The hallway of our home away from home.

I have never felt more aware of my own non-whiteness than while I was here. Beautiful place though.

An elderly fellow sat by us as we ate lunch here and we shared a laugh at the stubbornness of our chip bags. I bit through mine and he used a knife from his belt. Good times.

Caverns abound here in Missouri.

Three hours outside of any major city.

Watched the storm settled over the land and the earthen smell of the air never smelled so good.

Roadtrips.
Gods, Roadtrips.
Is there anything I love more?

It’s a strange desire I have, to be out on the open road. Because that’s what it really is, the desire to be out there, driving driving driving. It’s never about the destination, though the thrill of going somewhere new just makes it all the better. After seeing some of the sights in Eureka Springs, we headed out away from Arkansas north towards the hilly roads of Missouri, because if I ever get a chance to mark off a state in my Visted! list, you bet i’m gonna take it.

So, I’m from Texas.
Well, strike that, i’m originally from California.
….Actually, if you really want to talk honest, my bones were born in NYC.
But! Texas is where I live now, and where I’ve called home for a good number of years now and when I tell you that i’ve seen some pretty deep-south kinda things, I hope the understanding is that I know at least a little of what i’m talking about. I’ve traveled through Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana (even marked off South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama though I wouldn’t ever say I really explored those as much as the others) . And so, I had ideas of what to expect, given it’s neighbors.

Some of those expectations bore fruit (like how many people I saw with Confederate Flag bumper stickers on their pick-up trucks) while others wilted on the stem (the weather here was more fearsome and less predictable than expected).

While not as green or beautiful as the Smokey Mountains region of Tennessee, or even as interesting as the maze that is Hot Springs, Arkansas, that South-East part of Missouri I got the chance to experience was it’s own kind of unique. And while I probably wouldn’t go back for seconds, the hours I spent on the roads there won’t be ones i’ll soon forget.

~m