Today was another rapid transition in the eastward direction to get to the areas where we want to explore. Leaving Ft. Smith, AK at about 7 am, we crossed the Arkansas River and headed to Clarksville on I-40. This place reminded me of the Monkees song, "Last Train to Clarksville."
https://youtu.be/ZcXpKiY2MXE
However, a google search reveals that Clarksville, AK is not the place described in the song. I just thought you needed to know this…for some reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Train_to_Clarksville
We then passed many rice fields and learned that Arkansas is the leading state for rice production in the United States. I did not realize this.
https://www.arfb.com/pages/arkansas-agriculture/commodity-corner/rice/
There was not much else to be seen along I-40 as we headed to Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. We had time to ponder and to ask Siri how did Little Rock get its name. Wew learned that there is indeed a little rock formation in the Arkansas River that aided river navigation in the 1800's. That rock formation still exists but it is a bit underwhelming.
https://youtu.be/ZcXpKiY2MXE
However, a google search reveals that Clarksville, AK is not the place described in the song. I just thought you needed to know this…for some reason.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Train_to_Clarksville
We then passed many rice fields and learned that Arkansas is the leading state for rice production in the United States. I did not realize this.
https://www.arfb.com/pages/arkansas-agriculture/commodity-corner/rice/
There was not much else to be seen along I-40 as we headed to Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. We had time to ponder and to ask Siri how did Little Rock get its name. Wew learned that there is indeed a little rock formation in the Arkansas River that aided river navigation in the 1800's. That rock formation still exists but it is a bit underwhelming.
We zoomed through Memphis as we had previously visited this famous music city. We were on a tight schedule to get to the suburbs of Nashville, better known as "Music City" to visit our friends, Ron and Nancy. Ron is a piano player who played on many well-known recordings.
https://www.nashvillemusicians.org/users/ron-oates
We were doing well in our transit until we were about 90 miles from our destination. Here, on I-40, we encountered complete highway closure due to a tractor trailer accident with two fatalities that needed to be Life Flighted out. Apparently, the highway was closed of several hours but we were only stopped one hour.
We arrived in Nashville at about 4:30, visited for a couple of hours, before finally arriving at our La Quinta Inn in Cookeville, TN about 90 miles to the east on Nashville. We chose this location as it was in the direction of our ultimate geographical goal and the prices dramatically decrease as one leaves Nashville.
This weekend in Nashville, there is apparently a conglomeration of people picking NFL players.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/draft2019/2019/04/25/nfl-draft-2019-picks-grades-live-results/3578975002/
In addition, on I-40 we were passed by perhaps 10 beautiful Corvettes heading to Bowling Green, KY for some type of rally.
Distance travelled 571 miles. Time to slow down!
https://www.nashvillemusicians.org/users/ron-oates
We were doing well in our transit until we were about 90 miles from our destination. Here, on I-40, we encountered complete highway closure due to a tractor trailer accident with two fatalities that needed to be Life Flighted out. Apparently, the highway was closed of several hours but we were only stopped one hour.
We arrived in Nashville at about 4:30, visited for a couple of hours, before finally arriving at our La Quinta Inn in Cookeville, TN about 90 miles to the east on Nashville. We chose this location as it was in the direction of our ultimate geographical goal and the prices dramatically decrease as one leaves Nashville.
This weekend in Nashville, there is apparently a conglomeration of people picking NFL players.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/nfl/draft2019/2019/04/25/nfl-draft-2019-picks-grades-live-results/3578975002/
In addition, on I-40 we were passed by perhaps 10 beautiful Corvettes heading to Bowling Green, KY for some type of rally.
Distance travelled 571 miles. Time to slow down!