I think that the title "THe Eternal City" needs to be transferred from Rome
to Dallas/Fort Worth: Though I spent the night in Plano which is in the NE
burbs, it took me 45 minutes to get onto I-30 East just outside the Dallas city
limits. BTW, Dallas certainly has bragging rights on naming freeways after
"Favorite Sons" as both LBJ and GWB are so honored. During my brief stint on
the
latter I was hit up for two 75 cent tolls, which I guess in an example of
Republican "Pay As You Go" economics. In contrast to the above, Arkansas was
pretty quiet about William Jefferson Clinton--although an official sign outside
of Hope declared that it was indeed his birthplace I saw nary a mention of his
name otherwise.
BTW, if the Northern Tier states are perhaps bound by their Teutonic heritage
in coming up with names for cities (see earlier post), Arkansas seems to be
rather ambivalent as to what State one is in entirely: I entered at Texarkana,
went through Arkadelphia and crossed out at West Memphis.
In any case, I crossed the Mississipi into Tennessee and though I yearned for
some good Memphis dry-rubbed BBQ I gave my stomach the respect that it
deserves in light of the other day's breakfast and continued east. Inasmuch as
I-40
is dubbed "The Music Highway" (Memphis to Nashville) I put on Emmie Lou
Harris' and Linda Ronstadt's CD "Western Wall" and barrelled along in
three-part
harmony till I reached Jackson, TN., where I'm spending the night. 560 miles
driven and all is well.
Best--Michael
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