3 states, 2 individuals, 1 tiny car

As many of you know, my mother and I (2 individuals) are traveling to Atlanta, Georgia in my Mazda Miata (tiny car), and we have driven through Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas (3 states). The first day of traveling has consisted of 500+ miles of traveling, and I am beat. I am writing this blog to sort of document this faux-road trip, but I cannot promise that it will continue once I reach my personal destination: Pickens, South Carolina. My mother will be flying home on Thursday, the 19th from da' dirty ATL. Below is a picture of my trunk. Road trips are not meant for Miatas.

We started the day by swiftly getting a rotate and balance on my automobile. Then, my tires were finally rotated and balanced to my specifications: good. We got on I-20 East. Next, Hwy 175S. Then, I almost killed someone.

Yes; I almost killed someone.

No; I am not kidding. This hobo was in the middle of the highway. My guess is he was driving in this green pick up truck that was just up the road, and his orange blanket flew out. Then, I suppose he was willing to literally risk his life to save his blanket. Now that I have sort of set the scene, I will let you in on it from my perspective:

I was driving, and I saw this guy in this orange attire with a hat and some long shaggy white hair. I thought to myself, "surely this is not real... or at least he will jump out of the way." Well, he looked to his left (at me) and got this deer in the headlights look, and I veered to the left around him. He was smack dab in the middle of my I-am-going-to-drive-80-mph lane. Praise God that I was not thumbing through my Justin Bieber albums.


Anyway, we had lunch at Sue's Roost, in Eustace, Texas. It is exactly what the name denotes: small town, homestyle grub. 2 for lunch: Fried chicken, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, biscuits, green beans, iced tea. The damage? $12 pat. That is how they keep the locals coming back day after day, expanding their waists inch after inch. Heck, I would return everyday if I lived in that 500 person town.



Next, in commemoration of this guy's life who Jesus saved, I stopped by Tool, TX. When I go on road trips, everything has a meaning. I purposely made a 20 minute detour to take a picture next to a TOOL, TX sign. Yes, I took a picture next to this sign because if you know me, I like to call people tools... but this guy was indeed a tool.

Off to Louisiana we went. We breezed through to cut north up to Magnolia, AR. Do you know why I went to Magnolia? You guessed it. To see the world's largest charcoal grill. I love to see really random things on road trips. Deal with it. Actually, I was slightly disappointed, but also amazed. Apparently, this coming weekend, the great city of Magnolia is having some celebration where the National Guard comes in and sets the grill up in town square. Thus, the picture that I took was the disassembled grill. Nonetheless, be amazed at the greatness.

Next, my mom found Waldo. He belongs in a small town called Waldo. There, he is living among 1500+ other Waldos.

We finally made our way around to Miniature Geographic Sediment, AR (Little Rock). The hotel was checked into, and dinner was had at The House, which was a little gastropub. For those non-foodies, it is basically a restaurant that likes to serve alcohol in excess. I will say that I am sorry for all those who I told that I would see the largest sundial. In fact, many years ago, Arizona one-upped the one in Little Rock, so Little Rock gave up and destroyed their own. Here is an article for your own reference. http://aristotle.net/~russjohn/sundial.html

So as my mother asked before bed, "What are we doing tomorrow?", I responded, "Same thing we do everyday, mother, try to take over the world... or Memphis, TN." If you guys did not understand that Pinky and The Brain reference, you did not live in the 90's.