Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri

I left Tupelo under grey skies, but by the time I reached Memphis the sun was shining. So I parked my car and rode around downtown on my bike for a while. I met the unofficial historian of Beale Street. This guy is a pan handler who waxes eloquent about the colorful and shady history of these two blocks. He was really fun and we talked and laughed for quite a while.

I crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and saw fields of rice for the first time. I took some pictures of it. I’m often surprised at how different the topography is on the other side of a big river. Mississippi was rolling hills, and Arkansas was flat as a pancake, and mostly cultivated. I drove next to the Mississippi River all day, expecting to see the wide, muddy river often, but there is a big levy almost everywhere and you can’t see it at all!

I tried to eat lunch in Oceola, but there were only fast food and chain restaurants, so I drove up to Blytheville and ate at the Fire B Cue Café. I had the best bacon cheeseburger I can ever remember. I met a guy there –he must have been 80 years old – who use to drive trucks but now paints houses. I learned about trucking - why it was a pain to haul beef out of South Dakota, Driving to Cincinnati in the winter, that the delivery entrances to most bakeries are very narrow, and how to avoid getting tickets. I told him he should be out fishing instead of painting and he explained that he is on his 5th wife, and each time he started over he lost it all to the last wife. He has lung cancer and has to take blood thinner, which explained how a simple light scratch from his dog created the large purplish spot on his arm with a dark line down the middle.

Leaving scenic Arkansas I crossed into Missouri at its southernmost point. I arrived in St. Louis in time to go the Arch. It was amazing. My facility with the English language is inadequate, so I’ll have settle with “uber-incredible-” perhaps my favorite man-made structure on the planet. Going up inside, and looking out was awesome, but I think it was even better to stand on the ground and look at it. One almost could get the impression it is alive. The arch changes depending on where you stand and the angle of the sun. I took a jillion pictures and each one is my favorite.

I left St. Louis at sunset and stopped driving in Hannibal, MO.
So, I started the day in the birthplace of Elvis, and ended in the birthplace of Mark Twain. I’m not sure if that is a progression of regression.