Wednesday, May 15, 2019: 4th Leg, Tinker AFB to W. Memphis, AR.
Determined to wring every delicious drop of sleep from my military-approved mattress, I jump out of bed and pack Raven before the check-out police come a’knockin’. I’m headed to the on base Burger King for “brunch” when I spot a wine-colored food truck and quickly decide I’ll try some fresh vs processed food. I’m rewarded with samples of warm Turkish bread with homemade cherry, strawberry, and blueberry preserves while I await my halal roasted chicken sandwich stuffed with a half acre garden of lettuce, tomatoes, and NO onions, all drizzled with a savory yogurt sauce and ‘mo-feta-da-bettah’ cheese. Oh. My…and the iced Dr. Pepper topped of my brief reminisce back to my deployment to the KSA during Gulf War I.
I’m soon back on the road enjoying the perfect weather and sunshine…but I’d forgotten about the sticky humidity post drenching thunderstorms that makes the lush grasses along the roadside and highway medians possible. The wildflowers are in full, fragrant bloom in bright yellows, vivid purples, and pretty pinks throughout eastern OK and well into the Ozarks of AR. There I enter towering green corridors of trees 5 stories high, and the smell of freshly mowed grass now fills the air thanks to the 6 state-owned tractor mowers desperately trying to keep the wild grass at bay. Thanks, boys, for the olfactory treats (something I would have missed in an air conditioned, XM Sirius-equipped car).
Having downed a sugar-free Rockstar at a fuel stop I arrive in Little Rock and spot a sign promising Memphis is only 122 miles away. I reply, “I can make that!” and I decide to charge ahead while listening to Bob Segar’s ‘Hollywood Nights’ on my Bose earbuds tuned to iHeart Radio Classic Rock tunes. Then I see distant and ominously pregnant rain clouds on the horizon…
Now I’m sitting in a porch rocker at Cracker d’Barrel in W. Memphis, digesting a mighty fine meatloaf dinner and buttermilk custard pie with fresh strawberries and whipped creme (both were def-EATED after a valiant struggle) after lightening strikes just east of the Ol’ Mississippi convinced me to hunker down at the La Quinta until the severe thunderstorm warning was lifted. I can smell fresh rain in the air as I watch I-40 traffic thundering a stone’s throw away, the self-same route I once drove 18 years ago to deliver carpet and furniture from central North Carolina’s many furniture companies. Fortunately, the roads are much better now than then…
Tomorrow I leisurely ride to Nashville, TN to await my lovely wife’s arrival where we will continue our journey to Washington, DC to commemorate Memorial Day week together!
It’s a Southern thang, don’t ya know?
Raven Tales 