years ago, which has THE BEST BARBECUE I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE, only to find them closed.  Extremely disappointing.  I ended up at a TA with an Arby's at the same exit, got my food to go and ate it off in the grass while watching 3 BBW share a blunt outside their minivan before climbing in and heading out on the highway.  I love that warm, fuzzy feeling of safety.

Nashville

One more rainstorm and a few more poker chips, and I found myself checking in to a Holiday Inn outside Little Rock 530 some miles later.  In the last 2 days, I've gone from mountains, to rolling hills, to flat as a pancake the minute I got off the bridge over the Mississippi at Memphis.  The sun never did come out until late afternoon, and the temperature was under 85 even then.

One thing of interest:  pedestrians are not allowed along interstate highways.  Today, I saw for the first time in my many travels, a guy cruising down the shoulder of I-65 in an electric wheelchair.  This is not a lie.  I'm not even sure if that constitutes pedestrian, or a violator of any kind, but that's a new one on me.  I wonder if he gets an EV credit on his taxes.