Day 1: Greenville, SC to Little Rock, AR

Day 1 of our journey to become really good friends with Interstate 40 got off to a slow start.  We needed to stop by the bank before we left, and I didn't realize that most banks did not open until 9:00am.  We hit the bank and then started to make our way towards SC-25 towards Asheville to get onto I-40.  We discovered that our dog Mo is extremely compassionate.  On Haywood Rd. we saw a tiny teacup chihuahua running frantically in the middle of the road.  Our dog starts whimpering and whining uncontrollably at the sight of this.  Luckily, for the chihuahua anyway, the pest man in front of us was compassionate too, and he was able to round up the pup and take him to safety.

We finally make it into North Carolina and then to Tennessee.  For those who have never driven through Tennessee on I-40, be prepared for a long drive.  Most long trips are at least broken up by the passing through different states.  Well, with over 400 miles in Tennessee, the next state always seems forever away.

Mo did very well in the car, sleeping most of the way.  When we finally made it into Arkansas, we decided to stop at the Welcome Center.  A bit of advice for those who are considering the same thing... skip the Welcome Center.  Now, I never have high expectations for rest area restrooms, but they were filthy!  Nothing very exciting in the eastern part of Arkansas.  West Memphis to Little Rock is a pretty boring ride. 

We arrive at the La Quinta Inn in Little Rock (also very dirty, is all of Arkansas dirty?) shortly before 8:00 pm Central Time (9:00 for us since we left from the Eastern time zone).  Did I mention it is still almost 100 degrees even this late.  Apparently, Arkansas is in the middle of a heat wave.  The high today here was 107.  Ouch!  After close to 800 miles and almost 12 hours of driving, we are exhausted.  We quickly eat a sandwich and try to go to bed.  Mo is not too pleased with this arrangement... every single noise he hears outside he goes all "guard dog" on us and barks like crazy.  After much cajoling, we finally get Mo to settle down.  He will have to get use to hearing people and other noises close by, right outside our door.  He is use to being in the parsonage, with tons of space, and hardly any neighbors.  This is going to be as big of an adjustment for him as it is for us.