Driving under Overcast Skies, Change of States Again

Walmart, Van Buren, Arkansas

On Tuesday, Oct. 25^th we woke early. Not surprising since I was in bed at 8:30 with Gibbs and fast asleep by 9. He sleeps much of the day n the truck, isn’t getting to run around free, yet still sleeps all night too. He’s a keeper! ♥ Since we were awake at 6 and I was wide awake, I got up to make our lunch and work on my blog.

this look guy was so cute, waiting
for his Daddy trucker
Obviously a puppy

Bill was gung ho too, let’s get on the road early! We pulled out around 7:30 and because the Love’s Travel Centre was at the corner AND only $5.39/gal, we fueled up there. I say ONLY because usually the Love’s and Flying J/Pilot centres are so much more than the smaller stations like Speedway, Murphys USA and Phillips 66 and so we avoid them. Leaving Sikeston, we caught US-60W for yet another new route for us.

The day was windy and overcast with a high probability of rain most of the day so the sooner we move, the better. It was mild though at 65F/18C and likely to be close to that all day. As we drove, I finished my post from Monday and then messaged my sister, Gayle, and my Mat boss, Kaitlin, to wish them good luck on their day’s events. 😊

We drove through a couple of heavy bouts of rain early on but the skies seem to be clearing out by 10. I won’t say that too loudly though.  US-60 connected with/and or turned onto US-62 and we then caught US-67W. At Pocahontas, we lost US-62 as it veered west and we continued south still on US-67/AR-90. This road was 2 lane for a while, then 4 lane highway and now back to 2 lanes. We’re experiencing a few twists and turns but it’s all new and it’s all good.

We paid $5.39 at the Love's in Sikeston for the convenience
of it and down the road, on the wrong side of the road,
we saw this. LOL

At 10:06 Bill said “do you think it’s ‘bar’ time?” That threw me for a loop and I looked at him with a puzzled look. ??? Ha ha, he meant snack bar of which I was glad because I didn’t bring any of the other ‘bar’ things. 😊 Speaking of loops, we’d taken a loop-de-loop following US-67 which headed us in the direction of blue sky. Yay!

This is the kind of bar he meant 😂

Cotton fields in a blur

In between the rains

Driving into a quaint town called Tuckerman, AR (I missed the Arkansas and town sign!), we both loved it. It was clean, looked prosperous in comparison to what we’ve just driven through and had a beautiful main street. To add to the ‘sweetness’ of the town, Bill found an easily accessible Citgo station with a low price of $4.79/gal for diesel. Yahoo! We filled up. ♥

This was a beautiful little town
Tuckerman, Arkansas

Rick's Fuel/Citgo was a great deal!

A promise of blue skies?

We did the loop-de-loop and turned past this
county worker cutting in the ditches
I'm impressed!

Now under sunny skies with puffy white clouds, the day was looking up. The winds were also picking up a bit keeping our mileage at bay but we were happy, looking forward to the remainder of today’s journey. At 12:30 we connected in Conway with I-40W and were back on an interstate for the remainder of our day.

I tried to get a picture of the train behind the station
but didn't do a great job
Nice sky though!

Stopping in Arkansas for the night has dual purpose for us. One, it is a different route and we’ve broken the mold, so to speak. Two, we will be able to place another state sticker on our map. 😊 The rains came and went again but it is giving us a reprieve right now. We ate lunch on the road, not needing a rest stop yet. The rest of the drive was uneventful and mostly in the sun. Such beautiful views!

When we had our lunch, he watched
so he got some cheese 
He deserved a treat, he is so good on the ride

We arrived at a Walmart Supercenter in Van Buren, hoping to stay the night. I waited in the truck with Gibbs while Bill went in to check that it was okay. The owner of an American Dream motor home was not very courteous to others as they parked right in the middle of two parking lanes, leaving no room for another rv’er. We found a spot not far from them and Bill got the thumbs up to stay here.

Looks like the overpass is holding the clouds at bay

Entering the town of BeeBe, AR

After getting set up, by now it was 3 pm, I nipped inside the store for a few items I forgot last night. I filled our pill containers, repackaged the sausages, burgers and chicken thighs into freezer packs and put eggs on the stove to boil. Our batteries have improved since we arrived but no point in using up power with the instant pot. I also put the kettle on for my tea. Boy, a cup of tea sounds good!

Why we stay away from Love's

With that made, we discussed plans for the next 3 or 4 days and Bill and Gibbs had their snooze. I sat and worked on my blog post. I really try not to take so many pictures but get carried away. I don’t want you to be bored with a bunch of scenic photos that look the same just because I found them stunning at the time. 😊

Nice to see the children playing outside at recess

There were some pretty amazing views
even though we only reached an elevation of about 700' max

The tea WAS good and then I made egg salad and tomorrow’s sandwiches. For supper, we had my hamburger stew and shared a small pecan pie/tart for dessert. They were .75¢ in Walmart so I had to splurge and buy 4. ♥ 

Here we are settled for the night

We washed dishes by hand and when they were put away, Bill went for a walk across the lot to where the Murphy USA fuel station is. He wanted to see how easy it would be to get from here to there in the morning when we leave. The price is pretty good at $4.95/gal.

My boys having their snooze

Hamburger stew, mine on bread

This was a wonderful day, despite the rainy periods. We got an early start and got to our destination at a good time too. That gave me time to do the things that needed to be taken care of.

And a half a wee pie - yum, it was just enough
Good night!

I hope you enjoyed your visit! PS – Bill has also tried to keep up with our travels in his blog. Check it out at On Our Way.