Roads and traffic and rain (oh my!)
What can I say? I like driving back roads better than the interstate highways. That sums up this post. If you like details, keep reading...
I put a fair amount of effort into staying off of highway 30 yesterday because my experience of it was so unpleasant in the Little Rock area. By taking the back roads, I wound up getting to see a lot of little lake and river resort towns in the Southwest part of the state. I also noticed for the first time as I was leaving town a sign identifying the town of Hot Springs as Bill Clinton's boyhood home. Having seen Hot Springs gives me a very different picture than I might have otherwise conjured up of a typical small city in Arkansas. It's a gambling and tourist mecca for the area, and the gambling industry creates a very different culture from, for example, agriculture. The other little towns I passed on my way South also seemed very tourist-oriented, but more of the fishing and boating and golf-playing variety.
When I finally did join back up with U.S. 30, it was just after I crossed the state line into Texas. It was nothing at all like the road near Little Rock -- it was smooth and wide and not terribly busy and the speed limit was 75 -- whatever had I been avoiding? Maybe I didn't need to avoid Dallas after all! That might shave some miles off my trip.
My rosy impression of U.S. 30 lasted for the first 20 miles or so. Then I approached a clump of trucks. The road is two lanes in each direction. Several trucks had decided that they simply must drive 1-2 mph faster that the lead truck, and began to pass it. I could see the clump way up ahead before I got close to it. I joined in for a while, thinking that perhaps it was close to resolving itself and I could get past it. But all that was happening was that more and more cars were packing into the left lane tighter and tighter. The line of trucks being passed in the right lane seemed never-ending. I decided I was better off in the slow lane with a bit of space in front of and behind me than in the fast lane with a line of cars right on my tail. This went on and on -- it must have lasted at least 20 miles, maybe 30, based on how far away I could see it up ahead and because I don't think it was completely resolved by the time I exited the freeway.
Then there was the weather yesterday... There was absolutely no precipitation visible anywhere on the regional weather map and the temps were reasonably warm -- it should be a pleasant day and night, right? Well, mist doesn't show up on doppler radar. I drove through a chilly mist all the way from Hot Springs, Arkansas to the Texas line, getting sprayed by each and every truck coming the other way. I had planned to sleep in my van for the first time on this trip last night. I had a place to camp picked out by a lake that sounded very nice. But every time I thought about finding a place to park at a lake after dark and everything dripping with misty dampness -- it felt more like a punishment than a fun adventure with every passing mile. I fantasized about renting a motel room. I checked out the nearest Best Western online, but I didn't make any decisions. Then about the time I got to Texas, the mist stopped, the sky got a little lighter, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I judged prematurely. Maybe this won't be so unpleasant after all." Then just as I got to my freeway exit, the sky darkened and the mist started again. I pulled into the Best Western parking lot and snapped up a room. Whatever logistical kinks must be worked out for sleeping in my van may have to wait for Arizona, because the weather is changing today -- it's going to drop into the 20's tonight and predicted to stay that way all the way across Texas and New Mexico. The good news is that I think I can stay South of any snow.
I put a fair amount of effort into staying off of highway 30 yesterday because my experience of it was so unpleasant in the Little Rock area. By taking the back roads, I wound up getting to see a lot of little lake and river resort towns in the Southwest part of the state. I also noticed for the first time as I was leaving town a sign identifying the town of Hot Springs as Bill Clinton's boyhood home. Having seen Hot Springs gives me a very different picture than I might have otherwise conjured up of a typical small city in Arkansas. It's a gambling and tourist mecca for the area, and the gambling industry creates a very different culture from, for example, agriculture. The other little towns I passed on my way South also seemed very tourist-oriented, but more of the fishing and boating and golf-playing variety.
When I finally did join back up with U.S. 30, it was just after I crossed the state line into Texas. It was nothing at all like the road near Little Rock -- it was smooth and wide and not terribly busy and the speed limit was 75 -- whatever had I been avoiding? Maybe I didn't need to avoid Dallas after all! That might shave some miles off my trip.
My rosy impression of U.S. 30 lasted for the first 20 miles or so. Then I approached a clump of trucks. The road is two lanes in each direction. Several trucks had decided that they simply must drive 1-2 mph faster that the lead truck, and began to pass it. I could see the clump way up ahead before I got close to it. I joined in for a while, thinking that perhaps it was close to resolving itself and I could get past it. But all that was happening was that more and more cars were packing into the left lane tighter and tighter. The line of trucks being passed in the right lane seemed never-ending. I decided I was better off in the slow lane with a bit of space in front of and behind me than in the fast lane with a line of cars right on my tail. This went on and on -- it must have lasted at least 20 miles, maybe 30, based on how far away I could see it up ahead and because I don't think it was completely resolved by the time I exited the freeway.
Then there was the weather yesterday... There was absolutely no precipitation visible anywhere on the regional weather map and the temps were reasonably warm -- it should be a pleasant day and night, right? Well, mist doesn't show up on doppler radar. I drove through a chilly mist all the way from Hot Springs, Arkansas to the Texas line, getting sprayed by each and every truck coming the other way. I had planned to sleep in my van for the first time on this trip last night. I had a place to camp picked out by a lake that sounded very nice. But every time I thought about finding a place to park at a lake after dark and everything dripping with misty dampness -- it felt more like a punishment than a fun adventure with every passing mile. I fantasized about renting a motel room. I checked out the nearest Best Western online, but I didn't make any decisions. Then about the time I got to Texas, the mist stopped, the sky got a little lighter, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I judged prematurely. Maybe this won't be so unpleasant after all." Then just as I got to my freeway exit, the sky darkened and the mist started again. I pulled into the Best Western parking lot and snapped up a room. Whatever logistical kinks must be worked out for sleeping in my van may have to wait for Arizona, because the weather is changing today -- it's going to drop into the 20's tonight and predicted to stay that way all the way across Texas and New Mexico. The good news is that I think I can stay South of any snow.
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