Well, to start out, I've been riding in Dad's car with Dad and Joe. Dad and I are riding in the front seat, while Joe is in the back and the luggage is in the trunk (with few bags in the backseat with Joe). Fortunately, Joe seems to like Dad's car better than he likes the other car, so we don't have to listen to him whining all day.
Dad and I have been doing all sorts of things to pass the time. We listened to an audio book of Treasure Island. I did a lot of reading. Sometimes Dad let me play games on his Ipod or cell phone. Sometimes I just stared out the window and thought.
On our second day of driving, we passed through some hills in Arkansas (well, Dad said they were hills, but they looked more like mountains to me). The hills were covered in all types of trees, but mostly pines. It reminded me of a place in the novel I'm writing called the Eastern Mountains. The Eastern Mountains are tall mountains in the east that are covered in pine trees. That was inspiring.
Another time (I think it was also on our second day of driving), we got stuck in traffic. Big time. We were stuck sitting there for about three hours, doing nothing but move a few feet forward every fifteen minutes or so. That particular day, we had hoped to get to our hotel before sunset, so we swim in the pool. No such luck. We got to the hotel around ten o'clock p. m. No swimming for us.
Another thing Dad and I did: every time we crossed a state line, I would take a picture of the 'Welcome to ~' sign. Most of the time the signs were by the side of the road, so Dad could pull over in front of them. However, the 'Welcome to Arkansas' sign was on a trestle bridge over a river. That certainly put a stitch in our plans. Luckily, I was able to get a picture of the sign even as we were crossing the bridge.
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| Welcome to Arkansas! |
So our collection of state signs is intact, featuring Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
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| Oklahoma--OK! |
By the way--what did Tennessee? He saw what Arkansas!
I was amazed as we entered Oklahoma City, which is where I'm writing this from. Oklahoma City isn't as big as Miami, but it's nonetheless a cool city, and it's fascinating to drive through it with your dad telling you what used to be there and how this building is new and how this highway didn't used to go this way, they must have rerouted it.
So far, I have a list of things I want to do while we're here this summer. Here it is:
- Go to the library, either on base or outside the base.
- Go rock climbing at the place Dad pointed out to me.
- Visit the water park I saw, the one that's close to our current hotel.
- Visit the 'Family Fun Center' that's right next to said hotel.
Adios!
