August 15, 2011 - Monday
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas
We
got up the Monday morning and ate breakfast at Krystal -- eggs, grits,
toast, and bacon, all for only $2.99. Whadda deal, whadda deal!
After we ate we visited my brother Rick and his wife Cathy for a couple hours. Then we travelled 50 more miles and visited my brother Larry and his wife Carol. Carol wouldn't let me post her picture so I had to crop this one of Larry & Carol's lake house. They're moving soon so they're going through the exact same packing nightmare we just went through.
We enjoyed our visit since we get to see my brothers so seldom.
From there it was back onto Hwy 78. The state of Mississippi completed the limited access portion of their end long ago. So the signs now say, "Future I-22 corridor." However, the state of Alabama has been working on completing their end of 78 for at least 50 years with no sign of completing it in my lifetime.
My friend Rick in Memphis says he read where the sun will go out in 30,000 years. He says, "I guess then they'll have to complete Hwy 78 by candlelight!"
We travelled through western Alabama, all across Mississippi, and clipped the southwestern corner of Tennessee on our way west. Here's the Mississippi welcome sign. Linda was born in this state.
Barely after cross the state line into "10AC" as my friend Rick calls it, you see signs of Memphis.
This sign probably signals one of the most famous parts of Memphis.
As we neared the river we saw 3 of the states we'd travel through mentioned on one of the I-55 road signs. Since Arkansas has the worst kept freeways in the nation, we weren't looking forward to traveling their roads. Ah, but gas has always been cheap there.
Here's an interesting old abandoned building we saw just before crossing the river.
This is the I-55 Mississippi River bridge on the left. To the right of it is a railroad bridge. Just north of here is the I-40 river bridge.
It's not easy to take a clear photo when your fumbling your camera.
In these last two photos I wanted to show some of the fields we passed. I doubt you'd believe the diversity of crops planted on vast farms throughout eastern Arkansas and Mississippi. Last year I passed a field of rice just like the one in this blurry photo. Not far from there, we stopped to eat and talked to a local farmer.
I asked if he farmed much. He said, "I plant a little." Then he told me of his 10,000 acre farm nearby. He said rice fields have to be nearly flat, less than 4 inches of fall per acre, or the water required for the rice to grow would all drain away. His fields had only 2 inches of fall per acre. He also said they have to be clay soil or the water won't stand. Instead it would be quickly absorbed. Rice turns yellow like this as the grain begins to flower and form.
I don't what was planted in this last picture but these fields were also flooded by irrigation. Some of the crops we saw were cotton, corn, millet, rice, and soybeans. They were so rich and lush and they went on for miles and miles.
After we ate we visited my brother Rick and his wife Cathy for a couple hours. Then we travelled 50 more miles and visited my brother Larry and his wife Carol. Carol wouldn't let me post her picture so I had to crop this one of Larry & Carol's lake house. They're moving soon so they're going through the exact same packing nightmare we just went through.
We enjoyed our visit since we get to see my brothers so seldom.
From there it was back onto Hwy 78. The state of Mississippi completed the limited access portion of their end long ago. So the signs now say, "Future I-22 corridor." However, the state of Alabama has been working on completing their end of 78 for at least 50 years with no sign of completing it in my lifetime.
My friend Rick in Memphis says he read where the sun will go out in 30,000 years. He says, "I guess then they'll have to complete Hwy 78 by candlelight!"
We travelled through western Alabama, all across Mississippi, and clipped the southwestern corner of Tennessee on our way west. Here's the Mississippi welcome sign. Linda was born in this state.
Barely after cross the state line into "10AC" as my friend Rick calls it, you see signs of Memphis.
This sign probably signals one of the most famous parts of Memphis.
As we neared the river we saw 3 of the states we'd travel through mentioned on one of the I-55 road signs. Since Arkansas has the worst kept freeways in the nation, we weren't looking forward to traveling their roads. Ah, but gas has always been cheap there.
Here's an interesting old abandoned building we saw just before crossing the river.
This is the I-55 Mississippi River bridge on the left. To the right of it is a railroad bridge. Just north of here is the I-40 river bridge.
It's not easy to take a clear photo when your fumbling your camera.
In these last two photos I wanted to show some of the fields we passed. I doubt you'd believe the diversity of crops planted on vast farms throughout eastern Arkansas and Mississippi. Last year I passed a field of rice just like the one in this blurry photo. Not far from there, we stopped to eat and talked to a local farmer.
I asked if he farmed much. He said, "I plant a little." Then he told me of his 10,000 acre farm nearby. He said rice fields have to be nearly flat, less than 4 inches of fall per acre, or the water required for the rice to grow would all drain away. His fields had only 2 inches of fall per acre. He also said they have to be clay soil or the water won't stand. Instead it would be quickly absorbed. Rice turns yellow like this as the grain begins to flower and form.
I don't what was planted in this last picture but these fields were also flooded by irrigation. Some of the crops we saw were cotton, corn, millet, rice, and soybeans. They were so rich and lush and they went on for miles and miles.