Today's route took us across Arkansas and halfway through Oklahoma. We pulled out of the hotel parking lot at 9:45am to the sultry tones of Barry Manilow singing Daybreak on the radio. Rob was teasing Michele with this choice and wondered how long it would take for her to comment on it. When Barbra Streisand sang the next song, Michele had enough and switched to country music. The morning temperature was a very comfortable 60° with clear skies and sun shining, a welcome change from all the rain the day before.
We continued our journey west on I-40 until about 11:20am when we stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-a in Maumelle, AR. Rob got out our camping chairs to enjoy our lunch outside in the sunny 62° weather. Although very sunny, it was a bit windy and Michele soon got chilly and elected to finish eating in the car.
There was a Kroger gas station next to the Chick-fil-a so Rob topped off the car and washed the front windshield. After driving over 400 miles in the rain yesterday, the car was filthy. Rob made a note to find a touchless car wash in Oklahoma City to take care of that.
The rain that came cross Arkansas a few days ago must have dropped a lot of rain as many fields had a significant amount of standing water. We thought Arkansas had an unusual number of lakes, but at second glance they were flooded farmland.
We continued on I-40 west for the next 330 miles passing through Little Rock and then eventually into Oklahoma, the Sooner State.
Temps continued to hover around the upper 50’s to 60 for most of the drive. At one point, the sky clouded up, the temperature dropped to the low 50’s and rain sprinkles began to fall. It did not last long before the skies cleared up and sun came back out.
Have a look at this cool looking car we saw at one of our stops today.
The wind, however, was fairly constant throughout the day blowing out of the west at 15-20mph.
As we passed Conway, AR Michele saw a sign that read, “Toad Suck Park next right.” Curious about this, a Google search revealed speculation on the origin of this unique name involving river boats, gambling, and whiskey. The most likely origin is that the water in the narrow channels of the Arkansas River receives and leaves behind shallow water or a “suck” which is an attraction for frogs or toads. This town has an annual music and arts festival called Toad Suck Daze. This town is also where Michele's previous piano teacher moved to for a job at the University of Central Arkansas. We hope to visit with him on our way back home at the end of the month.
We passed Lake Eufaula and its State Park fed by the Canadian River. The water was muddy with waves from the wind. Despite, it looked like it would be a popular attraction during the summer months.
Traffic today was very light all day and became progressively lighter as we made our way west until we reached Oklahoma City. The truck traffic noticeably reduced after passing I-30 near Little Rock and then reduced again after passing I-49 near Fort Smith.
This truck was carrying rolled flat steel. We wondered for what purpose it will be used.
As we entered Oklahoma City we got a view of the state capitol building and the city skyline.
We arrived at our hotel, The Winslow, at 5:25pm. We ordered a turkey club from the hotel restaurant after settling in to our room. We drove 436 miles today and will stay in Oklahoma City for two nights. We plan to take a break from driving and check out a few local sights tomorrow.
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