The Storms of Arkansas (Journey Part I)
Current Time: 6:11 PM, EST
Current Location: Cracker Barrel Parking Lot; Knoxville, Tennesee
(Account of the trip to Searcy)
Day 1 [Tuesday] Mobile, AL ~ Jackson, MS
What a nightmare. The first day we drove to Jackson, Mississippi, and was it a trip. We hadn't had much sleep the night before because of all the moving going on, plus I had squeezed in visits with most of my friends. Not only were we beat but the dog was nervous: it took her a while to get used to the car, her being a dog of schedule and habit. My dad and I remarked that we both felt like Swamp Thing. Eventually we made a wrong turn somewhere in Hattiesburg and went about an hour's worth of the wrong direction, adding to the annoyance. Jackson itself was a big piece of stupid: we couldn't find the Day's Inn, and when we did, it was the wrong one. Eventually we got there and slept like rocks.
Day 2 [Wednesday] Jackson, MS ~ Beebe, AK
The next day we drove all the way out to Beebe, Arkansas. Beebe is a small town about 15 miles north of Searcy, we had to get a room there for some reason. The Days Inn there was far superior to the last one, it even had several wireless networks. Thankfully the nice one was the one we were staying two days in.
Day 3 [Thursday] Searcy, AK
After again sleeping like rocks, we awoke to make the visit to Searcy, my future home and college town. It was off to a bad start, at first we couldn't find the Admissions building and the outer ridges of the campus looked like a factory. Once we were in, however, things looked a little better. We talked with one of the admissions guys and I got a few credentials secured for next year, then walked around the campus a bit. The inner campus is a bit more pretty, although some of it in obvious disrepair. The fact that there was quite a bit of summer construction work going added to the industrial look, but I think it will be better in the fall. We initially failed to find a storage facility for all the stuff I was leaving there, but later found one attached to our own hotel, adding one more good point to it.
That night we ate dinner in Searcy at a little place called the Dixie Cafe, and of course that took about three hours because of my mom. Driving back to Beebe we drove through the heaviest storm I've ever been in, thunder and lightning blasting all around us, windshield wipers swishing at full speed. It didn't last too long, but it certainly was intense.
Next is the voyage through Tenessee; since we're not finished with that yet I'll cover it in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll find another internet connection soon (this one only works because we're parked right next to a hotel and we're close enough to the signal).
Current Location: Cracker Barrel Parking Lot; Knoxville, Tennesee
(Account of the trip to Searcy)
Day 1 [Tuesday] Mobile, AL ~ Jackson, MS
What a nightmare. The first day we drove to Jackson, Mississippi, and was it a trip. We hadn't had much sleep the night before because of all the moving going on, plus I had squeezed in visits with most of my friends. Not only were we beat but the dog was nervous: it took her a while to get used to the car, her being a dog of schedule and habit. My dad and I remarked that we both felt like Swamp Thing. Eventually we made a wrong turn somewhere in Hattiesburg and went about an hour's worth of the wrong direction, adding to the annoyance. Jackson itself was a big piece of stupid: we couldn't find the Day's Inn, and when we did, it was the wrong one. Eventually we got there and slept like rocks.
Day 2 [Wednesday] Jackson, MS ~ Beebe, AK
The next day we drove all the way out to Beebe, Arkansas. Beebe is a small town about 15 miles north of Searcy, we had to get a room there for some reason. The Days Inn there was far superior to the last one, it even had several wireless networks. Thankfully the nice one was the one we were staying two days in.
Day 3 [Thursday] Searcy, AK
After again sleeping like rocks, we awoke to make the visit to Searcy, my future home and college town. It was off to a bad start, at first we couldn't find the Admissions building and the outer ridges of the campus looked like a factory. Once we were in, however, things looked a little better. We talked with one of the admissions guys and I got a few credentials secured for next year, then walked around the campus a bit. The inner campus is a bit more pretty, although some of it in obvious disrepair. The fact that there was quite a bit of summer construction work going added to the industrial look, but I think it will be better in the fall. We initially failed to find a storage facility for all the stuff I was leaving there, but later found one attached to our own hotel, adding one more good point to it.
That night we ate dinner in Searcy at a little place called the Dixie Cafe, and of course that took about three hours because of my mom. Driving back to Beebe we drove through the heaviest storm I've ever been in, thunder and lightning blasting all around us, windshield wipers swishing at full speed. It didn't last too long, but it certainly was intense.
Next is the voyage through Tenessee; since we're not finished with that yet I'll cover it in the next chapter. Hopefully I'll find another internet connection soon (this one only works because we're parked right next to a hotel and we're close enough to the signal).