Day 12

On to Arlington and home to Texas...I was ready. Today started at 7:45am. I wanted to get off fairly early because it was going to be a long day and I knew that I wanted to take the winding Hwy 9 out of Melbourne, which would take me south down to Conway, AR rather than the more conventional route over to Batesville and then south to Little Rock. I think I made the right choice.

The view of the valley from the road was outstanding. Check out the picture of the low hanging clouds in the valley with the mountain tops peeking through. I basically had the winding road to myself, allowing me to take my time and enjoy the view...when possible. I even had the opportunity to stop several times along the way to get a better picture. I only had one car pass me the entire distance over to Moutain View and that turned out to be Christopher going to work. I thought it looked like his car but didn't realize it until he told me after I arrived at Courtney's house in Arlington.

Hwy 9 eventually merged with another highway...don't remember the number...that took me south to Conway. It was a nice, smooth, mostly straight highway that allowed me to make some of the time lost on the twisties earlier. Once pat Conway, I intercepted I-40 but had to headed back east for 20 miles or so to intercept I-30. It was really hard back-tracking like this but since I was following the GPS, it was about the only choice I had.

I skirted the western edge of Little Rock and and merged onto I-30 headed west. Road conditions and the weather cooperated most of the day so I made good time, stopping only for fuel and food...except for a couple of times to give my rear end a break. The distance to travel today was about 480 miles and it took me 10 1/2 hours...counting an hour stop for lunch...much needed. The only problems encountered today negotiating around all the trucks on the interstate and hassling with the stop and go traffic in Dallas. My timing today was not good as I hit the Dallas area at exactly 5:00pm. Even then the traffic was moving well until I got on the south side of Dallas and hit a snag. Apparently, there had been a small fender bender somewhere in front of me and the traffic became stop-and-go for the next 10-15 miles...not much fun.

After I got on I-30, there wasn't much to see but since I was getting closer and closer to Texas, I didn't much care. I was looking forward to seeing the "Welcome to Texas" sign at the state line but there wasn't one. Since the state line is in the middle of Texarkana and the whole area is under construction, perhaps the sign has been taken down or I just didn't see it. I did pull into a rest stop where the Texas Visitor's Center was located and took a picture of a large image of the State of Texas.

Oh, I almost forgot, I passed Hope, AR...the childhood home of Bill Clinton...but I didn't think it was worth the time to stop and see it...sorry Bill.

Further down the road, just east of Greenville, TX, I saw signs for the Audie Murphy Cotton Museum. I don't exactly know what the connection between Audie Murphy and Cotton is but I pulled off and got a picture of his statue.

Well, I pulled into Ethan and Courtney's driveway at 6:15pm...a long time since I left Melbourne, AR, this morning. I was really ready to get off the motorcycle. The combination of temperature, heat from the motorcycle and the stop-and-go traffic made the shower I took soon after arriving feel very good indeed.

I'll be spending the day with the McDaniels in Arlington tomorrow so there will be no posting...next, and probabaly last, post will be on Sunday after the final leg of my trip. Until then, have a great weekend. On Monday, it's back to work.