Sams Town

The tricky divide crossing turned out to be a bust, we got a light load to take across to near Nashville.  Immediately after dropping that however, we were assigned a nearby load that grossed us to 78k pounds yesterday morning.  All we had to do was hike it across I-40 through the rest of TN and most of AR.  A 45k lb load handles so different from a 15k you wouldn't even think it was the same truck.  Luckily most of I-40 here is flat with a few rolling hills.  Even got to use cruise control for most of it.

I'd only been to Tennessee once when I was 10, and there are only 2 things that stood out that I remember:  First is a whole mess of Elvis clones, and the second is that it took FOREVER to ride through. 

At the end for me last time was Graceland, this time was just over the Mississippi at Southland Park in West Memphis, AR where we shut down last night.  I had never been to a race track casino before.  OMG.  It's like if Las Vegas was a Congressional Medal Of Honor, we were in basic training.  The only similarities were the indoor tobacco smell, and the EPIC buffet.  I say tobacco but I may as well have said cigarette.  There was no level of classiness to warrant a cigar in the place.  You know you're not in Kansas anymore when Matti is overdressed. 

The buffet was an exception, however.  John treated me for all my hard work over this week.  We both signed up for their free player rewards program, which got us each $20 in credit to play.  We quickly burnt those up on the quarter slots but saw a lot more action than the pennies or nickels usually get.  I dropped another 20 but after no dice I called it a night.  Back to the truck I went and passed out. 

This morning we made a stop in the local Flying J for a shower run.  The first one of this stint, actually.  After seeing the condition of my skin and hair when I got back to the truck I reaffirmed that I can't go that long without it if I can help it.  It just not comfortable for me to operate no matter how little physical activity I do.

The biggest upshot of being down here is that since we left the Carolinas it hasn't fallen below 55° even at night.  Its going to suck going back up by Gary to test out, even if it means finally getting my own keys. Though we aren't sure exactly where we're headed next thats a pretty good guess.  We'll find out soon.

We just delivered this heavy load to its destination and we're now in Sam Walton's town.  Not Kingfisher, Oklahoma where he's from, nice try though.  We're in the one he built, Bentonville, Arkansas- home of Wal-Mart HQ

This town reminds me of a cross between Chandler, AZ and Fort Collins, CO.  Chandler in the sense that much of it is flat and undeveloped farm lands but has an infrastructure ready for a population surge; and Fort Collins im the sense that what is already developed all looks brand new and immaculately clean.  Strip malls, businesses parks, and what look like serious business-priced apartment and condo complexes.  Guess who's on all the adopt-a-highway signs?  Nope, surprisingly only 2 of the dozen I saw around here say Wal-Mart.  Sam started his career in business here in 1945 and wherever the old part of town was, we didn't see it.

And if you think bottled water is the most evil creation of mankind destroying the planet and massive companies like Wal-Mart and Nestle are destroying the economy... then I guess I just earned a whole mess of blood money xD