Little Rocks, Stubbed Toes

There are a couple of simple pleasures that I enjoy on a road trip. The most important of these is squeegeeing (yes, that's a word) my windshield. There are some high quality squeegees, and some lower quality ones, some with long handles and some with short. Sometimes there are bugs in the washing solution (a scary looking bee and a grasshopper, so far) and sometimes you wake up so early in the morning that the gas station attendants have just filled the buckets with new, clear, clean solution. This was the case yesterday morning as I pulled out of OKC and I felt like the first person in the world to ever squeegee. My squeegeeing experiences, my stop at Cracker Barrel (to return Nick Sparks), and watching a line of bikers salute each other as they passed each other at the Arkansas/Oklahoma border were the highlights of my day.

The further East I traveled from Oklahoma and into Arkansas, the greener the landscape became, but the worse the drivers were. Nicholas Sparks' book became increasingly more stressful, setting the tone for the rest of the day. By the time I got to Little Rock, Arkansas (why do they pronounce it Arkan-SAW?) I was ready to be completely stationary, sick of almost being sideswiped by truckers and distracted drivers. My Google Map navigator talked me through the roads and I parked in front of Bill Clinton's presidential library. Alright, I thought, thus begins my exploration of Little Rock! I even paid a wee bit extra for the audio tour, knowing I wouldn't have the patience to read signs. Well, what I didn't have patience for was Bill Clinton's voice as he narrated his life to me. Returning to my car, I found that my plant, given to me on Librarian Appreciation Day, was sad and wilting, overcome with heat and exhaustion from our trip (the fourth time I've almost killed it).

A trip to the "Oval Office"

Exterior of the Clinton Presidential Library

Next, I was determined to find Little Rock Central High School, where the Little Rock 9 attended school, as per the suggestion of a RMPL member's wife. While asking locals about it, they asked me, "Well, you're going now, right? In the daylight?" (No, in fact, I wanted to go at 1 AM, buy drugs, and maybe an illegal firearm.) "Yes of course! Why...?" When asking the locals about places I could walk to, people avoided my gaze and told me I shouldn't walk around. Anywhere. Period. I like exploring and I'm a decently stubborn person, so I found all of this extremely frustrating.

Little Rock Central High School

Wanting to be rid of Little Rock and have an early exit this morning, I decided to get out of the city and get a hotel reservation closer to my next destination. If Oklahoma and New Mexico represented the peaceful and personable aspects of a road trip, Arkansas represents the other side of the spectrum entirely.

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Listen along:
Heavenly Day by Patty Griffin
Oxford Town/Cumberland Gap by Crooked Still