In 2011 we made multiple passes through Arkansas mostly stopping in Jonesboro which had a cheap motel and a Mongolian restaurant we liked. On each pass up and down the main street we passed this pink elephant sign that I finally stopped to photograph. Now with our oldest living in St Louis, Missouri our route between dad in Shreveport, Louisiana and doctors in Columbus, Ohio typically includes the St louis stop with Jonesboro as an intermediate on the north south leg.
This year we explored a number of alternate routes between dad in Shreveport, Louisiana and doctors in Columbus, Ohio and only got one overnight stay in Jonesboro on our way from the Western Kentucky Parkway back to end the year with dad in Shreveport, Louisiana. We will be returning again and again to explore the state a lot more.
In 2009 Arkansas remained on our list of pass through states and part of the rut we were wearing between Columbus, Ohio and dad in Shreveport, Louisiana. In March we tried driving all the way to Texarkana and then paralleling the new construction that will be I-49 down to Shreveport, Louisiana. It will be nice when it's completed but dodging the construction was more difficult than the standard route from Hope to Shreveport we used in November.
One of our frequent trips from Dallas Fort Worth, TX to help dad included an evening to El Dorado for John's niece shown here with her daughter graduating with a degree in Physical Therapy. I was most impressed with the commencement speaker born to sharecroppers with less than grade school education who had almost twenty kids and all except one had an advanced degree of some type past high school. It happens when parents are actually parents.
In 2008 we added Arkansas to our list of pass through states. In March we took the scenic route through Pine Bluff primarily because construction and accidents on I-40 made that route slow. In November we made the leap from Memphis, Tennessee to Shreveport, Louisiana on the interstate. Just to reiterate my promise that there will be pictures later.
For a state on the most direct path between dad in Shreveport, Louisiana and the doctors and friends in Columbus, Ohio we ended up totally avoiding it in 2006. In May we just ducked into Fort Smith for an overnight stay in 2007 on our way north to Oklahoma and rushed through the eastern edge on our way south in November. In later years we spent a lot more time in Arkansas and there will be plenty of pictures later.