DAY TWO - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

After some difficulties accessing the Internet, I'm up and running again, I hope.

Tuesday, Oct 18, 07:28:  After an early rise and a quick breakfast at the hotel, we set out for the day.  Unlike yesterday, the weather today is cloudy, overcast and cool.  While the temperature started at 68, within an hour it has dropped to 49. Found it necessary to stop and change into warmer clothes. Quite a drop from yesterday’s high 70’s and low 80’s.  Tonight it will be about 33 degrees with a high tomorrow of 61.  Hopefully it will get a little warmer as we move through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Buddy and Scrounge survived their first night in a hotel.  Buddy did not like the elevator ride.  We literally had to pull him or push him into the elevator.   Both were glad to be back in the car this morning.  This is a new venture for them.  While they love to ride in the car, 13 hours a day is a very loooooooooooooog time.



This famous river divides Tennessee and Arkansas. 



The farther west we travel, the more spread out the towns become.  We see a lot more land and less buildings, cars and people.  We came through Memphis this morning.  It is the last, large city in Tennessee on   I-40 and sits on a famous river which divides Tennessee from Arkansas.  The Welcome to Arkansas sign actually hangs on the bridge which crosses the river.  Can you name the famous river? 

Memphis is well known for a number of things in the food, health care and entertainment industries?  What famous rock and roll singer called Memphis home?  What was the name of this famous person’s homestead or mansion?  I actually took a tour of this homestead when I was 10 years old while on a trip to visit friends in Memphis.  In the food category, what is the famous food one can order all over Memphis?  North Carolina has its own version of this food.  We passed a famous children’s hospital this morning.  This hospital is seen in commercials and is well known for helping children of all ages with serious medical conditions of all types.  Can you name the hospital and its founder?  Also, what did the founder do for a living and why did he start the hospital?  By the way, what is the nickname for the city of Memphis?

Leaving Memphis we passed over that famous river into Arkansas.  Once on the other side of the bridge, the rain started.  The weather was cold and windy.  We actually turned the heat on in the car.  It was difficult to see the items of interest and difficult to take pictures today in Arkansas because of the rain.  About 1230, the weather broke, the clouds parted and the sun started to shine and remained with us throughout the day. At that point however, we were close to the Oklahoma border.   The last major city in Arkansas is Ft. Smith and it is nestled on the borders of Arkansas and Oklahoma.  This was the home of the US military cavalry and the confederate army during different periods of our country’s history. 

Good-bye Arkansas and hello Oklahoma.  The eastern part of the state is pretty flat, but rises to hills the further west you go.  These rolling hills play host to some pretty tall communications towers. These towers are so tall and thin that they don’t show up well in a picture.  They are tall so they can send signals to other communications towers.  This is called “line-of-site” communications. The towers need to be able to “see” each other so they can receive the information from the sending tower. 

Oklahoma is home to 33 Indian Nations and Reservations. This is one of several states where Indian tribes were settled following battles with the Army in the early days of our country.  As you travel through, you will see signs saying Entering ---- (a particular tribe) Indian Nation, or Leaving ---- Indian Nation.  Some of the Nations we noticed included:  Seminole, SAC and FOX, Kickapoo, Shawnee, Citizen, and --------.  We even noticed that the SAC and FOX nation had its own license plate.  Instead of saying Oklahoma on it, it read SAC and FOX Nation.

Not far into Oklahoma we passed through Checotah.  This is the home of Carrie Underwood, American Idol winner Season 4.  Carrie attended Checotah High School Home of the Wildcats.  You can see the high school as you drive down I-40.



Carrie Underwood attended Checotah High School



Nuclear Power

Oklahoma is known for its wind.  The further west we traveled, the windier it became with winds gusting from 15-25 miles per hour.  The wind blew so hard today that Mr. Bruce had to work at keeping the car on the road at times and flags flew straight out as if they had been stiffly starched.



Power Plant



We tend to take for granted the electricity that powers our homes.  Most of us, except perhaps during science class and when the power is out, give little thought to where the power comes from for our lights, stoves, refrigerators, TVs, or well pumps (if you have a well).  Traveling today, we saw several different types of energy producers from solar panel fields that were being constructed, to a nuclear power plant, and gas power plants to a variety of windmills.  Have you noticed any of these types of energy producers around Middleburg?



Wind Turbine Farm



Power Plant

The day came to an end for us around 9:00 p.m. (10:00 your time) in a small town called Erick, Oklahoma.  Erick is seven miles from the Texas border.  So today we traveled through three states.  I tried to get on the internet, but no accesses would work tonight.  That means I am posting these sometime Wednesday morning. 

Hope we have worked through some of our technical difficulties and that you will be able to post a comment or question beginning tomorrow.  Good night. You should already be in bed as it’s 11:08 your time. 

Check the Social Studies/Geography and Math pages for new tasks and the Games page for an update on the tags I’ve seen.  See you tomorrow.