Dallas

I woke up in Memphis this morning and decided to drive past Graceland on my way out of town.  If I had more time I'm sure it would've been interesting to stop and take a tour, but they didn't even open up until later in the day so I just snapped a picture from my car.  While leaving Memphis I crossed the Mississippi River which I had never seen before.  It was big! 

Today's landscape was dramatically different from the winding mountain and forest roads of Tennessee.  Arkansas is flat and flat and flat and empty.  There were barely even any cars on the road, just trucks.  I did see some fun billboards warning me against the evils of adultery and I passed through several made-up sounding towns; Arkadelphia, Okolona, and Texarkana.  I also passed through Hope, the birthplace of Bill Clinton.  I stopped in Little Rock since... it was on the way.  I didn't really know what to expect, but they had a nice, small downtown area on the water. 

 I also visited the Central Arkansas Nature Center.



Did you know you're not supposed to shoot bald eagles?



The rest of the day's drive was pretty uneventful.  It was nice to finally arrive at the hotel which was bustling with businessmen and people attending some sort of convention.  My hotel is the site of the Reunion Tower (apparently also known as the "Dallas Phallus").  I guess you're not supposed to go up in the tower unless your eating at the restaurant there, but since it was a little slow they let me go up and look around.  It was an amazing 360 degree view of the city.  I'm sure it would've been a wonderful place to have dinner, but I already had plans to meet up with the Collum Family. 

According to little Abby I used to "sit on babies" for them :) I hadn't seen Michelle, Brittany, Chandler, and Abby since they moved away from Richmond several years ago so it was so much fun to catch up with them.  Leaving was hard though; they just broke my heart with their pouty little faces begging me not to go, but tomorrow will be a long day of driving so I definitely need a good night's rest.