Observations thus far.....

After four days of driving and a week in the new house it seems appropriate to make a few observations about the adventure thus far.

1) There is an Audie Murphy Cotton Museum in northeast Texas.  Who knew? And what does Audi Murphy have to do with cotton?

2) The Interstate Highway running through Arkansas was only slightly better than a two lane county road in Texas. Bonus: every few miles we would see an billboard for the local "adult" toy stores.

3) When you drive all day with a ticked off cat, seeing the country is trumped by getting to the hotel so you don't have to listen to his majesty complain!

I ask you, does this look like the face of a cat who wants to go for a really, really long ride?

4) Due to the above we missed several opportunities along the way including:

Central High School
Little Rock Arkansas

• Dollywood, although we did listen to Pidgeon Forge radio, AM 930! For you Livingston folks it was a lot like KETX back in the day.
  
• Numerous Civil War battlefields, including Ft. Henry, Spring Hill, Memphis, and Nashville in Tennessee. Winchester and Harper's Ferry in Virginia and West Virginia respectively, and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.
  
• Central High School in Little Rock, home of the Little Rock Nine.
  
• Washington DC - We were an hour and half away but too exhausted after getting to the hotel to even think about driving in for a quick visit.

5) It is possible to get decent Mexican food here.  We ate at a restaurant in Seekonk, MA (which is a 10 minute drive from our house) called Tito's Cantina.  Tamales and enchiladas were decent. Salsa was good, if not spicy and the rice was excellent. However one strange addition:  the beans that came with the tamales were not black beans or pinto beans, but pork n' beans.....

6) Texas expats are everywhere! We met three couples in a restaurant in Winchester, Virginia all from Texas. And to top it off, the chef was an Aggie.

7) The Shenandoah River Vally is just one bucolic scene after the other.  Valleys, farms and mountains everywhere.

8) Once you get through Arkansas and Virginia you start crossing state lines in rapid succession. This is a good thing as it signaled that the end was near.  On the last day we started in Virginia and traveled through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York,  Connecticut and Rhode Island. Here is the route we took:

9) Driving cross country is exhausting, even if you are just a passenger (for the record I did offer to drive, but my offers were refused).  I don't think we managed to stay away past 8 pm during the entire trip.

10) It rains in July in Rhode Island. I don't mean it sprinkles a bit, I'm talking downpours for half and hour or so. We have had late afternoon thunderstorms three days in a row.

And there you have it...I'm sure there are plenty of things I have left out but they will have to wait until later. Happy 4th!