The day we have been waiting for has arrived! It's go time.
With all the excitement, it's been wonderful seeing many of you, my friends and family, subscribing to this blog. To help it get even more action, I ordered 2 car door magnets from UPrinting with this website on it. The hope is that as I travel, more and more people can follow along for the ride. Luckily the magnets arrived just in time yesterday. (Only 3 days for printing and delivery. Kudos to them for getting me my order so quickly) Not so lucky though is I have now learned my car doors are not made of metal...only carbon, which means the magnets didn't stick. Oops...probably should have checked that first. Oh well!
Special shoutout to our dear friend Robyn, a teacher, who is now moonlighting as our advertisement car! Since her Santa Fe is metal, the magnets worked for her, and she is now driving around town promoting this adventure until I can come up with an alternate solution on how to get advertising on my own vehicle. Thanks, Robyn!
The Departure - May 24, 5:10 AM
I woke up at 4:45 AM to get an early start on the 13 hours of driving for the day. Final destination: Colombia, Missouri. By 5:10 AM I was out the door and on my way. My lovely wife woke up nice and early to see me off with words of encouragement and a smile. Don't worry, Ronit, I will call you 10 times a day! You won't even have a chance to miss me.
The sky was still dark, hints of light only barely starting to show itself, with still an hour to go until sunrise. But despite the early hours and the darkness outside I was awake and pumped! Here we go!!!
First Stop - Sardis Lake, Oklahoma
At 6:38 AM I crossed into Oklahoma just as the sun started to rise, and in front of me was wide open territory. Only downside? 0 cell reception. I guess that is the price you pay for travelling in rural America, the views are absolutely stunning, but the reception is a bit spotty.
As I drove through Oklahoma, I was really enjoying the self-driving feature on the Mercedes. All I had to do was click "move left" and the car would automatically change lanes for me. The digital view on the windshield made the whole experience feel safe and easy. It is definitely a great feature when driving alone in case I need a bite of sandwich or sip of coffee on my long drives.
The sun came out in full glory, and the first stop of my journey was at Sardis Lake, a beautiful reservoir that was created around 1980 after the dam was constructed on Jackfork Creek. This quiet and remote viewpoint was an excellent place to stop, stretch my legs and soak up the sun and silence before continuing.
I could even see where the water pump was gathering water from the lake and pumping it into a river on the other side of a small hill. And in the distance, there were some large wind turbines working away. I even saw some interesting wildlife. This was probably the most picturesque stop all day, and definitely one I'd recommend other travelers to stop and see.
Stop 2: Alpena, Arkansas
As I drove through Oklahoma and north into Arkansas, the skies began to darken and suddenly there was a crazy downpour. I could hardly see out the windows, and it felt like the rain was coming in sideways it was raining so hard. The good news is it only lasted 20 minutes before the rain stopped and I was able to pick up speed again.
As I drove through Arkansas, I admired the incredible greenery. Everywhere I looked I saw glowing green grass, rolling green hills, mountains in the distance, and thick healthy forests. The beauty here was different from the incredible lake in Oklahoma but equally green and breathtaking.
Finally, I arrived at Alpena, population size: ~374. Talk about a small town. I had a bit of a wander through the quaint street (yes "street" not "streets") and stopped to speak with Roy Jackson. Roy and his wife, Kay, own Alpena Chainsaw Art. Watching Kay create incredible wood carvings using a chainsaw is truly an experience. I had a chat with Roy as Kate was creating some masterpieces and asked him what it was like to live in rural USA. Roy told me he absolutely loves the small-town life. He is originally from Houston, so quite the opposite upbringing, and he would never go back to big town or city life. He told me about how much healthier he feels his day-to-day is in Alpena, and that the relaxing pace of life has made him happier than anything else.
Stop 3: Candy Factory, Missouri
As Arkansas roads turned into Missouri roads, I noticed a difference immediately. Missouri appears to be more populated, with even the small roads lined with houses and businesses. Unlike in Arkansas and Oklahoma, there were not really any wide-open empty roads. But the beautiful scenery continued with luscious green grass and trees along the side of the road.
I knew from the moment I saw the giant candy factory building in the distance that I was in trouble. This place is HUGE!!! But even the size from the outside can't prepare you for the endless displays of candy and chocolate once you get inside. I went inside with good intentions, I swear! I thought to myself, this is a great place to get some yummy gifts for the people I'm stopping to see along my journey. So I entered into candy heaven....
I may have bought too many chocolates... a few pounds of chocolate in fact. In my defence, the majority are for gifts! Though I did indulge a bit in a very tasty praline chocolate with cashews. Not really allowed on my diet...ok definitely not allowed, but look at those photos! It was too hard to resist. So much color! So much variety! It won't happen again. Healthy food only from now on.
My final thoughts on Missouri, as I approach my destination, is there seems to be a lot of roadkill here... I figure it's because A) maybe Missouri just has more wildlife, who sadly are constantly running into the roads, or B) Could just be that they aren't as good at cleaning up their roadkill as Oklahoma and Kansas. Anyone have thoughts here?
Final Stop: Lauren's House in Colombia, Missouri
After a long day of driving (13 hours!!!) I arrived at my final destination. The daughter of a close friend of mine from Dallas lives here in Colombia, Missouri. I have known Lauren since she was in diapers, but now I met her and Matt's son, Roman! What a sweet little boy. I'm off to get some rest now as I have another long day of driving tomorrow (15 more hours...). I will explain why the rush tomorrow.
In the meantime, follow my location in real-time by clicking this link. And I'll see you all tomorrow!
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