We've been zooming through the states but spent two nights in Clarksville, Arkansas due to severe weather in the South. The countryside continues to be beautiful. The red rocky cliffs of the the Southwest morphed into flat prairie in Texas, then became low scrubby hills in Oklahoma with plants growing taller though Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and now Alabama. Lots of snow, for the South, that is. Today will be Georgia and finally Florida.
Of interest in Clarksville, in asking the Indian hotel clerk where to find a grocery store, she told us of a Wal-mart. Thinking it was a language barrier, we stopped by another hotel where the clerk also happened to be Indian, we asked where to buy milk and bread. He pointed us to the gas station down the street. Stymied, we asked a native speaking local where to find a grocery store. She scrunched her nose and told us Wal-mart was it. So no local mom-and-pop grocer in this town. Then we found out that we were just 70 or so miles from Wal-mart headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas. Guess that explains it.
It's true, that there is an honest friendliness with the Southerners that you meet. It's strange because there are also some clearly defined philosophies outlined in billboards and bumper stickeres. One billboard read, "Use the rod, save the child." Guess there ain't no sassin' back here!
Glad to hear that you two have had fairly "smooth sailing" considering all of the weather you have had to go through. There was one report that said in the last few weeks, 49 of the 50 states have had measurable snow-fall. The only state that hadn't had snow yet was Florida. Travel safe...
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