THESE MIGHT BE CHERRY BLOSSOMS
The outside temperature on our thermometer this morning said 43F & I was relieved to see that because it meant we would not have to contend with black ice on our early morning start. Noticed a fair bit of snow in the field beside us had melted as well.
PIT STOP FOR THE BAYFIELD BUMS
Rolled out of Bonham Texas onto highway 82 heading east at 6:50 a.m. Little did I know it would turn out to be a 10 hour driving day taking us north of Memphis almost to the Missouri State line. I'm writing this from a Lowe's/Wally World Parking lot just off I-55 in Blytheville, Arkansas.
One of the problems of early morning starts heading east is the rising sun & it sure did us a bad turn this morning. Heading into Paris, Arkansas I totally missed seeing the the by-pass sign & drove right smack dab into downtown Paris. Not only got onto some narrow streets but had trouble reading the street signs because of the sun in our eyes. We got dragged right down main street through the business district. The cloud of blue air inside the motorhome didn't help the visibility any either. Kelly spotted a highway 82 sign with an pointing arrow & about half an hour later we were finally back on track & heading east out of Paris. Two years ago this very same town literally ate us up & spit us out twice in less than an hour. I have copied & pasted the 'Paris' part of that post I did for that day at the end of this blog entitled....."A Paris Repeat!!"
I-30 through Texarkana has been under construction every time we have gone through there these past few years & today was no different. What a mess & what a miserable time we had finding Cracker Barrel again. I think I had just better stick with my egg salad sandwiches!!
MORNING'S SUNRISE.....KELLY FIELD'S A WORK CALL OUTSIDE CRACKER BARREL....SOCKY GEEPERS ENJOYING THE VIEW
Weather was good, wind was no problem, & the traffic flow was rolling along well today so we just went with the flow & kept on going, & going. Whenever we get that 'going home bug' or that 'heading for the southwest bug' we just focus on the objective & go for it until we reach our goal. Right now my cushy recliner chair at home & a long hot shower are priority one!!
Today's cherry blossoms & dandelions were taken at a rest stop area along I-30 west of Memphis. Sunset photo was taken across the Wal-Mart parking lot in Blytheville, Arkansas.
OUR OVERNIGHTER SPOT IN BLYTHEVILLE
Tomorrow morning we'll head east & cross the Mississippi River into Illinois before swinging northward up to Effingham & east to Indianapolis. Indianapolis is our last major pain in the asparagus before reaching the Canadian border probably sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday. We'll see how it goes..........10-4!!
TONIGHT'S SUNSET....LIGHT STANDARDS ARE IN THE WAL-MART PARKING LOT
GROANER'S CORNER:(( And did you know it's a fact, taller people sleep longer in bed.
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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.
"A Paris Repeat!!" November 18th 2008
Lots of construction going on in the city of Paris, Texas but we were able to thread our way through the traffic cones, around the workers, past the detour signs, & somehow remained in the narrow pot holed construction lanes. Nearly missed a turn at a particularly nasty intersection but we made it through & breathed a big sigh of relief as I watched Paris disappearing in the rear view mirrors. Next big town would be Sherman. Into a bit more construction & a couple sweeping curves to the left. The sun caught my attention when it appeared in my driver's side mirror. Odd, it should be high up on my left side, not in my mirror. More construction & congestion & before I could logically figure out the strange positioning of the sun we nearly missed a turn at a particularly nasty intersection. AWWWWWW NUTS!!!!!! It was the exact same intersection we had just bounced through about 20 minutes before. We had traveled in a complete left hand circle & back into the construction area of Paris. *!!#^>"+! How did this happen!! Watched Paris disappear in my rear view mirrors for the second time. I was beginning to see shades of Bill Murray's movie, Groundhog Day. What if we have entered the Twilight Zone & are doomed to repeat this route around & around forever & ever. We were totally glued to every road sign going by dreading the thought of making the same mistake again. Finally, there it was, a big green sign with the number 82 on it & an arrow pointing to the exit west. How had we missed that before!!!! Had it been any bigger it would have jumped out & slapped us in the face..................
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Awesome sunset photo. We, too, will be heading in an easterly direction soon and can look forward (NOT) to that rising sun in the eyes.
ReplyDeleteNice spring flower pics.
Have another good, safe travel day ahead, Bunch!
The sunset photo is nice, but my favourites are the cherry blossoms - terrific shots!! Glad to see you're starting to get some warmer weather.
ReplyDeleteThe cherry blossom photos are awesome. There are difficulties heading east or west. you are facing some blinding light either way. Good luck going through "Nap Town", and be thankful if you don't have to go through Columbus, Ohio!
ReplyDeleteWOW once again you have posted terrific pictures... LOVED the sunset and the Cherry trees... Have a GREAT day and travel safe.
ReplyDeleteDonna
Ugh!
ReplyDeleteDriving through downtown in any city can be white knuckle time. Glad you made it without incident.
Those Cherry Blossoms are beautiful!
I love your use of the light poles in the sunset pic. I've been thinking that the air inside the rig will certainly be more than a blue haze if you keep eating hard boiled eggs! ;)
ReplyDeleteAh yes, we are finally seeing a few signs of spring here in Dallas as well. Yesterday the wind finally stopped trying to "blow us into the lake" and the sun shone brightly...melting all that old nasty snow. Stay safe my friends!
ReplyDeleteEven dandelions, weeds in most folks' eyes, have a beautiful flower. You just gotta have the photographer's eye to see it! And the sunset picture was perfect. The lines of lights led the eye directly to the setting sun -- as if it weren't the obvious target anyway! Nice to know you, Mr. Photographer!
ReplyDeleteLovely cherry blossoms.. you are giving me spring fever!
ReplyDeleteKaren and Steve
Al, I hate to tell you this especially after I read all the comments about your nice cherry blossom photos, but I really think those blossoms are dogwood trees for which Arkansas and much of the south is known. That blessed CA wind has caught us today as we start home!
ReplyDeleteCherry blossoms have five petals, dogwood only four with short yellow stamens, the blossoms in your pics have five.I beleive they are cherry blossoms !
ReplyDeletethe hermit
As usual, great photos, glad you are having better weather!
ReplyDeleteKeep yourself pointing North, we haven't seen much spring out west yet this week, but warmer times are a comin!
Okay the blossoms are either cherry or Bradford pear..but they are not Dogwood's. Dogwood's have 4 petals with a faint pink in the middle. It is suppose to represent Christ on the the cross. This East Tx gal thinks you are seeing pear trees.I could be wrong on that one tho..lol
ReplyDeleteJust think a picture of blossoms..so many comments!!
Have a safe trip home!!
Cindy from Tx
http://fulltiminglikeacfd.blogspot.com
Does your navigating through Paris, TX indicate that neither of your two GPS units are capable of providing good directions.
ReplyDeleteI have driven through all the 'lower 48' solo and with no GPS and not had nearly the troubles that you seem to incur. I have considered getting a GPS but the more I read of your problems the less inclined I am to waste my money.