Ohio to Texas: Two-Day Drive

I’d been planning this drive across the border for over a year.  My trusty minivan had a cot in back where the two seats had been removed.  A picnic basket held shelf-stable foods like packaged tuna and chicken, crackers, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, and some recently discovered shelf-stable milk.  I had a suitcase full of clothes (most of which I never ending up wearing) and several shoeboxes filled with useful items I’d been collecting for months. 

It would be the last rain I would see for a month

When I left Columbus it was a gray day, but by the time I crossed the Ohio River the sun was shining.  Daffodils were in bloom alongside the highway.  By the time I got on the Western Kentucky Parkway the rain started and continued, on and off, most of the rest of the day.  It would be the last rain I would see for a month.  I stopped at various rest areas for naps and/or exercise.  We are very fortunate to have such nice rest areas along our highways.

There were lots of downed trees from the devastating ice storm that hit the area last winter.  Many trees that were still standing had their tops snapped off.  Highway workers had managed to clear the roadways, but many tree trunks and branches still lay right up to the edge of the berm.

When I crossed the Green River I saw a long barge carrying huge piles of coal.  I’d never seen coal transported that way.  A little farther along I saw what looked like a large nuclear power plant to the south, streams of smoke billowing into the sky.  When I reached the Land Between the Lakes area I took I-24 to a Grand Rivers marina, hoping to see some waterfowl.  It was almost dusk and a beautiful evening.  There must have been a hundred American Coots on the water, along with a few Mallards and a pair of Greater Scaup.  I walked on a pier far out into the lake.  A lone Killdeer scurried along the shore, while a Great Blue Heron held its stationary pose waiting for a fish in the shallows.

I hadn’t planned on doing any serious birding before reaching Texas, but just from the van windows I’d seen six Cooper’s Hawks, four Red-tailed Hawks, a Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Meadowlark, and the more common species:  Mourning Dove, American Crow, American Robin, House Sparrow, Turkey Vulture, European Starling, and Red-winged Blackbird.

I drove on to the Wal-Mart in Benton, Ky., where I bought a few items and asked the security guard where overnighters should park.  He directed me to the right area and said he’d watch out for me during his shift, which was kind.  I pulled down my homemade drapes, inserted my earplugs, put on my sleep mask and went to bed soon after dark.  I’d driven over 400 miles.

The next morning I was up by 6am, the rain pattering on the roof.  I ate breakfast, put up the drapes, read my Bible, and hit the road.  I took the Purchase Parkway into Tennessee and crossed the Mississippi on I-155.  I was only in Missouri for a short distance on I-55 before crossing into Arkansas.  I took I-40 and I-30 westward and southward through Arkansas.  I saw lots of flooded fields along the way.  It was so windy I could hardly stand when I stopped at rest areas.  At noon I stopped in Forrest City (Exit 241b) at a Food Giant across from Wal-Mart.  They had an excellent deli and bakery.  I bought a prepaid phone card in the Hope, Ark., Wal-Mart.  I added six more birds to my pre-Texas list:  Northern Cardinal, Great Egret, Northern Mockingbird, Common Grackle, Blue Jay, and Rock Dove (pigeon).

I made it to the Texas Welcome Center Rest Area by 8:30pm and slept there.