Arkansas, My Nemesis

This is a blog about heading west, but we have a pre-existing 8 week detour to address first.  About 6 months ago we made plans for Christmas in the Southeast – exploring Charleston and Savannah and the romance of Southern Fiction and Southern Cooking.  How much fried chicken and biscuits can this girl eat?   We were living in the UK at the time and knew that our future was a bit uncertain; so while we reserved vacation homes for the trip, we didn’t bother to book flights.  Now that we’re homeless and in the US with a really big car, we thought – why not just drive?  Sure it’s over 4000 miles round trip, but just think of the exotic places we can stop off at? 

Our first stop will be in Santa Fe.  Neither of us have been there and we hear great, but mixed, things.  Stay tuned for my ‘is it or isn’t it just a town filled with crystal happy hippies in flowing non-bleached hemp garments?’ post.

The original ‘straight  line’ route we had planned from Santa Fe to Pigeon Forge (where we’re celebrating a 40^th birthday at Dollywood) followed old route 66 (backwards if you are singing the song) from Flagstaff, AZ through Gallup New Mexico, to the Texas panhandle town of Amarillo, to Oklahoma City and then off-song, but onwards to, Arkansas and Memphis.  Looking at the calendar I saw that this would have us celebrating Thanksgiving in a motel 6 somewhere in Oklahoma.  Try as I might, I couldn’t find a good solution to do justice to the friendliest, homiest of holidays.  As with all conundrums, I turned to my faithful facebook audience for some help – where can we stop off between Santa Fe and Tennessee? 

The answer was surprising:  Lawrence, Kansas.  About a year ago at Mark’s wedding Andy and I were sat with his friend Sheyda.  It turns out that Mark, who is typically one of the best ‘connectors’ I know, had neglected to tell us that while I was living in the UK for 7 years, his friend Sheyda was living in the UK for 2 years.  Oh and she’s a foodie.  Thanks Mark.  Anyhow, Sheyda is now professing English or something like that in Lawrence, and responded to our facebook post with an invite for thanksgiving. 

Is Kansas going a bit out of our way? Yes. Do we have anything better to do?  Not really.  Am I completely bummed that I won’t get a chance to drop in on an old high school friend who now lives in Wichita (but will herself be away for the turkey holiday?).  Ummm, yeah. 

There is however a giant flaw in the Kansas plan.  You see, I am a collector of states, and I think I have about 40 now.  Despite driving across the country in college, along the eastern shores as a kid, and across the southeast with an old boyfriend, I have never managed to step foot in Arkansas.  I was really hoping this trip would be the one to finally nail down the elusive central state.  Also, the walmart heiress just built a kick ass art museum I wouldn’t have minded seeing. 

But, as you can see from the map, we’ll be driving 4000 miles around Arkansas.  So I guess we’ll just have to see it another time. 

Once we committed to the Lawrence detour, my trusty map obsessed husband pointed out that we go right through St Louis on the way to Tennessee, and ‘isn’t Sarah’s family from there?’.  Yes, that’s right, Hillsboro, Illinois.  What better way to end a long thanksgiving weekend than getting filled up on Sarah’s mom’s cooking?  And doesn’t Andy need/want to see this flatland farming town which created Sarah?  Sadly, and ironically, we will be there about 2 weeks before Sarah arrives.  Story of our lives...

In another ironic twist, Annegret & Mike will be in Chicago the week after thanksgiving.  Despite only being another 5 hours north, there was no way you could convince me that a drive from Santa Fe to Tennessee involves a stop over in Chicago. 

From Hillsboro we will head back southeast to Nashville.  We’ll take a ten day rest from the road and get back to work.  We’ll also try to ‘do as the romans do’ so we’ve booked tickets to see Arlo Guthrie at the Ryman/Grand Ole Opry.  You know there’s a future post about the crowd watching of that scene.

On December 9^th we roll into Pigeon Forge.  Home of the Great Smoky Mountains and Dolly Parton’s themepark.  We meet up with our friends and spend the next 3 weeks at points HIJKL of the map above – Asheville, Charlotte, Charleston and Savannah.                                                                            

Finally, around New Year’s Eve, we really will be heading west.  We want to take a southerly route, perhaps stopping off in New Orleans.  The only other certainty is that we want to see White Sands and Las Cruces New Mexico.  Otherwise we are making no guesses. If you have some ideas, our ears are wide open – but I’m still not making any stop-overs in Chicago.

I promise I won’t end every post with a song, but for those of you musical-ly inclined, this one from Big River seems a perfect bittersweet ending.  Arkansas you really are the ark- to my Kansas plan.

Well, I aint never travelled much
But someday when the moneys such
Id like to see the world and all
And maybe go through arkansas

Arkansas, arkansas
I sure love old arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole arkansas

Id like to get my picture took
Put it in my memory book
And someday hang it on my wall
To say that Id seen arkansas

Arkansas, arkansas
I sure love old arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole arkansas

My grandpa was always good
Id play horsey on his foot
Hed tell me when Id get tall
Wed both go see arkansas

Arkansas, arkansas
I sure love old arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole arkansas

Arkansas, arkansas
I sure love old arkansas
Love my ma, love my pa
But I just love ole arkansas